"free" cruise offer?

[deemk]

has anyone ever gotten a free cruise offer, where you just pay the port charges and then you take a free 4 day cruise. i had an offer where you pay the port charges ($60pp) for 2 people up front, and then you have 18 months to take your 4 day cruise and they said only christmas and new year's are the blackout dates. i asked what the catch is, and they said they're just trying to advertise. it was from imperial majesty. i've heard this kind of thing often when it comes to timeshares, but never from a cruiseline. i was just wondering if anyone has ever done this, or if anyone knows if it's a scam. sounds like such a great deal, but i was leary and haven't called them back yet.

[cantwait2cruize]

I got the same call yesterday, are you from Canada ( Toronto):) .

[can786]

Something sounds a little fishy about this, and I would warn you about the old agade that if something sounds too good to be true it probably is. Looking on the Imperial Majesty web site it seems they only sail two night cruises to Nassau from Ft. Lauderdale. I saw nothing about a four night cruise. Also, in the back of my mind I seem to recall reading that due to the age of the ship they sail it is very unlikely that they will be able to meet the SOLAS 2010 requirements (or rather, it would not be cost effective to retrofit the ship to meet these requirements) and that it is very likely the ship will be taken out of service in the near future.

[serene56]

http://www.imperialmajesty.com/index.htm

imperial majesty is out of FLL and goes to bahamas only. You dont get a chocie of where you are going to go.

 

Its onboard the regal empress.. which was commissioned in 1952.

 

We sailed her a few years back and referr to the ship as the regal rustbucket.

 

I dotn see a 4 day cruise----

 

if that is all you have to pay-- how bad can it be-- but be careful if it is tied to a time share presentation- 4 day cruises sound like its a 2 day cruise and a 2 day land vacation in nassau and thats where the time share comes into play

[eandj]

has anyone ever gotten a free cruise offer, where you just pay the port charges and then you take a free 4 day cruise. i had an offer where you pay the port charges ($60pp) for 2 people up front, and then you have 18 months to take your 4 day cruise and they said only christmas and new year's are the blackout dates. i asked what the catch is, and they said they're just trying to advertise. it was from imperial majesty. i've heard this kind of thing often when it comes to timeshares, but never from a cruiseline. i was just wondering if anyone has ever done this, or if anyone knows if it's a scam. sounds like such a great deal, but i was leary and haven't called them back yet.

 

 

Haven't been offered this exact one, but yes, it definitely sounds like the typical "Vacation Club" lure. You'll do the 2 night cruise, but will stay in a hotel for 2 nights in Nassau with some type of sales pitch for the club. Call them back and get the details. That's the only way you'll know.

[quester1]

has anyone ever gotten a free cruise offer, where you just pay the port charges and then you take a free 4 day cruise. i had an offer where you pay the port charges ($60pp) for 2 people up front, and then you have 18 months to take your 4 day cruise and they said only christmas and new year's are the blackout dates. i asked what the catch is, and they said they're just trying to advertise. it was from imperial majesty. i've heard this kind of thing often when it comes to timeshares, but never from a cruiseline. i was just wondering if anyone has ever done this, or if anyone knows if it's a scam. sounds like such a great deal, but i was leary and haven't called them back yet.

 

I've seen this offer many times in one form or another over the last few years. Stay away from it unless you like timeshare/vacation club presentations.

 

In this world there is no "free lunch" so to speak. The people offering this package deal want your time and will try very very hard to sell you a timeshare/vacation ownership. The 90 or 120 minute presentation usually ends up taking 3 or 4 hours when you count the the travel time to and from the presentation and the 1st, 2nd and 3rd closes after the presentation. Also remember there presentation only takes the 90 or 120 minutes but they will keep you longer if you continue to engage them in conversation. Your four day intinary will go something like this:

 

Day1 - Board the ship at around noon and sail to the Bahamas.

 

Day 2 - Go a shore at approx. 8 AM and transfer to the hotel for the presentation transfer back to the cruise ship some time in the afternoon or stay the night in the hotel.

 

Day 3 - if you stayed in the hotel you will be transfered back to the cruise ship in the early afternoon. If transfered back to the cruise ship the day before you can get of the ship in the morning and have the day to your self. At approx 6 PM the cruise ship will depart for the return trip to the US.

 

Day 4 - Arrive in US port and dissimbark sometime between 8 am and 10 am.

 

As you can see from the above, you will spend most of your time standing in line waiting to get off and on the ship, transferring to and from the hotel and participating in a high pressure sales pitch.

 

Basicly you will have one day and three evening s to enjoy your holiday.

 

As well the ship is very old and basic as far as cruise ships go.

 

If you have to spend alot on airfare or drive a great distance to get to the port of embarkation this "free" cruise is just not worth it.

 

Check with your local travel agent or one of the large online last minute cruise agencies and you could snag a 3-5 day cruise for up to 75% off on a major cruise line with spectacular newer ships for as low as $199.00 per person.

 

Check with your local travel agent for package cruises that include airfare, cruise fare and transfers to and from the airport. often the tour operators will be selling these cruise packages for less than the cost of airfare alone.

 

A Carnival cruise is a great cruise for first time cruisers because of the low cruise fare and their cruise garrantee. if you do not like the cruise they will fly you back to your port of embarkation at their expense and reinverse you for the unused portion of the cruise providing you exercise this option before you arrive at the first port of call.

[firefly333]

They give away cruises, I turned them down. I think their full rate of the cruise is $199 value, did you look at their cruise prices online?

 

It wasnt worth that for me to go to Ft. Lauderdale. Their ships are very small and not for anyone disabled mobility wise, teensy pool, but with so few using it it would be ok.

 

Depends on where you live. They have been trying to give away cruises for the last year at least.

 

I think I was only offered a 2 day cruise too. are you sure they said 4 day?? News to me the cruise is now longer.

[syotyu]

I have gotten an offer from them twice. It came in the mail. I researched it online. It turns out to be a scam. Not even as straightforward as a timeshare presentation. I strongly suggest you google the company name and see for yourself. Don't give them a deposit until you have checked it out because they have a history of not returning deposits.

[JamesIlsley]

From Cruisemates.com:

 

Travel Scams:

How to Recognize and Avoid Them.

by Paul Motter

Nov. 29, 2006 At one time or another, we all encounter problems with a company that refuses to honor its commitment. And according to the Federal Trade Commission, travel scams consistently rank near the top of its complaint list. I personally had a very close encounter recently.

 

At a county fair, I saw a booth with a big banner proclaiming "Enter to Win a Free Cruise!" I had to complete a form for a "drawing," so I filled it out, thinking, "Man, I've got to see what these jokers are up to." I gave them limited personal information -- some fictional -- and tossed it in the box.

About a week later I received a dinner-hour phone call. I had expected to get some kind of cut-rate offer, but I didn't expect what I heard next: "Mr. Motter, you have won a free cruise vacation." For just a minute, I was actually taken in. I was the first-prize winner, and that would mean something special -- something just for me.

 

So I asked them what I had won. They told me, "You have won a free Florida vacation, complete with free airfare, a free hotel, and a free cruise!"

 

 

"Really?" I asked, "All that and no strings attached?"

"That's right!" they said.

It took about 30 seconds for my bubble to burst. As soon as I asked them how it worked I knew it was a bucket of worms, and I was the fish on the line they were hoping to reel in.

 

As the details started hurling out of the mouth of the hustler on the phone, my original joy was replaced with unmitigated annoyance for the people who waste our valuble life time with lies like this.

 

The cruel hoax works like this:

• I had won free airfare - but only in the form of a "companion ticket" if I booked a regular ticket with this agency at full fare.
  
• I had won a free hotel stay - as long as my spouse and I attended a three-hour time-share presentation.
  
• And the cruise was free - as long as I agreed to pay the "service and handling fees."
  
• What kind of cruise? A one-day turn-around casino gambling cruise from Ft. Lauderdale to the Bahamas.

 

I should have hung up on them, but I decided to play along to see how far this scam would go. The moment of truth came when I asked what I had to do to collect my prize. "We will need a credit card number, right now, to hold the reservations for you."

 

"What reservations?" I asked, " I haven't made any reservations yet! I haven't gotten a single price quote from you, and we haven't talked about travel dates. Why do you need my credit card now?" They vaguely read off a script about standard deposit fees required to cover the air, hotel, cruise and transfers. Then they added in some service and handling fees and taxes, and a few disclaimers about blackout dates.

 

"It doesn't matter what arrangements you eventually decide to make," they said. "We need your credit card information now so when you do make arrangements you are assured to be in the system."

 

"By 'in the system,' you mean I am guaranteed my vacation will have the dates I want?"

 

"Unless it's a blackout date, or the hotel, flights, or ship are full, then you have to make other arrangements." In other words, the deposit didn't hold anything, except me as a paying customer for them. By now, of course, I was done with them, but being in this business I wanted to see how far they would press me.

 

Of course, caller ID showed the number as "no information," so I tested them. "Give me your callback number and I'll give you my credit card information in a few minutes - I just want to check the calendar."

 

"Sorry! No can do." he chuckled. "This is your official prize-winner notification call, and if we don't charge your credit card right now we can't award you first prize."

 

That was enough. "This is ridiculous," I replied. "I'm not your first-prize contest winner, I'm your number one chump of the hour. You people should be ashamed of yourselves." But these guys were not easily put off. They turned on the harder sell, that magic combination of happy yet pushy salesmanship, beginning with the get-the-sucker rule number one: make the mark say "YES."

 

"Mr Motter, do you understand you just won our first prize?" (Um, yes)

"And that means you are getting a lot of free travel from us?" (Um, yes)

"You want to be a winner, don't you Mr. Motter?" (Um, yes)

"Doesn't a cruise sound great right now?" (Um, yes)

"Plus, the deposit is fully refundable! Now do you feel better?" (Um, yes)

 

Whoo-boy, these guys were playing fastball, So, if I was going to knock them out of the park I had get a grip. "How much is the deposit, and what does it cover?" I asked. My "free" vacation prize was going to cost me more than $500 before the phone call ended -- just to get the ball rolling with a "deposit." Other yet to be identified fees could surface along the way, I was advised; meals, transfers, tips and a room upgrade, if I wanted one (ha! guess what that means). It was time to wrap this up.

 

"Listen to me, only an idiot would give you a credit card number without knowing what they are paying for, and if that is what you take people for, then you are the one with the problem." I said.

 

So they asked, incredulously "Mr Motter, are you actually refusing to be our first prize winner?"

Of course I was; but they weren't getting off that easy.

"Did I say that? Absolutely not. I want the prize I legally won and I expect you to deliver it to me, and you will get my credit card number when I have travel dates and a complete itemized receipt for the charges."

 

So they hung up on me!

 

When they first called and told me I won, I had a mental image of a child (perhaps a six-year-old with brown eyes and pigtails) mixing up my ticket stub in a fish bowl with thousands of others. She magically pulled my name out. Only me, I was "the winner" -- And now they had just hung up on me. Some winner.

 

Two weeks later I got another phone call from a different person. "Mr Motter, you have won a free cruise!" "Oh really" I asked. "And when was the drawing held?"

 

"Just today" they said, "and you are the winner."

 

"I am the winner, and no one else?" I asked, and they affirmed. "What a coincidence!" I said. "I won the same contest two weeks ago. That's amazing, isn't it, Wow, what do you think the odds are?" Ha! I had them, at least for a second

"I don't know," they hemmed and hawed. But they recovered with "so, have you claimed your prize yet?"

"You mean have I given anyone my credit card information so they can charge me a bunch of yet-to-be-described service fees and other charges?" I asked.

The only reply I heard was a very uncertain, " um, no."

And this time I hung up on them -- after I said, "This is a scam and you really should get a life."

 

The next day, I was attending a class at the local university when a gal friend said to me, "Guess what, I won a free cruise!"

I said, "Let me guess, you were at a fair, filled in a form and they called you and said you had won." "Yes!" she said, "How did you know?" I told her I had also won - twice. She had given them her credit card information, and all I could say to her was, "My advice is to try to reverse the charge with the credit card company, these people are crooks." She did.

 

All Too Typical Travel scams (and other kinds too) almost always have a loophole to negate what they tell you is a fully refundable deposit:

• They ask for your original booking number which they never gave you
  
• You call and ask for a refund and they agree to do it - but the "paperwork gets lost" so the charge remains.
  
• They won't let you claim your "prize" for over 60 days, which is the time window your credit card company gives you to cancel any charges

 

What is the moral? If it sounds too good to be true it probably is. If you are asked to give a lot of personal information up front to get anything "free" this is at best a company trying to get your marketing information so they can resell it -- and at worst it is a scam. To whom do they sell your personal information? Anyone they can -- like the second group that called and told me I had won a free cruise. They probably had no idea I had already been contacted and put through the ringer. And who knows how many times that same information has been sold by now?

 

If you receive an email saying you have won a free cruise - delete it without opening it - unless you recognize the name ( CruiseMates has given away three cruises with NO strings attached ).

 

I have one in my inbox right now I will use for research. The subject is "enjoy a bahama cruise at no cost" and it is from "cruiseagent" (actual email address: cruiseagent@travel-journal.biz). There is nothing but images in the email - no text (a sure sign of spam) and a button says "claim your cruise." I clicked it purely for research for this article, and my McAfee immediately warned me that the website "winyourcruise.com" was trying to load spyware on my computer. So I went to the McAfee SiteAdVisor site and looked up the site. Here is their report:

 

 

winyourcruise.com After entering our e-mail address on this site, we received 292 e-mails per week. They were very spammy.

 

Some of the Most Common Travel Scams:

 

As we said above, a telemarketer convinces a client to make a deposit for a trip, promising a full refund if the client changes his mind. But when the client tries to cancel, that salesperson doesn't work there anymore -- and he made a mistake in saying it was refundable, or the paperwork for your deposit gets lost, or the company asks for the original booking which doesn't exist.

 

Some fake companies do not even have formal contracts. They fax you a handful of brochures with hand-written prices circled on them, then total them all up and charge your credit card. When you arrive at your destination, the accommodations are several categories lower than you expected, or you must attend a time-share presentation, or find someplace else to stay. And that is a best-case scenario. Some people discover the whole thing was a scam and there are NO rooms waiting.

 

How to Avoid the Scams:

 

Get the details of your vacation in writing, and a copy of cancellation and refund policies before you pay. Don't accept vague terms such as "major hotels" or "luxury cruise ships." Get the names, addresses and telephone numbers for the lodging, airlines and cruise ships you'll be using. Get booking numbers from the individual travel suppliers and call them to verify that the room or seats you have been promised are actually booked in your name at the price you were quoted.

With cruises, any reputable travel agent will run your credit card charges directly through the cruise line, not his travel agency. The charge on your credit card statement should show the name of the cruise line, and the agent should have sent you a booking number you can use at the cruise line web site to see your booking details. This is usually true with airline reservations as well.

 

Beware of questionable language. If a salesperson says, "You've been selected for a spectacular luxury dream vacation," they are not promising anything will be free, or even cheap. It just means they selected you from the phonebook (or paid for your contact information) to try to make a sale.

 

If they use the term "subject to availability," put up your radar. Does that guarantee anything? In cruising, getting a guaranteed "Run of Ship" cabin is quite common, and often a good deal. But expect to be placed in the minimum category it guarantees, and then hope to be pleasantly surprised if you get an upgrade.

 

If they mention "blackout periods," those are blocks of dates -- usually around holidays or peak vacation seasons -- when no discount travel is available, then get the exact dates you are allowed to travel before you commit, then if all else is well book your dates as soon as possible. What is "available" today may not be tomorrow. With special offers, you probably can't cancel just because you missed your opportunity to book the rooms you wanted.

 

Never make a decision or commitment right away - especially to a pushy stranger on the telephone. There is no reason to pay for anything without full details. A reputable travel agent wants your vacation to go perfectly just as much as you do. If things go wrong for you, they go wrong for the agent, too -- and he must fix the problem. If a travel agent does not seem concerned about any problems, questions or requests for details you have before the trip, chances are he doesn't plan to be around by the time your world falls apart during the trip.

 

Always pay with a credit card, never a check - and never with cash or a wire transfer. With a credit card you should be protected if something goes wrong. You can cancel the transaction with the credit card company and ask for your money back. Unfortunately, some telemarketers are merely freelance commissioned brokers. If something goes wrong with the travel, and you paid them directly, they are not responsible for the failures of any individual travel service provider as long as they passed along your payment. You may have to fight the failing party, often in a distant venue (another state or country) to get back what you paid - which may be disputed by them or the broker. That is why you need detailed invoices from individual service providers. A good travel agent will deal with them individually and share the information with you.

 

If you get scammed, contact the attorney general in your state and the state where the travel supplier and the travel broker reside. If it is truly a fraud (they misrepresented what they were selling you and won't refund your money), that is illegal and punishable. But that doesn't guarantee that you will get any of your money back.

 

For legitimate travel agent disputes go to The American Society of Travel Agents, Consumer Affairs, at 1101 King Street, Alexandria, VA 22314. For cruise agency disputes contact CLIA, the Cruise Lines International Association. All fully licensed and bonded cruise travel agents are members of CLIA, at www.cruising.org.

[cruiserbryce]

I would have some amount of suspission if someone was offering me something for free...especially if it was a cruise...be smart here

[AllieInMD]

I got snailmail from them - after searching the fine print - it was a timeshare thing

 

has anyone ever gotten a free cruise offer, where you just pay the port charges and then you take a free 4 day cruise. i had an offer where you pay the port charges ($60pp) for 2 people up front, and then you have 18 months to take your 4 day cruise and they said only christmas and new year's are the blackout dates. i asked what the catch is, and they said they're just trying to advertise. it was from imperial majesty. i've heard this kind of thing often when it comes to timeshares, but never from a cruiseline. i was just wondering if anyone has ever done this, or if anyone knows if it's a scam. sounds like such a great deal, but i was leary and haven't called them back yet.

[Sarae]

Haven't been offered this exact one, but yes, it definitely sounds like the typical "Vacation Club" lure. You'll do the 2 night cruise, but will stay in a hotel for 2 nights in Nassau with some type of sales pitch for the club. Call them back and get the details. That's the only way you'll know.

 

I caled back about this - it is a time share promo. By the time the guy was finished - the cruise - 2 days in Nausu - time in Orlando the cost was $699 per person.

[jmbone]

Paid $399 to a company called 4 Results Travel aka 4 Results Inc. for a 'certificate' for a 7 night cruise for 2.

 

Got certificate and was instructed to (and paid) $598 to Spirit Travel for port charges and fees, plus $450 for upgrade charges.

 

Hurricane Ike decided to visit Galveston the same weekend we were schedule to cruise. Carnival cancelled the cruise.

 

Called Spirit to check on options. They said, you can cancel and get 100% refund, or reschedule. Since THEY SAID 100% refund, I cancelled. OOOOOPPPPPSSSS!

 

They didn't really mean 100% refund, they meant 100% of the money you paid directly to Spirit Incentives. Spirit CLAIMS they don't receive the $399 that was paid for the 'certificate' do they don't have to pay. They said you need to contact the company you bought the 'certificate' from.

 

Guess what.....The company (4 Results Travel) says, we send the money to Spirit, you need to get your money back from them.

 

OK.....so who is misrepresenting the truth here? RUN AWAY FROM BOTH!!! Spirit Incentives has a 'D' grade with the West Palm Beach BBB for a reason.......TOO bad I didn't know I was going to be dealing with them so I could have checked them out BEFORE paying any money!!!

 

PLEASE Don't get burned by 4 Results Travel or Spirit Incentives like we did!!! :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad: :mad:

[lms2004]

I've had the same offer twice from Imperial Majesty. They called and left several messages, and I never returned their call. About 3 months later, they called and left a couple of messages that I had "again" won a free cruise. We went on a Disney cruise a few months later and saw this ship docked next to ours. It's not much to write home about!

[cmarrero1014]

There are many travel scams out there. Some are legit. DW and I, before we were married, did a timeshare presentation thingy for a two-night hotel stay in D.C. and a $100 hotel credit which we used to drive from ATL to NYC to visit some friends. We knew what were getting into with with a three hour presentation and all but it was worth it since I was still a broke college student at the time. The pitchman was pretty good but you could tell his spirit was shattered when he found out my career was just attending University.

 

We tried another presentation for a "free" vacation after the success of the story above. This one didn't work out so well. First off they weren't selling timeshares, they wanted $2 grand for a set of pots and pans! Not any pots and pans mind you but ones that wouldn't lead to all sorts of health problems and cancer. Scare tatics was definetly the phrase of the day. I endured the lecture and we were rewarded with a voucher which was impossible to use.

 

For said voucher you had to call a number, which gave you a website, which instructed you to fax a form, where you waited for a snail-mail reply, that requested you mail a $5 check.... that is where we stopped and said, "to hell with it."

[G'ma]

has anyone ever gotten a free cruise offer, where you just pay the port charges and then you take a free 4 day cruise. i had an offer where you pay the port charges ($60pp) for 2 people up front, and then you have 18 months to take your 4 day cruise and they said only christmas and new year's are the blackout dates. i asked what the catch is, and they said they're just trying to advertise. it was from imperial majesty. i've heard this kind of thing often when it comes to timeshares, but never from a cruiseline. i was just wondering if anyone has ever done this, or if anyone knows if it's a scam. sounds like such a great deal, but i was leary and haven't called them back yet.

 

Here is a link, from a former employee of this cruise company:

 

http://www.ripoffreport.com/reports/0/053/ripoff0053598.htm

 

Their ship is a very old rust bucket. Check the internet for pictures and other comments from people who've been suckered in.

 

They don't do 4 night cruises - only 2 night..so you'd be spending 2 nights ashore. It's more like a ferry service than a cruise.

 

They are usually coupled with a time-share marketing scheme and you will be endlessly hounded by them while ashore.

 

I've seen this tank arrive in the Bahamas with it's stinking funnel and rust running down the sides. Personally, I wouldn't step foot on it.

 

Here's more:

 

http://overbreadth.com/2008/02/24/no-free-cruises-for-renters-apparently/

http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g34227-i98-k266056-Imperial_majesty_cruise-Fort_Lauderdale_Florida.html

 

More:

 

http://www.consumeraffairs.com/travel/imperial.html

[trainnut]

Actually, my wife and I depart Thursday for a "free" cruise - 4 nights on Carnival Ecstasy from Galveston to Cozumel!

 

I too went to a "vacation club" presentation with Silverleaf Resorts here in Dallas. We got the cruise, but it was a bit of a process! (What follows is long - the short story is to be persistent with these guys, and it can happen).

 

First, we did our 90-minute (actually 4 hours of our time) presentation. We said no, they countered with higher-level guy and less money; again, no, again higher-level sales "manager" with still less money. We were adamant (that's why I take my wife!), and ended up getting a certificate for the cruise. This was March

 

Had to send in the certificate, with a $100 deposit, within 12 months to Spirit Incentives. The trip had to be taken between September and March, within 18 months of sending in the deposit. They were SUPPOSED to send us info and booking forms within 4 weeks. Sent in the form the beginning of April.

 

7 Weeks later (end of June), still no forms, so I called. "Oh, we shipped it to your next-door neighbor's address" (yeah, right - I have good neighbors and would have been given my mail). At any rate, they "corrected" the address on file, resent the forms, which arrived 3 weeks later.

 

The "booking documents" consisted of a 1-page document, on which you are supposed to write down the 3 dates you'd like to go on your cruise. There were lots of restrictions: Like I mentioned, we could only go Septemberr - March. It had to be on Carnival or RCL, and would be a 3- or 4-night cruise. I was responsible for all port fees and taxes, and had to get to the port. The potential dates had to be at least 30 days apart, and not within 7 days of a major holiday.

 

So, okay, I got on the trusty computer and looked at various options. We ended up choosing to go out of Galveston, as we could drive there. Of course, RCL didn't have any available ships from there, so Carnival was the default option - no problem there! I chose a date in September, November, and December, and off went the form (late July).

 

Full of anticipation, I waited impatiently for my confirmation letter to arrive. Finally, in mid-August, it was here! I tore it open, to be confronted by "We're sorry, but your first date is booked. You have the option of either sending this form back confirming that you would still like your next date, or cancelling and receiving your deposit back".

 

Well, the wife is a bit upset, and suggests just cancelling. But I'm hard headed, and besides, I wanted to see what would happen, so I dutifully sent in my reply saying sure, I'll take the November sailing; and by the way, consider this authorization to "automatically" book us for December if the November cruise is full!

 

Think that worked? Nope! September rolls around, and another letter from Spirit Incentives - same problem - the November cruise is fully booked and to go, I have to fill out a form AGAIN! By now, my wife's fuming, but by gosh, I'm just having fun, so off goes my reply again.

 

WOW! SUCCESS! Barely two weeks later (about September 20), I get a form saying congratulations, I'm confirmed for December, just call this number on the form. I immediately call, and after a few confirmation questions, am routed to a booking agent (TA?). He looks at my account, and proceeds to ask if I'd like to take either the September or November cruises as "there are plenty of cabins available"!!!

 

When I got past the "What the hell?" part of the conversation, I figured out there are two separate groups involved, and they obviously don't talk. The first (marketing) side has the goal of getting you to cancel so they don't have to shell out any money; hence the run-around I got! Once they determine that you're not going away, they put you over to the booking side. These guys are much nicer and more accommodating. We ended up going in November (no way to change plans that late for the September cruise). Of course, there were still a couple of gotcha's: Port fees and taxes came to $351 for the two of us; and, "oh, by the way, your 'free cabin' is up forward and has bunk beds only".

 

Since we're in our sixties, and gave up climbing into bunk beds 3-4 years ago <G>, I asked about upgrades. I ended up with a "normal" interior cabin for $100 more. I had the option of oceanview or balcony, but the upgrades cost more than if I'd booked them myself, so I quickly passed on that.

 

So the moral is that you CAN get a "free" cruise, it's just that it definitely is not free! But who cares, we'll be cruising Thursday!

 

One thing, I have to say that the Spirit agents have been great. They called me several times to let me know about changes in where the ship would be docking, and made sure I have good contact info for Carnival.

[cruiserbryce]

we have received calls and emails before but it always seems that by the time you get to redeeming them it really isnt worth it with how the costs add up...

[JkyLovesRuss]

Ok, here is my deal.

 

My co-worker signed up for this vacation package through a travel company. She paid THOUSANDS to buy into a Vacation Club. The travel company in turn gave her 2 free airline tix, a free 4 night hotel stay anywhere in the US and a free 7 night cruise. She doesn't cruise and wants to give me the "free" cruise.

 

Now, of course I'm exited! We do have to pay port charges and taxes and $99 per person fee plus a one time $100 registration fee. We also have to pay extra if we want to upgrade from an inside cabin to an ocean view. I've never been on a "free" cruise. Has anyone out there ever been on one of these "free" cruises? Is it a catch? We'll end up paying around $1200, it's not bad for a cruise vacation for 2, but still, it is $1200.

 

My friend has been trying to reach the vacation club company and they don't return her calls? Has anyone had experience with these vacaton clubs?

 

Thanks!

[AllieInMD]

You don't say what line the cruise is on. Where it's too etc. All these fees and registrations make warning bells go off for me. As does the fact that she can't get them to return her calls. I'd be wary that the $1200 would end up being a lot more than that. Or that anyone would turn down the cruise - even if hates cruising - I'd take it and take the airline tickets to FL and stay in the hotel for 4 days for free.

 

Smells very fishy - and usually if something sounds too good to be true, it is.

 

 

Ok, here is my deal.

 

My co-worker signed up for this vacation package through a travel company. She paid THOUSANDS to buy into a Vacation Club. The travel company in turn gave her 2 free airline tix, a free 4 night hotel stay anywhere in the US and a free 7 night cruise. She doesn't cruise and wants to give me the "free" cruise.

 

Now, of course I'm exited! We do have to pay port charges and taxes and $99 per person fee plus a one time $100 registration fee. We also have to pay extra if we want to upgrade from an inside cabin to an ocean view. I've never been on a "free" cruise. Has anyone out there ever been on one of these "free" cruises? Is it a catch? We'll end up paying around $1200, it's not bad for a cruise vacation for 2, but still, it is $1200.

 

My friend has been trying to reach the vacation club company and they don't return her calls? Has anyone had experience with these vacaton clubs?

 

Thanks!

[iancal]

I think that $1200. is a lot to pay for a free seven day cruise. Depending on time of year, you can get very close to that on an internet special. We cannot afford anything for 'free'-it usually ends up costing too much.

[wvlibra]

I have won several sweepstakes and a true win costs you nothing to accept it. The phone call is ALWAYS followed by a letter to have notarized and they ask for no money. If you must pay to receive your prize, it is not a legitimate win.

 

The rules will state what is included: generally roundtrip air, hotel, sometimes meals, sometimes event tickets and all of the info is provided to you upfront.

 

Of course, Uncle Sam gets his portion via the IRS.