Imperial Cruise, Imperial Majesty Cruise And Ramada Resort deceived me taking my credit card information charging me $498 + $25 =$523 in total Fort Lauderdale Florida

I  got the same free cruise card in the mail and i called them several times and finally bought into it. Then read all these forums of how bad it is. But then read some good ones on other forums that deal only with cruises. I called back and in order to take my 18 & 20 yr old boy's it would cost me a lot and the lady was very very helpful she looked in the computer and found a cheaper package that included everything like ours. Everthing was a go then my mother and her freind which are 74 & 81 thought they would like to go with us so i called back after all reservations at all places were in place and they found a package that was very similar to ours and yet $100 cheaper again but all reservations had to be changed due to space available. This took several calls to make sure we were all at the same hotels and aboard the cruise on the same dates. After about six calls and double checking all three packages they had everything in order. We drove down from Canada so no rental was needed. So let me tell you we had a great time and would do it again. We paid the tax on our rooms and we paid the tax on our meals, on board we paid the $20 x six people for the gratuity and tax, we paid the fuel surcharge at $18 x six people plus drinks and gifts and basically could eat all day till 3am, the rio was good but the crystal dining room was formal or smart casual and wow what an experience it was great. The entertainment was great. It's not the oasis of the sea ship but it's fine, clean rooms , good showers, the ship was clean, staff was helpful and friendly. The timeshare thing turned out good because i was up front with our host and in the end bought  one on the beach 5 mins away from the cruise ships, our last holiday was 25 yrs ago so this was a good deal ans a smart deal on our part. I priced it out individualy and we took that trip for less than half price thru Ramada's deal. So read what you like but i'm glad we went thru with it. Can't wait till next year to us our timeshare and maybe do another cruise.

They called my cell phone on march 2,2009 stating that you have won a cruise to ft lauderdale florida and somehow convinced me to agree. Once i agreed for the cruise they slowly but surely put a small claims for paying taxes only. I gave my credit card number and they charged me a total of $523 i.e. $498 for imperial crusie lines and $25 imperial majesty cruise lines. So after geeting my bank statment on saturday march 21 2009 i felt a little uneasy about the cruise and so i googled it and found the ripoff-report and read a couple of stories that matched my same story. So now what should i do. Can i somehow get my money back? Or should i go to the cruise? Dip19 watervliet, New York U.S.A.

If you haven't taken the trip yet call and book it i can't say it's the same package as we had. Our's had 3 night stay in Ft Lauderdale and a 2 night cruise and 2 nights in Orlando. My 1st pkg i paid $798 plus port fees, taxes and gratuities on board and at the motels. I ended buying 3 pkgs altogether. Imperial Majesty, Ramada Resorts, Caribbean Cruise are all the same people, i know cause i bought a package from each one. We also had to do a time share ordeal which we did and turned them down and when we went to sign out and get are cruise tickets another lady was selling re-sale and foreclosure time shares and we bought one one the beach with 3 weeks usage every year for under 5 grand. Now my first pkg has the 10 other locations with it so every year i'll extend the pkg for $58 and have two nights free at a hotel when we drive down to fl. which in return will lower the initial cost of the 3 pkgs. and get to see other time shares in case we want to stay some where else one year. So i'm going to make it work for my benefit. ALSO you'll need to call them to find out which ship you'll be on because the Bahamas Celebration which replaced the Imperial Majesty is moving up to Palm Beach and will be sailing only to Freeport Grand Bahamas Island instead, as of March 15 2010. Just remember most of the bad reviews are from people who have never even been on the cruise. If you go with a chip on your shoulder you'll come home with a chip on your shoulder, all six  had a great time and that's from my youngest who is 18 up the 81 yr old who had a great time. It still was less than half the price of me planning the trip on my own. I also sent in reciepts for gas so i'll wait and see what i get back, 3 pkg's so $100 per pkg. Check out this web site  cruise critic .com and find the reviews for bahamas celibration and read reviews from people that have done the cruise i think this will set your mind at ease. I agree the people can be pushy, they've already started calling me to tell me about other cruises but hey you already have it so go enjoy it.

Fortunately, people do have a weapon against this scam of a company. All one has to do is read the "Florida Sellers of Travel Act." Specifically, sections 559.932 Vacation certificate disclosure.-- and 559.933 Vacation certificate cancellation and refund provisions.--

Also, don't let them tell you that the act does not apply to you because you do not live in the State of Florida. The act applys to the SELLER doing business in the State of Florida, where this scam company is located, and they MUST abide by it.

The facts about these companies...

Caribbean cruise lines violates the FTC Act by misrepresenting that consumers had either won or been specially selected to receive a vacation package, misrepresenting the contents of the package and their cancellation policy, and failing to disclose that consumers were expected - or would be pressured - to view timeshare property. This company also uses high pressure, up-sell tactics to intimidate the consumer into upgrades that they may never receive, upgrades that will add hundreds of dollars to the cost of the “free” vacation. In addition, the company "cold-calls" consumers based on leads obtained at public events where consumers registered to win a vacation. Accordingly, Caribbean cruise lines violates the Telemarketing Sales Rule (TSR), because in these solicitations Caribbean cruise lines fails to disclose material costs and restrictions concerning the vacation packages. Finally, the company commits additional TSR violations for not abiding by the Rule's "Do Not Call" provision.

In summary, you would be wisely advised to avoid this company and others like it that “operates” in this manner. They are a scam, all be it a very weak, lame scam at that but, still a scam nonetheless. The sooner people wise up to these dodgy, blatant fraudsters, the sooner they will be pushed back into the scum covered cesspool from which they came.