I won a Complimentary Cruise?!?! or did i....

[Boostedtaco]

Sooo, i get a voicemail stating i've won a Complimentary cruise for 2 out of Galveston for 4 days PLUS!!! $100 bucks in gas. I'm thinking its a timeshare, but its not with no purchase required.

 

I'm thinking this is a scam or maybe it may be real, since Carnival does have my phone number from a cruise that was cancelled this year to H1N1....

 

Has anyone taken the bait? Is this something remotely enjoyable, or will be crammed into a room in the bottom of the ship for 8 hours for a presentation on I should buy some property.

[Carolin]

Its a time share. When you call, they will want you to sit through thier "seminar" then pressure you to buy. If you can deal with that, go sit, say no thank you and then take your "free" cruise.

[suzinva]

Just remember, "free" is never free when it comes to timeshares, especially if you think beyond financial considerations (time, aggravation, etc). I've done my fair share of time share presentations, they're not bad if you just learn one word "no." They do make you jump through hoops, though, to get the freebies. And you will most likely have to pay the port charges, taxes, etc. And you will most likely be very limited as to when you can use the free cruise. Worth it? Very subjective :)

[magictam]

I sat through one of those and said no thanks. Was given a certificate to send in for the "free" cruise offer. If I remember correctly, it cost $10 for the paper work for the details of the "free" cruise. Since I've wasted $10 for other things I thought what they hey.

There was a charge for processing the paperwork and of course all port fees and taxes needed to be paid. I really can't remember all the pricing stuff that I would have had o pay for the "free" cruise. But after figuring it out and looking on line at the cruise line pricing, it would have been cheaper or the same amount for me to book with the cruise line directly.

It cost me $10 to confirm that there's no such thing as free. Hope yours works out better.

 

[firefly333]

I did and dont bother. Its a vacation club they are selling. The FREE cruise is $179 pp for a 1A and you have to send in the money BEFORE you can choose the dates. and they will call you, you dont call them 60 days before the date they choose. If you choose a date in advance, they dont do anything.

 

The free discount card, you need to send in a money order for shipping and handling certified mail... and the discount is only a little bit each time you use it, cant use it all at once...

 

I think I had the choice of the gas card or the discount card, to use the gas card you had to buy $100 of gas first that month or some such... lots of strings.

 

I should have saved my money so far... nadda and cant get the shipping and handling back or the certified mail cost. No word on my free cruise. (and its been like 4 months) has to be during off season, at least 90 days ahead of the time you send in the card requesting dates, so cant use it before about next sept etc.

[momofzeke]

These "free" cruises from the timeshare people are not a good deal. RUN!

 

They give you the absolute bottom cabin category, and then try to get you to pay to upgrade.

 

The dates you can cruise are extremely limited.

 

You pay port charges, taxes, who knows what else?

 

As someone else said, you would be much better off just to pay for the cruise outright and get exactly what you want and when you want, without the obligation to sit through their aggressive presentation.

[firefly333]

Its a time share. When you call, they will want you to sit through thier "seminar" then pressure you to buy. If you can deal with that, go sit, say no thank you and then take your "free" cruise.

 

Actually its not a time share, they were honest saying it wasnt. I too live in the DFW area where the OP lives, and betting its what I went to.

 

You supposedly get highly discounted vacations if you book higher categories sounded like it might be worth it .. if you book cheap wasnt worth it. The catch was you had to buy in. They had repo's you could buy for cheaper ... so people are letting it go after they make the down payment ... tells you something. They showed supposedly prices like for a higher category balcony to Alaska and more expensive cruises.

[Traveler353]

There is no such thing as "free" and if it sounds to good to be true it probably isn't.

[Boostedtaco]

Wow guys. thanks for the info. It seemed pretty fishy to me. I woulda been ok if they just handed me two boarding passes, then force fed me a presentation in a locked room for a few hours a day.

 

But all this jumping all these hoops make it sound like a Pain in the butt, then paying out of pocket to get things for this "free cruise". I will pass. But thanks guys from saving me headaches.

[G'ma]

There is no such thing as "free" - be it lunch or a cruise.

 

Unless you have signed up for a drawing somewhere and have won, it's not free......

 

Google around the internet and, check snopes.com for these scams.

 

And, Carnival has nothing to do with any of them.

[firefly333]

Wow guys. thanks for the info. It seemed pretty fishy to me. I woulda been ok if they just handed me two boarding passes, then force fed me a presentation in a locked room for a few hours a day.

 

But all this jumping all these hoops make it sound like a Pain in the butt, then paying out of pocket to get things for this "free cruise". I will pass. But thanks guys from saving me headaches.

 

Dont forget the $179 pp I posted to get your free cruise, for booking charges and taxes they said ... pretty high taxes for a 4 day to me. upgrade if you want to pay more if you dont want bunk beds.

 

btw you could also get a 7 day for $299 pp for a 1A. (free cruise), that was on the paper as a choice. I decided that was even less of a discount.

[dprg644]

Remember there is no such thing as a "free" puppy :D

[spicysalsa]

Remember there is no such thing as a "free" puppy :D

 

I got a "free" cat once. $300 worth of vet bills, shots and flea treatments later...he was a great cat!!:rolleyes:

[conchead]

There is no such thing as "free" and if it sounds to good to be true it probably isn't.

 

Well, I used to think the same thing. One time my wife called me at work and said we won a trip to the Bahamas.

I was thinking ..sure we did! How much is this "free trip gonna cost?"

She told me everything was paid for, except food and $15 Bahama exit fee,

which has to be paid in cash,in person, at the time of departure. (Do they still do this?).

She had already called and confirmed everything. Sure enough we drove to the airport and there was a chartered jet and we with a group of others got on,

flew from Memphis to Freeport, got in a limo and went to the hotel for 4 wonderful nights. It was Great!!

I wish we could win a cruise that was really "free".:)

[BrendaB1]

They must really be working the Dallas area because one of my local friends got the same call. I advised him to RUN too.:eek:

[Koval]

I'd say run, we use to go to time share things and come home with a free piece of Junk :eek: A couple years ago, my daughter did get a free trip to Vegas, only cost her $200+ needed to upgrade from the flee bag motel. But they did have a blast for 2 days. Not free, but she said worth it. She knows how to say NO to the pressure tactics :p.

But now, if you look at my signature and e-mail me I have the best prices for a CC Group cruise!

Ports...Cozumel, Mexico...Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands...Ocho Rios, Jamacia.

It too is not free, but it is the best price I have seen for a 7 day cruise 4b, 6b, and 8b Cabins reduced $25 Deposit (double Occupancy) and an OBC. Port & Gov. fees included in the price. 4b family of 4 is under $50 pp per day. 8b for the same family of 4 just over $65 pp per day...

Just saying if you want to go on a cruise, check it out. the Draw back, or maybe not, It is Jan. 2011.

But hey, you could be waiting that long for them to get back to you with your FREE cruise out of Galveston :rolleyes:

[Princess7676]

Well we are going on the 19th on our "free" cruise from one of the time share people. It is a 1A room but all we paid is the port fees. So for us it worked out OK, we just had to wait till we actually got booked on a cruise and keep after them.