My boyfriend decided to spring on me this "free cruise" he signed up for that he heard about on the radio. When he called he was told he would just need to pay taxes and fees. A lot of reviews on here are saying they weren't told you had to pay that daily fuel charge and gratuity. My boyfriend was told on the phone about it AND it says it on the website! If you actually pay attention and read, you will read that you do have to pay these fees. You have to pay gratuity fees per day on every cruise! Well, after my boyfriend called me to tell me what we were doing in August, I told him he was crazy and to get a refund. This was due in part to the fact that it sounded too good to be true and there are tons of negative reviews on this cruise line. I don't even know why I wasted my time reading these reviews because a majority of them were extremely false and poorly written. You get what you pay for. Obviously this cruise line is smaller and older because IT STATES THAT ON THE WEBSITE. Obviously it is cheaper than bigger cruise lines so you shouldn't expect to be boarding a Princess Cruise.
In regards to that "scam" everyone is talking about. My boyfriend and I were very hectic but the company we got the free cruise from was very informative. They called my boyfriend multiple times to update him on what all was going to happen. We drove to Port of Palm Beach which was a very small but a nice little port. We kept our car there overnight and payed $16 dollars a day. We waited in line to receive our boarding passes and it took literally 10 minutes. We were told on the phone we had an upgrade to an ocean view which we did not receive. Therefore, we talked to a man in charge of the promotional cruises and he upgraded us in 10 minutes. We passed all the drink, dinner, and excursion deals. We just wanted to save as much money as we could. All we did was check in, pick up our room keys, make our dinner reservations for both nights, and got on the ship. The workers on this ship were extremely friendly and willing to help out. We got to our room and it was a very decent size room. The shower and bathroom were small but it was the same exact size on a cabin I stayed in on the Princess Cruise. It actually was a little bit bigger! It was previously a European ship so you will need to get outlet converters from the front desk and they provide hairdryers, curling irons, and straighteners for free. The dinner in the less formal dining hall was mediocre. The food really was just average. However, when we had dinner in the more formal dining hall, the food was great! The drinks were not expensive. The breakfast was good. We ate on the pool deck all three days. Their were fun things to do each night. I even entered in a karaoke contest and moved to the final round which was held in the auditorium. The comedy shows were hilarious. The adult comedy show that you pay $11 for was pretty much a waste of money we thought. It was really similar to the free comedy show. They just used more x-rated language. The casino and casino game classes were very fun. The entertainment was great! When we ported in the Bahamas, we took a cab (which took 5 minutes) to their most popular beach and we had a blast! The water was beautiful, the drinks were cheap, and the sand was pure white. My boyfriend and I really enjoyed our time here on the ship. It was extremely easy to deport. Our bill was delivered to our door the last morning of the cruise. We went downstairs to pay it, ate breakfast, turned in the appliances, and got off the ship. Our car was brought right to us and we drove home.
Overall, this cruise ship was good for the money you pay. The whole "free cruise" deal is not a scam if you go through Bahamas Celebration or Celebration Cruise Lines (I don't remember what it was called). It is not the actual cruise line. It is a promotional cruise company. Just note we received our deal via the radio. I'm not sure about the free cruises you get in the mail. However, this was a fun little cruise. My boyfriend and I enjoyed our time and it was well worth it. We tried it out, realized it was actually a real thing, and made the best of it!