My "significant other" and I were also duped by these two companies, which I now discover are the subjects of multiple class action suits in a least six states.

When I responded to the 800 number, I was given the "hard-sell" by a fast-talking, smooth salesman.  He promised us the sun and the moon, which was important to me because at the time, my boyfriend and I were seesawing over our relationship.

I booked this vacation because I wanted an opportunity for us to go away together, free of worries and obligations in an idyllic setting conducive to love and romance. Well, we went on the trip, but whatever love and romance we experienced were not because of the tour operator or the resort.

Of course, our airfare was not included in the package deal, so we arranged for our own travel to Florida. Upon arriving in Fort Lauderdale, we proceeded to the Alamo Rental Car office to pick up our "free" car for the week. After paying insurance, taxes and fees, and a fee for an additional driver, our "free" rental car cost us close to $60 for the week. I later talked to a number of people who also had rental cars from Alamo. It turns out that their rental cars only cost them $107 total for the week, and they had much nicer, larger cars. Strike #1 against National Travel Services. In addition, we had to wait in a very, very long line to get the car because many other people were also on this same package deal, and they all seemed to be arriving on the same day at the same time!

By the time we got our car, close to three hours had passed since we had landed in Florida. We then headed to our "luxury resort hotel," the Ramada Plaza Beach Resort. What a joke! Except for the exceptionally nice young man at the hotel desk, there was nothing nice about the hotel at all. Everything was shabby and broken, and the room he gave us to look at smelled of human urine.

A Fairfield company picnic was going on out by the pool (apparently a frequent Saturday occurrence), and the noise was deafening. The pool was crowded, not one deck chair was available, and the tiny, tiny beach in back of the hotel was cluttered with all kinds of games and sports paraphenalia. Children were screaming everywhere, and I couldn't begin to count the number of people drunk and smoking. Not at all conducive to a relaxing experience by the pool or the beach.

The final strike against this hotel is its location, way out in the boonies of the Fort Lauderdale strip, far away from all the major restaurants and other attractions in the area.

By some fluke, I had in my possession a copy of an "upgrade" to a different hotel. I don't think we were really supposed to be assigned to this hotel, but somehow we managed to get relocated there (the Sheraton Yankee Clipper). This place was very clean and freshly redecorated; all the hotel staff was excellent, too, from the parking garage attendant all the way up to the assistant manager. I would happily go back there and stay again. Fortunately, I could probably afford it, too, because I found out that it would only cost me $89 per night with my AAA membership. That is one of the overwhelming things I discovered about the entire trip: We could have made all the arrangements ourselves, had a far better experience, and spent a lot less money.

The "90-minute presentation" that we had to attend at "Vacation Village" turned into a 2-1/2 hour presentation. In this regard, we were lucky because we later heard horror stories about people subjected to 4 and 5 hour presentations. The lady assigned to us shook my hand and spilled coffee all over the front of my shirt, so we didn't get off to a very good start. She also exposed more of the lies that I had been told by the smooth-talking salesman.

For example, he had told me that many people go and spend the whole day relaxing at Vacation Village and the other facilities available in that area. Debbie made it clear that we could not avail ourselves of the pools, tennis courts, or the services at the Westin Resort that Vacation Village owners get to use. It was at this point that I found out that the trip was actually being promoted by RCI (Resorts Condominiums Internation). I used to be a member of this organization, but I quit it because of its deceptive trade practices, unmet claims, poorly maintained properties, complicated system of booking travel weeks, and so on.

Had I know that RCI was behind the promotion being offered by National Travel Services and Ramada Plaza Resorts, I never would have called the 800 number in the first place. .

The "luxury cruise liner" turned out to be a 47-year-old tub, the Ocean Breeze belonging to the Premiere Cruise line. It was by no means luxury nor was it premiere. It was a floating excuse for gambling; again, the smoking, which was allowed everywhere, was horrible. Our room was clean enough, but the toilet seat was broken and the mattress on one bed was shaped like a bowl. (Note: The housekeeping staff fixed the toilet seat within 12 hours.) We were afraid that the food was going to be bad when we saw bologna being served at the departure luncheon buffet, but the food actually turned out to be quite tasty. I have nothing but nice things to say about all the lower level staff, such as our cabin steward, our waiter, and our busboy; they were all magnificent!

The cruise director and the shore excursion staff were sadly lacking in information, feeding us misinformation about what was available onshore in Nassau. Maybe this was all part of the plan to get people to commit to their expensive tour packages, none of which were worth the money they were charging for them.

For example, we paid $30 apiece for a trip to "Blue Lagoon Island," which included the round-trip boat ride and a meal plus all the amenities of the island. However, when we got to the island, we were told, "That way is the showers, and this way is the food," and that was that. No one directed us to the "blue lagoon" or to the hammocks or any of the other facilities. Consequently, we never did find the "blue lagoon," and we only found the hammocks late in the day. We also were forced to listen to loud music all afternoon. The "lovely white sand beach" turned out to be full of rocks, both onshore and in the water, littered everywhere with aluminum cans, plastic cups, and other garbage. We also had been told that the food would be served until 2:30 pm, but everything was packed up between 1:30 and 2:00 pm and food was not available beyond that point.

We would have been far happier renting a Moped for $50 for the whole day and striking out on our own on Nassau. We had been told by the snippy Scottish woman running the shore excursion desk that all the beaches on Nassau were closed to the public and only hotel guests could use them. This was a downright lie, as we found out, but they would not give us a refund of our $60 at this point.

I have one more comment about the cruise portion of our trip. I had been told by the salesman that the ship would leave Port Everglades at 5:00 pm and would reach Nassau that night around 11:00 pm. I asked him several times if he was sure because that seemed like a very short time to travel that distance. He assured me that it would indeed arrive around 11:00 pm and then it wouldn't depart again until around 2:00 am the next morning. Thus, my companion and I thought we would have two nights and a whole day in Nassau. As it turned out, the ship docked in Nassau around 8:00 am, but we were not allowed to go ashore until almost 10:00 am. We then had to be back at the ship by 6:00 pm that evening for a 6:30 pm departure, rather than a 2:00 am departure. We were never able to go out a single evening of dining and dancing in Nassau. I concur with someone else who reported that this "cruise" was nothing more than a floating gambling ferry.

Once back in Florida, we picked up the rental car and paid the rather stiff daily parking fee at the Port Everglades terminal. Everywhere we went on this trip, we were hit with hidden fees, taxes, surcharges, etc. All told, a trip that would have cost us less than $1000 had we booked it oursleves, actually cost us close to $2000! My boyfriend says I have to stub my toes a little before I learn; in this case, I bunged up the whole foot pretty bad!

 We suffered lots of inconvenience, lost travel time, emotional distress, and guilt. I felt pretty bad about getting my boyfriend into the trip and kept apologizing to him half the time. What was supposed to be a pleasurable, romantic experience became a time filled with anxiety and remorse. And, to top it all off, I just feel like I have been "had." I feel like a total fool for having fallen for their gimmick. I don't like looking bad in my boyfriend's eyes (or anyone else's for that matter).