Caribbean Cruise Line

I purchased a 7 day package for 2 hotel stays and a 3 day cruise for $1100.00 with meals included and the upgrades. Stateroom with a window, hotel room facing the ocean, getting a larger stateroom, plus they threw in 2 weekend stays in Mexico and Las Vegas but the airfare made it too pricey for me to use these extras. That was 3 years ago but I became ill and couldn't go immediately so I paid $59.00 to extend the trip for a year and then a second time. I was about ready to forfeit the trip entirely when my daughter offered to accompany me and help me maneuver with my disability. I was thrilled to finally be able to go. Well, I want to report that we just got back and actually had a fantastic time in spite of the negatives.

We flew to Ft. Lauderdale where we stayed at a 4 star hotel and was given 3 excellent meals a day. Here's the catch. We had to attend a timeshare presentation which when I booked the trip, I was told would only last half an hour. I had no intention of buying a timeshare, but felt it was worth it to sit through a high pressure sales pitch because I am very good at saying "no" and the trip was so affordable for me. Taking a cruise was always on my bucket list.

The second day we drove to the presentation location in our free rental car which was a brand new red Nissan compact (which, by the way, the rental agent tried to talk us into upgrading to a larger size because this one would be way too small for our needs. We both drive Mazda compacts so that size was perfect for us and explained that to him, but he kept insisting the entire time that we were getting a bad car. It was very annoying, but I knew he was only doing his job so it was just a minor snag). We loved the car. It met all of our needs.

Back to Ft. Lauderdale and the "half an hour" presentation. We honestly thought we were going to be sitting in a room and watch a film about the facility and how great it was and then, somehow, be pressured into buying it and I would say "no". End of story.

Upon arrival, we were assigned to a personal real estate agent who took us out for a free breakfast at a very nice diner. We were given carte blanche to choose our meal. I didn't get too greedy but ordered a healthy breakfast which was delicious. We then went back to the facility to listen to her spiel.

She was a nice person and fun to talk to so we didn't realize time was going by until we looked at our watches and realized we had been there over 3 hours until finally she took us to see the apartment. It was lovely and new and in a nice building with a pool. There were 3 other parties there looking as well. The decorating was nice (not my taste) and they had a towel swan on the bed which was a cute touch since I had never seen one before. I was not really blown away with the apartment.

We went back and the real pitch began explaining costs and places we could use it and what a wonderful opportunity it would be to be able to have travel all over the world and save so much money on hotel costs. Yes, yes, yes, all true, but the answer was still going to be "no". We were done and tired and ready for lunch and tried leaving but she insisted we just stay a few minutes longer to talk to her manager who offered to give us a better deal. "No?" OK let me call on my manager so we could get a foreclosure for such a bargain price that it was hard for any person to refuse. But the answer was still "no" and could we leave now and get our cruise voucher validated. We were kind of stuck since we knew we would be refused the cruise if we didn't listen. Finally, they gave up and let us go to receive our voucher but a lady from "corporate" sat us down and gave us the final pitch and by then we almost walked out and didn't care if we were going on a cruise or not. But then we escaped with a firm "no" and we reached the exit door and there, a nice woman gave us all of our paperwork to board the ship and a meal voucher good for 3 free meals a day for 2 days. Whew, finally. OK, on to the hotel.

It was a 5 star luxury hotel and we were thrilled. We went to have lunch which was a delicious buffet. But first we had to stop at the Welcome Center to have our cruise voucher validated and told that we had to listen to a 90 minute presentation so we wouldn't have to wait on line to board the ship. The next day we listened to another presentation but this was to join a travel club which she kept repeating that they were a private company and not affiliated with the cruise company. At that point, my daughter offered to take over and get us the *** out of there. So she convinced the lady to speed things up because we weren't buying a thing and just wanted our VIP pass so we wouldn't have to wait on the line to board the ship. But she had to finish her spiel and had to call her boss over who was a very unpleasant person but we finally were able to leave. We were given our VIP pass and proud of ourselves since we survived the more than 6 hours of sales presentations and on to our cruise.

Surprisingly, when we boarded the ship, our VIP pass was meaningless because there was no line. Oh well, our bad. The ship was beautiful. Our room was small but very clean and modern with a nice decor. We had a window which I had upgraded to when I purchased the package. We spent 2 nights cruising, eating free food, and saw a show and my daughter went dancing. All in all, a very positive experience.

We landed on the Grand Bahama island and were driven to our 5 star resort hotel which was right on the ocean and I can't even explain to you how beautiful it was. We thought we died and went to heaven. My daughter did some swimming in the ocean. I rested. We were being charged for meals, which surprised me because I could have sworn I had been offered free meals in the hotel, but not on the island but the representative said I would have to talk to customer service when I got home. Fine, still tolerable for what we were experiencing at the moment. I knew there would be unforseen expenses once we got there. Some fun souvenir shopping, a bus tour (which was extra) and a fine gourmet meal at one of the restaurants on the island (extra, of course). 2 glorious days later and back to the ship for 1 night. We did some eating and buying souvenirs in the gift shop.

We arrived on dry land and picked up our car which was free except for gas and parking fees and then drove 3 hours to Orlando, the last leg of our trip and we had plans to go to Universal studios. When we arrived at the very nice Ramada, we were informed that there was yet another 90 minute presentation we had to sit through in order to get the free room and board. Now, both of us were furious because a "promised" half an hour presentation had added up to 10 hours of listening to all these people trying to make a sale. I felt sorry for them, but also felt sorry for us. Yes, we were duped, but we knew we would have to listen to a hard sell sales pitch as part of the package. But for only a 1/2 hour. I had purchased a dream trip was willing to endure a little sales pressure but 6 plus hours was not what I had been promised.

So when we sat down with the last lady, we became ruthless. We set a timer for 90 minutes, lectured her that we would never purchase a timeshare from this company for all the deception they presented to us for luring us into making a purchase. They had broken our trust and we thought the entire company was a bunch of scammers and why would we ever do business with this company ever again. Buzzer went off, "Time's up" and we shocked the lady that we were actually able to stop her in mid sentence and leave. She sent over her manager to no avail and we left feeling pretty proud of ourselves for handling the situation with dignity and respect for the poor woman who was only doing her job. Why didn't we think of this sooner?

Would we ever do it again? Never in a million years and I would advise people to book their trip with any other company than this one if they had no interest in buying a time share and even if they did. Their unscrupulous methods are not illegal but should be. For us, we had a memorable experience and I'd say it was pleasurable and we laughed at all of the aggravation we had to endure. But never again and I do not recommend this for anyone who is sane and intelligent enough to see through the fine print. I guess they still make millions of money in sales for it to be worth it to treat people as if they were *** children and sucker them into purchasing a product they can't afford and eventually bankrupt them and go into foreclosure.

My friend Mark is a senior who suffers from Diabetes as well as a plethora of health problems. He received a phone call from a very pleasant woman and informed he had won a cruise.

After at least 20 minutes he was convinced to purchase an entire package and the cruise was just more of a boat ride to the Bahamas where you needed to stay at a hotel. The whole thing sounded crazy to me, so I phoned and explained Marks situation and that he cannot even walk without assistance so this would not benefit him. I was transferred to a "specialist" named Ruben who was rude, insensitive and belligerent. He asked to speak with Mark directly, I put Mark on the line and Ruben raised his voice and asked Mark how he could have signed up and purchased if he was so sick.

Mark explained that regardless, he was within his legal right to cancel within 72 hours, Ruben said sorry this cannot be cancelled. I took the phone and told him that I would call the credit card company and the local news. He laughed and apparently had me on speaker because suddenly there was laughter from several people in the background.

Ruben said again NO it can't be cancelled, I asked him how he sleeps at night and again laughter erupted. People really do this for a living, sad, very sad!

on 81213 I purchased an item from a reputable company via phone and was told I qualified for a Bahamas trip. Was transferred to Caribbean Cruise Lines, a marketing company, not the actual cruise company.

Got talked into an all-inclusive trip with free hotels, car, meals at all hotels and cruise, ocean view hotels, upper deck room on cruise, one free air fare for each one paid (2-for-one) etc. for 9 days 8 nights for $1,015 after a 2-3 hours call by very fast talking gentlemen (talked to 3 different men) to Fort Laudersale/Bahamas/Orlando. Called the next day to cancel and after one hour they refused to credit my visa account the full amount. The had the gall to actually try and sell me more vacations, tell me there must be something wrong with me that family and friends didn't want to take the trip with me.

After a 1 hour, they finally said they would credit back $761.00 but refused to credit $254.00 even after threats to hire a lawyer. They actually encouraged me to go that route if I wanted to. Then had the gall to try and sell me other trips, stating that I would have a balance on my account with them for $254.00 (25% of trip) but would have to pay more to even get a lousy 2day/2night trip. I refused to agree to this, but finally said to credit the 761.00.

They are rude as heck. This is a scam.

You don't really get what they say you will. DO NOT DO BUSINESS WITH THIS COMPANY.

I am emailing you today to tell you about my five minute treatment from an employee of yours.

I received a phone call from a Jessica to contact her to receive my complimentary cruise to the Bahamas, I called the number back and instead of speaking to Jessica I spoke to a Paul. At first Paul was nice and friendly to me, he explained everything to me about what I have received. He asked me if I had a credit card and I said “yes” not knowing he wanted to know if I had a credit card on me at the VERY time. I do not keep my credit card on me at all times. Anyways, when Paul was done telling me all about the luxurious cruise I had received, he then told me I had government fees and wanted me to pay those government fees right now as we speak on the phone with my credit card. SO I asked Paul “can I call you back and do that, I’m at work I can’t get a hold of my card right now”? He says “Ill wait while you get it” I said ‘I can’t do that right now can I call you guys back at a better time when I can get access to my card”? He then continues to insult me by telling me ‘if you can’t afford the government fee that’s fine, just say that, this is a once in a lifetime offer and once you hang up your offer will go to someone else” I said ‘oh ok” and he continues to go on and on about how I’m lying about not having my credit card on me and people do this all the time and is yelling at me wanting to know why I said that I had a credit card on me right now. I never said I had it on me right now, I said, I had one. Then when I said goodbye to Paul he continued with his rude and insulting smart *** tone and slammed the phone down in my ear.

I don’t appreciate the treatment I received from your “business”. I was under the impression that I was being given a cruise for answering your survey. Ill be sure to help promote your business by telling everyone how I was treated and to not give your company their credit card numbers. Ill post that on the internet.

After several attempts to send this email to this "company" I get several email returns because the email address DOES NOT EXIST!!!

i was offered the free cruise package and charged a bundle..they have a shabby boat they are trying to pass off as a real cruiseliner...and attempting to get a refund is absolutely ridiculous...the support staff spin you in circles and onc you 'purchase' a packe the onyl way to get rid of it is to pawn it off on another unsuspecting soul...the cruise line has received so many complaints that it is a wonder they are still operating...you would be better standin in the middle of a rainstorm and not getting wet than actually receiving what they promise...

Well so did everyone else on the ship, haha! It's a bunch of *** to get you to listen to 3 hrs of time share ***, then they will put you on the worst case of of cruise ship ever. No service, except bar service! No food to choose from on buffett lines at all, it's a gain know weight cruise. No snacks anywhere, entainment was fair, oh and you get a big room with a pot hole and Bunk Beds, no I'm not kidding folks! Want something better to sleep on you can have 2 crapping twins on the floor for just a 200.00 upgrade to your bill.

Some people paid even more than us, due to bringing family with them. Lord have mercy on their bank account.

Please if the call you or send something in the mail, DESTROY it NOW! For the love of God don't use it, not worth the time spent on the trouble answering the call!

I was contacted for promotional cruise aboard Celebration out of West Palm Beach. I paid the $118.00.

When everything was explained to me, I was not advised that I would have to drive to Fort Lauderdale to "pick up vouchers" because I could not board without them. When I called to question, I spoke with "Richard" who was not helpful at all and would not even let me talk to a manager.He told me I would have to wait until after the cruise and write a letter.

He was rude and not helpful. I dont know what they are trying to pull, but I was told when I first called this was not a timeshare pitch.

Caribbean Cruise Line telemarketed a cruise to me. I agreed to a total of $547 for a 2 day ocean view cruise, 2 days in Ft.

Lauderdale, and 2 nights at Lucaya Reef Village in the Bahamas. This package was to include all meals at all locations. When I tried to book this vacation at the phone number they provided, I was told that meals were not included at Lucaya in the Bahamas even though I had a letter from them clearly stating that breakfast, lunch and dinner buffets were included at the Lucaya. I insisted that they review the letter sent to me, but they said they didn't have a copy.

I ask to email them a copy but they didn't have time for email. I ask for a fax number and after 2 days and 3 different fax numbers given to me after a tremendous run-around from their call center, I finally got the fax through. I asked them to confirm the fax and call me to make my reservation. No call back.

After 2 days, I called back to see if I could book the reservation correctly. For the 2 days in Ft. Lauderdale, I was advised to "upgrade" to a beach hotel because once I got to the standard hotel and "didn't like what I see", it may not be possible to "upgrade" at $75 per night. If I did not "upgrade" the cabin for the cruise for $150, our ocean view room might be a 40 sq ft cabin with bunk beds.

Passengers over 50 yrs and over 180 lbs. were prohibited from these cabins. I'm 60 and my husband is 63 but I wasn't going to give these people another nickel! None of this "upgrade" info was given with the initial description.

When I examined my Discover statement, I found that I was charged $665 instead of the $547 agreed upon. Again I called and was passed to 8 different agents over a 2-hr period who became increasingly rude and obnoxious. Since the initial transaction was recorded, I asked that the tape be pulled to prove the agreed amount. They refused and continued to berate and tell me that I didn't know what I was talking about.

The last agent I spoke with, LaVonda, was the rudest and most obnoxious. I insisted that the tape be pulled. She said "well, we'll just see!" After waiting another 15 minutes, she came back and said she would give me water taxi tickets for the difference. I said "No Way" I want a refund.

This really set her off and the verbal abuse was terrible. Their company did not "ever" give refunds. I told her that I was disputing the charge with Discover and terminated the call. Discover has charged back the $665 and hopefully will rule in my favor.

This company uses the classic "bait & switch" and then fraud by overcharging.

My name is Desiree Myers from Port of Spain, Trinidad, West Indies. I won the freelotto since May 2006 and havent received my monies since, I informed them that I don't have credit card and I would like to receive it in a cheque form, money order or otherwise, I sent emails to Ms.Matheson but to no avail did she even call me or respond, I won $1,000,000.00, $50,000.00 and $300.00 my pin #is 10261****.

I know they have to tax my money because it is from the US to the Caribbean, but just deal with the taxing and send me the remainder please, I would appreciate some sort of response, please contact me on 186********. Thank you