Has anyone ever won a cruise?

[kadey]

Last year I saw a contest on the top of CC and for the first time filled in my info.. We won an a french river cruise that included airfare and transports! It was an amazing prize and a really great trip!!

[dreamer320]

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.

 

I didn't. Our taxes were done by our CPA and we didn't pay additional. We were even audited that year because of an IRA rollover.

[madda]

I won a 7-day cruise while on a HAL cruise a couple of years ago in a raffle,either to the Caribbean or Mexico, haven’t taken it yet. As we are in Australia we would have to add on $1000s extra for air fares, accommodation etc so still deciding what to do, luckily there is no time limit

[navybankerteacher]

I didn't. Our taxes were done by our CPA and we didn't pay additional. We were even audited that year because of an IRA rollover.

 

It does not matter whether you, a CPA or a voodoo witch doctor prepares your tax returns. Gambling winnings , game show prizes, lottery winnings, door prizes, etc. are taxable income in the US.

 

Congratulations on successfully evading taxes on taxable income.

[katmu]

I have not won a cruise but I did win a trip to Paris in 2015 from a cosmetics company email contest, and yes I received a 1099. It included the airfare for 2 and the hotel, and they were nice enough to let me pick the hotel and even paid for an extra night as long as I stayed within the budget. The 1099 was for the actual cost of what they paid but I'm sure other contests might not be like that.

[sandian]

Yes 2 years ago we won a Transatlantic on a new NCL Ship from Southampton to Miami 10 nights.

This was won by liking a page on Facebook.

The ship was fantastic weather not but it was certainly a good prize, we were in an inside cabin which was not so good as we think they were still building the ship judging by all the knocking and banging going on day and night.

Would we do another Repositioning Transatlantic? no but it was free and we were not doing anything else at the time. Still enter competitions to win another so it can't have been all bad.

[iancal]

A gentleman calling himself 'the Captain' used to call our home with a high degree of regularity. At least once a month.

 

The first two calls he was able to congratulate us for winning a cruise. We told him to give it to some other lucky person, and hung up. After that we stopped answering when we saw the number.

 

We cannot afford free anything, especially free cruises. We find that invariably the offer is far from not free, the 'service fees' higher than what we could buy the entire package for, and the restrictions cumbersome. Besides, we don't do business with telephone solicitors.