My wife received a call a year ago from Imperial Majesty Cruise Lines and was offered a package for 2 for about US$300. This is to include a 3-day cruise with 4 nights of Hotel and a car rental for the week. Ok, the catch – you must spend half an hour to see a time-sharing project during that vacation. But, you have to spend 2 nights in Orlando, and 2 at Fort Lauderdale (more about this later).

Just prior to the trip, they advised us that the ship going to Nassau (Bahamas) had been retired and they have a (new) one named Bahamas Celebrations sailing out of West Palm Beach, which is north of Fort Lauderdale, going to the Grand Bahamas Island (Mispresentaion#1). We found out that the ship goes to a nice resort Island with beaches and hotels, but NOT the Capital of the Bahamas as promised. At this point, the air-tickets were purchased already. This means extra hour to drive and get to the Port.

Upon arrival, and after a two-hour (yes) wait at the Budget Car Rental counter, we picked up a car. (Mispresentaion#2). At this point, we found out that all taxes are extra on this trip. The Fort Lauderdale Airport charges $70+ taxes for car rental! Never, never rent from the airport (more on this later).

After a half hour drive, we got to the welcome center and picked up our Vouchers for meals and a night stay at the Sheraton. The Sheraton Cypress was a nice Hotel but we ended up with closed to $30 paid next day ($12 for Internet services and rest for misc taxes).

Next day, at the Dock, $15 per day for parking for a total of $30. The boat is about 600 feet and converted from a 30 year old ferry from Europe. I have done many cruises before and I certain and lower my expectations this time. The account set up included mandatory tips for services and all taxes, fuel charges, and port charges.

The meals are decent but not up to regular cruise line standards with variety and quality. The rooms are ok and since the ship is new, it is just “smaller” to go around. The stairs are shorter and therefore good for exercises. We did not get onto the Resort as it will cost $59 and weather was bad ( cloudy, rainy, cold ). (Mispresentaion#3) The cruise is not “free”. It will cost $10 to ride the bus into town and shop. From what others told me, that meant that you are not allowed to go onto the Beaches.

About the cruise – NO 110volt outlets! Electrical adapters were available for plugs on my laptop, which happened to be a dual-voltage device. Internet service is $5 minute and their upload rates are very, very, slow. I saw someone trying to do Face book and it took her half an hour and still not finished with loading the page.

After the cruise, we drove back to Fort Lauderdale and met up with the Time-share Company. They told us they paid $600 to get us into their office. At this point, they took us around in their car and visit condos and told us how good they are and how inexpensive. When we realized that there is a yearly maintenance fee of $850 for a one-week share, we backed off. Immediately, the price came down. Then the Manager came in, stating that there is “returned” unit yet for another lower price, an extra week of exchanged condo thrown in. Finally, only the need to pay the maintenance fee every other year.

We signed a contract for the time-share with the “cold-off” clause of ten days build in so I can do more research. The whole thing now took 3.5 hours. By the way, you have to go to that meeting before you get a Hotel voucher for that night (tricky, tricky). I wondered what would happen if we say “no”. (If only we have done our homework at the time)

Another night at the Sheraton and uneventful. We heard from people on the cruise coming from Orlando that their Hotel stay at Ramada Maingate Hotel was Hell – chlorine smell from the pool, broken bed posts, and poor counter service. We couldn’t wait to experience that.

Next day, we drove to Orlando and stay at the Ramada Maingate West.(Mispresentaion#4) The welcome center is there and they gave as the vouchers and reminded us to go to “another” time-share meeting except that since we already “purchased”, we received a “Pass-Go” note to bypass another hard sell. This is the reason that you must spend 2 nights in Orlando as part of the package – so they can hit you for that time-sharing deal again! There was no mentioning of going onto Time-sharing tours for 2 times - just once.

This Ramada looked like a decent Hotel. The staff was nice and there was an indoor swimming pool as well as an outdoor one. Yes, the chlorine smell was even up in the fourth floor. The ceiling in the hallway showed numerous watermarks, may be there was a flood from the floor above at some time. The3 air-condition in the room was noisy and there was a funny rotting, wet, smell even that was a non-smoking wing. Other than that, it was ok. I guessed that the horror stories are due to main floor rooms and maybe they did not “buy” time-sharing?

After a couple of days, we headed back to the Airport at Fort Lauderdale. When I picked up the car, I expected myself to re-fill it so I selected the self-fuel option. Yes, they circled that if I don’t refuel, they will do it for $7.45 /gallon. Remember how I waited 2 hours initially, they never explained the “amount” to me. Traffic was heavy and coming in from the North there was NO gas station all the way into the Airport. I realized that they set this trap up when I tried to reason with them for an extra $100 fuel charge. I was told, “Yeah, I know that there is no gas station nearby but you could have picked to have us refuel for you for $2.85/gallon but you insisted and we must have explained that to you“. Ok, my bad. Miss budget…

All in all, I lowered my expectations for the trip and do not find it really bad. The bad things were:

1) Change of location to a day at the beach (with cost).
2) Taxes for hotel, car, and cruise all excluded.
3) Mandatory service charges on cruise.
4) Time-share meetings taking up valuable vacation time.

Just remember, nothing is ever “Free”!

Imperial Majesty did nothing but lie to me, mislead me, and cause me great frustration with trying to plan a simple honeymoon. My MANY many hours on the phone with them left me frustrated and desperate to take back what had happened. This is how my correspondence with them went:

November, 2008, pm: I called Imperial Majesty Cruise Line Vacations, responding to a vacation offer I received in the mail to get information on the restrictions and stipulations. I talked with 3 different representatives, Dallia, Robert, and Christina. After a 64 minute conversation going between the 3 people, I agreed to the following purchase:
I paid $798 for:
7 day car rental
3 nights in Fort Lauderdale
2 nights in Orlando
2 night cruise to the Bahamas, all inclusive of food and entertainment on the boat and on the island.
2 nights in Las Vegas (separate vacation)
3 nights in Mexico (separate vacation)
$100 additional for:
42 meals in “fancy city restaurants” around Fort Lauderdale and Orlando
Bonuses (they included to make the sale):
*Free upgrade to outside stateroom on cruise
*$50 match-play in the cruise casino
*$1000 online shopping spree
*2 day passes to Universal Studios
*10 bonus vacation getaways
*Extended time period to use the vacations.

During this conversation, I was told that I had to make a decision immediately and would not be able to take advantage of this offer at any other time, even though I initially called just to hear about restrictions to the deal. I was made aware of an additional $200 I would have to pay for port fees for the cruise, as well as attendance at a presentation on the sale of independent vacation ownership resorts. I was assured that everything that was agreed to would be mailed to me, in writing.

Same day, November, 2008, a few hours later: After researching the company more, I found suspicious information leading me to believe I was scammed by Imperial Majesty. I canceled my credit card, and was told by the bank representative that the charge for $798 would not go through.

The next day, November, 2008: I called Imperial Majesty cruise line, and demanded a refund because I was not comfortable with the information I found on many websites. The “specialist” (Angela) told me that she would not cancel at that time, but would refund $300, which I would have to repay later when I booked the vacation. She told me to wait until I got the material and was able to think about it more.

Three days later, November, 2008: I called my bank to make sure the charge had not been processed. This representative told me that it really would be processed and that I would have to call Imperial Majesty to get a refund.

The same day, November, 2008: I talked with another specialist, Lauren. She said there was a statutory period in which I could cancel, but did not know how long. She said it would start when I get the package in the mail, and it would be stated in the package. She said she wanted to put $399 back on my credit card to help reassure me also. (I would have to pay it back when I book the vacation.) I told her I would do more research until then.
I researched Imperial Majesty online for many hours until I received the package in the mail. I noticed then that I had 3 days to cancel if needed.

1 Week later, November, 2008: I called Imperial Majesty the day after I got the package in the mail, confronting the representative (Anthony) on many inconsistencies I found between what they had told me that I would get, and what I found in writing in the package they gave me. These inconsistencies included:
*Needing to pay extra government taxes, service fees, security and fuel surcharges.
*Needing to do an additional tour of independent vacation ownership resorts to receive the Universal Studios tickets.
*Black out dates for the additional vacations, limiting when they can be used.
*Cruise excursions really were not inclusive.
*The upgraded outside stateroom on the cruise was not included.
*$1000 online shopping spree did not work. They gave me 3 wrong websites initially, and a 4th website during this call that still didn’t work. He told me to call the website’s customer service, which turned out to be a machine asking me to leave a message.
*The extra $100 that I paid for the “fancy meals” at a variety of their partner restaurants around the cities, turned out to only be buffet meals at the 2 hotels themselves (in Fort Lauderdale and Orlando.) Furthermore the information shows these meals were naturally included in the initial $698 package, and I should not have been charged $100 for.
I expressed my discontent and worry over not getting what I was initially told that I would when I agreed to the order. Anthony apologized for the lies and didn’t want me to cancel, rather for me to accept his offer. He offered to take the $100 off the vacation price for the food/restaurant issue, so that I would pay a total of $698. He also said he applied the upgraded outside stateroom, and included an extra night in Orlando for the inconvenience as well. I was very hesitant, but he assured me that he would send all of this (-$100, the upgraded room, and extra night in Orlando) in writing. He insisted and I reluctantly agreed until I could see it in writing again.

Three days later, November, 2008: I called Imperial Majesty to ask why the shopping spree website still didn’t work, since they have a partnership in some way, and why no one answers the website’s customer service number. They said it should be up on Monday. (It did not come up on Mon.)

2 Weeks later- December, 2008: I received a letter in the mail, only stating that I received an upgraded outside room on the cruise.

2 Days later, December, 2008: Imperial Majesty, Sharla, called me. She asked for my new credit card number to pay $88 for the 18 month extension that I supposedly had bought. I told her I never bought any extension, and there was already supposed to be an extension on my account. She said okay, I have 3 years, no fee added. I asked about the shopping website, and she transferred me to the booking department. Justin, (booking) just gave me another customer service number. I asked why I had not received confirmation of my conversation with Anthony in writing. He transferred me to Lauren, a “specialist.”
Lauren apologized for me not having got anything else in the mail. She said she wanted to switch my vacation package to a better deal for me because of all my hassles and being asked for the $88.00 from Sharla. For the poor service, and to attempt to gain my trust back, she also refunded $300, which I would have to repay when I book the vacation. She assured me all of my original agreements would all be there, but the package would only cost $698 and port fees would only be $118. I double checked with her, and she assured me all of the following would still be included:
*7 day car rental
*3 nights in Fort Lauderdale
*2 nights in Orlando
*2 night cruise to the Bahamas
*2 nights in Las Vegas (separate vacation)
*3 nights in Mexico (separate vacation)
*All buffet meals in the Fort Lauderdale and Orlando hotels
*Free upgrade to outside stateroom on cruise
*$50 match-play in the cruise casino
*$1000 online shopping spree
*2 day passes to Universal Studios (after doing a 2nd tour of vacation homes)
*10 bonus vacation getaways
*Extended time period to use the vacations- until May 17, 2012.

2.5 weeks later-, December 23, 2008: I received new documents for $698 package, but port fees still listed as $198 instead of $118.

3 days later, December, 2008: I called Imperial Majesty. I asked Darrel why port fees still $198 when Lauren said they would be $118. He transferred me to “specialist” James. James said the package Lauren switched me to still cost $198 for port fees, and put me on hold to talk to upper management. James got permission to switch me to another package. I explained I was tired of being lied to, and did not want to waste any more time. He insisted, and switched me to the following, cheaper, package for $498 + $118 port fees. He said a new package would come in the mail.
*NO shopping spree
*NO bonus 10 extra travel excursions
*7 day car rental
*3 nights in Fort Lauderdale
*2 nights in Orlando
*2 night cruise to the Bahamas
*2 nights in Las Vegas (separate vacation)
*3 nights in Mexico (separate vacation)
*All buffet meals in the Fort Lauderdale and Orlando hotels
*Free upgrade to outside stateroom on cruise
*$50 match-play in the cruise casino
*2 day passes to Universal Studios (after doing a 2nd tour of vacation homes)
*Extended time period to use the vacations- until May 17, 2012.

1.5 Weeks later, January, 2009: I called Imperial Majesty because I had not received notification of my new package yet. The representative said it would still come.

5 days later- January, 2009: I called Imperial Majesty because I got a piece of paper in the mail from them saying what my $498 package included. It only stated 2 nights in Orlando (instead of 4) and 2 nights in Fort Lauderdale (instead of 3.) It was also missing the Universal Studios tickets. Nothing was noted about the upgraded cruise room or extended use on the vacations either. This time, and the other times that I have asked to speak with a manager or supervisor, it was refused and I was told that each individual had the same authority as a supervisor. I explained to the representative, Janelle how every time I call, I get told something by a representative that never ends up being there when I get it in writing. I also expressed how I am tired of calling, only to receive poor customer service, long waits on hold, having to explain myself and the situation over and over again, and being lied to. I told her I have spent many hours on the phone with them, and she became rude with me. She tried to convince me to go with a high priced package again to get the additional hotel nights. I said I was done trying to work through a solution and wanted my refund. She explained the statutory period had passed, and I could no longer cancel. I tried to explain that I had tried to cancel within the statutory period, it was refused, they kept on switching the package, and no vacation has actually been booked. She still refused.
Imperial Majesty has repeatedly lied to me, saying that I will be receiving certain services for a certain amount of money, yet never proving to provide them. Talking with customer service over 2 months was not successful, nor hopeful for any improvement in the future. I filed fraud with my credit card company against Imperial Majesty, and fortunately they did not counter-suit it, so I was finally refunded all my money from Imperial.

So My fiancee and I got a package in the mail with a voucher for free vacations from Imperial Majesty Cruise Lines to Orlando, Ft. Lauderdale, Las Vegas and Puerto Vallarta. All 2-3 night trips. We called the number and it turns out actually all these trips cost $798 and are not free at all. They offered us a payment plan, where we paid half the balance and they auto-debited our credit card over a few months until we settled the bill. Now the vacations are only good for 18 months, and since it was a 5 month payment plan we asked if we would be able to go on any of the vacations before we fulfilled the payment plan. They told us we could go to the Florida destinations, but not Vegas or Mexico. So we agreed and signed up for the program.

Well they LIED! When we went to book our first trip 2 months later to Orlando they told us that the full balance of the plan had to be paid in full first. We explained what we had been told when we purchased the plan, but they didn't care and would not let us book. We then said forget it, and would like a refund and they said that was not possible. So now we are into these people for like $550 and we have no choice but to continue paying them even though they lied to us or we will lose our money. We would never have agreed to this because if we knew we couldn't book any of the trips until we finished the payment plan that would only leave us a year to go on 4 different vacations. That just isn't enough time for us.

So DO NOT BOOK ANY TRIPS with this company or give them your credit card number. They will lie to you and tell you whatever you want to hear to get you to sign up, and then apparently you get screwed over.