Caribbean Bahamas Celebration Cruise Free cruise scam! Florida Nationwide

Free cruise? Sounds too good to be true, but I gave it a shot. Caribbean Cruise Line called me saying I was selected to go to a free cruise. I tried to look online to see if this was some sort of scam before I accepted the offer. However, I didn’t find much information about it. I had a flight booked to Florida anyway and I didn’t think it would be a bad idea to take the offer and try to save some money.

They had an offer here I could stay 2 days at Ft. Lauderdale, 2 days at the Bahamas Celebration Cruise and 2 days at Orlando. I could use get either a free car rental or a gift card for free gas. I also booked the hotel through them as a package deal because the sales represented assured me I would be saving money.

$580 for 4 days for the hotel rooms + $118 (Promised to pay for the cruise taxes) + $66 for included meals at the hotel.

Once I got there, the Alamo car rental was NOT completely free. The renting fee/day was free, but you had to pay a rental car facility charge: $3.25/day, Concession Recoupment Fee: 10% (which ended up being $24.25 for 6 days of rental), Florida Surcharge: $2/day, Tire/Battery Fee: $2/day, Vehicle License Fee: $0.60/day, State Tax: 6%/day. TOTAL for rental was $88.88 for 6 days.

As for the hotel, I was charged $15/day for “Resort Fee” PLUS tax. Don’t get me started with the cruise. The parking was $15/day (Cash only). There’s a service charge of $12/day AND fuel surcharges of $9/person. The day excursion at Bahamas were about $55/person or more depending on the type of activity.

Verdict: Don’t accept the offer! It’s a scam!

I think this company is trying to sell their services for “free”, but you end up pretty much paying as much as you would have without this “special”. The hotels were mediocre and the cruise was just a tolerable level (the rooms were tiny). I would’ve paid the same for a much better traveling experience.

ALSO!!! I started getting charged by random companies. I’m pretty sure this company was responsible for it.

I hope this helps you guys to make a wise decision when you receive a “free cruise”.