Pacific Coast Travel - Atascadero, California

Benjamin W.

The low ratings appear to be only from people that are confused by the terminology of a voucher. These low ratings should be going to the companies that are selling a car with the claim of a free cruise as a bargaining chip.

I just got done with a call with Katie who took her time to make sure I understood all aspects of this cruise offer and based on her patience I told her to make sure this message is directed to her boss to help them understand this is a good, honest business that specializes in working with these vouchers.

Jen Z.

My husband won a free cruise for two. We have a baby under one and brought her along. Some how by adding her we ended up paying $879.00 out of pocket. We spoke to the manager on the phone, but couldn’t seem to get more clarity. She basically equated our cruise voucher to be worth $440.00. The numbers just weren’t adding up to me. The itemized bill was incorrect which she did apologize. That was the only thing she would apologize. In summation we felt like the numbers weren’t honest and we don’t feel confident we paid a fare rate to add our baby to the cruise. If you read the reviews you see the cruise certificates this is a common issue and complaint. It was clear she’s had many conversations like this with unhappy customers. Lesson learned. Nothing is truly “free”. It’s disappointing my husband worked really hard to win those certificates.

Charlene R.

I was told by a company that I did business with that I was getting a free cruise for two. Which, in fact was false on their part. Anytime you have a cruise you have port fees and taxes and travel insurance, if you wish to have that. Pacific Coast travel worked with me and because I wanted a balcony suite not an inner-state room and because I wanted additional days I had to pay extra. This is understandable. I was not happy with the extra fees but understood but, they worked with me an got me a great deal. Thank you

Holly M.

Won a cruise for two and paid the registration fee. I tried to book and there were no cruises that were available free. There were others available that were the same price or more than the cruise company site. Seems like a scam

Bree S.

I am not sure as to that the folks that are giving the agency a very low rating experienced, but they worked well with my needs. Sarah was very helpful and even allowed us to extend the final payment because one member of the party was briefly unemployed. I liked their services, and would use them again in a heartbeat! We are all set for our cruise later this month and I could not be more excited! The phone was answered when I called and if I needed to leave a message, someone called me back before the end of the day.

John S.

“Free cruise voucher” that somehow includes so many fees that it works out to more money than booking directly with the cruise line. Been trying to use my voucher for years and it’s the same issue every time. Unethical company that should be avoided by all.

Maria I.

WARNING: DO NOT USE PACIFIC COAST TRAVEL!!! SCAM ALERT!!! My husband and I got a "Free Cruise Voucher" for a 5 day, 4 night cruise from the listing agent after buying our house. It clearly states FREE, except taxes and fees. We ended up paying over $1,000! I was told that taxes and fees were about $90, but the other cost was due to going in "peak season" (March-August, I believe). We later checked Royal Caribbean's website and the exact same cruise was only $20 more! Katie did not help us at all when my husband was hospitalized and we could not go on the trip. She was clueless as to what could be done, or the fact that she would need to reach out to Royal Caribbean herself to reschedule our cruise. I FOUGHT with Royal Caribbean to get our cruise rescheduled, rather than losing all our $ because we did not have travel insurance, and was successful doing so on my own after a lot of hard work with no help from the travel agency. With everything I did, the travel agency was required to be involved, so it's like having a useless middleman with their hand in my pocket. After several, repeated requests to find out the value of our voucher in our particular case, no one at PCT could give us an answer. Therefore, there is NO VALUE, or $20 max. According to the Federal Communications Bureau, it is illegal to market something as "free" and charge someone over $1,000 for it. I'll be reporting them in hopes that they'll change their misleading and false advertisements. Do not fall for it! Go directly through the cruise line and try to negotiate the best deal or use a trusted travel agent that actually cares and knows what they're doing. I can't believe these people are still in business!

Naveed M.

My Sister in law won a free cruise and she transferred the certificate to us as a gift. They have this odd rule that once the certificate has been transferred, the recipient HAS to upgrade in order to use the certificate.

For example, the certificate entitles the original receipt to a free interior room and he or she is responsible for port fees, taxes, and other fees.

In our case, the interior room for a date costs: $578 (for two people, excluding the fees). Since we were required to upgrade, I opted for the balcony which on carnival's website costs $788 (for two people, excluding the fees). Simple math would show you that the upgrade costs $210 (for two people, excluding the fees).

In any realistic scenario, this cruise should cost us $210 for upgrade fees and the port charges, taxes, and other fees. Which in this case are $143.05 (according to Carnival's website)!

So total cost to us out of pocket SHOULD be $353ish.

Instead, Katie from PCT Cruises suggested that using the certificate, our out of pocket expense for the exact same thing would be $822.
HOW DOES THAT MAKE ANY SENSE?

Initially, when I got a quote from her, she quoted me upwards of $945 when the same cruise without the certificate on Carnival's website was $937. When I told Katie about this, she got irritated and suggested that I should have told her I was comparing rates with Carnival before she started the booking.

Basically, in PCT's world, the FREE cruise certificate (or discounted cruise certificate) is only worth $50...

Direct Booking from CARNIVAL: $937 (inclusive of ALL fees)
Booking from PCT using FREE CRUISE Certificate: $882.

SAVINGS: $55

On top of that, Katie insisted that I can't transfer back to the original certificate holder. NONE of their documentation states that isn't possible.

I'd summarize this as:
-Scam
-Highway Robbery
-Looting

Use at your own risk, you have been warned!