Lucky me – I’ve just won a free Bahamas cruise. The bogus Bahamas cruise scam offer is back.
The Royal Bahama Cruise Line just phoned to offer me this wonderful free cruise opportunity, and you might be getting a call soon, too. Beware.
The offer is good, so long as I am over 18, own a debit or credit card, can travel in the next 18 months, and am willing to share this great news with my friends on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.
When I asked the chirpy voice who identified herself as Maggie what was the name of the ship, how many days this cruise would be, and where it was going, she said, “I’m new here, let me connect you with a supervisor”.
That’s when I hung up. So I didn’t hear the rest of the pitch.
Although the phone number on my caller ID said 609-232-8935, an area code for the southern half of New Jersey, I suspected Maggie might be connecting me to one of those offshore numbers that would cost me $20 or more.
See Also – One-ring offshore phone scam
Royal Bahama Cruise Line seems to be the new name of Caribbean Cruise Line, Florida-based scammer with hundreds of complaints registered with the Florida Attorney-General.
Read the ecoXplorer article on the bogus free Bahamas cruise offer we published in 2012.
The Royal Bahama Cruise Line identifies its ship as the Bahamas Celebration, a retrofitted Baltic ferry operated by Celebration Cruise Line, and which offers budget-priced two-night cruises to Grand Bahama Island from from Palm Beach.
Celebration Cruise Line is top-rated by CruiseCritic, which also published an expose on the Caribbean Cruise Line scam.
Don’t get sucked in by the similar-sounding names –
- Celebration Cruise Line is top-rated
- Caribbean Cruise line, aka Royal Bahama Cruise Line, is a scam.
The Caribbean Cruise Line scam involved the following –
- a $59 non-refundable “reservation fee” picking up a “welcome packet” in Ft. Lauderdale,
- Suffering through a timeshare pitch,
- Somehow getting yourself to Palm Beach, one hour away, to board your ship, adding significantly to the convenience and cost of your “free” cruise.
- Also, the scammers lock you in to the least undesirable cabins.
None of that is mentioned on the fancy Royal Bahama Cruise Line website – WARNING – the website opens with loud Caribbean music, so don’t do this at work or in public.
ecoXplorer warning –
If you want to go on a budget-priced two-night cruise to the Bahamas, book directly with top-rated Celebration Cruise Line, and avoid the bogus Bahamas free cruise offer from Royal Bahama Cruise Line.
You’ll get the same ship, and it will cost you less than “free”.
This article was published in 2014. Copyright (C) Evelyn Kanter
ecoXplorer Evelyn Kanter is a journalist with 20+ years of experience as a newspaper and magazine writer, radio & TV news producer & reporter, and author of guidebooks and smartphone apps – all focusing on travel, automotive, the environment and your rights as a consumer.
ecoXplorer Evelyn Kanter currently serves as President of the International Motor Press Assn. (IMPA) and is a former Board Member of the Society of American Travel Writers (SATW)
Contact me at evelyn@ecoxplorer.com.
Exact same th thing I g oil t kne from BBC the Caribbean cruise I asked ffg kr a name and it was automated response then was transferred to a really loud call center and didn’t get the rest becau see e of the loudness said they would call back waiting especially now I know it’s a scam I’ll get more info lol this is resiciouse
I just got scam 1 hour ago
I just recently experienced this with a company calling themselves Bahama Island Cruises. I suspect it the same company trying to disguise themselves yet again.