Free Cruise?

[Tantsee]

We received a promotion in the mail from a time share resort. It says they will give us a "free" 7-day cruise on Carnival, NCL or RCCL (their choice, I believe) just for taking the tour. My husband already threw away the card, but I'm still curious. Have you had experience with this? Did you really end up with a free cruise? If you took the cruise, did you have any unexpected problems (for example, additional charges they didn't mention). What is the catch (other than having to listen to 90 minutes of high-pressure sales)?

:confused:

[springtxbill]

If you still had the card you could read the very fine print and you would have to pay some fees that may be more than the cost of the cruise in an off season. The dates you can go are also probably limited. :)

[mrsfuzzmo]

DO NOT fall for this scam. Not only will you actually get to go on a cruise, you will be charged...in the end... way more than than the cruise was worth, if you had booked it normally.

 

IT IS A SCAM...and unless you are interested in sitting in "time share" talks for hours and the endless sales pressure, then ending up with something that you could have had....only better.....for less money.....Leave it in the trash.

 

Mrsfuzzmo

[Boo's Mom]

Ditto: Don't mess with it. :(

[Ali-in-Texas]

We went to a time share spill once in cancun. The people were very mad when we declined to buy. They practically threw us out of the office. I will never go thru that again.

[kitty9]

Our local TV news did a story about this and said not to fall for anything that you get in the mail concerning a free cruise. They will ask for your credit card number and once you get the bill, there are charges that can add up to more than the cruise actually would cost you.

[cali-croozer]

We received a voucher, from a time-share, for a "free" cruise; like yours, but 4 day Mexican Riviera. The only way to redeem it was to send a check for taxes and fees (about $100 per person), and 3 dates we were available by a certain date--I think, within 30 days. Only then, would we find out what cruise line and what date. There was no way to contact the "travel agency" other than mail (they were not listed anywhere, no phone number, no web address or e-mail). They didn't even provide a list of sail dates; was I just supposed to pick some random dates? I also wanted to bring the kids. So, I wrote to them, asking for a list of sail dates and how much it would cost to add a 3rd and 4th person to the cabin. Never received a response. If it sounds too good to be true, it usually is.:rolleyes:

[deirdrebeth]

I received a "free" cruise voucher from my time-share company, and while I did have to pay for all the fees and taxes, my boyfriend and I are both taking a 7 day cruise for a grand total of $373.77. Now, if we wanted to upgrade our cabin we would have to pay "list" price, which is something like $200 each just to go from an inside to an outside and not worth it, but the basic is definitely a deal.

 

I will admit that I don't trust offers from companies I don't know - but this came from Pacific Monarch, and the TA is called Our Vacation Center, and they have phone and mail contact (though no web which is sad).

 

My 0.02.

 

deirdrebeth