Cruise Auction Scams to Avoid
The red flags, and how real cruise lines run their auctions.
Ask Before You BidAnything with the words “auction,” “bid” and “cruise” together attracts scammers, because the format creates urgency and the prize sounds glamorous. Here are the cruise auction scams to recognize, drawn from the Federal Trade Commission’s advice on travel scams and the way real cruise lines actually run their programs.
Red Flags
You won an auction you never entered
A legitimate company does not ask you to pay to claim a prize. Fees, “port taxes” or “processing” up front are the scam.
No line or ship named
Offers of a “luxury cruise” with no cruise line, ship or dates. The FTC says to walk away if details are missing.
Pressure to pay now
Auctions “closing in minutes” or winners who must pay today.
Untraceable payment
Requests for wire transfers, gift cards, payment apps or cryptocurrency.
Fake upgrade-bid emails
An email that looks like a bid invitation but links to an unfamiliar site asking for card details.
Robocalls
Prerecorded calls about cruise prizes or auctions. Most such sales calls are illegal without your written consent.
How to Protect Yourself
- Never click through from an email to bid on an upgrade. Log in to the cruise line’s website or app yourself and look for the offer there.
- Confirm any auction cruise with the cruise line once it is booked, using contact details you find yourself.
- Pay by credit card, which offers more protection than other methods.
- Get the cancellation and refund terms in writing before paying anything.
- If something feels wrong, report it at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.
Scammers also copy the language of real offers. Real cruise deals are listed on established sites, such as Wave Season, and our cruise advisors at Mister Cruise will tell you, free, whether an offer you received is genuine. If you are interested in the business side of cruising, Be a Travel Agent explains how real travel agents work.
What a Real Upgrade Invitation Looks Like
Genuine bid invitations from the big lines share a few traits. They arrive at the email address on your booking, refer to your actual sailing, and send you to sign in to the line’s own website or app, where the same offer appears in your reservation. The bid range and the categories are shown inside your account, and payment is taken there, by card, only if the bid is accepted. No legitimate program asks for your password, a bank transfer or a gift card by email or phone.
- Type the cruise line’s web address yourself or open its app, then look for the offer.
- Compare the booking number and sailing date in the email with your confirmation.
- If the offer is not in your account, treat the email as suspect and ask the line or your advisor.
If You Have Already Paid a Scammer
Act quickly. Contact your card issuer or bank and ask about disputing the charge, change any password you entered, and report the scam to the FTC. Keep the emails, receipts and phone numbers; they help your bank and investigators. Then let the real cruise line know, so it can warn other guests if its name is being misused.
Is This Cruise Offer Real?
Forward the details to our cruise advisors at Mister Cruise and we will help you check it before you pay anything.
Ask Before You Bid