Nearly everyone is familiar with the call: A too-good-to-be-true offer for a "free" cruise, promising a stress-free Caribbean getaway _ as long as you BUY NOW.
But it's when would-be travelers actually start to look at the details of their "free" vacation that things can get messy.
Available dates may be severely limited. The seller may try to add on a hotel stay _ for a price. Travelers may find out they'll need to first sit through a timeshare presentation or pay government taxes or port fees _ despite the prohibition by Florida law that the only allowable charge for a prize is the cost of delivery.
And those who cancel may find getting a refund to be nearly impossible.
"When you start asking those questions and thinking about the hoops you have to jump through, the hassle might outweigh the 'free' cruise part," said Colleen McDaniel, senior executive editor at Cruise Critic, a cruise review website that has seen numerous complaints about "free" cruise offers.
Still, many travelers bite, lured by a steeply marked-down vacation. All too often, such "free" travel offers can be deceptive schemes perpetrated by Florida-based companies trying to piggyback on South Florida's status as the Cruise Capital of the World.
And, granted, some discounted voyages have yielded positive experiences.
Facebook user Kelly Faust Ray said on Cruise Critic in the summer of 2017 that she had a "great time" on her "free" cruise. According to her post, she paid $29 a night plus taxes for a hotel stay in Fort Lauderdale, $15 for three daily buffets for two at the hotel, plus tax and gratuities, and government taxes and fees on the cruise.
"We did have to go to a (90-minute) timeshare presentation _ we were out in (90 minutes). How we figure it is this: We don't make $300 at our jobs in (90 minutes), you don't get something for nothing," she commented. "(Ninety minutes) out of our day is doable."
But in many instances, such "free" travel deals turn into trouble for consumers: Last year, the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services received 1,028 complaints about travel or vacation plans, making it the No. 8 most common complaint. The department characterizes "free" cruise deals that require travelers to pay additional fees as travel scams.
Online message boards, forums and social media sites are also rife with consumer posts complaining about "free" cruise schemes or seeking answers about offers they received.
A 2010 post on maritime lawyer Jim Walker's Cruise Law News blog about Caribbean Cruise Line, a travel agency that allegedly sells "free" cruises and has been sued in a class action lawsuit, spawned a 72-comment spree that spanned six years, through August 2016. The company, not related to major line Royal Caribbean Cruises, has an "F" rating from the Better Business Bureau.
The majority of the complaints on Walker's site referred to the business practices of Caribbean and similar firms. An editorial post about Caribbean's practices on the popular site Cruise Critic drew 84 comments. Facebook is home to a number of complaints about "free" cruise deals. As is Twitter.
