Free Bahamas Cruise?

I am interesting in taking my first cruise and although I've traveled around the world by flying I have never been on a cruise before.

Recently I've been receiving a few calls about a free Bahamas cruise although I know it's not free ($200 per person) I am still interested because it is cheap and I am in my early 20s and looking for something different.

Has anyone tried the Bahamas Celebration cruise before? Is it worth $200 in your opinion? How are the tours offered in the Bahamas?

I live in Toronto and I need to know if this cruise is worth the airfare flying down to Florida for or whether it is worth saving up for one of the bigger cruise lines like NCL, etc.

Don't even consider it. No, not worth the airfare. Have you tried reading reviews? It's basically a ferry and nothing like a "real" cruise. There are so many inexpensive cruises out of Florida. Book on of those and you will be much happier.

http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g34227-i98-k3515180-o10-Bahamas_Celebration_cruise_ship-Fort_Lauderdale_Florida.html

This is NOT as "real" cruise. Save your money and take a cruise on one of the major cruise lines.

And, since you're coming from so far away, make your 1st cruise at LEAST 5-7 days....airfare makes in unworth the cost for less than that!

Carnival or RCI will be fun and give you the real "feel" of cruising!!

Those are not the deal they seem. Big rip-off. Much better to look at prices on major cruise lines such as Carnival, Royal Caribbean (RCI), or Norwegian (NCL).

Per Monty Python...."Run awayyyyyy"

It's not the Bahamas Celebration any more. She has been replaced with the Grand Celebration, originally built as the Carnival Celebration. Still Sailing from West Palm Beach. Cruise line also has changed name to Bahamas Paradise Cruise Line. They have a forum here at CC. Not many reviews yet, as she just sailed her first cruise Feb. 3. EM

The above posts may not be correct as the cruise line has recently (like within the past month) changed hands. I'd suggest you post on the board here at CC to find out what the current situation is.

There have been many good reviews of the ship in the past and many bad ones...though the same could be said for all cruises.

Like any deal, be sure to always read the fine print.

If you search long enough you can find cruises on CCL, NCL and MSC for nearly that same price though.

Do not even think about it. Especially since you will be paying air fare from Canada, it makes no sense to spend the time and money for a third rate experience. If you are on a tight budget, check out Carnival for three or four day cruises, of which they have many - I'm not sure if NCL has many/any of less than a week.

If they have to give their cruises away in order to get people to sail with them how good can they be?

You could do a 4 night bahamas cruise on NCL for around $200 including drink packages. Carnival usually has good last minute deals on 7 nights.

If you want to save more - Since your from Toronto if your able to drive or get a ride to IAG airport (Niagra Falls USA side) cheapy airline Spirit flies direct to Fort Lauderdale.. check their site each day for deals --- sometimes you can fly for $34 including tax (plus checked bag fee of $30 each way) yes bag fee is almost same price as the flight lol.

If your dates are flexible then you should have no problem finding a cheapy flight deal on Spirit and then you can book a last minute cruise from either Fort Lauderdale or Miami.

Don't even consider it. No, not worth the airfare. Have you tried reading reviews? It's basically a ferry and nothing like a "real" cruise. There are so many inexpensive cruises out of Florida. Book on of those and you will be much happier.

 

http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g34227-i98-k3515180-o10-Bahamas_Celebration_cruise_ship-Fort_Lauderdale_Florida.html

Fully agree with this person's POV.

Don't even consider it. No, not worth the airfare. Have you tried reading reviews? It's basically a ferry and nothing like a "real" cruise. There are so many inexpensive cruises out of Florida. Book on of those and you will be much happier.

You are going off of old, outdated information.

The ship being used now is the former Carnival Celebration which was built as a cruise ship and never served as a ferry.

I am interesting in taking my first cruise and although I've traveled around the world by flying I have never been on a cruise before.

 

Recently I've been receiving a few calls about a free Bahamas cruise although I know it's not free ($200 per person) I am still interested because it is cheap and I am in my early 20s and looking for something different.

 

Has anyone tried the Bahamas Celebration cruise before? Is it worth $200 in your opinion? How are the tours offered in the Bahamas?

 

I live in Toronto and I need to know if this cruise is worth the airfare flying down to Florida for or whether it is worth saving up for one of the bigger cruise lines like NCL, etc.

This whole thing is a scam... Don't do it! You can get a real cruise for the same fare with a variety of regular cruise lines. Just watch the last minute deals and doing a tiny bit of research!

The above posts may not be correct as the cruise line has recently (like within the past month) changed hands.

I believe it's the same people, just a different corporate name. It's a legal thing. There's never really been anything wrong with the three ships they've used, or the cruise experience booked directly with the cruise line; the complaints have always been about the "free" cruise offered by the time share company. Still, it's not something I would get on an airplane to do, as there are a lot of inexpensive longer cruises out of Miami/Ft. Lauderdale on other lines that go to more interesting places than Freeport.

I am interesting in taking my first cruise and although I've traveled around the world by flying I have never been on a cruise before.

 

Recently I've been receiving a few calls about a free Bahamas cruise although I know it's not free ($200 per person) I am still interested because it is cheap and I am in my early 20s and looking for something different.

 

Has anyone tried the Bahamas Celebration cruise before? Is it worth $200 in your opinion? How are the tours offered in the Bahamas?

 

I live in Toronto and I need to know if this cruise is worth the airfare flying down to Florida for or whether it is worth saving up for one of the bigger cruise lines like NCL, etc.

Ever heard the old phrase (PT Barnum or someone of that ilk): "There's a sucker born every minute."

Another one "if it sounds to good to be true" ...

The above posts may not be correct as the cruise line has recently (like within the past month) changed hands. I'd suggest you post on the board here at CC to find out what the current situation is.

You are correct. The old Bahamas Celebration partially sunk at the dock in Freeport. Luckily, they were able to save it. Now under the new management, they are sailing the old Carnival Celebration, which is a big step up from the ferry they used to run.

But that said, $200 pp for this old ship is still not worth it. You can do a 3 night cruise on the much better ships being run by Carnival, Royal Caribbean and NCL for that price.

My husband and I sailed with the company back in 09.

Yes, it was a different ship but 2 things remain the same:

1) You have to sit through a 90 minute timeshare presentation.

2) You only visit Freeport on Grand Bahama Island.

IMO, there is something VERY shady about this company and feel they completely lucked out by getting the CCL ship.

See this link for the CC News article that talks about the "unknown object" that the ferry hit back in November: http://www.cruisecritic.com/news/news.cfm?ID=6046

Here's another report: http://www.cruisecritic.com/articles.cfm?ID=1651

The ship was built in 1986.

I've gotten those phone calls and once bothered to find out what cruise line it was for, just out of curiosity. Did a little googling and IMO I would advise against it. Go with a regular cruise line.