Fort Lauderdale marketing company made millions of robocalls a day to pitch cruise vacations to consumers in violation of Do Not Call rules, the government says.

Caribbean Cruise Line Inc. has agreed to a $7.73 million civil penalty for its part in what the Federal Trade Commission called an illegal robocalling operation that claimed to make calls for political surveys and then marketed cruises instead.

The settlement arises from a complaint filed jointly by the FTC and attorney generals from 10 states, including Florida, against Caribbean Cruise Line Inc. and seven associated companies.

The civil penalty against Caribbean Cruise will be partly suspended after it pays $500,000, according to the Florida Attorney General's Office. The outfit operates solely as a marketing company, unaffiliated with major cruise lines, the Attorney General's Office said.

The complaint, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, alleged that the eight companies evaded telemarketing laws and made illegal sales calls to consumers on the Do Not Call Registry.

Consumers who answered the telemarketers' calls typically heard a pre-recorded message that went something like this:

"Hello, this is John from Political Opinions of America. You've been carefully selected to participate in a 30-second research survey, and for participating you'll receive a free two-day cruise for two people to the Bahamas, courtesy of one of our supporters. Gratuities and a small port tax will apply. To begin the survey, please press 1 now. To decline the survey and be removed from our list, press 9. Thank You."

Consumers who completed the survey were then connected to a live telemarketer working on behalf of Caribbean Cruise, who informed them that the free cruise would cost $59 per person in port taxes. The telemarketer then sold the consumers pre-boarding hotels, cruise excursions, enhanced accommodations and other travel packages.

The complaint did not identify which cruise ships were involved in the pitches.

The illegal telemarketing operation averaged 12 million to 15 million sales calls a day and generated "millions of dollars" for the companies, according to the complaint.

The settlement bars Caribbean Cruise from engaging in abusive telemarketing practices and requires the company to monitor its sales lead sources.

Two other defendants charged in the complaint - Linked Service Solutions LLC of Oviedo and Economic Strategy LLC of Fort Myers - also have agreed to pay fines to settle complaints that they helped facilitate the robocalls or sales leads.

Linked Service was fined $5 million and Economic Strategy $295,000, but the civil penalties will be partly suspended after the companies pay $25,000 and $2,000 respectively, according to the Florida Attorney General's Office.

Litigation continues against five companies and one of their principals, Fred Accuardi, who together are accused of assisting the operation. Those companies are International Telephone Corp., International Telephone LLC, Pacific Telecom Communications Group, Telephone Management Corp. and TM Caller ID LLC.

The five companies provided robocallers with hundreds of telephone numbers they could use to change their caller identification and evade authorities, the Attorney General's Office said.