RCI Cruise/Vacation offer

[Robo Member Find all posts View Profile Close Robo]

I received a call the other night from RCI's Cruise Center. They have a pre-paid deal on a cruise for two and a week of vacation at any of their resorts with no blackout dates. I asked them to email it to me so "I could review it." Here is what they sent. Anybody heard of this before?

March 13, 2007
RCI Cruise and Resort Vacations is pleased to offer you a special promotion which includes the following:
· An all inclusive 7-Night Cruise Excursion for Two with 18 months to book your cruise to some of the most popular destinations like the Caribbean, the Mexican Riviera, the Bahamas and portions of Alaska and Hawaii in an inside Cabin on cruise lines such as Carnival, Holland America, Princess, Norwegian, Royal Caribbean and Celebrity.

· Up to a 7-Night fabulous Land Vacation in one of 500 RCI Affiliated Resorts with 24 months to travel. Based on unit size and availability, friends and family may be able to stay with you at no additional cost.

· A personal RCI Cruise Guide and a password protected website to explore vacation options.

Through the RCI Cruise Center this two-vacation promotion is being offered for only $2295 (USD).

We look forward to talking with you to answer any questions that you might have. Then it’s bon voyage!

Thank you for your interest in RCI Cruise and Resort Vacations.

[cathyv Member Find all posts View Profile Close cathyv]

We had a similar offer 8 weeks or so ago. I posted a question on Tug or here and no one answered my query about whether anyone had used. In the end, we didn't buy.
cathyv

[katiemack Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close katiemack]

Am I understanding that you would pay $2295 up front....

Knowing how RCI usually operates, I would be pretty skeptical that I would get what I wanted when I wanted it....they would have my $$$...and when I want to book it, what a lot of "excuses" would be coming my way....

"oh, sorry, we said you could get to SOME of the most popular....we didn't guarantee you could take that cruise in the Caribbean during December....what? you don't like taking a cruise during hurricane season? well, that is the only cruise we have available....

"what was that you wanted? a two bedroom unit on the shore....sure, how about February in South Carolina....

RCI is not about giving you what you want....they are about making money.

If you want to take a cruise, and you have $2295....go to the many cruise discounters and see what you can get , in prime areas for a couple.

If you want to choose from only 500 RCI resorts (I think they claim to have 3000 plus affiliates)...plan on going to S.C. or Masanutten in the winter....

I don't understand how RCI does it, but they certainly re-invent ways to get $$$$$$ with little coming back in return.

I would say pass, run, run very fast away from this offer.

[Carolinian Super Moderator Find all posts View Profile Close Carolinian]

For cruise discounters, who will offer you a much better deal than RCI, ICE, etc. check the listings on the TS4M's Links Directory for cruises, under Website Navigation above.

[BoardGirl Senior Member Find all posts View Profile Close BoardGirl]

WOW! That's, um, brazen! That's a mighty hunka dough.

I thought this was going to be the "deposit a week, get a cruise voucher!" that's been showing up in my snail mailbox with annoying frequency.