Macey
This is a review of the 7 day/6 night (including cruise nights) vacation that we won from Grand Bahama Tourism with Bahamas Landing and Bahamas Paradise Cruise Line. I can not speak for any other offer, so keep that in mind as you read this. That being said, I found it difficult to find any legitimate information about this trip regardless of sponsor, so my hope in writing this is that someone else in the position of having won a trip to the Bahamas can make an educated decision and hopefully avoid some of the frustrations I had so that you can have an absolutely wonderful vacation (if you decide to go for it).
How I Won The Trip
Back in June of 2017 I was waiting in line to pick up the alcohol for my wedding reception and noticed a little kiosk at Wallaby’s liquor store in Colorado (Florida and Parker) “WIN A FREE VACATION TO THE BAHAMAS!” With the wedding on my mind, I filled out the bright orange slip of paper thinking it would make a good honeymoon and then immediately forgot about it. We ended up going to the majestic Cook Islands for our honeymoon, which was absolutely perfect, but when we had returned and I listened to my voicemails, there was one congratulating me on winning the trip to the Bahamas after all. I immediately called back and was congratulated by a real and friendly human being who then had me listen to a very long recording about the trip. The human then confirmed that I had listened to the recording and informed me that it would cost $19.99 per person to cover the taxes and reserve my spot. Naturally, I was a little hesitant about it being a scam and asked if I could speak to my husband first.
So, Was it a Scam?
Deciding to take the risk, we paid the $39.98 in fees and, while slightly disappointed it wasn’t free (for there was a continually growing list of small fees, both hidden and not) and while misleading information was irritating, it was definitely not a scam, but rather a semi-affordable vacation which I am glad we had the opportunity to enjoy. Here is what we ended up paying and an impression of our overall experience.
After paying the fees of $39.98 I was informed that one option for transport to the island was to take a cruise there and back after the 4 days on the island at my choice of 3 hotels (the Wyndham Resort, Taino Beach Resort, and Bell Channel Hotel, all on Grand Bahama Island). That cruise was $79.99 per person per night but considering that included all meals and an entertainment show it was cheaper than a flight and a pretty decent deal. They gave me the option to break up the payments and I did appreciate the emails letting me know when they would charge my card again. The email with the trip info came from bahamaslanding@bahamas5-4.com The account was easy to set up and it was easy to explore hotel options. In that email it mentioned that I would be responsible for paying our port fees, which ended up being $119 per person. They also indicated that the trip must be redeemed within 18 months and must be reserved with 3 months notice before travel. When it came time to choose a hotel and dates, we found that the Wyndham was sold out until September and there were many blacked out dates, but it was not a problem to find something that would work for us and submitted a request. About a month later I was contacted to confirm the dates. A month after that I called make sure all was in order and the “travel specialist” sent over an email to select our hotel choice and I was irritated to find that the Taino Beach Resort would have a resort fee of $29 per person, per day, which included no food/alcohol/etc. (The Bell Channel Hotel had no resort fee, and the Wyndham had a resort fee of $79 per person, per day, but was all-inclusive.) I told my “travel specialist” that I was disgruntled to just now be informed about a fee when I had been assured that there would be no additional charges weeks before. He said he could comp us 1 person’s fee, but I declined and requested to be put in the Bell Channel Hotel with no fee. When he sent over the email with the travel vouchers I was pleasantly surprised that we were to stay in the Taino Beach Flamingo Bay Hotel, with no charge for either of us.
The Good:
– The contact number allows you to connect to a real live person and hold times were never too long.
– We had a great time on the cruise over and were happy with the food, service, room, entertainment, etc.
– Grand Bahama is a beautiful island and the people are as friendly as can be.
– The room we had at the Taino Beach Flamingo Bay Hotel was clean and had a tv, kitchen area equipped with fridge, sink, microwave, dishes, dish soap, coffee maker and coffee.
– The pool was incredible with a great water slide, lazy river, and swim up bar with a decently priced happy hour (they don’t skimp on the rum, either).
– The beach was a 3 minute walk with lots of chairs and little chickee huts for shade.
– The hotel had an affordably priced convenience store (cheaper or equal to the prices at the grocery store, but with zero travel effort).
The Misleading:
– Taino Beach Flamingo Bay Hotel is a part of the Taino Beach Resort, but is not what you see in the pictures. It is a hotel that is across the street from the Taino Beach Resort. It is not a bad hotel (it was quite nice!) but it is not a resort. You still have access to the same awesome pool and beach. We thought that maybe it was a compromise for not paying the resort charge, but we met another couple in the same hotel who did pay.
– In order to use the $25 Casino Money you have to match it with $25 of your own money.
– The hotel and resort fees were never mentioned until right before our trip .
The TRUE COST:
Fees, Fees & More Fees:
– $39.98 to claim the trip
– $319.84 for the cruise
– $51.80 for cruise gratuity
– $238 in port fees
– $144 in hotel taxes
– $35 for a taxi ride there and $18 for a taxi ride back (the cruise ship drops you off quite far from anything and there are no shuttles to the hotel)
– If we had gotten stuck with the Taino resort charge (which, again, was for literally nothing) it would have been another $232.
Other expenses: These were completely our choice. We lived frugally by having small snacks though out the day and then splitting meals at the resteraunt at night but we also had plenty and did not want for anything
– $43: One duty-free bottle each of Bushmills, Malibu Rum, & Skyy Vodka (this was the only money we spent on the cruise!)
– $37.10: Homemade bread, 2 patties, butter, jelly, cookies, juice, soup, candy and other snacks from the convenience store
– $10: Bahama Mama and Goombay Smash at the swim up bar during happy hour
– $17: Beer
– $47: Piña Colada Chicken Sandwich, Nachos, and a Burger
– $21.52: Postcards, souvenirs
– $12: Ferry to Lucaya Marketplace
– $6: Ice cream and 2 patties
When you add it all up our “free vacation” cost us $1037.24 all together, of which $846.62 was unavoidable fees/transportation. Not so free, but all things considered, we had an amazing time and it took us to a part of the world we wouldn’t have seen otherwise. I had been wanting to go to the Bahamas for when a kid I went on a Disney cruise to the Bahamas, but the weather was so bad we couldn’t get off the boat. I brought the bad weather again—it poured at least once every day we were there—but when you’re relaxing on vacation sometimes a rainy repose from the world is just what you need.
The Short Version
- Our trip was not a scam, but expect to spend about $1000 on your “free” vacation when all is said and done. They also had an upgrade for an all-inclusive hotel, but we did not go for that.
- Expect some black out dates and patience when booking the trip
One More Note:
We we’re living in Florida at the time of our trip, so getting to and from the port was no issue or extra cost for us but if you don’t live in FL you are responsible for all travel expenses to and from the port. Keep that in mind when trying to decide if this trip will be worth
We don’t get paid for this, and we are not affiliated with any company mentioned in this post, we just wrote this to get the information out there and if you want more details about our trip, check out our blog post “Grand Times on Grand Bahama”
Loved to hear about your trip! Good to know info on what free means too!
Good Job you two!! Thanks for taking the time to bring us up to speed. I love and admire you both. So glad you have the guts to live and share your life!! God is Good!
Hi did you need a passport I just received a free trip to viva wyndham in grand bahamas and cruise on margaritaville at sea?
If you’re traveling to and from the Bahamas by sea, I *think* you can use certain other ID documents. If you are flying one of the ways, you definitely need a passport. I would recommend consulting the state department resources.
Hello and thank you for sharing your experience. I also won this “free trip” and we are scheduled to travel April 1, 2019. So far all the expenses you shared have been very close to what you paid. However, we opted for the Wyndham Viva due to the all-inclusive. Her is a breakdown of what we have paid and we expected to pay:
$39.98 to setup online account
$276 cruise ($69 pp each way)
$258 port taxes ($129 pp)
$790 resort fees ($79 pp/per day)
$152 hotel taxes
Total $1486
We were told to expect to pay $15-20 taxi from port to resort. Since we opted for the all-inclusive: all meals, drinks, alcohol, hotel activities, excursions, nightly shows, and gratuity is covered by the daily resort fee. We may splurge and go to dinner off the property 1 or 2 nights.
I think an all-inclusive 7 day vacation/cruise to the Bahama for $1500 is worth it. I will come back and update you after we return from our trip. Please feel free to share any additional information you may think would be helpful to us.
Hi Tamera! Glad to share my experience and thought it might be helpful since I could not find much info before. I am sorry I didn’t see this til now but I hope you had an amazing time!! Thank you for your comment.
Dear sigatree ,
thank you so much for the break down . you are amazing. I and my husband tot it was a scam 2 …..until!!! we saw your post. very helpful but would like to know if was tru Hewitt travel agency?
Sorry, Deedee, we don’t really remember the name of the agency at this point.
I just wanted to say thank you as well. I received this trip myself, and was leery about it. I can now relax and enjoy when my boyfriend and I go.
You are very welcome!! I hope you guys enjoy it tremendously.
Hello! I recently won the same trip and will be staying at the Taino resort as well!!
Just a question though that I have been very curious about, what did u show the crewmember when boarding the boat?? Did u have an actual itinerary or was it received as a message with all information or your cruise on it??
Howdy and congratulations! I honestly don’t remember. I believe we had the paperwork emailed to us.
Hi, I just won the same trip and wanted your thoughts. The entry states 4 day/3 nite, my text says 5 day/4 nite, should this be a red flag? I was also told (by a human) that the cruise is free and overnight??? I was told about incidentals, as expected, but I’m a little leary as I live in Texas and the flight would be out of pocket. Also told we could upgrade from 5 to 7 day for $79 per person (nothing about per day either)
Thank you so much for all of your insight on your experience and for anything that could put my mind at ease, as I’m still hesitating somewhat.
Hi, Suzan! I would personally be concerned by changing details, but my gut leans toward that indicating a disorganized operation and not fraud. If you’re able to get anything in writing that always helps, especially things being free that most other programs seem to charge for.
I obviously can’t say for sure exactly how much the program you’re working with will end up costing, but I will say that for what it’s worth we haven’t really heard of people getting scammed outright. Just do your due diligence and if you’re not comfortable, don’t commit.
Good Mornin! About to go through the same issues. Can you tell me if it was rewarding or not paying the extra resort fees? And an update of if yall enjoyed yourselves? 😁
Have not reserved it yet put paid the fees 276$ plus 39$ plus 19$ and they told me a 99$ port fees and that would be it, now you are saying it’s much more could this be considered false advertisement?
I am certain it is all legal, as most of the costs were taxes and fees. That’s why we put this blog together, to make the true cost more apparent.
Shannon, what extra resort fees do you mean? As for enjoyment, you can read about that here. https://bigoleworld.com/index.php/2018/05/29/grand-times-on-grand-bahama/
Edit: derp, just saw to whom you were replying.
This was extremely helpful as I have also won the free trip. I was having a hard time deciding which resort to choose but I think I will go with the all inclusive option, Viva Wyndham. We plan to take our trip between dec 2020 – jan 2021 depending on the dates. Thanks again!
Dear kiera M.
Please UPDATE
Hi Tamera,
Could you let us know how the vacation went since you have now visited it?
Hi Tamera,
My Husband I also won this vacation. We are undecided on when to go. Please post an update, as I do believe the hurricane Dorian went through this area, but I was told by the reservation department that it did not affect the resort area. I am curious to hear about your trip. Have a wonderful time and enjoy!
Shelly
yezzz have a beautiful time .
like people lets keep the information coming. so helpful guys. thanks sigatree
Hey! So by you choosing the Wyndham resort with the $80 fee per person per day. Everything was included? Even the gratuity? You didn’t get a charge afterwards to pay the gratuity?
Hello
I’m planning on booking, the all-inclusive resort, please teel me about!!!!
Thanks.
Dear Tamera pls did u still go. still waiting for update. thanks.
Hello Deedée today I received an e-mail from the place you named “Hewitt Travell”.Their Facebook page or Twitter has less than 65 likes. Twitter account was created last year. When you google the phone number 561 – 208-6693 google shows Grand Bahamas experiences. It seems the company changed its name?. Please let me know about your thoughts. Best regards
Hey Tamera,
I just wanted to know are you back from your trip? Its been a year and you haven’t said anything. Are you okay? Are you alive?
Great info! Going it is year just got the winning call! Glad it’s not a scam!!
Congratulations! I hope everything goes smoothly for you and you have a lot of fun.
Anything
I am so glad I found your page, I booked my “free” vacation for May 2023. I am planning to go to the all inclusive option, just waiting to hear back from the reservation specialist and pay our resort fees. Which I had no idea would cost so much 😵💫 it also seems the vacation has went up a little since you guys went. After I pay everything, I will post an update cost sheet also, so everyone can see all the up front fees. All in all it’s still an amazing deal, the all inclusive resort is usually around $1,500 for two people for 4 days. Before taxes or fees. Then you also get a cruise added on. I figured we are saving around $2,000 or so still, we would have never been able to do this vacation for the full price, so I’m truly grateful!
That was our thinking too! If you don’t mind sharing that full breakdown after May, that would be awesome—people ask for up-to-date numbers all the time.
Thank you so much for sharing your experience! I just won the exact trip today. I talked it over with my boyfriend, we agree we won’t have this opportunity again. This trip of course isn’t free, but I’m assuming a normal trip to the Bahamas would cost way more. My boyfriend said yes but I’m still trying to calculate the entire cost of the trip. So this did help a lot! I think we’re going to just go for it. If you book it in advance enough then you have time to save up.
Over all I think it is a decent opportunity for a fun trip. It certainly will give us a lot of memories.
Awesome! So glad I could help and be prepared for the charges. I hope you have a fantastic time!
I just received text messages confirming that I won this trip as well! I was so excited as this was a text I had woken up to in the morning. I had entered the giveaway with my girlfriend January 11, 2021 just to see what would happen, and heard the news today. I experienced the same things everyone has so far mentioned, including the somewhat lengthy intro before reaching an agent. Once hearing of the $39 fee, and the 4 monthly charges of $69, I was really hoping I wouldn’t be bombarded by any other hidden fees for this so called “free” trip. After making the call this afternoon, I spent a good amount of time throughout the day, thoroughly searching for any information I could find about this cruise and realized the actual name it’s referred to. And just when I thought I was satisfied with at least finding reviews and seeing some photos, I found this lovely page that’s been very helpful and informative!! I had roughly estimated it to be around $800 including port fees, but I nearly missed a whole $1,000! You’ve definitely saved many people a great deal of trouble and the hassle of having such information being sprung on them at the last minute and I’m truly grateful to have found your review of your stay! It was not easy finding this page but now that I’ve found it, I feel much more relieved on reading about your experience. Now I just have to decide whether it would be the right choice to embark on this vacation or wait it out, since maybe it wouldn’t be a great idea for a college student to be spending this much for a vacation. Although compared to the actual worth a trip like this may cost, it is very tempting.
Thanks for the kind words, Paul! We’re really glad to have helped. Hope you have fun on the trip, or that the money goes to a great alternative use.
Thank you so much for taking the time to explain “the good,” “the misleading,” and the true cost about the free trip. The more I read about the trip, the more scared I started to become about paying the $39.98 and waiting for them to auto debt my account for the cruise fees. I have thoroughly enjoyed reading your post and I had to visit your “Grand Time on Grand Bahama” blog as well. I really love how you put your thoughts into words, well written.
Hi Heather, your comment makes my day! 🙂 It’s nice to know it helped someone and I think it’s awesome you took the time to read the other blog. Thank you very much!
🙂 Hey, I have one quick question, did you have to attend any type of timeshare conferences? I noticed that it was not mentioned in your post, but I just wanted to make sure.
No, we didn’t have to do anything like that. 🙂
Did you have any issues getting your $39.98 refunded? I feel stupid but did the same thing here and now finding that the resorts are not too great or meals and drinks are not included except at one. I asked for the refund via the message system online today so hoping there are no issues.
Hmm. We never tried to get the money refunded and went through with it but please let me know how it goes!
Did you get your $39.98 refunded? and how long did it take for them to respond?
I couldn’t have said it better myself Heather.
I just wont this today as well. I went ahead and paid the first set of fees so I am glad to hear it is not a complete scam. Of course nothing in this world is truly free, but I am excited to share this experience with my husband.
I hope you have an excellent trip!!
I just got a call that we won a trip to the Bahamas is it a scam?
Aaliyah, we would have no way of knowing if the people that called you are scam artists. Most likely it is not a scam, but it won’t be free. You can read all the details about our experience in the article above.
Thank you. This is helping ba lot of people including me. Just got the call today that I won. Not yet decided :).
So awesome to hear! Thanks for your comment.
Thanks for this information
me a lot. .
OMG i just won tickets also! I am glad i found your page thank you!!!
You are so welcome 🙂
I won this trip as well through palmrio.com. I read there is an option to get the free hotel stay without taking the cruise option. Has anyone any information on this option?
Thanks in advance
Ginger
Hi Ginger, sorry I am just seeing this message now but I was told you can opt out of the cruise option but you are responsible for the cost of getting to the island.
Just received the text for my “free” vacation too. Thank you for telling us about your experience! Not sure if I will go through with it yet though:)
Thank you for your comment and best wishes either way you go 🙂
My husband and I were notified the same day. That sent up Flags for me. The $19 account set up fee I wasn’t feeling. With all the fraud going on. I declined at the time. I wanted to do more research. I am happy I did so. It’s no biggy to me. I have been on 3 cruises to the Caribbean. I explored the Bahamas, Jamaica, Cozumel and other locations. I knew if it was legit there would be a catch. Btw…. They didn’t have the correct location I filled out my pink slip.
Yeah, it definitely was not free and I think they just use it as a way to get people to sign up because sooo many people win! It was a good deal but from my understanding there is a lot a good deals that don’t require you to win some thing.
Thank you so much for being in my search results (Google FTW!) I just got notified via text that I was a winner. They had sent a copy of the form I filled out for the drawing at a Caribbean restaurant. Sounds like they draw a lot of names lol. They advertise the number on their webpage and all you have to do is hit prompt 7, did they verify your information via whatever drawing you did? I have yet to get on the line with an agent after recording that long pre-recorded introduction.
Hey Jeremiah,
Thanks Google!And thanks for your comment. They did send me a copy of the form I had sent as well. Man, it really is a long recording! Then they will confirm your details and send you an email where you can make an account. Cheers!
I just won too, from Louie’s Pizza in Colorado Springs. I txtd them back; ‘please don’t be a scam’ & they replied ‘this is not a scam!’, lol.
I filled it out thinking of my disabled 15 year old; we don’t have a lot of money & he hardly gets to do anything. Stupid question; who pays for us to get from Colorado to Florida?
Hi Christine,
You have to pay for the transport to the port yourself, which certainly spikes the price up!
Hmm. I just paid the $19 x2 fee. That could be prohibitive. Or I’ll be on Amtrak, lol
Do we need passports for this vacation?
Hi Lorna, we did need our passports
I was told that State ID and Birth Certificate is all we need ..is that not correct?
I’m not a legal expert, but I believe that you may have a hard time entering the Bahamas or re-entering the USA without a passport. A quick Google says you might be right, but it’s not advisable.
Thanks for posting your experience! My fiance and I won the same trip and were charged 39.98 for port fees during the setup of the account. It looks as if we are on some sort of payment plan and nothing else shows up for port fees. Is there a hidden charge for other port fees?
Hey Mary, so the $39.98 is different than the port fees which are $129 per person! If I remember correctly we paid the port fees later through the account that is created on their website.
So how do you get to the Bahamas if you don’t opt for the cruise?
Hi Christine, we were already in FL so we took the cruise but I was told we were welcome to opt out of the cruise but would be responsible for all travel to the Bahamas.
Thank you! So it is cheaper to take the cruise. I wonder if my 2nd person is allowed to be a minor.
That is a good question. I hope so! I’m sure they would be happy to answer that question for you though. Good luck!
Hello!
You have no idea how helpful this is. My husband won this exact trip just a couple days ago, and we just paid the 39.98 registration fee, and I was worrying that I may have got us into a scam situation and that I would wake up in the morning and have no money left! Not the case! We opt to pay for the cruise over a few months. We may do the all inclusive as well, just to possible “save” a few dollars. We have never been to Bahamas. With Hurricane Dorian ripping through the island we are not sure weather we should wait 6 months to a year to go. Basically around 1500.00 extra for fees and taxes. Has anyone gone in April? Not sure if that is a rainy time? Thanks again for your blog. Much apperciated.
You are so welcome Shelly, I am truly glad it was helpful for you. I hope the weather is good for you when you make it there!
I should mention I have paid the first two of the $69 fees. The first one I called & had to ask that it be postponed & they said ‘No problem!’ I was pleasantly surprised.
Is there anyway someone could post pictures of the process and them actually on the vacation/cruise? I and my boyfriend are very skeptical but I would like to think I actually won something of value.
Thanks for reading, Lindsay! We posted our experience on the trip itself here: https://bigoleworld.com/index.php/2018/05/29/grand-times-on-grand-bahama/
I’m so skeptical now. I’ve already paid for the registration fees and the fee for the cruise there and back. I have not even paid for the port fees yet. I began investigating the company and researching to see if there were any bad reviews. Apparently, from the awesome blog you did here and some other reviews I read the trip is legitimate but there is a lot more expensive involved than what they say. I wonder if I requested to stay at the flamingo hotel that you stayed at if they would let me do that? I am turning 50 this year and I am wanting to celebrate my birthday by going on this trip.
I suspect that there’s some sort of connection between many of the resorts there. I bet they would be willing to adjust your package. If not, I’m sure you’ll end up with a reasonably priced resort vacation as did we (just not “free”).
Happy birthday, and thanks for the compliment!
I just wanted to say, THANK YOU so much for taking the time to type all of that out for all of us who are researching. Your information saved us from believing the deal was FREE when it most definitely is not. So again, thank you so so much. You have no idea the amount of appreciation we have for your review!
You are very welcome! We couldn’t believe that we weren’t able to find this information before going on our own trip, so we hoped it would help people in the future. Glad it did!
thank you sooooooo much Dustin
Did you win this through Harvard Vacations?
We think it was “Grand Bahama Vacations,” but I honestly couldn’t say for certain. It’s probably the same deal.
So I am so upset but GRATEFUL for this post. My son was in a mall at his duty station and entered this “contest” for a “free trip” so he could give it to my husband and I for Christmas. He was so excited to present it to us for Christmas. HOWEVER he was so misled. He was told it was free with just a small administrative fee, but had to reserve his spot within 3 days. (pressure) Then there’s this 69.00 charge on his credit card – he told me we only had to pay for transportation to Florida but we live here so that was no problem. There are now 3 – 69.00 fees on his credit card and he is not available. I contacted them and listened to the recording then when the live rep. came on I asked if there were ANY OTHER FEES. She said flat out, “NO.” Then I saw this post and immediately called to cancel. They would not refund the money because it was not within the 30 days. My kid was so happy that he could give us this trip because he really didn’t have money this year for gifts. Now he is out 250.00 and if you think this isn’t a SCAM I don’t know what you would call a scam. Free is Free – he really should have researched more but I am sure he asked the same questions I asked and was lied to. I told the company I didn’t know what was going on but I didn’t feel comfortable or trust them since I have seen all of these comments (thanks again) they said he had to call and again I told them he was not able due to the military. So I am going on every site and posting how they treat our military – and btw – I told them I have a POA for any and all of his finances and they won’t honor that. So if ya’ll want to be misled into buying this free vacation – that’s totally your choice. Me? You don’t give our military a break – you lost my respect. END of RANT!!
Lainie, I’m so sorry to hear about your experience! That’s no way to treat anyone. We didn’t get any inexplicable fees, fortunately, but it sounds like there are definitely shadier people doing similar things. So, take that as a word of warning, folks!
I also went on this trip last year and stayed at the Wyndham all inclusive resort. I agree with the fees but it was absoulutly worth every penny !!! Must mention the Buffett all you can eat while there AMAZING.
Thanks for your addition! Lots of people have asked about the all-inclusive and we’ve not had anything to tell them.
Can you give me the website information i won the trip also already paid all my fees but forgot the website please help
I’m so sorry but it has been almost three years and I don’t remember the website.
Was this through Harvard Vacations??
We think it was “Grand Bahama Vacations,” but I honestly couldn’t say for certain. It’s probably the same deal.
Did you win this trip from Hewitt Travel I just won and pay the first portion so I’m a little worried
I received a text today so I called the number and when I heard the 19 dollars set up fee per person I felt it was a scam. Thank you so much! Your review and experience makes me feel better. I paid the first set of fees. Not too sure about the cruise.
Thanks again.
Shivangi
If you compare your total travel costs with and without cruise and the cruise is more, I would say skip it unless you’re a fan of cruises. It’s definitely a unique flavor of travel. (Of course, if you’ve never been on one, it’s a pretty low cost way to see what they’re all about.) Glad we could help you—almost certainly not a scam, but expect to pay more than they want you to think.
Hi !
I got one of these calls and paid the 2 $19 fees for it , and I’m having the 69.99 come out monthly , but after that I just have to pay port fees because they said that the cruise line was giving the cruise there and back for free this time , I’m just wondering if they offered that to y’all ? Or if I should be skeptical about it , cause not sure if I’ll have to pay anything besides the port fees when I go .
Thanks !
We had to pay for our cruise there and back but maybe they are doing a special deal because of the impact from Covid? I am not sure but the rest sounds in line to what we experienced on our trip. Hope that helps!
I got the same response that odom got. Pls update
yea im in the exact same boat as odom and all yall! 🙁 would love some insight into this before i procceed
what is a good pest control company? because my dog ate my pinky toe. any reccomendations? LMK! Thanks so much for all the support and feedback on this matter guys.
I love everything about this blog!! Thank you SO much for taking the time to help us all out and give us a little insight… I’ve been searching all day trying to find more information and I couldn’t find anything until I found this so thank you! May I ask how far in advance you guys booked your resort/ hotel just for reference?
Thank you very much, Kierstin!! Love to hear it. We had the same frustrating experience before we went. We booked about 2 months before, I think.
Hi Tamera,
Where are you? Still waiting on that update.
Can you use a prepaid visa card to make the $39 reservation fee for setting up the account?
I would imagine that would be possible, but you’d have to try it out to be sure. Come back and let future wonderers know!
yea so i won a raffle to go on this free vaca. and i was wondering how or if covid is going to affect anything regarding the vacation
Sorry, Adrian, we’re customers just like you. You’ll have to ask whoever’s offering your trip to find that out.
Thank you so much for writing this. I win this trip every single year and I was scared it was a scam because what are the chances tho win a “free vacation” every year when so many other people apply? Every time I win I google to see if anyone has ever excepted and went but I never can find anything until now.
That’s precisely what we were hoping to do, since we had the same problem before we went. Hope you enjoy it if you go!
WTF, is D.Trump president of this page now that he’s en route to the slammer?
Not a single mention on the impact of covid, e.g NO cruises, NO flights on this “free trip”. WTHIGO??!
It would have been difficult to predict the impact of COVID-19 when we wrote this back in June of 2018. You seem to be aware of it, though, so I guess nothing was lost.
Thank you for sharing! This was extremely helpful!
Glad to hear it! You’re welcome.
thank you for sharing I won thru langley vacations already paid my 19 per person but will cancel due to them misguiding me on what’s really going on. and due to the fact that so many people have the same way of winning and that’s at the mall , I mean things aren’t that coincidental I think they use shopping places to trap ppl in order to.make money which is not a very honest thing to do free is free why tell someone they’ve won something just to get them to spend money when you can just sell trips to ppl like the website trip advisor I will plan to go to Bahamas on my own time by myself but I will not do it thru dishonest people so thank you for that bc now I know ahead of time that I will need 1000+ when I do decide to go and not be surprised by the amount
Glad we could help you make an informed choice.
Hi I paid my fee 19 for both of me and husband, but I want to add my kids on the trip too. Is it going to cost me more ?
You would have to ask the company you’re working with, but I would imagine so.
So i basically went ahead and paid for the 79.99 (entire installments without realizing until I checked my account) After reading this, I would like to cancel immediately. Do they give refunds? The account has been set up but I haven’t set up anything else
Howdy, Kiana. We don’t actually work for the company we went with nor do we know which one you’re working with. I would imagine they could be talked into giving you a refund, but you’ll have to contact them directly. Good luck!
Hey Dustin!
Here’s an update; I called the people back and told them that I had a change of heart. They refunded me everything except the $35 that was needed to get started. My fiancé and I decided to go with our original plans for honeymoon because this sounded too sketchy. I’m sure it would’ve been fine, but didn’t want to take the risk during our honeymoon!
Thank you for updating! That follow up is good info. I hope you two enjoy a perfect honeymoon! 🙂
Hi. I won this trip as well, recently got married and this supposed to be our honeymoon. Reading this really helped my husband and I because we really was scared and thinking its a scam. So basically after paying the fees when booking our dates – we should take at least 1000-2000 with us? The hotel, do we pay when we get there? Or is it included in the package?
Howdy! Congratulations. I haven’t heard from anyone yet that said they found a true scam, so I think you can rest easy there. It’s been a few years but I *think* we pre-paid the hotel taxes and cruise online. The actual hotel per-night costs were included in our package, though of course your mileage may vary. It is probably safe to say that (depending on your spending habits) you will spend $1,000-$2,000 altogether, including meals and such on the island. I hope it is a blast for you guys!
Thank you . If I have any more questions, can I contact you?
Of course. I don’t know how much we’ll be able to help beyond what we have written there, but we’d be happy to try!
Hello there, I just wanted to mention a few things. One was that they did offer an upgrade to an “all inclusive” Wyndham resorts, but the price difference was too much for us but maybe something to consider for you guys and also that at the time we were living in FL so getting there was no problem or extra expense but if you don’t live in FL you will have to pay to get to the port. Congratulations and I wish you happiness in whatever you do!
When you were booking your trip is that when you paid your port fees
Honestly, I can’t remember at this point. I think it was later.
Thank you so much for your detailed review! This was unbelievably helpful.
You’re very welcome! I’m so glad we could be of service.
i won a trip with merek travel agency to the Bahamas, i did it in the mall in atl an i was worried an I’m glad i seen this. their website is beautiful an. its good to know about the fees, my cruise boat is the Margaritaville at sea paradise. so i read you went to Taino and other ppl went to wyndham, which one was better? and i see you had side by side picks of Taino which one does it really look like? i don’t wanna book an the pick looks 5star cute or close to 5 star an when i get their its a 2 star. is the photos true. i spoke to an agent i told her im thinking about it i will call back, i been on a cruise b4 so i know they are amazing an i miss it. i took notes of everything i read on here thanks.
The pictures we posted are ones we took, yes. The more plain looking one is where we actually had a room, but the pool etc. of the other one were available to us. Glad we could help!
Has anyone cancelled? Within the thirty days after paying the 39.98 and agree for the multiple charges for the cruise ? If so was it easy or was there loop holes? I am realizing I can’t afford all this even if it is a good deal. Also when did you have to pay all these fees ? Upfront?
We didn’t pay everything at one time but if I remember correctly we did most of it before the actual trip. Hopefully another reader can chime in about cancellation.
Cancellation is with in 30 days of signing up the account they tell you in their script. If it is done with -in the 30 days we didnt have any problem getting refunded. However the 39.98 they said was a one time charge and not refundable so the account stays open for 18 months from our start date. That was nice because we just couldnt do the payments at the time so they just turned off the payments that were set to take money from my account. i was Leary about that but the next month they didnt take any money and they allowed us to restart our payments.
Hi I just received the text message for free trip. Yes it’s not free there is frees but I can not wait. I go in march 24 2023. Im glad I read this that it’s not a scam im going with the agency Merek Travel.
Hey there, I’ve filled out one of those pink slips before sometime last year 2021 while I was visiting friends in TN. The agents were nice to delay my trip until next year 2022 when I ask because Covid was still going around (when it was worst then). I live here in California and So far the only expenses I’ve spent was for was the sign-up account $40 and for the cruise trip which cost me $50 per person one way, coming to a total $200 round trip.
In my mind was thinking ok yea I figured there was going to be some cost for traveling which I’m use to traveling anyways. It cost to travel wasn’t a big deal unless you wanna walk lol be my guess. So here I am doing research because I almost completely forgot about the trip cause I just wasn’t too sure but hey! Bahamas sounds like a great memory to have!
but as its getting close to the due date, for when they delayed my trip they said I have to decide by the end of this year to pick a date for the trip by Dec 31 2022. I just wanted to make sure this trip was for real and not having to worry about flying to FL to catch the boat to end up being stranded there THINKING* (there’s no cruise…!? well these was a nice trip to FL I guess lmao)
So I appreciate the help! Ill get back to this from the trip on the info!
Thanks for the added information! Hope your trip works out.
What are the hotel fees? Are they the resort fees or more fees on top of the resort fees?
Is there a way to find how much the resort fees are now?
I think “hotel fees” is probably another way of saying “resort fees.” You’d have to contact the organizers or the resorts themselves to get updated numbers.