The following is Part 2 of the Free Cruise for two plus more, timeshare experience!! The Real Deal!!
This all started with a letter in the mail that looked similar to a Federal Express envelope. Jim and I called the number together. They offered a free cruise and a three day/two night hotel stay with air. We just had to listen to there timeshare sales pitch.
Later, we found out that the hotel and airfare were not combined with the cruise to start but we still decided to mail back the voucher to the travel service center for more information.
Approximately one week later, we received our booking procedure packet in the mail. There were a few surprises!! The three day/two night hotel and airfare were only for adults over 21 years of age.
This information unfortunately meant it was not going to be a girls weekend for me and our daughter. Jim and I decided that we would use the hotel.
After looking closer, if they flew us into town at night, then the first day is gone. If they flew us back home early the last day, then we would not enjoy much time at our desired location. Unfortunately, the trip could turn out to be one day of fun with two days of travel. We decided to decline on this offer.
The cruise was also for adults 21 years of age and older. The age was not the problem. They also needed two sailings dates and the sailing dates have to be booked out at least 90 days. Nancy believed we could make this happen.
Next, we needed to send in $75 for a processing fee to get the list of cruise vacation offerings. The $75 is a small chunk of change when booking a vacation and if it did give us a large savings the cruise would be worth it.
Approximately 1 week later, we received an email with the cruise listings. You could call to get prices or email them back to get the price breakdowns. We decided to call the listed phone number, thinking this process would be quicker because they would then send us another email with the breakdown of the sailing cost.
We did some research first to see how comparable the cruise price was going to be. Researching the prices was a very disappointing experience!! The first sailing we were looking at was out of Los Angeles. The cruise was to Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, Mazatlan, Mexico, and Puerto Vallarta, Mexico on the Carnival Splendor. Nancy went on Carnival Cruise lines website and started a booking to get a price quote.
Nancy got the following information: Inside Stateroom Price was $804.00 taxes $106.40 total $910.40 per person. This is the free cruise price $799.25. That is a $110.40 savings per person. I’ve gotten more onboard credit from a travel agent than that savings! This cruise definitely was not going to happen!!!
The next sailing was on the Carnival Horizon with ports in Grand Turk, Dominican Republic, Curacao, and Aruba. Again, Nancy researched the price for the two of us. The cruise price was $769, taxes and fees $125.40 total $894.40 per person. This free cruise price was $807.75!! The following is a breakdown of the price: taxes and port fees $278.75, processing fee of $129, premium ship surcharge of $375, and inside stateroom fee of $25. This is not even a $90 savings per person! How do they call it a free cruise, LOL!!!
Nancy looked very closely at the cruise list again and noticed that only one cruise did not have a surcharge fee. Nancy called to get a price on this cruise and once again we were disappointed!
The company offered no surcharge on the final sailing that Nancy looked at but the cruise certainly was still not a good deal. This sailing was going to Grand Turk, San Juan, St. Thomas, and Dominican Republic.
Nancy priced out the sailing for $474, additional taxes and fort charges of $147.40 for a grand total of $641.40. The free cruise price was $547.25 which gave us a savings of $94.15 per person.
Overall, we discovered attempting to visit a timeshare for a cruise vacation or a potential getaway vacation was a very disappointing process! We do understand that some people tell white lies sometimes, businesses can promise things that do not happen. However, we believe this is wrong!!
Of course, the timeshare company took the mailed letter you received in the mail, offering these wonderful promises printed on it, upon our arrival at the timeshare meeting. Like the old saying goes, “If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is!”
We would strongly recommend that you steer clear of this mail notice offer if you receive it in the mail. The offer is definitely a waste of time and more importantly your time and money!!
We honestly researched this offer, there is no bang for your buck here!!
Happy Smart Travels!!
I love what you guys are usually up too. This sort of clever work and exposure! Keep up the amazing works guys I’ve added you guys to my blogroll.
Awesome to read you are adding us to your blogroll, simply exciting! We appreciate your positive feedback as well. Nancy and I will continue to publish both informational and roadworthy blogs for you and our worldwide readers. Currently, you are one of over 130 countries around the world and yes, for that we are grateful. Happy Travels and Best Regards!
Hello! I simply would like to give an enormous thumbs up for the nice information you’ve right here on this post. I might be coming back to your weblog for extra soon.
Appreciate your kind words, Nancy and I will be publishing another new post later today. We look forward to reading your future comments. Happy Travels!!