I too am looking to see if this is legit. Have you found anything out?

It's a scam.. you end up paying over $400 for a crappy hotel and an old refitted ferry.

If you want to book a cheap vacation .. book it direct thru discovery cruises. You'll at least get a choice of decent hotels, and know what you are paying.

if u did this or found anything out about it please let me know at joshuamiles123@yahoo.com

Hey Junior67,

I have to agree Scubagirl. They are not legit. Do a search for Security Travel in the Bahamas forum. You will have a lot to read about. Don't waste your money. If its too good to be true....

In a nutshell, this is a scam. It's not a huge scam, but you definately feel gypped since you expect something better. You are expected to upgrade your hotel choices, if not, they stick you in dilapidated choices (look up Victoria Inn as one of their basic offers, I was taking pictures of that place and all the debris and crap around it and I was asked by people working on it why I was taking pictures....so I ran away but yea, I have proof of it now!) I am posting my experience wherever I can so everyone can know to AVOID SECURITY TRAVEL AT ALL COSTS!

So everyone is wondering - Is this is a Scam or not? Please read my experience with Security Travel. It's very long but detailed !!

It was over a year ago that I got the call that I had 'won' a trip. I had entered at a local pizza shop because I had recently taken a Royal Caribbean cruise to the Bahamas and loved it. I called and listened to the message, and it did not sound necessarily out of the ordinary, but definitely kind of odd. I decided to invite my mother to go, because to me it appeared to be a good deal. I was under the impression that this could be a scam because obviously I had not won anything; they just called everyone who had submitted an entry. You wouldn't make a recording like that if you really won anything, someone would directly talk to you instead. I thought I had done my homework, I looked at their website and I saw perhaps one complaint at the BBB. So I decided to go ahead. First, we were charged $87.50 each (175.00) to 'secure' the trip. After that, we had one year and a half to take the trip with no blackouts. I found that appealing because we could take it anytime within a year and a half. We won 4 days and 3 nights for two in Freeport/Lucaya at either the Bell Channel Inn or Victoria Inn and transportation on the Discovery Cruise Line. On paper all of this looks very nice. Security Travel sent me a package with a few things about the Bahamas and the travel voucher to send in when we wanted to go. You would have to submit $99.00 each (198.00) when you wanted to go. At least the notice of all and any hotel tax or departure tax to be paid was laid out on the voucher, but of course the exact price of all these things were not detailed, not even when I spoke to a travel agent at Security Travel. So I sent in the 198.00 in the timeframe before I wanted to take the trip. It said on the postcard I received back from Security Travel that someone would be contacting me 35 days before my departure. 20 days come and no call, 15 days and I was getting very angry by then. I called Security Travel and said I need to speak to whomever about this. Of course I was told who my agent was, and was forwarded to his number but he did not answer. I left a message for him and he did not get back to me until I called him again. Finally when I spoke to him he had told me they had been 'very busy' there recently. I don't know how true that was, but I just wanted to make sure I was not going to get ripped off by these people. So I told him we had decided to stay at the Bell Channel Inn (this is based off what I read on here). The only time he seemed to be any help was during this time, when he said "oh is that all you looked at? You can upgrade to stay at other hotels." He suggested the following -

Flamingo Bay at Taino Beach Club - 75.00 extra a night.

Viva Wyndham Fortuna Resorts - Not sure of price but it's all inclusive, so probably 200.00 more or less

The Redwood - 40.00 extra a night

Pelican Bay - 200.00 extra a night (all inclusive)

So, since this is a supposedly FREE vacation, why do I have to pay extra to stay somewhere else???? He made the point to me about expenses of traveling around the island (which is was highly biased). He never mentioned to me once that we could use public bus service for 1.00 per trip as opposed to taking taxi cabs everywhere which can cost 5.00 and up per person depending where you are going. He said, "Assuming you eat 3 meals a day, drink 5 to 8 alcoholic drinks, that is going to add up. An inclusive deal would be best if you are going to do all that." Me and my mother don't eat or drink nearly that much, and I was not about to pay an extra 200 dollars a night!! This was also not including the hotel tax I would have to pay when we checked in, which was automatically $90.00 for two people. He insisted that I think it over and call him. I started to do my research online when I found the threads on Security Travel's Free trip as a scam. I got upset and felt like a fool for going with this, but it was too late, I was already set to go. I just decided then not to give these crooks anymore money since this was a FREE trip which is LUDACROUS. He was just bent on making me spend more money at a different hotel so he could get a big fat commission of off ripping me off.

Of course I only talked to him twice, mostly through messages. He only called me back when he wanted more money of course. I had to pay port fees (which I expected to pay) but it was ridiculous at 27.00 dollars a person. I read online that at most it would be 13 to 15 dollars per person. So I had to shell out another $54.00 for this, and I am sure they took a cut of that. He sent out my materials right after, which were just pieces of paper with confirmation numbers, directions, and things to remember before we traveled. Already, on a FREE TRIP, we gave Security Travel 198+175+54 = $427!!!!

The Lowdown -

The Cruise

Discovery Cruise Line is no Royal Caribbean or Carnival Cruise boat. It is significantly smaller and probably 10 years or older.

Pros - Trip there, breakfast buffet and lunch buffet provided which I found to be very delicious and made up for the boat overall. Casino, Entertainment lounge, bathrooms, Cabins if you need it (but expect to pay 40.00 and up !), Swimming Pool, Movie Theater (but you pay 7.00 to see a movie that is already out on dvd!), Discounted Liquor if you like to drink (10.00 for a liter bottle of Smirnoff vodka).

Cons - Everything was old, rusty, and moldy. Boat was not very stable itself, very rocky, You had to pay for everything extra, even Bingo games were 2.00 per card! The buffet meals have to be tipped for, which is understandable, but was not disclosed to me prior to going on this trip (another thing left out). The ride seems to be boring if you aren't somewhere spending money.

On the ride back, there was entertainment, but it was so so at that. There was no romantic moonlit dinner either., just another buffet dinner. The ride back to Ft. Lauderdale was nothing out of this world.

Bell Channel Inn -

This hotel was 'ok' by my standards. It was almost exactly what I predicted, except perhaps a bit worse. I am not surprised that there are not very many pictures of this hotel online. There is not much to this place, and it's surrounded by rundown buildings (one next to it, one next to that one and one or two across the street). It overlooks the Bell Channel, but it's hardly scenic. The hotel itself is not bad, but if you are really discriminating of taste, this is not the place for you. Upon checkin, we had to pay the $90.00 hotel tax, so in total we ended up paying $517 upfront for this trip!! Sounds like FREE to me !!

Pros -

Staff = Everyone there was very nice! They were very helpful if you needed assistance as well. The maids there kept the rooms as clean as they could, and provided clean towels every day. I have no complaints about them.

Room - Hair Dryer, Mini Fridge, Sink, A dining table, a balcony with somewhat of a view, A large room for two beds, lots of closet space, a tv with cable.

Hotel itself - About 3 minutes from Port Lucaya and it was near food shopping as well. Pool looked immaculate from what I saw! Had a bar and restaurant, which we ate at one night and was pretty good.

Cons -

Room - Definitely a one star equivalent in the states. The door had no doorknob on it, it also had a very large crack in it. There were two deadbolts but that did not make me feel very safe. The sliding door had a crummy latch as well. The AC worked, but it was very rusty and falling apart. The carpet was old and ripped up where the nightstand was. One of the beds was horribly old and appeared to be stained a brown color. The bed Linens were old and had holes in them, but clean at least. The TV had a discoloration spot on it and the remote was held together by tape. There was no alarm clock. There were no shampoos, just bar soaps. They would charge for local calls. One of the tiles in the bathroom was broken and never repaired, and there was general rust and mildew in there, but it appeared to be clean at least. I will say in their defense, I saw another hotel room and it looked much better than ours. It had tiled floors, painted walls, and it just looked better overall. I think they may be in the process of redoing the place (I saw a rooms to go truck one day).

Staff- If you arrive as a male and female couple, you will be solicited for a timeshare presentation. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but it's something I did not expect.

Hotel Itself - Does not seem to be in a great area at all. All the surrounding buildings were very dumpy looking, this place looked the best out of all of them. New Victoria Inn is across the street, and I will suggest at all costs to not stay there. There was debris all over the place and it just looked very crappy with lots of exterior damage to the hotel not repaired. Security Travel should be ASHAMED to suggest a place as such, that place looks like a death trap!

Conclusion -

Is this is a scam? Yes it is. It's working on the notion of DISHONESTY to the max. If you are expecting some dream vacation, this is hardly it. If you are looking for a fairly inexpensive trip to the Grand Bahama Island for a few days, and you are not very discriminating about where you stay, then this is not too bad. In all, it was 258.50 per person upfront for everything, which is not bad for staying 4 days in the Bahamas. Mind you, we spent an additional 300 + dollar on food, getting around, and other stuff. So as far as them offering this for FREE, obviously this is not the case.

Security Travel is DISHONEST. If I had found out about this sooner, I would have immediately said nevermind! They should not 1) Let their clients THINK they have WON anything!! They should just say this is a promotional offer for a reduced trip to the Bahamas. 2) Incur all these extra fees without really disclosing in full truth what they are! After you are done setting it up, ITS OBVIOUSLY NOT A FREE TRIP. If you are offering a free trip, you comp everything but food, and taxes. THATS IT. 3) IF YOU ARE GIVING A FREE TRIP, OFFER BETTER ACCOMODATIONS AND TRANSPORTATION!!! The hotels included in their offer are not anything like a Sheraton or even a Best Western. You get to take a long cruise on a ship that is hardly a "cruise".

My advice if you have already paid the initial parts -

Try to get your money back ASAP! You'd be better off making your own accommodations. Take a real cruise to the Bahamas, and I guarantee you will love it.

If you can't get your money back, you might as well just go. I decided to go and it was not bad. I am not fond of Lucaya so I probably will not return there anytime soon, but it was still nice to go shopping and go the beach. When we went (May 2007), some of the stores were closed and the International Bazaar was 90% closed. It was just not that busy when we went, so going during some other time would be better perhaps.

I spoke to someone on the cruise ship who had believed to had also 'won' the same trip I was taking. She told me she stayed at the Redwood (a 40 a night upgrade) and that she loved it. I would suggest perhaps doing this because you have access to the Taino Beach Club (which is gorgeous on their website) and you take a ferry to get there from the Marketplace (I believe). You also have all the resort privileges of the beach club if you stay at the Redwood. Plus, it is right at Port Lucaya so no need to take a cab there. I wish we had been TOLD THIS BY THE TRAVEL AGENT. He did not tell us about the resort privileges.

I hope this helps a few people in deciding what to do if they encounter Scam-rity Travel.

Security Travel never says that you have won a free trip...

So far my experience has been similar. I have paid this agency over $400 for the trip I "won," way more than I would have paid if I dealt with the hotels, etc directly. My trip leaves in February. Any tips on trying to get a refund or free upgrades so that I can make the most of this disappointing situation?