Interested in getting a FREE Cruise? Absolutely! Cruising is something that very many people enjoy. And why not! Its great! You get as much food and drink (although alcoholic drinks can add up cost wise) as you want, get to be shuttled around in a boat that’s often as large as a small town with everything from pools, waterslides, to shopping to video games for the kids (and the adults who like to play like kids).

So, who couldn’t resist a deal when they get a notice of a FREE Cruise? Nobody! Anybody can find time in their busy schedule to make a quick family vacation especially when cruises are as little as 3 day trips (and go all the way up to many-month trips). Its no wonder, then, that when people receivephone calls indicating that they’ve won a FREE CRUISE that they figure that it might have been “some contest” that they entered in the past and proceed to talk with the friendly voice on the other end.

Okay, lets stop right there. If you don’t remember entering a contest, you probably didn’t. In addition, how exactly do you enter a contest without paying money for it? How the heck would these companies make money? You really don’t think that they are doing this because of the goodness in their hearts do you? You don’t think that they give these things away just for exposure do you? No! No! No! They don’t. They do it to make money. How can they make money? Because it’s coming out of your pocket one way or another. I’m not talking about just the port fees and such that the government requires for cruising, I’m talking about you giving into high pressure, greed or other foolishness and giving them your credit card and having money taken out. A lot of money taken out. Enough so that the product is paid for many, many times. How do they do this?

Timeshares. Come on, you know what a timeshare is! You’ve heard about them for decades. My parents told me about them a long time ago that happened even longer ago. Timeshares are almost NEVER good deals. I couldn’t believe that my parents told me that decades later they had seriously considered buying one in Hawaii. SERIOUSLY!?! First off, you can buy just about any timeshare for half price on the web. Just about any timeshare in the world! Why the heck would you pay 2x the cost for something, especially when its that big of a purchase! No, no, no! Bad!

So, basically, here’s what you’re getting with your “FREE” cruise. Fees likely to cost you $100-$200 PER PERSON plus then there is the little print which is the ultimate gotcha. You get to go to one of these timeshares pitches. No, they will not let you board unless you go through the “presentation”. And we’re not talking about a 15 minute lite presentation, we’re talking about separate-you-from-your-spouse, 5 hour (yes, 5 hours) hard press sell pitch. They’ll use every trick they know and will tag team you and guilt you and lie to you and do whatever it takes to take your money.

Please, people. Don’t fall for these tactics. You KNOW better. You KNOW this isn’t legit. You KNOW you’re going to hate what you get. Don’t let that voice in your head try and convince you its not.