Has anyone ever won a cruise?

When I come across enter-to-win contests and sweepstakes, they trigger my 'what's the catch?' scepticism. I don't have any specific instance in mind - just thinking generally. Has anyone here won a cruise this way and, if so, how was the experience?

When I come across enter-to-win contests and sweepstakes, they trigger my 'what's the catch?' scepticism. I don't have any specific instance in mind - just thinking generally. Has anyone here won a cruise this way and, if so, how was the experience?

I've "won" quite a few. The problem is all the taxes and fees and service charges they collect tend to add up to close to what a cruise would cost. And sitting in on a timeshare presentation is not my idea of "winning" anything.

Won a cruise on CCL about 10 yrs ago. Was notified by mail and asked to pick a date we wished to cruise, within the next year. Was assigned an ocean view cabin and could not upgrade, even if paying, for a balcony. Taxes, excursions etc. were at my cost and naturally, they also sent along the correct tax form to submit since the cost of the "free' cruise is considered, by the feds, income received! :)

If you have to pay a fee you didn't win anything. If you entered a contest from a real company-they will have you fill out forms----you will get a 1099 for your taxes.

I enter such competitions on reliable forums, and yes, I've known winners; or else when cruise lines send me their emails or literature, offering a free cruise.

For any competition, always read the small print before you enter, and check who's drawing the name out of the hat. I've entered many competitions over the year, and know that some firms use a charity to draw the names- Readers' Digest used to do this. If you're sure it's a genuine offer from a known source, then it's worth a go. I wouldn't enter one which was asking me to pay anything other than my own transport and expenses on board.

I've won a few holidays over the years, mainly through writing slogans, but other than a night on board a new ship for her naming, I've not won a cruise.

We watched the bingo on our last Holland America that gave a free cruise as the prize. I think the choices were 7-day to the Caribbean or Alaska.

I won a Hawaiian cruise years ago from a Dole Pineapple sweepstakes. The only costs we had were excursions and alcohol. I briefly considered asking for cash equivalent, since I didn't have a strong desire to go to Hawaii. So glad I didn't - it was fabulous, and it was our first cruise.

Not been lucky. All I got from email sweepstakes were spam emails from different domains.

If you really "win" a cruise from some contest,, you will be liable for the income tax - based upon the stated value - which is likely to be "book" or "brochure" value - a lot more than what you would be likely to pay were you to buy it yourself. Then, in addition to the income tax, you would have to pay the cruise taxes and, of course, service charges.

If it were a raffle prize and you bought several tickets, that "free" cruise could very well cost you about what you would have paid outright.

On the other hand- most "free cruise" offers I have heard of are simply part of time share marketing schemes - and not worth the two minutes it takes a thinking person to toss into the trash.

Ten years ago, when Carrie Underwood's album "Carnival Ride" came out, one of our local radio stations had a drawing for a free 4 day cruise on the Carnival Sensation. My wife entered the contest, and we won! We had to pay the taxes, but the cost of the cruise was free.

When I come across enter-to-win contests and sweepstakes, they trigger my 'what's the catch?' scepticism. I don't have any specific instance in mind - just thinking generally. Has anyone here won a cruise this way and, if so, how was the experience?

In 2003 I was at a Trade show and won a raffle .The prize was a free cruise .I did not think it was legit and gave it to my co-worker . He had to pay air fare and port taxes and had a wonderful 7 day cruise.

When I come across enter-to-win contests and sweepstakes, they trigger my 'what's the catch?' scepticism. I don't have any specific instance in mind - just thinking generally. Has anyone here won a cruise this way and, if so, how was the experience?

The first cruise we ever took was a win from Frommers Guidebooks, a one entry on Frommers.com.

It was a 4 day RCCL cruise in an inside cabin from Puerto Rico and included roundtrip airfare. We enjoyed it so much that we got hooked on cruising.

8 years later we won a fantastic cruise from Bud Light beers. I had sent about 8 entries on 3x5 cards and couldn't believe they drew my name. It was a luxury cruise on Radisson (now Regent) on the Diamond, a twin-hulled catamaran with about 350 passengers. It was an 11 day cruise around the boot of Italy, from Rome to Venice. It included a balcony cabin, roudtrip air, 2 nights pre-cruise hotel in Rome and all transfers. The 1099 had a value of $10,000 on the prize and I couldn't have done it for $12,000. It was a memory of a lifetime. My husband loved the fact the bridge was open 24/7.

The cruises were prizes in sweepstakes we had entered.

We don't pay attention to the postcards and/or phone calls about winning a cruise if we didn't enter a drawing for it.

A lot of informative responses, thanks. Some points were brought up that hadn't occurred to me, such as the possibility of an income tax. It sounds like once the questionable offers are weeded through there are still legitimate ones to be had. And that's good to know.

A lot of informative responses, thanks. Some points were brought up that hadn't occurred to me, such as the possibility of an income tax. It sounds like once the questionable offers are weeded through there are still legitimate ones to be had. And that's good to know.

If you live in Canada there is no income tax on prizes for competitions (what US calls sweepstakes). But if you live in US you will receive a 1099 for the value of the prize since US considers it part of your income.

Yes--the first cruise we took was a 4 day Disney cruise that a local radio station gave as a promotion many years ago. I called in the station, qualified and my name was drawn from qualifiers. It was a family vacation for 4 people--1 cabin but our 2 sons were elementary age, so it was great. It was an outside cabin and was a little tight but it included the airfare and taxes. We didn't even pay for the transfer or tips. They sent us a big 1099 form for our tax return but it was worth it. It hooked us on cruises.

I know lots of people who think they won a cruise from a timeshare presentation or phone call, but they aren't legitimate wins.

If you live in Canada there is no income tax on prizes for competitions (what US calls sweepstakes). But if you live in US you will receive a 1099 for the value of the prize since US considers it part of your income.

There's no tax to pay on any prizes won in the UK, either, if any Brits are reading this!

We won a six day Windjammer Barefoot Cruise from Tortola, BVI. The sweepstakes was offered by a rural electric company. IRS considers this income. We had to pay our way to Tortola so we used transportation costs to offset most of the cruise value. We pad tax on a fraction of the total value. Loved it.

We won a six day Windjammer Barefoot Cruise from Tortola, BVI. The sweepstakes was offered by a rural electric company. IRS considers this income. We had to pay our way to Tortola so we used transportation costs to offset most of the cruise value. We pad tax on a fraction of the total value. Loved it.

Are you saying you deducted the cost of getting to Tortola from the value of the cruise? Clever move, and you are lucky the IRS people were napping.

Our Carnival Magic cruise this December will be from a local raffle win. Haven't cruised Carnival in 29 years, was going to give it away but contest details said we couldn't so we're going. Was allowed to upgrade to Spa Balcony foe $100 each and have already been notified 1099 will get coming.

I remember clearly the day my wife called me at work and said we had won a cruise, and that they would call us back once we were both home.

What we "won" was a conversation with a timeshare. It took forever for them to stop calling...

Needless to say, there was no "free" cruise.

We won a curse playing BINGO It was our very first cruise 16 years ago. Never stopped going after that. Had us hooked. Going on number 30 in 39 days. Can't wait.

If you live in Canada there is no income tax on prizes for competitions (what US calls sweepstakes). But if you live in US you will receive a 1099 for the value of the prize since US considers it part of your income.

I thought there was at least one province where they did tax competition prizes?

We won a curse playing BINGO ...

I didn't know curses were a Bingo prize. :D

I thought they were a result of NOT winning. ;p

Don't you just love typos?? Hee hee

I've actually won a couple. First was on a local radio contest; the prize was a 7 day cruise for 2 to the Caribbean, including hotel and air. Second, a major frozen pizza company held a Canada-wide contest and the prize was a large dollar travel voucher - which I used for our first Mediterranean cruise. The travel voucher paid for our entire cruise from air to hotels, which was very nice. I've also won a 1 ct diamond ring - and I'm not a "contester" - just random draws I've entered. Now if only I could figure out how to win the lottery!

Smooth Sailing! :) :) :)

If you live in Canada there is no income tax on prizes for competitions (what US calls sweepstakes). But if you live in US you will receive a 1099 for the value of the prize since US considers it part of your income.

That's why we have to answer a skill testing question. Guessing that it means you have earned it.