Mumsnet users share their holiday nightmares with Admiral Travel Insurance

[EllieMumsnet]

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We can all laugh about our nightmare holiday moments when we are back in the comfort of our own home, but at the time they can often seem like the end of the world! The team at Admiral Travel Insurance have asked us to find out what holiday nightmares, however big or small, made you wish you’d stayed at home at the time.

So what's the worst holiday mishap you’ve had to deal with? Did you have a suncream explosion in your suitcase? Or realise you didn’t actually book the hotel you thought you did? Perhaps you planned a beach holiday and it rained every day? Or you discovered the major mistake of not practising putting up your new tent before you went camping?

Whatever your holiday nightmare moment, please share it below and you will be entered into a prize draw to win a £300 voucher of your choice (from a list).

Thanks and good luck!

MNHQ

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I remember a family holiday to France when I was 14. I was 'too cool for sunscreen' and ended up burning my back to the extent I couldn't sleep on my back for the entire week, and the peeling skin was so unflattering I hid out in our gite for the rest of the holiday and missed out on all the fun stuff. I wore sunscreen every holiday since!

Florida - husband into the warm blue sea, (rental car keys in pocket of trunks!). Wasn't just that he lost them, he actually went back into the ocean to see if he could find him... So, stranded on beach in 90degree heat in swimwear, and no choice but to hit the streets with the posh houses and villas. Met a lot of Floridians - they thought we were interesting specimens - "sunburn waiting to happen" they said! Invited in, cookies baked for us, locksmiths called, bottled water provided. Took a few hours before we were sorted.. Always look after keys yourself ladies.

We went camping in Dorset and the heavens opened! Doing the British thing, we braved Chesil Beach in the rain and ended up completely soaked to the skin. When we got back to the campsite, we found we were the only idiots left there and our tent was 2 inches deep in water. Luckily, the pub was only a couple of minutedswalk away so we went for a few jars, had a very damp nights sleep in the car and then drove back home the next day.

I missed my flight home from Ibiza...

Partying hard you may think...? Nope! Just got confused with the AM flight home and thought it was the day after.

Cost us approx a grand to get home and fly in to an airport a 100 miles from home at 4 in the morning! xx

I remember as a child mum taking me on my first holiday abroad to Spain when I was about 10, dad wouldn't go so I think she was brave to do it alone. We caught a bus to see another town but got off in the wrong place and were literally lost in the middle of nowhere for hours - no more buses, no taxis, nothing open! I cried my eyes out because I thought we would never get home - we never went abroad again after that and didn't leave the hotel for the rest of the trip

My son talked and cried through out a 8 hour flight to Florida - the he fell asleep as soon as we landed...

no holiday disasters, but driving all night with 3 young children in Italy due to closure of all the motorways was horrible.

Not a mishap but on my very first holiday with my husband and kids i became very ill with some kind of tummy bug that lasted well after the holiday and i spend the whole holiday with my head in a bucket or on the loo. No one else's got it !

We turned up to our Salou hotel to find they had no record of our reservation, and no rooms free. We'd booked early to take advantage of a cheap deal, and we struggled with being able to afford a last minute reservation elsewhere - luckily I borrowed some money from my parents and we still had a great holiday in a MUCH nicer hotel!

I went away with some friends for a couple of days and I was really looking forward to it. On our first day it was heading towards dinner time and I asked if when we were going for food to be told 'oh no we're not getting dinner, I'm on a diet'. My 'friend' was taking her diet to the extreme and spent 3 days not eating anything but ham and lettuce. It really had an impact on my enjoyment of the holiday and on the last day there was a huge argument between my two friends because of it as the other friend was fuming that we weren't allowed to choose anywhere for food.

I had never been abroad before and my sister was doing all the planning. The idea was to go to Spain but my sister found a deal to Jamaica . The flight was meant to take 9 hours but it didn't - it took 14 hours. Unfortunately we only got one meal and one drink. The toilets broke down and everybody was bursting to go. When a lady asked if she could have something to eat, the stewardess shouted at her so none of us dared say anything else. We were freezing and there was ice on the outside of the windows so we asked for blankets - but there weren't enough to go around! It was definitely a nightmare flight!

Corfu 2012 - cockroaches cockroaches and then some more cockroaches

ten years ago when four of my kids were small, we decided to g to majorca, it was awful, the kids all got ill, the flights were delayed and by the end of the two weeks we were exhausted. for the next ten years after that we stayed in the UK.

Congratulations to MrsMarigold for winning the £300 voucher

I bought some very nice, special, wine on my first holiday away with my now hubby. We had a nightmare at the airport when the SPanish officials insisted that our half full suitcases were overweight.

We ditched pretty much everything - books, clothes, even shoes - in order to bring back our special wine.... so imagine our disappointment when we retrieved our case at the other end to mell wine... and see it dripping down the wheels at eth bottom of the case. It smashed en route!!