Ramada Plaza Resorts Vacations-yes or no?!?!

[DCWarrior]

Alright, hopefully this great board can help me! I will be getting married July 4, 2002 and have found out that my mother and stepdad are giving us a honeymoon. I just got the information on it all tonight and started to do some research on it and am a little scared. They originally bought this "package" for themselves but decided to give it to us.

It is through Ramada Plaza Resorts Orlando/Ft. Lauderdale Vacations. The package sounds great from the outside, but in the very little research I've done on it, all I see is bad reviews of it, even multiple class action suits being brought against them in several states.

It's supposed to be 3 nights lodging in Ft. Lauderdale, 2 days/2 nights cruise to Bahamas, and 2 nights in Orlando.

First of all, I'm telling myself that this is all free, so I shouldnt complain or anything, but one of the biggest complaints I am reading is all the hidden fees and surcharges you come acroos when you get there. You're supposed to get a free rental car for the week with it, but people are having to pay tax, insurance, second driver fees, etc.

Then reports of less-than-luxurious accomodations (dirty, small, far from beach in FT Laud., etc.) Then havinging to go through the whole time share selling spiel!

So, have any of you ever done this vacations package? Do you have anything good to say about it? What are your complaints?

If you haven't done this or heard about it, what is your advice? Should I just get over it and be happy? Or should I maybe say someting that maybe we could get more for less, cuz lots of people were saying that they could have?

ugh!

 

[Lewisc]

Bad reports, law suits, regulatory complaints....DON'T START YOUR MARRIAGE WITH A HORRIBLE HONEYMOON. Politely telll your Mom you'd like to plan your own honeymoon to make it something special.

 

[Poohbear2398]

I agree with Lewisc... Bad decision if you choose to use the vacation package. I used the Ramada Travel vacation package with 3 friends in July of 1999. We knew in advance that we had be "upgraded" because we were now staying in Freeport for
4 days/3 nights instead of being on a cruise. Our hotel for the 1st leg of the trip in Ft. Lauderdale was a Ramada Plaza on the beach. The hotel was undergoing renovations and we did not luck out by getting a newly renovated room. The room we had was mediocre. The 5 hour cruise to Freeport was on a Discovery ship. The ship's air conditioning was broken so that made for a rotten 5 hours. Our accomodations in Freeport at the Princess Resort and Casino (now called Bahamia) were wonderful. Our stay was all inclusive so we really enjoyed ourselves. The food was excellent. Freeport was fun. We were there for the Bahama Independence Day celebrations. The 5 hour cruise back was fine and we stayed 1 night in the original Ft. Lauderdale Ramada in our very same room. Odd! For the last two nights of this vacation, we were in Orlando. We arrived at the Davenport (south of Orlando) Ramada and were given a room that seemed to have had extensive water damage. The room's air was extremely musty and there were various spots throughout the room were mold was growing. Upon asking to be moved, we were told it was impossible to be moved to another room in that hotel or another Ramada in the Orlando area. The hotel's customer service assistance was extremely poor. 1st thing the next morning, we called the Ramada Travel Vacation customer service number, shared our nasty experience and was granted a move to another hotel almost instantly. We were relocated for this last night of the trip to the Sheraton Studio City near Universal. When we arrived to check in there, we met up with honeymooners who had a similiar experience and were moved like us. The Sheraton was beautiful and we very much enjoyed our last night in Orlando.

With all that being said, plan to ask tons of questions if you choose to use the package.
Best of luck and happy holidays!

 

[SimonV]

DCWarrior, I can understand and sympathise with your situation, and I wish I could offer some real insight here. However, I'm not familiar with this package and the problems it appears to have had, hence all I can advise is to check and double-check all the details thoroughly well in advance with the Ramada people, and perhaps get some indepedent advice from your local travel agent about they know about it. Hope it all works out well for you whatever you decide, and best wishes in advance for July 4 next year!

 

[webray]

I can't tell you about the cruise part...but if the room part is the Ramada time share property...the rooms are great and you will love them. The property is very nice...central to disney, universal and sea world...excellent location. We toured the property just about a month ago...The manager there is very nice as well.

 

[Maleficent08]

DCWarrior: My experience was not the best either--very similiar to what's posted below. I traveled during the second week of July. I asked many questions esp. about where you would stay in Ft. Laud and Orlando. If I remember correctly (and I asked tons of questions and knew ALL the charges ahead of time!), they could not provide with the hotel information prior to my confirmation. Staying at their timeshare property did not seems to be an option. I toured the Ramada timeshares in Ft. Laud and that was a whole other fiasco. If this works the best for you, just know there might be kinks! Ask questions and take notes esp. of who you spoke to when. Don't be afraid to call back several times. It's an 800 number!

Happy Holidays and Best Wishes for July 4th!!