In my carrier, 26 leave days every year. First of all they ask you to book and use it (you have to according to local law). Than they refuse giving it saying it's a high season or they wait with confirmation until last minute (might be stressful for some after paying for holidays). If you skip the process they will force you to have holidays some random period. But after all we have holidays all the time.
Honestly, if you are looking for perfect schedule, in my opinion is to have 4-5 days OFF blocks every month and know that in advance. I am not a big fan of spending time on the beach, but I need at least 20 days of holidays to go for skiing at least twice per year :-) if I have it, I am happy!