Have you ever been under- whelmed by a place that is great ,mine was Paris .How about you.

[LocoLoco1]

1 Word: Dope. 

[DaveSJ711]

Brussels in Europe and Lima in South America.  I've been to each city once and don't need to go back.

[getting older slowly]

The thing is your expectations .... of...... for that matter anyway..

 

It is entirely up to the person....  also it is the vibe of the place as well

 

Myself... big cities really don't interest me..... live in a city that enough....

 

Yes some cities have lovely gardens, museums, art galleries great building  etc....

 

But if your expectations are set to maximum.... you could easily be underwhelmed...

 

The same is of grand scenic places.... you see lots of photos.... taken from the best spot with the best weather.....    you get there and go.... well that's nice.... same thing......

 

Don  

[Silver Sweethearts]

2 hours ago, slidergirl said:

Los Angeles with more palm trees and humidity is what I say.  Or, Tokyo with a beach.  Usually, I was only on Oahu to change planes to go to one of the other islands.  I stayed there once, at the Hilton Hawaiian Village, because I had received a very good rate from the new General Manager when she and her dog stayed at my hotel for the dog's quarantine prior to moving.  Not very impressed with Honolulu, except for Marukame Udon House and Diamond Head Market (for the wonderful cream cheese scones!!!).

 

 

Agreed!!

 

Side note - If you liked the Marukame Udon House but don't care that much for Oahu,  word has it that Star Noodle on Maui is reopening in the old Aloha Mixed Plate location in Lahaina.

[Hflors]

I thought the Vatican was my biggest disappointment.  The wealth displayed there would have cured world hunger for one thousand years!  During my time there I kept thinking about the priest in our church chastising the parishioners for not donating enough to the church so the church could do "God's" work.  And then to see a whole "city" and realize "God's" work supported this.  Very disappointing.

Edited October 22, 2020 by Hflors
Correct spelling

[whogo]

11 hours ago, d9704011 said:

I fail to see the connection between Niagara Falls and how US National Parks ‘got it right’.

If Niagara Falls were in a National Park, the views would be more pristine without the tall buildings, wax museum, sky wheel, Ripley's Believe It or Not, the laser maze.

[d9704011]

37 minutes ago, whogo said:

If Niagara Falls were in a National Park, the views would be more pristine without the tall buildings, wax museum, sky wheel, Ripley's Believe It or Not, the laser maze.

I s’pose.  On the other hand, if US National Parks were in Niagara Falls people would be able to go to casinos while enjoying the pristine views.

[bbangel74]

I found Venice disappointing and sad. The weather was awful and some of it was underwater, which didn't help. Went out to some of the smaller islands and enjoyed them much more. Not sure I will ever go back!

[mafig]

Been to London a few times and always feel disappointed.  That's my major big world city.

 

Minor city .....Acapulco.  Yuk.

 

 

[cruisemom42]

One place that definitely did NOT underwhelm me was Giza, where the pyramids are located.

 

Despite the many, many photos I'd seen, documentaries watched, etc., it is really almost impossible to realize how HUGE they are and how impressive when you consider when and how they were built.  The "only remaining one of the original seven wonders of the world" is still amazing, even though increasingly walled in by modern development.

[SelectSys]

4 hours ago, bbangel74 said:

I found Venice disappointing and sad...

 

I made the mistake of taking my family there during the summer as part of a vacation in Italy.  We all just felt overwhelmed by the crowds in the city.  This has happened a few times, but I think Venice was actually the worst in this regard.  I blame this more on me for the poor timing rather on the city itself.  

[Gwendy]

I have been lucky to have travelled to many parts of the world, both cruising and land,  I can honestly say every place I have visited has had something of interest for me.  I guess I just like new places, really suffering at the moment, haven’t been anywhere since Norfolk Island in January,  3 cruises cancelled since then.

Back to going through the,photos. Lol

[Langley Cruisers]

So many interesting replies in this thread; agree with some, SHM on others (and that's OK!). 😂 We have travelled quite a bit and have seen some amazing places. I guess for me, one of the most underwhelming places was Grand Canyon. It just wasn't fabulous, for me. It was a nice time of year, it wasn't overly crowded, the weather was lovely... it just didn't thrill me. Same trip - what DID thrill me was Bryce Canyon!!! AMAZING and so much prettier and more scenic than Grand Canyon. Glorious.💕

[mjkacmom]

On 10/21/2020 at 9:06 AM, Blondilu said:

ilikeanswers:  Totally agree with you about New York City.  I just didn't "get it" I guess.  We went to a Broadway show and that was great, as was the pizza place across the street where we had lunch.  It was inside of an old church.  Good food and it was a really cool building

 

Times Square was the worst.  You couldn't pay me to got there again.

 

 

 

 

 

 

John’s pizza, and locals know that Times Square is the worst (but Central Park is amazing).

[Blondilu]

12 minutes ago, mjkacmom said:

John’s pizza, and locals know that Times Square is the worst (but Central Park is amazing).

Yes, that was it - John's Pizza.  We split a huge calzone.  It was yummy.  And you know what wasn't disappointing in NYC?  The people.  So many friendly people.  Now I really do want to go back.

[mjkacmom]

On 10/21/2020 at 11:21 AM, John Bull said:

I'm so glad that several members have mentioned NYC.

So now I can have my say without being pilloried 

 

Many years ago we finished a coast-to-coast road trip in NYC, five days before our flight home. We booked the first night into a hotel at Newark airport. A bus was due to go to Times Square, so we hopped on for a preview of NYC.

Had to climb over deadbeats & drunks to get out of the bus station, walked up one side of 42nd Street & down the other side with her hanging onto me and me hanging onto her handbag.

Then back over the deadbeats & drunks & caught the next bus back to the airport.

We had two unused tickets for Delta flights (for the flight Newark to LA at the start of our trip it was cheaper to buy a 3-flight pass than a simple one-way ticket) so we went to the Delta desk and asked what was the first flight out in the morning.

 

The clerk said Boston, but once he realised our situation he suggested Orlando - early March was too cold for Boston, and spring-break had just finished so Orlando wouldn't be crowded. First visit to Florida, thoroughly enjoyed it. Have been back to Florida a few times - flights to Orlando are cheap, and it's a decent start point for exploring SE USA. But nowadays Orlando is way too crowded & commercialised.

Have since also been to Boston - loved the place, even though we're not city-lovers..

 

We really didn't give NYC much chance - brief first-impressions & all that - so we're being more than a bit unfair.

But we've never been tempted to go back

 

JB 

It’s changed a lot, my kids have taken the bus to port authority since they were 14, I grew up in the 70’s/80’s and that area was downright terrifying!

[Fergus]

Dublin was it for me.  After arriving there and touring, mostly on foot, all day, we were kept awake by jackhammering outside our hotel window all night - road construction in the middle of the night.  Aaarrghhh.  In the morning I was so bleary eyed I walked over to the window in my pajamas and pulled back the curtain (to see what kind of construction was happening) to a doubledecker bus full of people at eye level, about 3 feet away from my window.  

[dolittle]

10 hours ago, whogo said:

If Niagara Falls were in a National Park, the views would be more pristine without the tall buildings, wax museum, sky wheel, Ripley's Believe It or Not, the laser maze.

People back did not want to see the grand canyon and others turned into a hokey mess. Watch Americas best idea on P.B.S.

 

[dolittle]

18 hours ago, LocoLoco1 said:

1 Word: Dope. 

Thank you.

[navybankerteacher]

Actually I have found SOMETHING of interest/value everywhere I’ve been - so I wouldn’t apply the “underwhelmed” concept to an entire city of island.  Some of my memories of underwhelming facets do stick with me.  I recall watching the “changing of the guard” at the palace in Monaco. It was so bad that it was truly memorable. - six overweight, balding fellows in ill-fitting white suits (they did not really rise to the level of “uniform”) shuffling about - not one in step with any other.  It did occur to me that their ministry of tourism would be well advised to hire a USMC Gunnery Sergeant for a week or so to put a bit of starch into the act.

 

Another interesting thing about Monaco was the number of little countries in Africa which seemed to have diplomatic residences there - I couldn’t think of any benefit the average citizens of those countries could reap from such representation. 

[gooch47]

On 10/22/2020 at 5:21 AM, Hflors said:

I thought the Vatican was my biggest disappointment.  The wealth displayed there would have cured world hunger for one thousand years!  During my time there I kept thinking about the priest in our church chastising the parishioners for not donating enough to the church so the church could do "God's" work.  And then to see a whole "city" and realize "God's" work supported this.  Very disappointing.

I felt that way about the cathedrals in Quito, Ecuador.  There is one that is nearly completely covered inside in gold foil.  Same day we went outside and there was a march going on about rent increases.

 

[gooch47]

I'm sure many will disagree, but for me it was the Amazon River.  I'm not sure what I expected.  Jaguars peering out of the jungle on the bank?  Flocks of colorful parrots flying overhead?  We did get to see the pink river dolphins and go fishing for piranha, but overall it was just a big disappointment to me.

 

Another one was the entire Baltic Cruise.  But I was sick as a dog so I suppose that was a big influence.

Edited October 23, 2020 by gooch47

[Zach1213]

Rome is my number one...love Italy, just really dislike Rome after a few times there both for work and pleasure. 

 

Paris is high on the list too...and again, love France with all of my heart, but not Paris. 

[Zach1213]

On 10/21/2020 at 10:30 PM, DaveSJ711 said:

Brussels in Europe and Lima in South America.  I've been to each city once and don't need to go back.

 

Brussels is great if all you do is eat and drink Belgian beer 😉

[LocoLoco1]

4 hours ago, fyree39 said:

I don't understand this answer.

I was referring to WHY San Francisco has lost it’s allure and descended into a mess. 1 Word: Dope. I Stepped over syringes in the Garribaldi Square area recently. I’m gone.