Scam or legit??

[wallyworld583]

Got a notice in the mail that looks like it came from RCI. Says I have been selected to receive an 8 day/7 nite cruise on RCI. Just have to respond in 72 hours. Called the number and was told we would have to sit through a 90 minute 'travel club' presentation. Anybody else get this? Anybody actually done it? Or is this another "how many ways can you say no in 90 minutes" things?

[jo24]

I am sure that I read something recently on here that this is not actually Royal Caribbean.

 

When you called them, did they say it was?

[Debitoo]

Got a notice in the mail that looks like it came from RCI. Says I have been selected to receive an 8 day/7 nite cruise on RCI. Just have to respond in 72 hours. Called the number and was told we would have to sit through a 90 minute 'travel club' presentation. Anybody else get this? Anybody actually done it? Or is this another "how many ways can you say no in 90 minutes" things?

If it seems too good to be true, then it is.....There have been several threads on this subject in the past. From what I remember, it's not even close to what it's cracked up to be. Skip it!

[wallyworld583]

I am sure that I read something recently on here that this is not actually Royal Caribbean.

 

When you called them, did they say it was?

 

The person answering just said 'reservations'. I did a search on line but didn't find anything about this particular offer. Not asked for credit card or anything like that. Just had to show up in person to sit thru 90 minutes and pick up cruise documents. I agree, if it sounds too good... but figured it was worth asking about.

[LindaO]

It is from Royal Cruises International... or Royal Cruise Line... or some such... they represent themselves as Royal Caribbean... but if you were to question the rep on the phone the rep would have most likely hung up on you!

[leaveitallbehind]

Several other threads recently with similar situations. Highly doubt it is anything affiliated with RCI and doubt even more it is free. And as I understand it, travel clubs charge a fee to join.

Edited February 3, 2014 by leaveitallbehind

[jo24]

Oh absolutely, I quite agree, no harm in answering.

 

I guess if you have 90 minutes to spare but were there any more details on the ship etc?

 

Would be nice to think that some things are as good as they seem wouldn't it?!

[20pluscruises]

Got a notice in the mail that looks like it came from RCI. Says I have been selected to receive an 8 day/7 nite cruise on RCI. Just have to respond in 72 hours. Called the number and was told we would have to sit through a 90 minute 'travel club' presentation. Anybody else get this? Anybody actually done it? Or is this another "how many ways can you say no in 90 minutes" things?

 

Take another look...I received a call..sounded like Royal Caribbean...I asked "who is this cruise line" only then did they say Royal Bahamas Cruise Line.

 

Basically it was a free Royal Caribbean Cruise on Royal Bahama Cruise Line...very deceiving

 

I should start a thread to give a heads up on the exact wording...making it sound like rayal caribbean cruise line

Edited February 3, 2014 by 20pluscruises

[FireEater]

I think I saw the ship in Freeport in September when I was on my last cruise. If I remember right, they are out of Ft. Lauderdale and go from Florida to Freeport. Just found this: http://www.cruisecritic.com/articles.cfm?ID=1185

[r5516]

Don't waste you time or your money, they will ask for a credit card and will charge you fees before you ever get a chance to book a trip. A couple in New Jersey was sentenced last week for a similar scheme.

[ryano]

Nothing to do with Royal Caribbean at all.

 

Its a short cruise on an old, small converted ferry which is now called the Bahamas Celebration.

 

By the time you pay the fees and their ridiculous upgrade charges, you can purchase a short cruse on a much newer and better cruise ship through RCI or Carnival.

[transam84]

Got a notice in the mail that looks like it came from RCI. Says I have been selected to receive an 8 day/7 nite cruise on RCI. Just have to respond in 72 hours. Called the number and was told we would have to sit through a 90 minute 'travel club' presentation. Anybody else get this? Anybody actually done it? Or is this another "how many ways can you say no in 90 minutes" things?

 

SCAM! Got one too about two weeks ago. Sounded interesting so we went to the presentation. Well it is for a travel club and they want you to pay 9000 to join and then they claim you get 50% off vacations. They would not tell us their name till we got there and gave us no hard copy paperwork. They told us we had to make a decision that night. Ha! Really, we could not think about it. They kept coming up with different prices every time we said no. We did get voucher from a company with a different name. It says we have to pay fees and port charges. When I googled both companies they came up fishy. They make it really hard to cash voucher and if you can they charge so many fees you end up paying more than if you went through cruise line. I tore up voucher and thanked God I did not buy into the travel club. These things make me so sad that this world has people that make a living ripping off others. :mad::(

[wallyworld583]

SCAM! Got one too about two weeks ago. Sounded interesting so we went to the presentation. Well it is for a travel club and they want you to pay 9000 to join and then they claim you get 50% off vacations. They would not tell us their name till we got there and gave us no hard copy paperwork. They told us we had to make a decision that night. Ha! Really, we could not think about it. They kept coming up with different prices every time we said no. We did get voucher from a company with a different name. It says we have to pay fees and port charges. When I googled both companies they came up fishy. They make it really hard to cash voucher and if you can they charge so many fees you end up paying more than if you went through cruise line. I tore up voucher and thanked God I did not buy into the travel club. These things make me so sad that this world has people that make a living ripping off others. :mad::(

 

Thanks for that. Sounds like the one we got. Figured it was a scam but hate to pass up a cruise. Into the shredder with that one.

[glitterbee]

I got one of these in the mail over the weekend, too. Figured it sounded too good to be true. It has the Royal Caribbean logo all over it, including the voucher. (unlike some of the other scams). I wonder if RCI knows about it?? I would guess they got their mailing lists from Royal???

[transam84]

I got one of these in the mail over the weekend, too. Figured it sounded too good to be true. It has the Royal Caribbean logo all over it, including the voucher. (unlike some of the other scams). I wonder if RCI knows about it?? I would guess they got their mailing lists from Royal???

 

Yes, my initial card said VERY clearly I had been selected for a free Royal Caribbean criuise. I had previously received a free caribbean cruise line cruise, a few weeks prior but had immediately declined that one. An inside room on a converted ferry holds no appeal. But the Royal card looks leget and even says the travel co offereing is an authorized seller of royal caribbean. But when I got the voucher from the scam travel club it did NOT say Royal it said my gift was a cruise. When I googled the company I found out all the things I previously mentioned. I wish Royal would remove their authorization for this travel company because they support legalized rip off schemes with their free cruise offers. I know Royal has absolutely nothing to do with them but I love this cruise line and hate their name associated with this terrible company.

[Thetrail]

The person answering just said 'reservations'. I did a search on line but didn't find anything about this particular offer. Not asked for credit card or anything like that. Just had to show up in person to sit thru 90 minutes and pick up cruise documents. I agree, if it sounds too good... but figured it was worth asking about.

No it's not from RC.......

[aftop]

My DW answered the telephone a couple of days ago. She said it was from RCI and since I do all the reservations she gave me the phone. When I answered a few seconds later the person had hung up.

[LetsGetWet!]

I got one of these in the mail over the weekend, too. Figured it sounded too good to be true. It has the Royal Caribbean logo all over it, including the voucher. (unlike some of the other scams). I wonder if RCI knows about it?? I would guess they got their mailing lists from Royal???

 

Yes, my initial card said VERY clearly I had been selected for a free Royal Caribbean criuise. I had previously received a free caribbean cruise line cruise, a few weeks prior but had immediately declined that one. An inside room on a converted ferry holds no appeal. But the Royal card looks leget and even says the travel co offereing is an authorized seller of royal caribbean. But when I got the voucher from the scam travel club it did NOT say Royal it said my gift was a cruise. When I googled the company I found out all the things I previously mentioned. I wish Royal would remove their authorization for this travel company because they support legalized rip off schemes with their free cruise offers. I know Royal has absolutely nothing to do with them but I love this cruise line and hate their name associated with this terrible company.

I'm sure they did NOT get their mailing lists from RCI, and I'm also pretty sure there's no authorization to remove - I doubt RCI has authorized them for anything, they're using the logos without permission. I got a similar "invite" promising free air travel with the American Airlines logo plastered all over it too. Have a friend in management at AA and he said they'd never authorize such a thing and are constantly tracking these scammers down and getting them to stop using the logo, but as quickly as they get one shut down, another one pops up.

[tigger-ttfn]

SCAM! Got one too about two weeks ago. Sounded interesting so we went to the presentation. Well it is for a travel club and they want you to pay 9000 to join and then they claim you get 50% off vacations. They would not tell us their name till we got there and gave us no hard copy paperwork. They told us we had to make a decision that night. Ha! Really, we could not think about it. They kept coming up with different prices every time we said no. We did get voucher from a company with a different name. It says we have to pay fees and port charges. When I googled both companies they came up fishy. They make it really hard to cash voucher and if you can they charge so many fees you end up paying more than if you went through cruise line. I tore up voucher and thanked God I did not buy into the travel club. These things make me so sad that this world has people that make a living ripping off others. :mad::(

 

Scam Travel Club. I went to their presentation and had the Attorney General of my state call to get some info from me as they were investagating this club.

[transam84]

Scam Travel Club. I went to their presentation and had the Attorney General of my state call to get some info from me as they were investagating this club.

That is good. I hope someone can get them shut down and arrested. It may not be technically illegal...or maybe it is, but they are ripping people off, time and money. Sad...

[NMG318]

SCAM! SCAM! SCAM! SCAM!

 

My wife and I bit on this scam and it costs us $150. The company selling their vacation club tells you up front they are not affiliated with the company giving you your "free" trip. They tell you they pay the company giving you the "free" trip to get you to come and listen to their vacation club sales pitch.

 

This is what we found out.

 

1. You can do just as well shopping around for deals than you can using the vacation club. It will cost you $3000 - $10,000 up front (depending on how well you can wear them down) and then there is a hefty annual fee (I don't remember how much...$500.00??) Thank goodness we didn't bite!

 

2. The "free" cruise or airline tickets are not free. We found out the hard way that the "fees" they tell you about end up costing you more than if you booked it on your own. You will pay an initial fee...for us it was $35.00 each. When you receive your "packet" to book your trip you will have to send another $40 fee each to receive your "free" trip. When you finally get around to booking your reservation, they require you to send an additional fee that was going to end up costing us the same as if we had booked the trip on our own with a whole lot more restrictions... but we cut our losses and chalked it up as lesson learned.

 

SCAM SCAM SCAM!!!!!

[transam84]

SCAM! SCAM! SCAM! SCAM!

 

My wife and I bit on this scam and it costs us $150. The company selling their vacation club tells you up front they are not affiliated with the company giving you your "free" trip. They tell you they pay the company giving you the "free" trip to get you to come and listen to their vacation club sales pitch.

 

This is what we found out.

 

1. You can do just as well shopping around for deals than you can using the vacation club. It will cost you $3000 - $10,000 up front (depending on how well you can wear them down) and then there is a hefty annual fee (I don't remember how much...$500.00??) Thank goodness we didn't bite!

 

2. The "free" cruise or airline tickets are not free. We found out the hard way that the "fees" they tell you about end up costing you more than if you booked it on your own. You will pay an initial fee...for us it was $35.00 each. When you receive your "packet" to book your trip you will have to send another $40 fee each to receive your "free" trip. When you finally get around to booking your reservation, they require you to send an additional fee that was going to end up costing us the same as if we had booked the trip on our own with a whole lot more restrictions... but we cut our losses and chalked it up as lesson learned.

 

SCAM SCAM SCAM!!!!!

 

Sounds like exactly what we were facing. Good for you to cut your loses. Glad I googled and found out before I laid out any money.

[RCI Cruisers 004]

I just got an Email from someone in South Africa that said they just received $ 12 million, but must get it out of the country quickly, and they will send it all to me then split it 70/30 once they get to the US ! All they need is my bank acct. numbers and SSN. Woohoo.......easy street, here I come ! There is also a phone scam going around, so be carefull. Remember the wisdom of WC Fields, there is a sucker born every minute !

[davekathy]

If something sounds too good to be true, it probably is.