Sundance Vacations Free Cruise - legit?

My husband entered his name in some kind of contest at an event, and got a call from Sundance Vacations that he's eligible for a free cruise if he attends a presentation. It sounds like one of those events time share companies do, which I'm always skeptical about. My question is, are they legitimate? Should we waste our time going to this? 

Sounds like a scam to me.

NizhoniGrrrl said:

Sounds like a scam to me.

I'm not sure if scam is the right word. It's not a totally out-of-the-blue phone call (I've gotten those too!) because he did actually enter for it at a recent Lego festival.

I guess my question is if these offers are ever legitimate, or if there are so many strings attached and stuff that it's not worth it.

everyone "wins" at those "fill this out for a chance to win a free vacation" stands at trade shows / street fairs/ carnivals . The prize is non-stop phone calls until you agree to attend some timeshare or cruise sales seminar.

Freeway said:

everyone "wins" at those "fill this out for a chance to win a free vacation" stands at trade shows / street fairs/ carnivals . The prize is non-stop phone calls until you agree to attend some timeshare or cruise sales seminar.

Right. And so then if you attend... are the travel vouchers actually redeemable? We've gotten the spiel already so I know we have to sit through the seminar. But if we legitimately get to go on the trip after I can suck up an hour or two.

TarheelsInNj said:

Freeway said:

everyone "wins" at those "fill this out for a chance to win a free vacation" stands at trade shows / street fairs/ carnivals . The prize is non-stop phone calls until you agree to attend some timeshare or cruise sales seminar.

Right. And so then if you attend... are the travel vouchers actually redeemable? We've gotten the spiel already so I know we have to sit through the seminar. But if we legitimately get to go on the trip after I can suck up an hour or two.

I know someone who did this and it was a 5 night stay in orlando. Each day they had to go to another timeshare sales pitch or some other event to get a voucher that would allow them to stay for the following night. I'd avoid this.

Everyone "wins" and it's a timeshare presentation.  The "free" cruise is usually a 3-4 night on a very old ship, in a inside room and you'll owe taxes, gratuities, etc.  It wont be free, it will be terrible and the timeshare presentation is usually hours long and brutal.

conandrob240 said:

Everyone "wins" and it's a timeshare presentation.  The "free" cruise is usually a 3-4 night on a very old ship, in a inside room and you'll owe taxes, gratuities, etc.  It wont be free, it will be terrible and the timeshare presentation is usually hours long and brutal.

Thanks This was kinda my gut feeling too but I wanted to see if anyone had experience with them.

I'll add that first you'll be offered available dates for this "free cruse with 3 midweek choices during a week you'd never want to go.  Then, if you agree to it, that's where old ship, taxes, fees and upgrades will make it the same price as a better cruise you can book yourself.

If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. And once you are in the system you'll be harassed even more with spam.

Apparently the seminar is only an hour.  But you're right that it says it's a 3-night cruise on Carnival, Royal Caribbean or Norwegian, plus airfare to Florida. The taxes are (allegedly) about $200

eta: I'm not an idiot, I do know these things are not as good as they sound  But I was just wondering if anyone had actually done this with this company, and actually went on the trip! Online reviews are mixed.

I did it years ago and it horrible.  Availability, taxes/fees were an issue and the presentation part was such high pressure, it wasn't worth a few hundred $. Those 3-4 nt cruises out of FL can be so cheap, its not worth the trade offs to get it "for free"

That's kind of where I'm leaning. Probably not worth the hassle and we'll still be out $400-$500. I'd rather apply that to somewhere we know we want to go. I'm not sure we're cruise people anyway! 

I've heard that there are often hidden fees (only some aspects of the cruise being covered..but you have to pay for a lot of things)....

I am not sure what a cruise person is but I can almost guarantee no one would like cruising if their first ship is an old, beat up 3 nt party cruise from FL. Icky.

conandrob240 said:

I am not sure what a cruise person is but I can almost guarantee no one would like cruising if their first ship is an old, beat up 3 nt party cruise from FL. Icky.

Ha. That's probably true. I've only been on one cruise, but it was a European riverboat cruise so that's probably a different animal. I've just never been particularly intrigued by the idea of a large ship (though the Disney cruises are tempting if we ever win the lottery!).