Leaving this review because the "SCAM!!" reviews below almost steered me away from this company. I won a 5 day, 4 night cruise for two through PCT from my apartment complex. When I accepted the certificate, I agreed to pay a processing fee (I think $19 a person) and taxes+fees to the cruise line (about $90 per person). You send in the form and processing fee, they respond back with optional dates for your cruise, and you choose one from there. Though the list is limited, there were many dates and options to choose from. We also chose to book trip insurance through them. We just got back from our cruise on the Carnival Liberty to Freeport and Nassau, Bahamas and it went just according to plan! If you follow PCT's process and read the fine print, they are great to work with. read more

I had a fantastic experience booking my cruise thanks to Katie Christie's assistance. Whenever I had questions about room pricing or adding another person to our room, she was always patient and responsive via phone and email. My daughter and I had a great time on our trip and will definitely book our next cruise with Pacific Coast. read more

Katie Christie at Pacific Coast Travel was AMAZING to work with! She booked our group of 10 couples and accommodated all our our requests. She also gave us the best deal! We chatted with other couples on our cruise and we paid a significant amount less! We had the the best time and I would HIGHLY recommend using her to book your cruise! read more

We won a cruise from a home show, however, we were unable to use the certificate due to geographics and schedules. Katie was extremely helpful as we reviewed all of our options and tried to make this work. Thanks so much, Katie!! read more

Check your days. This company adds on an extra day per their "cruise flyer" They will then increase your fees. This will cost you the same of the Cruise online booking it directly from them. It's a TOTAL SCAM. They will charge you more for "hidden" fee's. Then they will charge you the amount for a 5 day cruise for the extra day. Look at the cruise amounts and compare before booking with this company. They are fraudulent by misrepresentation of cruise days, and tons of hidden fees. RUN!!! THEY SHOULD BE SHUT DOWN. Please see with a "5 day/4 night cruise certificate cost" Compared to what was actually paid to Carnival Cruise. SAVINGS OF $10.72 oh but add the $48 to send in the certificate you just paid $37.28 more than booking it online yourself!!!! DO NOT USE THIS COMPANY read more

Pacific Coast Travel - The Carnival Cruise invoice - Travel Services Near Me - Atascadero, California

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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! read more

Pacific Coast Travel - My calculation on how much the certificate is REALLY worth. - Travel Services Near Me - Atascadero, California

Great customer service, will definitely book future cruises with them. Received a certificate for a cruise for 2. Read the terms and conditions, had some questions. Called pacific coast travel and they answered all of my questions. They walked me through booking my cruise and it was an overall easy and fun process. read more

BIG TIME SCAM! I would not even give them a star if it was possible. By the time you are done talking to them, you are not saving much at all. It is definitely not a free certificate you are getting; it is a bait and switch scheme. BE VERY CAREFUL! read more

I have booked numerous cruise vacations with Pacific Coast Travel. Katie has extensive knowledge of the cruise industry. Through the years i have enjoyed many wonderful vacations booked by Pacific Coast Travel. Fast and responsive service. read more

A friend received a "free" cruise that was supposed to be an apology from a contractor after some mistakes were made on her remodel. We were told she just had to pay the taxes and fees. Carnival told me the total fees are $62 per person but my friend was charged $198 per person. That was for an inside room. I called Carnival to ask for an upgrade to a balcony and they told me the price would be $135 per person but I would have to go through this agency to make the change. When I called they quoted over $500 to make the upgrade. read more

Note your 5 day 4 night cruise is actually a 4 day 3 night cruise! Couldn't find the cruise on carnival's website that I picked on the sheet PCT sent me bc I narrowed my search with carnival to 5 day cruises. Carnival confirmed if I got the unlimited beverage package i will b charged for 4 days not 5 bc it is 4 day cruise! as for the extra day PCT charges u for port fees and taxes (times two) adds up and refuses to refund u!!! I also think it is funny...in regards to all the reviews on here...PCT as a company doesn't care to reach out to any to obviously fix the prob they r just hungry and don't care! if u get one of these "free cruises" throw it away. book a cruise directly with the cruise line, it will save u time and disparity to know u will not hve any problems! When inquiring to upgrade the room and add another person, it was the same as the cruises website price!! What a joke!!! read more

I had a very hard time communucating with pct, very unfriendly customer service. I plugged my same exact cruise itinerary (same time of the year as well) into carnival and for 2 guests in a BETTER stateroom and it was only 12 dollars more than what I paid in just port fees at PCT. That total was an absolute final price from carnival including port fees and taxes. I was so confused as to how a "free" cruise could cost only $12 dollars less than and 5 day 4 night cruise from carnival itself. I called and spoke with Katie, after I emailed her screenshots of the rates from Carnival, she let me know that the port fees were 198 per person and that was that. I read review below me and saw that some people were paying only 90 dollars in port fees per person. I screenshotted the review and emailed it over, Katie insured me that the review was false and that ABSOLUTELY NO ONE PAYS LESS THAN 198 PER PERSON, SO I. TOTAL 396 MINIMUM TO CLAIM YOUR" FREE" CRUISE! Plus the initial 19 $ per person registration fee in total 38. This bring the minimum to 434 to claim your "free cruise". I am posting this to help cruisers had a very hard time communucating with pct, very unfriendly customer service. I plugged my same exact cruise itinerary (same time of the year as well) into carnival and for 2 guests in a BETTER stateroom and it was only 12 dollars more than what I paid in just port fees at PCT. That total was an absolute final price from carnival including port fees and taxes. I was so confused as to how a "free" cruise could cost only $12 dollars less than and 5 day 4 night cruise from carnival itself. I called and spoke with Katie, after I emailed her screenshots of the rates from Carnival, she let me know that the port fees were 198 per person and that was that. I read review below me and saw that some people were paying only 90 dollars in port fees per person. I screenshotted the review and emailed it over, Katie insured me that the reviw fee of $19 per person for them to say one word about cruising option. So if you pay the registration and then realize that your not saving any money and would like to book with the cruise line directly, your out 38 bucks. Please be careful, 434 is the MINIMUM you will pay for a crappy room, check the cruise line directly before paying their registration fees and finding out it's all a scam. read more

Pacific Coast Travel - EVERY CRUISE IS A MINIMUM OF 434, WITH PORT FEES, TAXES AND REGISTRATION - Travel Services Near Me - Atascadero, California

Still a scam. Received a "free cruise" voucher. Fine print says port charges, taxes and fees to be paid additionally. Those charges are $198 per person, total $396. Booking directly with the cruise line, the port charges, taxes and fees are $219.04 total for two people. What are the additional fees for? $396 for a free double occupancy cruise Cruise line charging: SUBTOTAL: $448.00 TAXES, FEES & PORT EXPENSES: Info $219.04 TOTAL: $667.04 (And this was a slight upgrade on the type of room) Savings of $271 versus FULL price?! Doesn't sound free or even close. Booking with an added person: PCT: Rates based on triple occupancy Rates include all port charges and taxes Total ocean view stateroom - $995.00 $450.00 due at time of booking $545.00 due on or before February 26, 2020 The cruise line is only charging this: SUBTOTAL: $787.00 TAXES, FEES & PORT EXPENSES:Info $328.56 TOTAL: $1,115.56 So the free cruise costs $995. The full price cruise with the cruise line costs $1115.56. Free cruise is only $120.56 LESS than the full price one. Doesn't sound free to me or even reasonable. read more

The ladies at Pacific Coast Travel have been a dream. They've made my vacation planning much easier by taking care of my travel arrangements and getting me the absolute best deal while working within my budget. I called them with a ton of questions and they were extremely helpful and friendly. I will most definitely be working with them for the rest of my vacations. read more

PCT made our honeymoon stress-free! Everyone who helped us was friendly and knowledgeable. We are planning to use them again for our family reunion next year! We recommend them to all of our friends/family! read more

Pacific Coast Travel - Travel Services Near Me - Atascadero, California

Sarah, Katie, and the entire Pacific Coast Travel team are phenomenal! They are extremely detailed in with their work and have excellent communication for any type of travel you plan on doing. I would highly recommend this agency for an efficient and seamless experience with travel booking! read more

All the positive reviews are fabricated by the company. The negative reviews are 100% accurate. Its not really a bait and switch its just a way to screw the consumer/customer. First, the ports and taxes are almost doubled compared to the cruise line itself. When ask about this they say the cruise lines hide, or don't list all the taxes, which is ridiculous. Why would the cruise lines short the taxes and fees just to put it on the cost of the cruise. Makes no sense. Enter PCT and they found away to skim off the top by doubling the ports and fees from the start. Also a 19.00 per person "registration fee" is collected. It's all bullshit, I'm out 38.00 and consider myself lucky. Once i read the fine print and saw the dates for the cruises, I was definitely done with this clown show. About 3/4 of the dates are considered peak months and another upcharge is charged. PCT is about as reputable as ENRON. Stay away and book directly from the cruise lines. You'll be less stressed and know where the charges are coming from. If you are presented with a free cruise from them, just throw it away. read more

Total scam! They claim to provide a free 5 day cruise with a certificate, but if you call to book your free cruise they start adding "fees". When I pulled up the cost of the exact same cruise on the cruise lines website, surprise! It was the exact same cost that I was being charged for my Free Cruise. read more

Katie tells you one thing on the phone and then you get an email from another rep with the company that tells you totally different....SCAM SCAM SCAM I have been sailing with Carnival for 16 years and I can assure you that they offer the best DEAL....DON'T BE FOOLED......Call Carnival DIRECT......My grade with PCT would cost me more than going direct with carnival....so where does the FREE COME IN ...contacting dealership to let them in on this mess.. read more

I think people are confused when they receive these "free" cruises. The cruise isn't "free" unless it is specifically stated that you are receiving a FREE all inclusive cruise, which I can almost bet money that you are not. What you are receiving is a cruise voucher for free, which is totally different, so when you have to pay port fees, taxes, registration fees, etc then you get upset and call it a scam when it really is not. You just chose not to read and now you want to get online and leave one star reviews because you did not read the instructions. I received a 5 day, 4 night cruise from my apartment complex, and I questioned them and PCT before I chose to move forward with the process. There's clearly a problem when people are mad about something that they got for free. read more

I received a cruise certificate when I purchased a car, and it was a great deal! I am going in March, and I can't wait! The phone lines are a little busy, but I always get a call back when I leave a message. read more

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! read more