I received a phone call from Blue Star Cruises as well. First i did a survey then was transferred to talk to a representative who claimed i won a free Cruise ! I thought this has to be a scam until he offered to sent me an email to give me more details and allowed me time to look it over before continuing. Looks legit so i preceded. Of course i knew there had to be more to it but when i found out the "total" charge $118 didn't seem bad at all ! I wasn't sure if i had the complete amount on my card so they ran it to " check it out". He told me that only $59 went through and that i needed another card. I wouldn't have more money on the card until the following day and he said that was fine they would give me a call back and run it for the other $59 & i would be all set. The next day comes and my account is drained COMPLETELY dry over $1000 !! I don't believe it! If only i had did more research on it before i jumped in.
All credit card companies offer dispute services - if you believe your card was charge in error you call your credit card customer service line and tell them you wish to dispute a charge. You write up your claim, support it with documentation (back-up documents that show you were mis-lead) and usually you get your money back immediately from the credit card. The fraudulent company then has 60 days to present their side. Usually, they just refund the money to the credit card company. No loss from your side.
After reading these reviews I just want to roll up into a ball and cry to be honest. After doing the survey, the phone hung up. couple days later Blue Star Cruises called which was yesterday (10/05/16). Of course starting off promoting. At first I'm thinking the cruise is free and I'll just have to pay "port taxes" of $118. After paying they transferred me to someone else. These representative is offering me now a V.I.P. stay which is $439 per son. Including upgraded outside view cabin, $100 gas reimbursement cause we'd be driving down to FL, $50 casino certificate, a 3 days & 2 nights stay in Grand Lucayan Beach Resort Spa. Alright sounded good but I let them know that I'd cant do it now I'd have to talk about it to my fiancée. he wasn't present at the moment. They began to press the promotion stating its a good deal he'll be mad if u pass it up. After being on the phone for about an half hour spiting out deals and different payments. I finally decent eh what the heck and decided to pay.
So my total is now $996. Then they connected me to someone else. I realized the next person and the person just bargained with me more. Now this person is offering me for an extra 70 something dollars I'll get the two day stay in an FL hotel before our cruise so we don't be late to dock or in Orlando which ever we please. Also with my stay in the Lucayan Beach Resort all our non motored activities would be vouchered for. I let him know that people or skeptical about these kind of things. He told me there was reassured me that there was nothing too worry about. I asked questions if I'd be paying for anything else to my understanding all I'm responsible for now is our spending money, alcoholic beverages on the ship, and actives we do, and room service at the hotel. All Meals paid for. They got me good. should of stopped when I realized how bad they was pressing when I said I'd have to talk to over with someone. I'm not telling my fiancée till I but that money back into my savings. Well the money is spend. Should I go??????????
Blue Star Cruises called me and offered me a cruise deal, which I accepted, but the charges turned out to be much more than I was told or anticipated. I don't mind paying for tips and port charges, which I did, because I know they are standard on every cruise. But I was lead to believe by Blue Star representatives that I wouldn't have to pay ther fuel surcharge, which was over a hundred dollars additional added to my bill. When I asked the cruise staff when I was disembarking the cruise, they told me the reason I paid the one hundred and some odd dollars for fuel charges is because I booked through Blue Star and not directly through them.
Then Blue Star also leads you to believe that all your meals are included, but it turns out that is the case only if you stay in the dumpy hotel that they put you in, which is an outdated hotel with not very good food. If you pay Blue Star's upgrade fee to upgrade to a real hotel, which I did, then you end up getting just a $7 discount on whatever your meal costs per person.
I was also told by Blue Star that I would receive a 3 day 2 night trip to Las Vegas as part of my package, which I never received. This is all in addition to the fact that I was required by Blue Star to go on a 3 and a half hour timeshare tour (some of the other guests told me their tour was over 4 and a half hours). So all in all, if you are going to go on a cruise, you would be better off booking yourself as opposed to using a company like Blue Star.
Blue star cruises, the grand celebration and Cabb group LLC is a corrodinated, colaborated SCAM! They say you simply take a survey and then they connect you to a telemarketer who claims you have WON a Free cruise.
Then they ask for your credit or debit card info to charge you $118 to pay fees and before the phone pitch is over, they ask you to charge a total of $1470 to your card for travel.
The hotel that this company puts you up in is the biggest joke I have ever seen. We were told we would be given a choice on hotels to stay in during our time in ft. Lauderdale, but we were not. They instead set us up in the Ramada inn. The floors were stained, there was mold on the curtains and there was an awful stench through the entire hotel. Then they informed us our food would be covered while we were there...we walked to the buffet and I was honestly scared to eat the food they were serving. We waited in a line for 15 minutes to get a packet of info which at that point was the most info I had about this whole deal. We ran out the doors of the ramada and straight to the beach where I paid for another hotel out of my own pocket. (Another added expense $200/night). They also make you sit in a 3.5(+) hour timeshare tour which they strategically never told us about. The ship was fun once we were on. The Bahamas and the grand lucayan were amazing and we wished we would have just booked a trip for there the whole week. I have never seen so many hidden fees on one trip. All in all we paid close to an EXTRA $800 in hidden fees. (Ship fees, taxes, tips, and the switching of hotels). These were mandatory. So this so called cheap trip actually cost more than if I booked a trip myself.
All credit card companies offer dispute services - if you believe your card was charge in error you call your credit card customer service line and tell them you wish to dispute a charge. You write up your claim, support it with documentation (back-up documents that show you were mis-lead) and usually you get your money back immediately from the credit card. The fraudulent company then has 60 days to present their side. Usually, they just refund the money to the credit card company. No loss from your side.
This company makes unauthorized calls to cell phone in violation of federal law Calls to the company to obtain reimbursement related to this activity were difficult and people often hung up on me and refused to discuss the issue. Often this company uses the hang up to try to aviod its responsibility to address thier poor customer service issues and refuse to provid information to their legal department I have tried several times to contact the head of the company but they refuse to provide the information ot their corporate office or to the person Carlos Pena who is listed as their Registrated Agent at an address of 8875 Hidden River park way tampa floria 3 3 6 3 7 Several attemps have been made to try and obtain this information with any response from the company who reteniouly vilates the federal laws realted to call a cell phone without permission
My wife and I were contacted by Blue Star Lines Free Bahama offer, it sounded legit, so we paid our money to pay for the upgrades and other fees. Since April 14 2016 over a year ago we have been unable to reach their business via phone or their website MyBlueStarVacation.com, which sends us to a web page showing the site is not valid.
The number 800-349-5359 does not answer. We wish a complete refund and cancellation of the offer to us.
Called me about a survey on green energy, said I'd get a free cruise. Told me it would be 118$, tried to up sell to 1400. Ended up paying 500 off a 800$ deal. To good to be true. They all sounded very reall saying are u excited and send us a post card and have a happy honey mooon. Cannot believe they rip people off like that.
The company initially masks their number to be local to you so that you'd better answer it. For example, my cell phone is from Las Vegas (702), so they mask their numbers to a 702 number. The first call is a 3 question servey about alternative energy sources (hot button topic, most people have passion one way or the other). Then it asks if you want to be called in the next 24-48 hours for a free cruise. I hung up. They called anyway.
I got another call from another 702 number about 5 hours later, from someone saying that they were only a 3rd party and would connect me to a travel agent for the free cruise. They asked if I was okay with a recorded phone conversation and wanted me to say YES on recording. Then transfered to a "travel agent". The guy pushed HARD for the $118 dollars by credit card to secure our spot. They also said that to be fair, they can only call people once for the offer, so I either locked in a spot now, or it would be gone forever. Through research, these guys are associated with a Carribean Cruise scam from years ago, new ship, changing names as people become privy to the scam itself cruiselawnews.com/2015/01/articles/fraud/caribbean-cruise-line-scam/
I was pretty decent in saying that I didnt trust it and didn't find anything online that supported them, and the agent began to belittle me. I thought it was one of those indian scammers with the irs, or microsoft, that try to get your credit card, and I like messing with them, so thats the only reason I answered. He kept pushing, but I had to hang up. Dont fall for these, free is not "free".
My husband paid for a cruise for $1470, they then charged us $29 to get a 6 month extension to take the trip...But now both phone numbers listed ring busy...I'm afraid we are out the money...Any suggestions??/
I to paid for a cruise to the Bahamas. Looked them up on the internet, looked legit, paid my money had 18 months to make reservations, ...mid April I contacted to verify and get some clarification, never had any problem making contact. Decided when I wanted to sail and started trying to make contact. I have been calling the number I had originally used to make contact and all I get now is a busy signal.....so I was scammed.
I was "awarded" a cruise aboard the "brand new Grand Celebration Ship" departing from West Palm Beach to Grand Bahama Island. I then later upgraded the cruise to the "VIP extended stay experience". I paid $647 with parameters to book the cruise with a 30-60 day notice. The total package was the promise to sail the first evening in an ocean balcony room, spend two nights at a three-star hotel on Grand Bahama Island, then another evening aboard the ship before returning to West Palm Beach with a $100 gas voucher as I would be driving from West Florida. When Hurricane Irma hit the state of Florida, I was told that this package would be extended until July.
I initially called to book on April 17, 2018. After being transferred several times, given a date, put back on hold to then hear that the dates were no longer available, and to call the sales department, perhaps a refund could be issued.
There was not time in my schedule to start over again until today, April 26, 2018. I learned that refunds are simply not given and there is no availability before this "promotion" expires, in other words sold out. The analogy given was that if one purchases a gallon of milk, and it is not consumed before the expiration date, one must throw it away. Honestly--exactly what Nick in sales told me today! $647 paid and nothing in return, sold out of "milk"! I was told that there are two companies involved. The sales department cannot do the booking, and the booking department cannot find a date to accomodate what I paid for.
We got a call from Blue Star Cruises in Feb 2017. It took me an hour to finally agree to this vaction. We were told we would go to Fort Lauerdale for 2 days,cruise to the Bahamas on the Grand Celebration, stay in the Bahamas and then cruise back to Fort Lauderdale. A few days later we recived another call to upgrade our vaction. In Oct we got a call at 7pm that the Grand Celebration would not be sailing because of the hurricanes. I called the next moring they said we would still be able to go but we would have to take a shuttle over to the Bahamas.
When we got to Florida on Nov 3 2017 we checked into the welcome center got our vouchers to go to the upgraded Ocean Manor. We drove the extra time over to the Ocean Manor and found out that BLue Star had cancelled our upgrade with out letting us know and they did not refund our money. We ended up having to stay at a hotel that was not on the ocean and not very nice.
The shuttle over to Bahamas was nothing like the Cruise ship we were supposed to take over. People were throwing up we had to pay for food which on the cruise ship we should not have had to. Once we were at the Bahamas it took 2 1/2 hours to ck in. We get up to ck in and Blue Star had once again changed our reservation again without telling us. We were able to stay but it was another hassle because of Blue Star.
When we got back to Fort Lauderdale we once again had to stay at a hotel that was not on the ocean. The last 2 days we were finally able to stay on the ocean. I have never had to make so many phone calls and cried so many tears on a vacation. We paid over $1200 for upgrades and have so far only been refunded $100. I will be calling again tomorrow Nov 13 and continue to call until I get more money back.
It should be zero star. I bought the cruise package in April, 2016. They told me I don't have to use it right away and it is valid for 18 months. So I called them in July this year and made reservation for cruising on 9/28 this year. Then a woman called me yesterday and left me message claiming the 9/28 date is no longer available because someone chartered the whole ship and I am bumped out. I could not believe what I am hearing. Does anyone know where I can seek for help, I just want my money back and will forget about the trip.
Blue Star Cruises sold me a 3day 2 night cruise out of west palm. I purchased this May 16, 2016 and was immediately emailed a letter of guarantee. I was informed I would need to schedule this cruise 60 days in advanced. With a 62 day notice I called to schedule my 3day 2 night cruise which I have paid for in full. After being transferred from Blue Star Cruises to a call center; I was informed that I would Brad to purchase another 2 night hotel stay in order to take the cruise I had already paid $118 for. Being very unpleased about loosing the $118 I knew I did not want to give this business more of my money. I contacted Blue Star Cruises once again about this where they hung up on me. Blue Star Cruises is a Scam! They will take your money and continue to try and take more as long as you allow it. Stay away from Blue Star Cruises!
I receive a call daily at least 10 times a day from this company. I have asked them repeatedly to stop calling but they won't and unfortunately, even the agent I spoke to told me he doesn't know their "real" phone number. They use a local number that belongs to someone else (in my case a girl's cell phone number who lives in my area).
I told the agent that I am on the National Do Not Call list and he proceeded to tell me that he would put me on their list again. I informed him that I have been told that for the past 20-30 days and it has not happened yet because they still call me daily. I have blocked about 50 different local phone numbers from these people. They have to be a scam to be this persistent and to illegally call people daily. The agent then told me that I recently stayed in one of their hotels. I asked him which hotel that was and he couldn't give me the name...I said to him do you know why you can't give me the name? I then informed him that I don't stay in "hotels."
Very desperate company with scamming tendencies. Don't give them any of your information!
I was called by a pollster, who said answer 2 questions and win a free cruise to the Bahama. I had just retired and looking for vacation. They offered upgrades such as 2 days in Ft Lauderdale and 2 days in Orlando, a rental car, 2 days on thr Island, all inclusive, etc, I ended up paying almost $1700, not counting $400 to upgrade to a safe vehicle, the taxes and other extra charges. So, no I did know it was not free, however, not once did they ever mention that the first 2 days in Ft Lauderdale would be lost to timeshare and vacation club presentations.
They did not explain that these wer required to get the voucher for the cruise, the stay in the Bahamas and for the last 2 days in the hotel. We found that out after we were forced to go to get the vouchers. There was in fine print on the ititerary a statement that said "Tour of the resort"I assumed that was where we were staying , as the email I revieved with instructions was from "Ramada Plaza Resort" and did not mention a timeshare presentation.
We were supposed to have VIP boarding the day of the cruise but because of the vacation club presentation we did not arrive at the port early as promised.
The food at the Ramada was less than good.
I thought the Cruise and 2 day stay at the resort were good, but by the time we got there I was livid and was sick the whole 4 days. $1700 would have been a bargain, had it not been for the surprise of the required presentations, and the feeling that we had been mislead. All the people I talked to there at the hotel felt the same way.
They may be staying barely inside the law, but seems to be these are very deceptive sells practices and I will be telling everyone I can.
I got the same pitch as all other commenters and foolishly gave the credit card info for the $118. I realized that I had been scammed when they switched agents and the price totalled $1470.00, then down to $996, then after further negoiations down to $416.00. I told the agent that I would think it over and hung up. I called my bank and found out that my transaction did not go through because of fraud protection . I am so thankful for fraud protection.
Thank goodness for this website! they called my cell. Had me do a 3 question survey and as i inquired questions about bluestar and billing the representative became angry. I told them to call back if it was not a scam, as i have federal marshalls in my family and hope it was not This is true) they have not called back.
I just hung up with them.....well, she hung up on me. I was "waiting" for this certified email, which never came. As we were waiting for the email, I told her I googled the company. She asked me to read some reviews to her. I told her that everyone was saying their account was totally wiped out after giving the credit card number to them. She then YELLED at me. She said, "WELL YOU BELIEVE THAT THEN!!!" Then hung up on me. Lol
I just hung up with them.....well, she hung up on me. I was "waiting" for this certified email, which never came. As we were waiting for the email, I told her I googled the company. She asked me to read some reviews to her. I told her that everyone was saying their account was totally wiped out after giving the credit card number to them. She then YELLED at me. She said, "WELL YOU BELIEVE THAT THEN!!!" Then hung up on me. Lol
I received a phone call and told I had been chosen for free land and cruise by Blue Star Cruises,all I had to do is answer three questions about environmental things,Then asked if I had ever heard of this cruise line I answered no,He stated that's why they are doing this promotion ,,,his name was Thomas Preston and my Confomation number is BQ041216-032'My credit card has already been charged and was told it would only charge port taxes on that day of $118 . Was to mail out package outlining trip in three days ,that was on Wed April 11th 2016 ,no package as of yet,,
I have also purchased this promotion, as they call it.. I haven't received the mail package yet. It's been a couple of months since i booked it. It seems like they are a valid company since I could reach out to them quite a few times. I haven't asked about the package though. I am yet to make the ticket reservations for the dates of travel. Have you made the reservations yet?
Blue Star Cruises Reviews
ITS A SCAM!!!
I received a phone call from Blue Star Cruises as well. First i did a survey then was transferred to talk to a representative who claimed i won a free Cruise ! I thought this has to be a scam until he offered to sent me an email to give me more details and allowed me time to look it over before continuing. Looks legit so i preceded. Of course i knew there had to be more to it but when i found out the "total" charge $118 didn't seem bad at all ! I wasn't sure if i had the complete amount on my card so they ran it to " check it out". He told me that only $59 went through and that i needed another card. I wouldn't have more money on the card until the following day and he said that was fine they would give me a call back and run it for the other $59 & i would be all set. The next day comes and my account is drained COMPLETELY dry over $1000 !! I don't believe it! If only i had did more research on it before i jumped in.
All credit card companies offer dispute services
All credit card companies offer dispute services - if you believe your card was charge in error you call your credit card customer service line and tell them you wish to dispute a charge. You write up your claim, support it with documentation (back-up documents that show you were mis-lead) and usually you get your money back immediately from the credit card. The fraudulent company then has 60 days to present their side. Usually, they just refund the money to the credit card company. No loss from your side.
THEY DEFINITELY GOT ME OUT OF $1,094
After reading these reviews I just want to roll up into a ball and cry to be honest. After doing the survey, the phone hung up. couple days later Blue Star Cruises called which was yesterday (10/05/16). Of course starting off promoting. At first I'm thinking the cruise is free and I'll just have to pay "port taxes" of $118. After paying they transferred me to someone else. These representative is offering me now a V.I.P. stay which is $439 per son. Including upgraded outside view cabin, $100 gas reimbursement cause we'd be driving down to FL, $50 casino certificate, a 3 days & 2 nights stay in Grand Lucayan Beach Resort Spa. Alright sounded good but I let them know that I'd cant do it now I'd have to talk about it to my fiancée. he wasn't present at the moment. They began to press the promotion stating its a good deal he'll be mad if u pass it up. After being on the phone for about an half hour spiting out deals and different payments. I finally decent eh what the heck and decided to pay.
So my total is now $996. Then they connected me to someone else. I realized the next person and the person just bargained with me more. Now this person is offering me for an extra 70 something dollars I'll get the two day stay in an FL hotel before our cruise so we don't be late to dock or in Orlando which ever we please. Also with my stay in the Lucayan Beach Resort all our non motored activities would be vouchered for. I let him know that people or skeptical about these kind of things. He told me there was reassured me that there was nothing too worry about. I asked questions if I'd be paying for anything else to my understanding all I'm responsible for now is our spending money, alcoholic beverages on the ship, and actives we do, and room service at the hotel. All Meals paid for. They got me good. should of stopped when I realized how bad they was pressing when I said I'd have to talk to over with someone. I'm not telling my fiancée till I but that money back into my savings. Well the money is spend. Should I go??????????
Cruise
Did you go on the cruise
Blue Star Cruises called me and offered me a cruise deal, which I accepted, but the charges turned out to be much more than I was told or anticipated. I don't mind paying for tips and port charges, which I did, because I know they are standard on every cruise. But I was lead to believe by Blue Star representatives that I wouldn't have to pay ther fuel surcharge, which was over a hundred dollars additional added to my bill. When I asked the cruise staff when I was disembarking the cruise, they told me the reason I paid the one hundred and some odd dollars for fuel charges is because I booked through Blue Star and not directly through them.
Then Blue Star also leads you to believe that all your meals are included, but it turns out that is the case only if you stay in the dumpy hotel that they put you in, which is an outdated hotel with not very good food. If you pay Blue Star's upgrade fee to upgrade to a real hotel, which I did, then you end up getting just a $7 discount on whatever your meal costs per person.
I was also told by Blue Star that I would receive a 3 day 2 night trip to Las Vegas as part of my package, which I never received. This is all in addition to the fact that I was required by Blue Star to go on a 3 and a half hour timeshare tour (some of the other guests told me their tour was over 4 and a half hours). So all in all, if you are going to go on a cruise, you would be better off booking yourself as opposed to using a company like Blue Star.
Blue star cruises, the grand celebration and Cabb group LLC is a corrodinated, colaborated SCAM! They say you simply take a survey and then they connect you to a telemarketer who claims you have WON a Free cruise.
Then they ask for your credit or debit card info to charge you $118 to pay fees and before the phone pitch is over, they ask you to charge a total of $1470 to your card for travel.
Stay Away !!
1 - very bad
The hotel that this company puts you up in is the biggest joke I have ever seen. We were told we would be given a choice on hotels to stay in during our time in ft. Lauderdale, but we were not. They instead set us up in the Ramada inn. The floors were stained, there was mold on the curtains and there was an awful stench through the entire hotel. Then they informed us our food would be covered while we were there...we walked to the buffet and I was honestly scared to eat the food they were serving. We waited in a line for 15 minutes to get a packet of info which at that point was the most info I had about this whole deal. We ran out the doors of the ramada and straight to the beach where I paid for another hotel out of my own pocket. (Another added expense $200/night). They also make you sit in a 3.5(+) hour timeshare tour which they strategically never told us about. The ship was fun once we were on. The Bahamas and the grand lucayan were amazing and we wished we would have just booked a trip for there the whole week. I have never seen so many hidden fees on one trip. All in all we paid close to an EXTRA $800 in hidden fees. (Ship fees, taxes, tips, and the switching of hotels). These were mandatory. So this so called cheap trip actually cost more than if I booked a trip myself.
All credit card companies offer dispute services
All credit card companies offer dispute services - if you believe your card was charge in error you call your credit card customer service line and tell them you wish to dispute a charge. You write up your claim, support it with documentation (back-up documents that show you were mis-lead) and usually you get your money back immediately from the credit card. The fraudulent company then has 60 days to present their side. Usually, they just refund the money to the credit card company. No loss from your side.
Scame Calls to Cell Phones
This company makes unauthorized calls to cell phone in violation of federal law Calls to the company to obtain reimbursement related to this activity were difficult and people often hung up on me and refused to discuss the issue. Often this company uses the hang up to try to aviod its responsibility to address thier poor customer service issues and refuse to provid information to their legal department I have tried several times to contact the head of the company but they refuse to provide the information ot their corporate office or to the person Carlos Pena who is listed as their Registrated Agent at an address of 8875 Hidden River park way tampa floria 3 3 6 3 7 Several attemps have been made to try and obtain this information with any response from the company who reteniouly vilates the federal laws realted to call a cell phone without permission
My wife and I were contacted by Blue Star Lines Free Bahama offer, it sounded legit, so we paid our money to pay for the upgrades and other fees. Since April 14 2016 over a year ago we have been unable to reach their business via phone or their website MyBlueStarVacation.com, which sends us to a web page showing the site is not valid.
The number 800-349-5359 does not answer. We wish a complete refund and cancellation of the offer to us.
Travel SCAM
This whole plan is a great scam. I doubt that anyone actually travels though. If this was legit, why would there be so many
tip offs? Don't waste $118.00 USD, send it to someone who can actually use it that you know if you just want to spend the money.
You'll make them very happy.
Called me about a survey on green energy, said I'd get a free cruise. Told me it would be 118$, tried to up sell to 1400. Ended up paying 500 off a 800$ deal. To good to be true. They all sounded very reall saying are u excited and send us a post card and have a happy honey mooon. Cannot believe they rip people off like that.
The company initially masks their number to be local to you so that you'd better answer it. For example, my cell phone is from Las Vegas (702), so they mask their numbers to a 702 number. The first call is a 3 question servey about alternative energy sources (hot button topic, most people have passion one way or the other). Then it asks if you want to be called in the next 24-48 hours for a free cruise. I hung up. They called anyway.
I got another call from another 702 number about 5 hours later, from someone saying that they were only a 3rd party and would connect me to a travel agent for the free cruise. They asked if I was okay with a recorded phone conversation and wanted me to say YES on recording. Then transfered to a "travel agent". The guy pushed HARD for the $118 dollars by credit card to secure our spot. They also said that to be fair, they can only call people once for the offer, so I either locked in a spot now, or it would be gone forever. Through research, these guys are associated with a Carribean Cruise scam from years ago, new ship, changing names as people become privy to the scam itself cruiselawnews.com/2015/01/articles/fraud/caribbean-cruise-line-scam/
I was pretty decent in saying that I didnt trust it and didn't find anything online that supported them, and the agent began to belittle me. I thought it was one of those indian scammers with the irs, or microsoft, that try to get your credit card, and I like messing with them, so thats the only reason I answered. He kept pushing, but I had to hang up. Dont fall for these, free is not "free".
My husband paid for a cruise for $1470, they then charged us $29 to get a 6 month extension to take the trip...But now both phone numbers listed ring busy...I'm afraid we are out the money...Any suggestions??/
SCREWED
I to paid for a cruise to the Bahamas. Looked them up on the internet, looked legit, paid my money had 18 months to make reservations, ...mid April I contacted to verify and get some clarification, never had any problem making contact. Decided when I wanted to sail and started trying to make contact. I have been calling the number I had originally used to make contact and all I get now is a busy signal.....so I was scammed.
I was "awarded" a cruise aboard the "brand new Grand Celebration Ship" departing from West Palm Beach to Grand Bahama Island. I then later upgraded the cruise to the "VIP extended stay experience". I paid $647 with parameters to book the cruise with a 30-60 day notice. The total package was the promise to sail the first evening in an ocean balcony room, spend two nights at a three-star hotel on Grand Bahama Island, then another evening aboard the ship before returning to West Palm Beach with a $100 gas voucher as I would be driving from West Florida. When Hurricane Irma hit the state of Florida, I was told that this package would be extended until July.
I initially called to book on April 17, 2018. After being transferred several times, given a date, put back on hold to then hear that the dates were no longer available, and to call the sales department, perhaps a refund could be issued.
There was not time in my schedule to start over again until today, April 26, 2018. I learned that refunds are simply not given and there is no availability before this "promotion" expires, in other words sold out. The analogy given was that if one purchases a gallon of milk, and it is not consumed before the expiration date, one must throw it away. Honestly--exactly what Nick in sales told me today! $647 paid and nothing in return, sold out of "milk"! I was told that there are two companies involved. The sales department cannot do the booking, and the booking department cannot find a date to accomodate what I paid for.
We got a call from Blue Star Cruises in Feb 2017. It took me an hour to finally agree to this vaction. We were told we would go to Fort Lauerdale for 2 days,cruise to the Bahamas on the Grand Celebration, stay in the Bahamas and then cruise back to Fort Lauderdale. A few days later we recived another call to upgrade our vaction. In Oct we got a call at 7pm that the Grand Celebration would not be sailing because of the hurricanes. I called the next moring they said we would still be able to go but we would have to take a shuttle over to the Bahamas.
When we got to Florida on Nov 3 2017 we checked into the welcome center got our vouchers to go to the upgraded Ocean Manor. We drove the extra time over to the Ocean Manor and found out that BLue Star had cancelled our upgrade with out letting us know and they did not refund our money. We ended up having to stay at a hotel that was not on the ocean and not very nice.
The shuttle over to Bahamas was nothing like the Cruise ship we were supposed to take over. People were throwing up we had to pay for food which on the cruise ship we should not have had to. Once we were at the Bahamas it took 2 1/2 hours to ck in. We get up to ck in and Blue Star had once again changed our reservation again without telling us. We were able to stay but it was another hassle because of Blue Star.
When we got back to Fort Lauderdale we once again had to stay at a hotel that was not on the ocean. The last 2 days we were finally able to stay on the ocean. I have never had to make so many phone calls and cried so many tears on a vacation. We paid over $1200 for upgrades and have so far only been refunded $100. I will be calling again tomorrow Nov 13 and continue to call until I get more money back.
If you get a call from Blue Star Cruises Hang Up!
Scam
It should be zero star. I bought the cruise package in April, 2016. They told me I don't have to use it right away and it is valid for 18 months. So I called them in July this year and made reservation for cruising on 9/28 this year. Then a woman called me yesterday and left me message claiming the 9/28 date is no longer available because someone chartered the whole ship and I am bumped out. I could not believe what I am hearing. Does anyone know where I can seek for help, I just want my money back and will forget about the trip.
Blue Star Cruises sold me a 3day 2 night cruise out of west palm. I purchased this May 16, 2016 and was immediately emailed a letter of guarantee. I was informed I would need to schedule this cruise 60 days in advanced. With a 62 day notice I called to schedule my 3day 2 night cruise which I have paid for in full. After being transferred from Blue Star Cruises to a call center; I was informed that I would Brad to purchase another 2 night hotel stay in order to take the cruise I had already paid $118 for. Being very unpleased about loosing the $118 I knew I did not want to give this business more of my money. I contacted Blue Star Cruises once again about this where they hung up on me. Blue Star Cruises is a Scam! They will take your money and continue to try and take more as long as you allow it. Stay away from Blue Star Cruises!
I receive a call daily at least 10 times a day from this company. I have asked them repeatedly to stop calling but they won't and unfortunately, even the agent I spoke to told me he doesn't know their "real" phone number. They use a local number that belongs to someone else (in my case a girl's cell phone number who lives in my area).
I told the agent that I am on the National Do Not Call list and he proceeded to tell me that he would put me on their list again. I informed him that I have been told that for the past 20-30 days and it has not happened yet because they still call me daily. I have blocked about 50 different local phone numbers from these people. They have to be a scam to be this persistent and to illegally call people daily. The agent then told me that I recently stayed in one of their hotels. I asked him which hotel that was and he couldn't give me the name...I said to him do you know why you can't give me the name? I then informed him that I don't stay in "hotels."
Very desperate company with scamming tendencies. Don't give them any of your information!
I was called by a pollster, who said answer 2 questions and win a free cruise to the Bahama. I had just retired and looking for vacation. They offered upgrades such as 2 days in Ft Lauderdale and 2 days in Orlando, a rental car, 2 days on thr Island, all inclusive, etc, I ended up paying almost $1700, not counting $400 to upgrade to a safe vehicle, the taxes and other extra charges. So, no I did know it was not free, however, not once did they ever mention that the first 2 days in Ft Lauderdale would be lost to timeshare and vacation club presentations.
They did not explain that these wer required to get the voucher for the cruise, the stay in the Bahamas and for the last 2 days in the hotel. We found that out after we were forced to go to get the vouchers. There was in fine print on the ititerary a statement that said "Tour of the resort"I assumed that was where we were staying , as the email I revieved with instructions was from "Ramada Plaza Resort" and did not mention a timeshare presentation.
We were supposed to have VIP boarding the day of the cruise but because of the vacation club presentation we did not arrive at the port early as promised.
The food at the Ramada was less than good.
I thought the Cruise and 2 day stay at the resort were good, but by the time we got there I was livid and was sick the whole 4 days. $1700 would have been a bargain, had it not been for the surprise of the required presentations, and the feeling that we had been mislead. All the people I talked to there at the hotel felt the same way.
They may be staying barely inside the law, but seems to be these are very deceptive sells practices and I will be telling everyone I can.
scam
I got the same pitch as all other commenters and foolishly gave the credit card info for the $118. I realized that I had been scammed when they switched agents and the price totalled $1470.00, then down to $996, then after further negoiations down to $416.00. I told the agent that I would think it over and hung up. I called my bank and found out that my transaction did not go through because of fraud protection . I am so thankful for fraud protection.
Thank goodness for this website! they called my cell. Had me do a 3 question survey and as i inquired questions about bluestar and billing the representative became angry. I told them to call back if it was not a scam, as i have federal marshalls in my family and hope it was not This is true) they have not called back.
What a SCAM
I just hung up with them.....well, she hung up on me. I was "waiting" for this certified email, which never came. As we were waiting for the email, I told her I googled the company. She asked me to read some reviews to her. I told her that everyone was saying their account was totally wiped out after giving the credit card number to them. She then YELLED at me. She said, "WELL YOU BELIEVE THAT THEN!!!" Then hung up on me. Lol
What a SCAM
I just hung up with them.....well, she hung up on me. I was "waiting" for this certified email, which never came. As we were waiting for the email, I told her I googled the company. She asked me to read some reviews to her. I told her that everyone was saying their account was totally wiped out after giving the credit card number to them. She then YELLED at me. She said, "WELL YOU BELIEVE THAT THEN!!!" Then hung up on me. Lol
I received a phone call and told I had been chosen for free land and cruise by Blue Star Cruises,all I had to do is answer three questions about environmental things,Then asked if I had ever heard of this cruise line I answered no,He stated that's why they are doing this promotion ,,,his name was Thomas Preston and my Confomation number is BQ041216-032'My credit card has already been charged and was told it would only charge port taxes on that day of $118 . Was to mail out package outlining trip in three days ,that was on Wed April 11th 2016 ,no package as of yet,,
Waiting for reservation
Hi,
I have also purchased this promotion, as they call it.. I haven't received the mail package yet. It's been a couple of months since i booked it. It seems like they are a valid company since I could reach out to them quite a few times. I haven't asked about the package though. I am yet to make the ticket reservations for the dates of travel. Have you made the reservations yet?