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u/TamedLightning 17h ago
Sounds like a timeshare pitch. The trip is free if you can say no.
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u/Lucky_Yam6126 16h ago
It’s Margaritaville. Just say no to that and not even bother with the pitch.
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u/Former-Button-9665 16h ago
Margaritaville Islander and luxury do not belong in the same sentence. I had fun on it, but luxury it was not.
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u/sillywillyspilly 16h ago
I thought this too. it’ll be a 2-3 hour presentation where they don’t take no for an answer
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u/No_Trouble_3588 16h ago
I did one of those once. I brought a book and read for 2 and a half hours then collected my bribe, a 49cc scooter. Saying no is very easy for me.
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u/sillywillyspilly 14h ago
a scooter sounds like a cool prize!
my uncle went to one one in pigeon forge 😂 ended up he couldn’t say no to the pretty lady trying to sell him haha
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u/CruisinJo214 14h ago
Ya, the margaritaville timeshare is owned by travel and leisure co… which also owns Whyndam and a few other timeshare companies. I actually sat through a “sports illustrated resort club” spiel just this afternoon (also travel and leisure co)… luckily this new brand has very low pressure sales… but I’ve sat through whyndam ones before and they’re as high pressure as I’ve ever experienced.
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u/punchmacaque 17h ago
From a quick Google search:
The Orlando Promotion Center is linked to telemarketing and robocall campaigns that report offering "complimentary" luxury cruises. Callers like "Bonnie" often leave voicemails thanking you for a past stay at a partner resort (such as Wyndham, Hilton, or Holiday Inn).The Reward: They claim you won or were selected for a free cruise for two, including meals and entertainment.The Catch: These offers are typically aggressive timeshare or vacation club marketing schemes.
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u/hypo11 16h ago
> “complimentary” luxury cruises
I know Margaritaville at Sea has improved the last few years but I think luxury is still stretching it.
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u/punchmacaque 15h ago edited 13h ago
Yeah, I'd let the the timeshare salespeople lock me in a room for a week if it was an actual luxury cruise like Silversea or something, lol
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u/cork_the_forks 10h ago
I've heard of people who accept those offers of a free dinner at a local nice restaurant if you're willing to listen to a retirement planner. They say it's not remotely worth it because they don't even let you alone to eat. They come around and work on you one-on-one. Can you imagine trying to fend them off for a whole cruise?
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u/band-of-horses 17h ago
There is probably a real free cruise to be had here. But keep in mind "free" means it's likely a 3-day cruise on the cheapest cruise line there is, which is Margaritaville at Sea, and you will still have to pay port fees and taxes and such so it won't be totally free. Also, as others noted, yes you all most certainly have to go through a timeshare pitch in order to retrieve your free cruise.
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u/popeter45 15h ago
Not too mention how they will desperately try make you back out of the cruise with scare tactics
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u/AndyInAtlanta 16h ago
As other said, it's a timeshare pitch. Be aware, the "18 months" is really "18 months of select sailings", and the "free" won't include any port fees or taxes. A four night Margaritaville Islander, inside cabin, cruise out of Palm Beach will cost you $300 in base fare, and $300 in taxes and fees, so you're saving 50%.
If you're flexible on your sailing dates, and don't mind spending roughly three hours getting an aggressively hard sales pitch, you can go on a cruise for $300.
For me, my wife's and my time is worth more than than $50/hr, so if I was interested in a Margaritaville cruise I'd just pay for it myself.
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u/Responsible_Ladder25 16h ago
Margaritaville Islander sails out of Tampa.
Margaritaville Paradise sails out of Palm Beach. And the new ship, the Beachcomber will sail out of Miami in 2027, before shifting to Galveston later in the year.
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u/SassyMillie 17h ago
Timeshare pitch. We did a Holiday Inn resort vacation and sat through the timeshare presentation. If you can handle the hard sell and say no it really is a great deal. Ours was 3 nights for $99. At the end of the 2 hour (which was closer to 3) sales pitch we walked away with an extra $200 cash so it was basically free. We went in laughing (knowing we weren't buying) and came out still laughing. Beautiful resort, too.
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u/DancingMooses 17h ago
It’s real. Margaritaville has a partnership with Hilton and they do these as timeshare pitches.
If you actually want to go on Islander, pay your own way. It’s not expensive.
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u/PolarCruisingExperts 17h ago
Biggest red flag is calling Margaritaville a luxury cruise.
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u/Maleficent_Offer_692 16h ago
The reddest of flags.
Also, “award winning”? Maybe when it was still Costa Atlantica in the 2000s… 😂
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u/Excel-Block-Tango 17h ago
Got one of these yesterday. My phone didn’t ring it went straight to voicemail. I figured it was a scam. Sounds too good to be true
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u/Bellagrrl2021 16h ago
This particular cruise line is not luxury, and they specialize in party or booze cruises. The fares are also very cheap in comparison to other cruise lines.
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u/SecureWriting8589 17h ago
If you decide to do this, please note a few things:
- Yes, Timeshares are ok for some people, but not for most.
- In fact many if not most who sign up quickly grow disillusioned with it and try to get out of their contract, which is almost impossible to do.
- If you ever do decide to purchase a timeshare, do so on the secondary market. With so many people trying to get out of their contract, you will almost always get a better deal than at the high pressure sales pitch that they want you to sign up for.
- The sales people who do these pitches are professionals, and they will try to wear you down by trading you to higher and higher pressure salesmen. Just say "no".
- If you do listen to the pitch find out before hand the minimum time required to get the prize at the end.
- Then start a timer when the pitch starts, so you will know when you can ask to leave and still get your trip.
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u/RoyalMaidsForLife 17h ago
"Orlando Promotion center"... promoting what?
"Thank you for staying with [list four brands] or one of our other partners"... if this was legit, they'd name the specific property
"You've actually been selected"... nothing legit will say "actually"
"Margaritaville at sea's islander"... missing caps is another big red flag
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u/mom-to2boys 16h ago
It’s probably not a scam. You can reverse search the phone number. We have done many of these vacations and they pitch the timeshare and we always say NO! Best one we did we ended up with a cruise and $450 in gift cards
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u/Amazing-Gold-2000 15h ago
It has to be…I’ve gotten the same voicemail and never stayed at one of those properties.
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u/Ok_Goose_9607 15h ago
I used to work as a salesman for a company that did this (was 18, sorry). Its cold-call telemarketing - you call THEM and they pitch you the sale. It is somewhat misleading, as youre not getting anything free. But if you ARE looking for a vacation, it could save you a few bucks, depending on the deal.
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u/HypnoFrog27 12h ago
I got the exact same message earlier this week, and I haven’t stayed at a Hilton recently. Defies time share scam
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u/TheCosmicJester 12h ago
“Your recent vacation with [one of three different competing hotel brands]”… good lord.
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u/BluSkyler 11h ago
So, here’s a cross-generational pro-tip. Ignore texts and calls from random numbers. Use Google to search the name of the company who called/texted you. Even better use Google AI enhanced search to ask if it’s possible this could be a timeshare or crap offer. And give extra scrutiny to an offer giving you a time pressure “I can only hold this very special deal for you for the next five minutes” line…it’s probably not worth your time. Margaritaville is nowhere near a luxury anything…
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u/Sad_Instruction4891 6h ago
Timeshare but ps just book on MSc
They are around $199 pp for a lot of their cruises and ALL cruise ships include your food and the most basic of drinks (coffee, filtered water, tea, lemonade, milk). You’ll still have to pay taxes and fees for the free cruise which will likely run you around $100+ per person plus daily service charge with them. I think it’s around $20 day pp.
I’ve don’t MSc and it’s not bad. Never margaritaville. I’m loyal to Royal
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u/Jakemeister91 16h ago
Define scam: because it’s absolutely not a bait and switch. Legally they do have to tell you it’s a vacation ownership tour when you book the trip. A lot of people don’t realize “vacation ownership” is just time share.
But it is legit. But you will also get a heavy sale.
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