What Bucket List Item Failed to Live Up to Expectations?

[cruisemom42]

47 minutes ago, nagster said:

No, not at all. I think most people know what a bucket list is and its NOT what you're saying. Kind of rude actually to say that the people who have responded here about a disappointment is because we are simpletons and can't think for ourselves.

 

Not at all what was said. 

 

 

[dolittle]

21 hours ago, ontheweb said:

Tallinn, Estonia, although I had read only great reviews, I did not expect it to be as wonderful as it was.

Totally agree on Tallinn it is a B stop in Europe but it is the best B stop in Europe or anywhere else.

[CruiseGal999]

My cruise to Alaska .... 

[wcook]

Bucket list means whatever you want it to mean. Speaking only for me, I differentiate between bucket list items and check list items. When my mom was a little girl, she read a book about Pompeii. All her life she wanted to go and finally she made it there in her 70s. That’s a bucket list item. On that same trip we went to see the leaning tower of Pisa. Did we have a burning desire to see it? Nah. But it’s one of those things you just gotta see to have seen it. A check list item. It was actually a ton of fun. Not so much the ancient buildings, but the hundreds of tourists taking goofy forced perspective photos. 

[ldubs]

1 hour ago, wcook said:

Bucket list means whatever you want it to mean. Speaking only for me, I differentiate between bucket list items and check list items. When my mom was a little girl, she read a book about Pompeii. All her life she wanted to go and finally she made it there in her 70s. That’s a bucket list item. On that same trip we went to see the leaning tower of Pisa. Did we have a burning desire to see it? Nah. But it’s one of those things you just gotta see to have seen it. A check list item. It was actually a ton of fun. Not so much the ancient buildings, but the hundreds of tourists taking goofy forced perspective photos. 

 

Almost like an obligation as opposed to a burning desire to visit an attraction.  

 

We felt the same about the leaning tower of Pisa.  It was more fun than we anticipated.  We were OK with joining in with "goofiness".  

 

Same with a visit to Salzburg.  We chased around with some friends to see where scenes from the Sound of Music were filmed.   Not an awe-inspiring bucket list item, but it was a lot of fun.  Locals, especially the younger folk, say they are tired of it.  Haha.   

[jlazz]

On 6/8/2022 at 8:24 AM, cruiseny4life said:

Took a bit to respond - that work thing got in the way of my posting. 

 

I've been to a few of the locations you've mentioned. Thankfully Vegas was ever only a pit stop on a trip to national parks. I've never gone to Vegas just to be in Vegas. I haven't been to Fremont St. or to those museums. I'm not really a fan of kitschy. I didn't even enjoy Wall Drug in South Dakota!

 

But, your post is spot on! One can, and should, find those things that seem enticing and seek them out. Vegas ain't for everyone, just as Santiago ain't for everyone. 

 

Thanks DON! 

I agree with you about Wall Drug and a prior poster about Crazy Horse Memorial. I wasn't disappointed because they weren't on my must see list.  I wouldn't necessarily recommend.

[SelectSys]

On 5/12/2022 at 6:51 PM, cruisemom42 said:

There's actually a lot of rigor, engineering and complexity underlying Gaudi's work.

Gaudi's use of hanging chains and weights to design the "Sagrada Familia" is amazing!  In essence, he used those models as "one off" analog computers to solve for the cathedral's structure and form.  It is just so incredibly brilliant!   My jaw actually dropped when I saw it as it reminded me of some mathematics that I learned way, way back in my college days:

 

For the design of “La Sagrada Família” Gaudí studied and developed a new method of structural calculation based on models involving ropes and small sacks of lead shot (Figg. 16 and 17). The outline of the church was traced on wood and placed on a ceiling, with ropes that hung from the points where columns had to be placed. The sacks of pellets - weighing just a fraction of the weight the real arches would have to support - were hung from each arch formed by the ropes. These ware in fact catenaric arches, as the Calculus of Variation dictates. After taking photographs of the resulting model, shot from various angles, turning then upside-down the lines of tension formed by the ropes and weights would eventually indicate the pressure lines of the structure envisaged. In this way Gaudí obtained many natural forms in his work

https://erikbuys.files.wordpress.com/2011/06/gaudi.pdf

 

It also makes me wonder how far back in time this engineering design technique was used or if Gaudi was the inventor.

 

Thanks for bringing back a good memory!  

Edited July 21, 2023 by SelectSys

[DarrenM]

On 5/11/2022 at 7:18 AM, mnocket said:

I've already decided that I will die without ever seeing the Mona Lisa and I'm perfectly fine with that👌  I've also decided that I can skip the Leaning Tower of Pisa - though there are other areas of Italy that I haven't yet visited that I very much want to.

I have no idea why folk want to see that painting. It's beyond me.

 

The leaning tower of pisa is OK but ots not that exciting.

 

And pisa is a disappoinent other than that.

 

On saying that I didn't get the excitement of Florence either so I probably not a great judge.

[DarrenM]

On 12/28/2022 at 8:25 PM, cruisemom42 said:

 

Thank you -- you beautifully put into words what I have been musing over. 

 

I also feel that, for myself anyway, the research I do before a trip helps ensure that the expectations match the reality.

I  am the exact opposite. I don't do any homework and just go and see whatever is there.

 

And just pick an excursion that looks sort of interesting, or more over one that just drops us off, and we look around wondering what the hell to do.

 

Ignorance can be bliss.

 

We saw that big church in Florence without any idea what we were looking at. It looked stunning from the outside.

 

I wasn't interested in the inside.

 

Still can't remember what its called.

 

Had an amazing pizza outside it though.

 

But that's how I came to love Dubrovnik.

 

Just wandered around and fell in love with the place.

 

 

 

 

 

[DarrenM]

I don't do bucket lists but I was looking forward to visiting the Acropolis in Athens.

 

It was massively disappointing.

 

It's not as big or as good as it appears and it's hugely overcrowded. Ridiculously overcrowded.

 

Almost dangerously so.

 

If you are elderly or have walking difficulties it's even more dangerous.

[ontheweb]

2 hours ago, DarrenM said:

I don't do bucket lists but I was looking forward to visiting the Acropolis in Athens.

 

It was massively disappointing.

 

It's not as big or as good as it appears and it's hugely overcrowded. Ridiculously overcrowded.

 

Almost dangerously so.

 

If you are elderly or have walking difficulties it's even more dangerous.

Wow, I found standing in front of the Acropolis about the most awe inspiring thing I've ever done.

[DarrenM]

Opinions eh?

 

Pompeii did that for me, as did Ephesus. 

 

And so did Istanbul as a general opinion.

 

 

[cruisemom42]

5 hours ago, DarrenM said:

I don't do bucket lists but I was looking forward to visiting the Acropolis in Athens.

 

It was massively disappointing.

 

It's not as big or as good as it appears and it's hugely overcrowded. Ridiculously overcrowded.

 

Almost dangerously so.

 

If you are elderly or have walking difficulties it's even more dangerous.

 

Perhaps some research and planning in advance (which you don't do) would've helped you better understand its significance and arrive there when it is least crowded....

 

Just sayin'. 😉

[Gwendy]

3 hours ago, ontheweb said:

Wow, I found standing in front of the Acropolis about the most awe inspiring thing I've ever done.

The hotel we stayed at post cruise had an amazing view of the Acropolis from their roof top terrace.  I would go up there every evening just to gaze in awe.  Such engineering from so long ago.

[herbanrenewal]

The only cruise I've ever been disappointed in was Alaska.  And It was totally due to my lack of sufficient planning. A 7-day round trip out of Seattle obviously doesn't include Denali, which I think is a primary attraction to me. The ports seemed more Disney hyped tourist traps all with the same shops selling the same stuff - none of which were locally made except overpriced knives. The only excursions I thought looked interesting were way out of my price range.

Norway and Chilean coast were a lot more scenic.

My take home message - check out what you are booking to be sure it fits your expectations. Really no bad cruises, just bad prep, planning.

[calliopecruiser]

The Acropolis was touristic hell.  I know I had to go, but I didn't enjoy it or feel wowed by it.  There are ancient places and artifacts that I found much more profoundly affecting.  Appreciating history requires time and thought, and neither were possible there with people whistling for tour groups and shouting for their family members.  And that was in October.  It's much better viewed from a distance, in my opinion. 

On the other hand, the monasteries in Meteora were worth the travel and the climb.....I didn't know they existed until I started planning for a few days in Greece (before a cruise), but I now recommend them to everyone. 

[DarrenM]

17 hours ago, cruisemom42 said:

 

Perhaps some research and planning in advance (which you don't do) would've helped you better understand its significance and arrive there when it is least crowded....

 

Just sayin'. 😉

Maybe. But we went on celebrity cruise excursion.

 

So didn't really have any input into when we went regardless of how much research I could have done.

 

But I have read since that it's early always overcrowded.

 

And full of scaffolding too.

 

 

[DarrenM]

8 hours ago, calliopecruiser said:

The Acropolis was touristic hell.  I know I had to go, but I didn't enjoy it or feel wowed by it.  There are ancient places and artifacts that I found much more profoundly affecting.  Appreciating history requires time and thought, and neither were possible there with people whistling for tour groups and shouting for their family members.  And that was in October.  It's much better viewed from a distance, in my opinion. 

On the other hand, the monasteries in Meteora were worth the travel and the climb.....I didn't know they existed until I started planning for a few days in Greece (before a cruise), but I now recommend them to everyone. 

I found the Olympic stadium much more interesting and amazing.

[dolittle]

13 hours ago, DarrenM said:

Maybe. But we went on celebrity cruise excursion.

 

So didn't really have any input into when we went regardless of how much research I could have done.

 

But I have read since that it's early always overcrowded.

 

And full of scaffolding too.

 

 

In 2007 I got the nerve to do my first D.I.Y. in Europe to the Acropolis we got off the ship as soon as possible took a train walked through the tourist traps around it (all were closed that early) paid and walked up. We were with maybe 15 other people (and some loose dogs) for about an hour or so before the ship tours and every other tourist in Greece showed up. I knew it would get busy but it was more than busy it was crazy. At it's most busy time we went to the edge and took in the amazing view of Athens. Sometimes you just get lucky ,it can be hard to fight crowds and keep the focus on the attraction but in the moment you have no choice.

[SelectSys]

On 7/23/2023 at 10:59 AM, herbanrenewal said:

ports seemed more Disney hyped tourist traps all with the same shops selling the same stuff

Sounds similar to how I feel about the Caribbean ports.  That said, to me the scenery in Alaska and possibilities for excursions in nature far exceed the Caribbean to me.

On 7/23/2023 at 10:59 AM, herbanrenewal said:

I thought looked interesting were way out of my price range.

Norway and Chilean coast were a lot more scenic

Interesting perspective. I am not familiar with either cruise but Alaska to me is impressive in terms of its remaining wildness.  I perhaps the same is true both in Norway and Chile.  Two cruises for me to consider.

[donaldsc]

On 1/2/2023 at 11:17 AM, CruiseGal999 said:

My cruise to Alaska .... 

 

Did you go to AK on a large cruise ship that did a 7 day round trip to AK which stopped at Juneau, Ketchikan and Skagway with only a short time in each port or did you actually explore AK.  Makes a big difference in your AK experience.

 

DON

[herbanrenewal]

11 hours ago, SelectSys said:

...I am not familiar with either cruise but Alaska to me is impressive in terms of its remaining wildness.  I perhaps the same is true both in Norway and Chile.  Two cruises for me to consider.

I strongly recommend both! 

[herbanrenewal]

10 hours ago, donaldsc said:

 

Did you go to AK on a large cruise ship that did a 7 day round trip to AK which stopped at Juneau, Ketchikan and Skagway with only a short time in each port or did you actually explore AK.  Makes a big difference in your AK experience.

 

DON

You are absolutely correct.  Because i travelled with a friend and her daughter we switched to a one week round trip, since daughter couldnt take more than a week off work. Thereby missing the experiences that I had anticipated. While I'm no longer much for wilderness trekking I still love nature. 

Bottom line - know what you are buying! Do your homework with planning. Being disappointed with Alaska was more my fault than a "bad cruise"

[cruisemom42]

On 7/24/2023 at 2:43 AM, DarrenM said:

Maybe. But we went on celebrity cruise excursion.

 

So didn't really have any input into when we went regardless of how much research I could have done.

 

But I have read since that it's early always overcrowded.

 

And full of scaffolding too.

 

 

 

I've visited several times. I've found that showing up about 15 minutes til opening means you'll have the place virtually to yourself for about the first hour -- you, the guards and a few stray dogs. It's fun watching the army roll in with their jeep and raise the gigantic Greek flag that flies off the back...

 

 

[Mum2Mercury]

I can only think of one item that really disappointed, and it's kinda odd:  

 

When I was a teenager I did a cross-country driving trip, and I was SO INCREDIBLY MOVED by Mt. Rushmore.  The vast size, the connection to past generations, the feeling that anything is possible in America, the patriotism.  

When my own children were teenagers, we did a similar driving trip, and I was excited about seeing Mt. Rushmore again /sharing it with my own family.  It didn't strike me the same way it did when I was younger, and I have no idea why.