Totally new and confused!

[Mineu]

Hi: In the excitement of the moment-we joined this past week while on our 7 day cruise-we had "looked" before-but actually joined this time. It was so last minute that we really didn't get to ask all of our questions... We were offered the free 7-night cruise-but the dates did not work for us so they offered us double points for our first year instead....Was this a good deal? We also booked another cruise while on board-can we apply our points to this cruise even though we already have the onboard offers? Also, where can we find the chart to figure out how many points we need for our cruise-do we call DVC or DCL? Any other advice for total new comers would be greatly appreciated!!

 

[drusba]

Welcome home. Deal is fine. However, that second set of points for the year are probably what are known as developer points and there are likely restrictions for using them -- such as must be used by a certain date (possibly in 2009 or within year of purchase) and can only be used for certain things, like SSR or a Disneyland hotel and thus you may not be able to use them for a cruise. However, I am not sure what they actually gave you on this. Cannot just switch points for the cash you paid for the cruise you booked. Only way to do switch would be to cancel current reservation and make new one with points. If you are able to get into DVC member site on-line, you can see points needed for a cruise. If you do not have that info yet, you should be able to call DVC and they will instruct you how to get on-line.

 

[bookwormde]

If you are not completely comfortable with your purchase and are still within the 10-day cancellation window canceling the contract might be the best option until you fully understand what you are purchasing.

bookwormde

 

[Mineu]

Thanks for the information-so if I understand correctly, the balance on the reservation we booked on board can not be paid for with points-we would have to make a completely new reservation through DVC-and could only do this if we have enough points for the entire cruise-we can't pay the difference with "real money". I have a SPH booked-would I be able to keep that cabin if we had to rebook through DVC?

They certainly were not specific about the restrictions!! So how difficult is it going to be to book our free RCI week?

Despite the confusion-I'm not at the point of wanting to get our $$ back-just trying to get advice from the experts!! Thanks

 

[oakmanner]

Welcome Home!

 

[ErieCruiser08]

I thought I read somewhere on the boards that you can combine cash and points to pay for a cruise. Is that true? For example, for 2 adults, you must use just points for one person, but pay all cash for the other person.
Anyone?

 

[CJH1102]

I thought I read somewhere on the boards that you can combine cash and points to pay for a cruise. Is that true? For example, for 2 adults, you must use just points for one person, but pay all cash for the other person.
Anyone?

We just joined too. Our sales person told us that for the cruise it may work to our advantage if we used our points for my husband and I and then pay cash for our kids since the third and fourth passengers are cheaper. Hope that helps.

 

[becca-becca]

We joined last February and got 160 developer points. We were able to use those points towards a cruise.

However, for the room you booked while online with cash, I think you have to pay for it all with cash.

I think to use points you have to go through Member Services and after you pay for however many people you intend to pay with points, you then pay MS cash for the rest of the reservation. (I could be wrong about this). Also, if you booked a SPH room through the DCL side of things, you probably would not be able to re-book that same room with Member Services, unless maybe if you do it simultaneously while on the phone with both.

The developer points were not bankable, did not have the 11 month booking window that our other points had and expired by a certain time. However, we had a GREAT time spending them.

Good Luck. I hope I gave you accurate info!