Dvc points for cruise

[AnnaS]

DH and I are booked with points for our July West Caribbean cruise - cat 9 - can't remember the letter and I believe it's about 480 points. Had plenty of banked points and don't like the hassle of renting them out. Booked two other cabins all on cash.

 

[cwdefouw]

We heard on the January member cruise that you now have 7 days after disembarking to call DVC to book a new cruise and get the small points discount. They said they extended it because a lot of people don't go right home after the cruise.

As to the original posters quesion, we spent 836 points for two adults for a cat 6A on the two week West Bound Panama Canal Cruise in May this year. Some of the best point deals are the trans-atlantic cruises. If you don't mind paying the one way airfare to/from Europe, these are a great value. I couldn't believe it when comparing the 12 and 14 night TA's to the 12 night Med cruises. These two week TA's are frequently around the same or less than the 7 day Fantasy cruises. I am sure the same old argument about point vs dollars value is still in play on these, but if you want to use points and get the most for the least, then the TA's are the way to go.

 

[ludari]

I looked into using my DVC points but IMHO the value (points verses cost of cruise) isn't good. I guess if you have a lot of points or have been setting them aside for a cruise I could understand. I typically use nearly all my points travelling to WDW several times a year.

 

[STLDisney_Freak]

We're doing the 7 night southern Caribbean next October. For four of us (2a/2c) in a cat 10c, it cost us 473 points.

Well worth it for us, because it not only covers accommodations, but it also covers food and entertainment!

And...now the cruise is "paid off" and I can just concentrate on saving money for spending and airfare.

I look at it exactly like that.. Our family has cruise quite a few times on points for us it well worth it no math is needed.

 

[STLDisney_Freak]

Wow. Never heard of discount with points before! Now I am curious.

We have called member services the day after arriving home from the cruise to rebook another cruise and they have given us a discount on the number of points used.

 

[CMOORE185]

Generally speaking, if you use a figure of $10/poin and do the math, it usually does not make sense to cruise on points. However, sometimes, it might.

We wanted to go on another cruise with DCL. We really should not have been spending the money to do so at that time. We had points that were going to expire. We did not need airfare to get to the ship, but would have needed it to get to WDW. We had an amazing 7 nights on the Wonder. (We went to the Mexican Riviera, but we didn't care where we were going. We just wanted to spend a week on the ship. Our points allowed us to do that.

- Dreams

When I run the math the value usually falls between $7 to $8 dollars per point. Not great but still more than your dues cost.

 

[lilpooh108]

I look at it exactly like that.. Our family has cruise quite a few times on points for us it well worth it no math is needed.

I agree. Sometimes we use points, sometimes we don't. We mostly use points if we're booking multiple cabins and we don't feel like spending $8000 upfront for cruising.

Yes you can rent out points (I've done so on numerous occasions), but it is time-consuming and sometimes I can't find a renter that is a perfect fit (right amount of points, trustworthy, non-smoker, seems nice, etc).

It's just easier.

 

[OrangeCountyCommuter]

[
Oh the common wisdom that "it's better to rent and pay cash"

I didn't buy my points to run a business....

I have cruised on points two times and my upcoming Med cruise is on points.

I bought my points for my enjoyement. IMHO the only "bad" use is one I don't want to do.

Now I didn't know about the discount and may actually try for that this time. I have some friends doing the Fantasy and they keep trying to get me to go. but I would need the 7 days. I am not calling them from Barcelona or Paris. LOL!

 

[acourtwdw]

We just booked the WBTA for 2014 in a cat 7. It's a 14 night cruise and it was way less than 7 nights on the Fantasy.

 

[jelliott04]

Anyone recently cruised totally on dvc points? How many points did it cost you to cruise?

636 points for 2 adults and 2 kids 7 Night Eastern Caribbean Category 5E GTY. We ended up in 4D.

Jen

 

[lilpooh108]

BTW, the discount isn't always a full 10%. Most of the time I've found that it's about 8%.

 

[bsusanmb]

If you book your next cruise within 48 hours of disembarking, you get 25% point discount off future cruise. Since 2003, we have used points for almost all our cruises. For us, it makes more sense financially.[/QUOTE}

Is this in our contract somewhere? I have never heard of this. Have used points for several cruises, including the Mediterranean this June. Where did you get this information? From DVC on board the ship? And did you misquote the discount? Is it 10%

 

[OrangeCountyCommuter]

If you book your next cruise within 48 hours of disembarking, you get 25% point discount off future cruise. Since 2003, we have used points for almost all our cruises. For us, it makes more sense financially.[/QUOTE}

Is this in our contract somewhere? I have never heard of this. Have used points for several cruises, including the Mediterranean this June. Where did you get this information? From DVC on board the ship? And did you misquote the discount? Is it 10%

It's a perk.. it would not be in your contract. Actually what your contract says is that at any time they can tell you "too bad you can't use points for this cruise" (or pretty much anything else Disney wants to tell you, the contract says "the mouse has all power, accept it or don't sign" LOL! Yes, I signed I was fine with that)

I did some digging and it appears you MAY get a small discount, but you also may not. It may even be dependent on the cruise you select....

 

[KingRichard]

Tips are included when using points? I don't remember!

If they are then that does need to be factored in.

 

[jelliott04]

Tips are included when using points? I don't remember!

Nope.

Jen

 

[OrangeCountyCommuter]

Tips are included when using points? I don't remember!

If they are then that does need to be factored in.

They are on the member cruise... for which they charge more points.

 

[kshark1958]

Tips are included when using points? I don't remember!

If they are then that does need to be factored in.

Automatically charged to your on board account.

 

[vakamalua]

Ok, I'm confused. We did a dummy booking on board and they said if we decided to use points instead of cash that we would be able to just call member services and they would adjust the points required by 10% and we would lose the OBC. But if we would have just waited until we disembarked and booked thru member services within 2 days instead, it would been 25% less points?? That's a huge difference.

BTW, the discount isn't always a full 10%. Most of the time I've found that it's about 8%.

If you book a cruise while on board, you MIGHT get a discount in points if you convert within 7 days. The discount fluctuates by cruise. We booked on the Fantasy last week and MS told us it would be a measly 3% reduction in points, would lose the OBC AND pay the $95 fee. Never could understand why Disney's most loyal customers (DVC members) get the worst deals!

Using points for a cruise (or anything else, for that matter) is a 'good use' is that's how YOU want to use them.

 

[CarolAnnC]

Though tips have been included on many DVC Member cruises, that is not the case for all of them. No promises there.

Tips are never included on regular cruises booked using DVC points.

 

[KingRichard]

Thanks to both of you.

I remembered reading it was somehow. Now we know(maybe). lol