vouchers for a free cruise

[MaiTaiMary]

Has anybody else gotten one of these?

 

Got one today in the mail. It was a "bulk postage" so I almost threw it away.

 

It says we need to call this 1-800 # and we can have a 7 night cruise, outside cabin, leaving from any major port in the U.S.

 

I read the fine print and "the catch" seems to be:

 

~we still need to pay all taxes, port charges, customs fees, etc.

 

~we need to attend a 90 min sales presentation for a travel club.

 

It appears to be from Carnival, but after reading the fine print, it's not.

 

 

Just wondering if anybody else received one of these and have used it.

[kujobie]

Throw it away

[MaiTaiMary]

why?

[MaiTaiMary]

I'm just trying to figure out where the "scam" is. LOL I'd sit through a high-pressure 90 minute time-share type presentation for a free cruise! :D

[wendyandcliff]

We have gotten several of them so decided to go to one. When we got there it was to try to get you to invest in a time share property. They said the talk would take at least two hours and my husband decided he didn't want to stay there that long, so we left. It was Mardi Gras weekend in New Orleans and if we stayed there that long, we would never get out of the city. I guess it depends on if you want to listen to the talk or not.

[firefly333]

I'm just trying to figure out where the "scam" is. LOL I'd sit through a high-pressure 90 minute time-share type presentation for a free cruise! :D

 

People seem to be responding so they keep sending them out. If you do a search, I bet you can find 10 threads just lately.

 

Mine was $299 per person for the taxes and fees, or $179 pp for a 4 day. great .. I paid and waited over a year.. finally went to the BBB when they said there were no other choices other than a 4 day from Miami.

 

Im not a big enough carnival fan to pay to fly to Miami for that price.

 

After opening a dispute thru BBB they finally found the most terrible cabin you can imagine on Triumph ... its usually crew storage if that tells you how bad it was.. noisy, man, sounded like next to the engine, tv green, just a really awful cabin. I will never again say I dont care which cabin Im in.

 

Id also fallen for the money off RCL cruises, and paid that with a cashiers check from my bank... the catch was you could only get a little discount each cruise, not the whole money promised on the same cruise (maybe $300 off?).. they are scammers and cheaters.

[firefly333]

Here is another way they got me. The postcard promised a 4 day free from Galveston, and I said great, its worth it since Galveston is a expensive port.

 

The TA who contacted me eventually (over a year later) said by sending in the money you agree that whatever was promised to you on the postcard is null and void. what??

 

Yep, thats what she said. They are a totally separate company from the postcard sending company so whatever the postcard said is not valid. The TA started off with full price quotes when she did finally contact me .. and if I didnt know prices, perhaps I would have fallen for it. I kept insisting on what I was promised.. talk about a song and dance.

 

I never got the cruise from Galveston btw.. which is a premium port she said so there were NO DATES that I could ever get. They finally got me out of New Orleans though, which is a more expensive port and I would never book only a 4 days otherwise.

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

Save time and file them in the round file

[tef43]

Shred it, then burn what's left. Worthless.

[abitaturbodog]

We got a postcard in the mail last week promising a free cruise too. I called to make an appointment and the rep told me it was a travel agency selling vacation memberships in Charleston. He gave me the name of the agency, Wholesale Escapes Ltd. and I looked it up on the web. Wow! I found out that it has a F rating for the Better Business Bureau, tons of lawsuits filed against it and lots of unhappy clients. Needless to say, I cancelled our appointment.

 

Maybe the offer you got is more reliable...but I doubt it. Do your research and good luck!

[arush5268d]

Ah yes. The daily new thread about this scam.

[golfadj]

Mine went into my shredder, did not pass go or collect $ 200.

 

Do you really think they will give away a free cruise for listening to a 90 minute presentation?

[luckycruzer]

never heard of that...especially B4 the cruze......TRA S- H-IT

[SkyMaster]

Mine came from a "Travel Club" in Orlando, Florida. I too, looked it up on the net, and I too found all kinds of lawsuits against it, and complaints. I too, canceled my appointment. (They wanted to know why I didn't want to keep the appointment,,,so I told 'em!) ;)

Don't waste your time.

 

"SKY"

[MaiTaiMary]

OK, I'll check out who the company is and see what their status is with the BBB. Thanks! :D

[arush5268d]

OK, I'll check out who the company is and see what their status is with the BBB. Thanks! :D

 

 

You're missing the point....it's not even worth looking into. You will still have to pay hundreds in various fees and costs.

[debster11]

Everyone is right. Throw it away. If it sounds too good to be true it usually is. We went through the scam high pressure sales talk and our "free cruise" would have cost us around $1200 after it was all said and done. Not worth it.

[MaiTaiMary]

our "free cruise" would have cost us around $1200 after it was all said and done. Not worth it.

 

 

How did you end up paying $1200? Are you saying you have to sign up for whatever it is they're selling to get the cruise? I understand I would have to pay taxes, port fees, etc. But what added up to $1200? :confused:

[arush5268d]

How did you end up paying $1200? Are you saying you have to sign up for whatever it is they're selling to get the cruise? I understand I would have to pay taxes, port fees, etc. But what added up to $1200? :confused:

 

All the fees and charges they require you to pay may very well end up to be more than just paying for your cruise.

 

If you haven't caught on by now - perhaps you should just take them up on their offer and learn for yourself; the hard way.

[debster11]

How did you end up paying $1200? Are you saying you have to sign up for whatever it is they're selling to get the cruise? I understand I would have to pay taxes, port fees, etc. But what added up to $1200? :confused:

 

No, all the taxes, fees, service charges, port charges customs charges (still don't know what that one was) PLUS the air was included BUT they would only fly you in the day before and you had to stay at one of their properties. Not free mind you, at the cost of about $175.00 a night. These properties were not that close to the port and transportation was not included so tack on more for that. Oh, we would have had to pay some kind of airport fees as well. It wasn't a flat $1200.00 I just can't remember the exact amount. I just know it was around that.

 

It's not free, not by any means.

[MaiTaiMary]

If you haven't caught on by now - perhaps you should just take them up on their offer and learn for yourself; the hard way.

 

No need to be rude. Just curious about this offer and trying to understand more. That's all. :)

 

 

I appreciate the responses! :D

[arush5268d]

No need to be rude. Just curious about this offer and trying to understand more. That's all. :)

 

 

I appreciate the responses! :D

 

 

My apologies, I was not trying to be rude but theres a point at which we can't tell you anything more to show you that this is something you should run away from.

[richstowe]

No need to be rude. Just curious about this offer and trying to understand more. That's all. :)

 

 

I appreciate the responses! :D

 

Frankly I didn't think the response was rude. It seems you are willing to give this offer a chance. So go ahead!

 

Caveat emptor.

[firefly333]

Iv been reading more about the free 8 day cruise plus airfare, and Im sure that is more than the one I got.

 

Mine was a vacation club for sale. They wanted you to believe they could get cruises and other travel much cheaper if you joined their club. Prices for the club started around $10K or even more, and gradually went down if you kept saying no. OK we have this one someone wants to sell you cheap, only $6K. etc.. its as much as a time share, you just dont get a time share with the club.

 

There are other vouchers you can buy on ebay that are a better deal and cost less for a cruise .. not this deal. This deal they will give you the worst possible cabin for the so called free price .. and you can do better. This isnt the best deal out there. If you aer this flexible that you can go get this free cruise, send in the money, wait for them to recontact you about your three dates, you can only pick offseason dates, you get a 1A unless you pay to upgrade .. (well the said to me, we gave you a upgrade, I got the last inside cabin on the bottom deck that no one uses on Triumph, other ships might have a similar awful cabin). You will have to be so flexible on dates, and cabins ..you really can do better with other vouchers.

[MaiTaiMary]

Frankly I didn't think the response was rude. It seems you are willing to give this offer a chance. So go ahead!

 

Caveat emptor.

 

Nope. Not going to try it. It's already in the trash. :) But I DO take advantages of these kind of offers when they come around and I've never been "scammed" in the past. Annoyed by high pressure sales people? Yes! LOL But I've never had a company not honor what they've told me.

 

I was just trying to find out more info so I know what to look for in the future, things to be aware of, questions to ask, etc. etc. I'm a researcher! LOL :D

 

Iv been reading more about the free 8 day cruise plus airfare, and Im sure that is more than the one I got.

 

Mine was a vacation club for sale. They wanted you to believe they could get cruises and other travel much cheaper if you joined their club. Prices for the club started around $10K or even more, and gradually went down if you kept saying no. OK we have this one someone wants to sell you cheap, only $6K. etc.. its as much as a time share, you just dont get a time share with the club.

 

There are other vouchers you can buy on ebay that are a better deal and cost less for a cruise .. not this deal. This deal they will give you the worst possible cabin for the so called free price .. and you can do better. This isnt the best deal out there. If you aer this flexible that you can go get this free cruise, send in the money, wait for them to recontact you about your three dates, you can only pick offseason dates, you get a 1A unless you pay to upgrade .. (well the said to me, we gave you a upgrade, I got the last inside cabin on the bottom deck that no one uses on Triumph, other ships might have a similar awful cabin). You will have to be so flexible on dates, and cabins ..you really can do better with other vouchers.

 

I never knew about vouchers on Ebay. Interesting! Thanks.

 

This offer was for a outside cabin, not a 1A. But yes, if they only give me certain dates to choose from (or one!) than that really would be difficult and technially, they're still honoring the deal.

 

 

I appreciate the insight on this. Thanks everybody! :)