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Just got a call from a TA offering a free 4 nighter anyone know anything?

Venusleo1

By Venusleo1,
in Royal Caribbean International

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Venusleo1

Venusleo1

Posted
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Okay so I just recieved a call on my cell phone from a TA company in IL and they told me I won a free cruise on either NCL, Carnival or RCI. 4 nighter to bahamas. Now I dont remember entering any contests but it would be something I would do and possibly not remember doing.

 

This company told me I would be responsible for the sales tax up front. $190 for me and my husband and I would have 18 months to book the cruise. Once I was at the pier I would have to pay the port fees upon check in.

 

This sounded fishy and so I started to ask some questions. Whats the catch? I asked if we had to do any time share presentations ect and they said no. I asked if there were any blackout dates and they said no. They told me they have been giving free cruises to people for 23 years and that I could call the cruise line and check with them. They gave me their website but its just like any website and the address listed is a PO box in IL.

I called RCI and spoke to a customer service rep who knew nothing about this. I gave her the name of the travel agency and she said that she found a regestered TA with the same name in IL but the address and phone # didnt match so she gave me the contact info for the agency registered with them. I called the other agency and the young lady I spoke to said she had recieved a call about this same thing last week but she didnt think it was them and she was going to have her manager call me back. Im waiting to hear back from her.

 

Anyways do any of you know anything about this?

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LovesCruising

LovesCruising

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The part you wrote about paying port taxes at the pier really raises red flags for me, I've never heard of that before.

 

Me too - I also would never pay (especially via cc) anything to anyone on the phone who I did not personally contact myself. Things like this make me nervous these days.

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cruisefan0110

cruisefan0110

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I got a call from them also. The are a travel club company and supposedly do their advertising be giving away travel instead of TV or radio ads. You will have to sit through a high pressure sales pitch to get the cruise.

 

Compare the $190 up front cost and then add the port fees. Then compare that to what you can find on the RCI website for a 4 night cruise and you can find out it is really not worth it.

 

That is unless you are interested in joining a for-fee travel club.

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Venusleo1

Venusleo1

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Yeah I did the math and it would basically save me maybe $200. A 4 nighter on the Majesty is $607.00 for two people for an inside end of January. Im going to assume that the port fees in Nassau and Key West for two people would be at least $100.person maybe even more.

 

Im not going to do it. Also the 4 nighters dont really work for me cause you have to take off so much time at work, if I were going to take off basically a whole week of work I rather take a 7 nighter. Yes a 7 nighter is more expensive but time off is hard to come by and a valuable asset as well.

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babette95

babette95

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My in-laws received a similar call and luckily checked with me before jumping at the "deal." I googled the phone number and a ton of complaints came up for the company. People experienced a ton of added fees to their "free" cruise. If it sounds too good to be true then it usual is.

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jebl

jebl

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DH and I made the mistake of going to one of the local "presentations' for a similar deal. Free cruise.

 

I knew it was not worth the time we spent when the 'agent' told me they can discount RCI. NOT!

 

By the time you get done with the processing fees, taxes and port charges you could probably book with RCI for less. Or with a reputable TA for a lot less.

 

The whole thing is a come on for an overpriced ,not worth the money, travel club.

 

When you get these things run for the hills!!!!:eek:

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justjd

justjd

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been getting calls that I've been "selected" to answer a telephone questioniere about the debt crisis and will recieve a complimentary vacation....hit the

1 button to be taken off their list, as my option....BEEP

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nikimouse

nikimouse

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wow my mum got scammed 8 years ago! she paid 2 x $99 for a package that included cruise and accomodation. we had to get our flights. We tried to cancel because i was pregnant, it was impossible to get a refund and they told us we could take it later. A few years after this we had completely forgotten about it ( assumed we had been ripped off and cut our losses) anyway, I was planning a trip to florida and had booked my flights when all of a sudden my mum gets an email from a vacation resort explaining that their property had been advertised in the offer and they would like to honour it by giving us 9 nights accomodation in orlando, so i email back and reserve dates with them, but unfortunately they cant offer the cruise as they are nothing to do with that part of the offer and are no longer in partnership with the company that took our money. it all seemed a bit fishy but we went and they gave me $100 cash for attending their presentation, as well as 4 tickets to blizzard beach and 2 x 1 bedroom apartments ( really nice) and i didnt have to pay anything! other than what my mum had already shelled out 5 yrs befor. the 5 of us had a great time, and as we had saved money ( we were planning on paying for condos and didnt have to) we decided to book a cruise too! so it all worked out ok in the end, but Id be suspicious if I were you, and it will involve a sales pitch, which i didnt mind because they gave us breakfast and money ;) We didnt get the whole package, which was for 4 people in 1 apartment plus a cruise, but we didnt get ripped off either. Did your offer include anything else?

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