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From flight delays to food poisoning, these are the travel horror stories shared by Ontario residents

From bouts of food poisoning to hours-long delays stranded at airports in the Caribbean, these are some of the travel nightmares CTV News and CP24 readers have shared with us so far.

Published: March 18, 2025 at 9:14AM EDT

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Woman pressed to sign NDA after husband suffers food poisoning at resort Alexandra Tropea told CTV News Toronto that her husband projectile vomited after eating at a resort restaurant while on vacation at the Royalton Punta Cana in the Dominican Republic. Tropea said they repeatedly requested help from staff for about three hours, but nobody showed up, prompting them to call local paramedics for aid. "They began him on antibiotics immediately before they took any tests. Even they assumed it was food poisoning, which they then did conclude that it was due to food poisoning and food handling, specifically," Tropea said. (Courtesy of Alexandra Tropea)

Woman pressed to sign NDA after husband suffers food poisoning at resort Tropea's husband stayed at the hospital overnight. When they visited the front desk the next day, Tropea says the resort manager offered late checkout and free hydrotherapy at the spa as recompense and presented her with a non-disclosure agreement. Tropea rejected the offer: "There's no way in hell that I'm gonna write—that I'm going to sign this." (Courtesy of Alexandra Tropea)

Birthday trip to Jamaica thwarted by Sunwing Airlines cancellations Jennifer Jackson was set to celebrate her best friend's 55th birthday at an all-inclusive resort in Montego Bay, Jamaica. But, after Sunwing Airlines delayed their flight by hours, changed their gate about six times, Jackson says their flight was cancelled for the evening. Jackson's rescheduled flight the following day was cancelled, and after driving two hours back home, she said they were booked for another flight at 4:30 p.m. the next day. However, it was actually 4:30 a.m., so they missed their trip all together. At around this time, Sunwing Airlines decided to cancel several southbound flights out of Toronto Pearson to "prioritize the safe return" of fliers who were stuck at their travel destinations due to weather and crew availability constraints. It was also at this time where Toronto saw back-to-back snowstorms. (Courtesy of Jennifer Jackson)

Group of 14 university students stranded in Puerto Plata Alicia Guddemi and Kylie Thompson went to the Dominican Republic with 12 other friends for a reading week trip. Their flight home to Toronto Pearson was delayed by 26 hours at the height of Sunwing Airlines announcements that several flights would be cancelled or delayed due to the wintry conditions across Ontario and Quebec at the time. (Courtesy of Kylie Thompson)

Toronto-bound flight turns back to Antigua due to 'mechanical issue' Leanne and Kirk Paty said their flight from Antigua to Toronto on Feb. 13 was repeatedly delayed due to a "mechanical issue." "The pilot came on and said there was an issue where one of the vehicles on the tarmac hit the side of the plane and there was some scratched paint, so they were assessing the damage at the airport in Antigua," Leanne Paty said, recounting when the pilot made a gate announcement in the hour before their plane was set to take off. They eventually boarded the plane and took off, but turned back to the island after the pilots received a "landing gear indication." (Courtesy of Leanne Paty)

Couple forced to sleep in suitcase after plane unexpectedly returns to Antigua Leanne and Kirk Paty said it was about midnight when they were told they would not be provided with any sort of accommodations ahead of their rescheduled flight. At that point, everything inside of the airport was closed and everyone on-board the flight was left without food and water. "There (were) people sleeping all over the place," Kirk Paty said. Photos revealed travellers sleeping on a luggage conveyor belt while two other fliers were sprawled out on the airport's tiled floor. The Patys eventually landed back at Pearson at around 4 a.m. on Feb. 15, after repeated delays due to the two massive winter storms that blew through Toronto then. (Courtesy of Leanne Paty)

Ontario family alleges teen daughter was accosted in resort elevator in Cuba Greg Woolvett told CTV News Toronto he, his wife and stepdaughter were vacationing at a resort in Cuba last March—something they have done for years. At one point of their vacation, Woolvett said a resort employee tried to kiss his 16-year-old stepdaughter in an elevator. "He pulled her out of the elevator by the arm and tried to drag her down a darkened hallway. By this time, she is terrified, but she managed to break free," Woolvett said. The family spoke with their tour operator Sunwing and Cuban police, and after returning home, Woolvett said the employee was fired and the airline offered to refund the daughter's portion of the trip. "If you are travelling anywhere in the Caribbean and you have young daughters, you should definitely have your antenna up and ready," he said.

Eighty Canadians 'dropped like flies' due to vomiting, diarrhea at Mexican resort After visiting Sandos Playacar in Playa del Carmen, Mexico in February, Steve Pontarelli told CTVNews.ca that several of his wedding guests started "dropping like flies." "Some didn't get out of bed for four days and didn't get any food in their systems," Pontarelli said. According to the Quebec man, 80 of the 90 people in his group fell ill with symptoms like vomiting and diarrhea. One guest, Pontarelli says, was puking so much that he broke his cheekbone on the sink as well as three fingers. The resort did not respond to CTV News' request for comment.

More Ontarian vacationers get sick at same resort around the same time Jessica Fillmore told CTV News Barrie that one of their group members was diagnosed with a food-borne illness on site, after several of their members already fell ill. She said there were also unsanitary conditions in their room and a stench of sewage at Sandos Playacar. Hotel staff started enforcing stricter sanitary measures and shut off access to water after receiving several complaints from guests. The group asked for bottled water, but was initially denied. "The funny thing is three days later, they started providing water bottles to everybody's room," Robbin Fendley, who also attended the trip, told CTV News Barrie.

Ontario family has 'horrific' experience after being stranded in Costa Rica airport Nathan Wombwell and his sister Bethany Brubacher flew to Liberia, Costa Rica with 10 of their family members, including four kids under the age of five, in January. After they boarded their WestJet flight to Toronto, they were told they would have to stay for a while as there was a customs-related issue involving one of the flight attendants. According to the family, they waited five hours onboard the plane until the flight was outright cancelled. "We were one of the lucky ones," Wombell said. "We found a small hole-in-the-wall (hotel). Super sketchy." The family left the following day, after spending thousands of dollars. WestJet apologized for the inconvenience, and confirmed to CTV News Kitchener the delays were due to customs and runway issues. (Submitted)