DVC points for a cruise

[jsolar]

I recently got off of the Fantasy and was introduced to the DVC. While I am interested, I have not been told what the points would be for a cruise. My family only cruises, at least for now, and I wanted to see if it was worth it for me.
Any advice would be great.
Thanks in advance.

[CarolMN]

I'm sure you will get lots of replies - most telling you that using DVC for cruises is not the best economic use of points. (FWIW, I happen to agree with that opinion).

Here's a link to the points required to take a cruise on the Fantasy in 2013:

2013 Point Chart - 7 night Eastern & Western Caribbean Cruises

This is just one of the charts, but as you can see, cruising takes a lot of points!

[disneynutz]

More importantly, not all cruses are open to be booked with points. IMO Disney wants cash, if a cruise looks like it won't sale full, they offer up cabins for points.

They also seem to offer a few point cabins just to be able to say that you can use your points for a cruise for DVC marketing purposes.

Bill

[crisi]

And a third caveat, points for cruises aren't stable - DVC resorts are (for the most part, there is a complicated reason they aren't completely). Next year that cruise might cost you 20 more points per person.

[Sandisw]

And when you buy DVC, you are buying the right to stay at your home resort. While I think the likelihood of cruising being completely taken away will be rare, it can be. Therefore I don't think you should buy if your sole purpose is to cruise.

[Dean]

Simply for cruising, DVC will cost more than paying cash, there are no guarantees, the plan could go away at any time, the price isn't stable and any portion you pay on cash combined with points will be more expensive than early booking discounts. Also, any cash portion is due up front, there is a $95 fee and a new fee if you make any changes. If you cancel your points are restricted and expire the end of the year. There is no way anyone can make a reasonable case for buying DVC simply to cruise. At best you'd break even some of the time and lose money with many hassles the rest. Not to mention you'd have to pay almost twice as much for the points for this privilege.

[BestDadEver]

Originally Posted by Sandisw

And when you buy DVC, you are buying the right to stay at your home resort. While I think the likelihood of cruising being completely taken away will be rare, it can be. Therefore I don't think you should buy if your sole purpose is to cruise.

This.

I am in the minority of people that belive cruising would be a good use of points due to it being all inclusive .

But I agree that to do it exclusively to cruise would be a waste . I looked into dvc for the first time before my first ever cruise on june 2 . To see if I can get the points for the cruise, and then the money I put to the cruise would go towrds the dvc membership , that way I would owe that much less for my membership .

That was the plan but it just didnt work cause you a lot of points to cruise . So I think we were going to get close to 200 points, then would have had to bank and borrow , to go on the cruise, then we would have to wait cause we wouldn't have points the following year . The cost was way to much . I ended up buying 100points on the cruise and am kaput with that purchase .

[Dean]

Originally Posted by BestDadEver

This.

I am in the minority of people that belive cruising would be a good use of points due to it being all inclusive .

But I agree that to do it exclusively to cruise would be a waste . I looked into dvc for the first time before my first ever cruise on june 2 . To see if I can get the points for the cruise, and then the money I put to the cruise would go towrds the dvc membership , that way I would owe that much less for my membership .

That was the plan but it just didnt work cause you a lot of points to cruise . So I think we were going to get close to 200 points, then would have had to bank and borrow , to go on the cruise, then we would have to wait cause we wouldn't have points the following year . The cost was way to much . I ended up buying 100points on the cruise and am kaput with that purchase .

The fact that food and other items are included is irrelevant due to the fact that any cruise you take would include those items. The way to compare is cash to points. If you do that at a time where early booking discounts are active, you normally get around $6-6.75 a point return but at times up to $7.50 and as low as $4.50. Cruise availability has been significantly decreased the last year or so and points had always been fluid, usually increasing.

[BestDadEver]

Originally Posted by Dean

The fact that food and other items are included is irrelevant due to the fact that any cruise you take would include those items. The way to compare is cash to points. If you do that at a time where early booking discounts are active, you normally get around $6-6.75 a point return but at times up to $7.50 and as low as $4.50. Cruise availability has been significantly decreased the last year or so and points had always been fluid, usually increasing.

Why would you compare it to another cruise, you would compare it using the points at a dvc resort . I can't use the points for diffrent cruises only dcl .

So you are saying that I should rent/trade and go on a non disney cruise . Then it may make sence .

[BestDadEver]

The points for my recent cruise would have been 384 points for 2 adults and child it cost me $4000 if I got the going rate of $10per points I would have $3840 I save $260 using points .

[Dean]

Originally Posted by BestDadEver

Why would you compare it to another cruise, you would compare it using the points at a dvc resort . I can't use the points for diffrent cruises only dcl .

You missed the point, you compare to DCL with cash vs DCL using DVC points.

So you are saying that I should rent/trade and go on a non disney cruise . Then it may make sence .

I'm not saying you should or should not no anything, they're your points, you can do what you want within the rules. However, from a dollar standpoint, buying points to use for cruising is a losing proposition. One might be better off selling the points than using them for DCL routinely. You could certainly rent and then use the cash for any cruise (DCL or otherwise) but I don't think that's a great option either long term though it's certainly better than routinely using them for DCL. It sounds like you haven't bought yet, if that's the case, do yourself a favor and buy just the points you'd use at DVC and pay cash for the cruise, you'll thank us later.

[Lynne M]

Here's what would stop me from buying points just for cruising:

1. DCL only makes some cabin inventory available for cruising. It's entirely possible that you could be unable to book a cruise on points that is available for cash. Happens all the time.

2. Points required for cruising can and do go up every year. So, it's quite possible that you could buy the large number of points required for cruising this year , and in a few years discover that you no longer have enough points to cruise. Then what?

3. DCL is not part of your ownership in DVC. They could end their participation in DVC exchanges tomorrow. Not at all likely in the near term, of course, but just be aware that there's no guarantee whatsoever that DCL won't further limit the number of cabins available, or eliminate bookings on points altogether, at some point in the future. That DVC contract you'd sign gives you access to the DVC resorts. The exchange stuff is just a perk, subject to change anytime.