Imperial Majesty Cruise Lines - Ramada Plaza Resort ripoff Plantation Florida

Imperial Majesty Cruise Lines (IMCL) left identical messages on my voicemail two different days. The pre-recorded script is:

"Hi, this is Gina from Imperial Majesty Cruise Lines calling about the free cruise you recently registered for with the Hummer giveaway in Las Vegas. Congratulations, the cruise is yours. Please call us right away at 1-800-730-0276 Monday through Friday between the hours of 9am and 10:30pm or saturday from 10am to 4pm Eastern Standard Time. That number again is 1-800-730-0276. Thank you!"

I returned the call and a male IMCL rep answered and asked me to confirm my free cruise and I told him I was not prepared to do that until I talked to my husband and I will have to call back. He said call back soon because there are a limited number of spots and they will be gone.

I talked to my husband and he suggested I call IMCL back and get more info. So a week later I called again and spoke to a woman who used persuasive and agressive sales tactics to try to close the deal. I thought to myself, 'Why is she trying to SELL me this cruise if it is free?" I am very familiar with high pressure sales because I was trained by Radio Shack when I worked there a couple of years ago. I left that job because... well, that's a topic for another forum.

Back to IMCL. I asked a lot of questions to try to throw the lady off her script and get her to speak more naturally with me.
I asked her how many ships are in the fleet.
She said "two or three... but the one you're going to be on is the BEST and most beautiful ship we have!"
Um... two or three? She doesn't know how many ships are in the fleet of a company she represents?
Then she said, "Are you ready for me to register you for this fantastic free cruise now?"
I said, "I'm not ready to book today, I need to talk with my husband and find out when he can get vacation time and it will have to be during the summer when I'm not in class."
She replied, "I'm not the one who books your cruise, I just collect the taxes. You are aware that you have to pay taxes on anything you receive for free, right?"
I said, "Yes, that makes sense."
She said, "If you have a credit card number I can get you registered for the cruise today and then you will receive a packet in the mail and you will have 18 months to book your vacation."
I said, "How much tax are we talking about?"
She gave me the figure of $52 and change. I'm not a math genius but I figured this would price the cruise at about $630. I thought that sounded like a good deal. So I asked, "I live near Galveston, Texas. Is this where the ship docks?"


She replied, "We're in Fort Lauderdale, have you ever been to Florida? It's beautiful."
I said, "Yes I've been there. Could the company possibly fly us to Florida for free? That would help a lot."
She said, "I'm sorry but the package does not include transportation to Florida."
So the deal is looking far less glamorous now.
She says, "Even with your out of pocket expenses to drive or fly to Florida, this is still a great deal. Cruises are a wonderful experience and I would really like to register you today. When will you be ready to confirm this trip."
I'm pretty tired of her at this point. I say, "Well, that remains to be determined."
She asks, "By whom?"
I can't believe she just asked me that. I respond, "By me and my husband, the people who will be going on cruise... Hahahaha!" I laughed at her because it was a stupid question. Who the heck else would make that decision? We are adults, for crying out loud.
She was not laughing with me, and she said in a icy tone, "You have a limited number of minutes that you can speak with us and your time is running low. Let's get you registered today. It's only $52 dollars for the tax and then you and your husband can take a wonderful vacation on us. You have nothing to lose."

The last thing I said to her was "I'm running out of time? Oh no! I need to call you back when I'm ready. Goodbye!"
She continued to talk and I hung up.

I'm going to keep calling them back and see just how much time they give me. This may just be a fun way to pass the time while sitting in traffic each afternoon. Maybe I will put them on speakerphone and ask them a millon questions about the cruise and see how many of the reps contradict each other with their answers. If they want to play games with me, I will play right back. I have all the time in the world during a traffic jam.

My consumer analysis: I do believe that there is a free cruise with a sales presentation and I might even go if it were more convenient. Truth is, I don't want to drive from Houston to Ft. Lauderdale on my own dime when I have a port of call less than an hour away on Galveston Island. www.Vacationstogo.com looks like a better way to go, they have clearing house cruises for a reasonable price, HOWEVER - I'm going to research this discounter thoroughly before booking anything and I recommend you do the same. As for IMCL, unless you live in south florida and are willing to sit through their timeshare sales presentation, it might not be worth the trouble.

My advice to other consumers who get these sales calls: Don't let them raise your blood pressure. Have a sense of humor. Have fun with these phone reps, joke around with them, ask them weird random questions and throw them off their scripts. Never give them any credit card info, just keep asking questions and talk them into a corner. If we do this enough, maybe they will see their company for the joke that it is and find a more reputable agency to work for.