2010 European cruises--is this booking info correct?

[snackyx]

I just spoke to MS about booking the 2010 European cruise. Is this correct: whether booking all points or all cash or points/cash, 100% of everything is due at the time you make the booking? Isn't that a rather large amount of cash to be paying for a cruise that does not leave for 20+ months? I thought there was a deposit you paid and the balance was due by a certain date. Help!

 

[MrsMork]

Booking with points or points/cash combination does require full payment at booking. You are not booking thru DCL so it is different. I believe DVC has to pay DCL for the trip when they book it for you.

 

[snackyx]

Can I do this: book a cat 4 room (sleeps 4-5) on 10/14 all with points (11 night Med cruise May 2010). Call back four months later (Feb 2009) when my DVC points renew and book two additional passengers (teenagers) in the same room? I would already have the room booked, just adding two more passengers. I would do it all now but the total points required is massive and I "only" have 800 points/year (I never thought I would actually consider buying even more points). Your expert opinions?

 

[alystad]

If I were in the situation to use points I would book now and pay cash for the kids. You only need to book one person on points if booking with DVC. I don't think I would use points for a cruise again - not really a good value. You can sell/rent/gift the points to family or frineds and apply the money to the cruise.

 

[eva]

Can I do this: book a cat 4 room (sleeps 4-5) on 10/14 all with points (11 night Med cruise May 2010). Call back four months later (Feb 2009) when my DVC points renew and book two additional passengers (teenagers) in the same room? I would already have the room booked, just adding two more passengers. I would do it all now but the total points required is massive and I "only" have 800 points/year (I never thought I would actually consider buying even more points). Your expert opinions?

If your points are available the date of the cruise, you can book them on the 14th. You do not have to wait. I will be using 2009, 2010, and some 2011 points to book our cruise. I can book all this on the 14th because the points are available at the time of the cruise.

 

[Dean]

If your points are available the date of the cruise, you can book them on the 14th. You do not have to wait. I will be using 2009, 2010, and some 2011 points to book our cruise. I can book all this on the 14th because the points are available at the time of the cruise.

I'm assuming you are already in your 2008 UY AND that the cruise falls in the 2010 UY and not the 2009 UY. If not, I don't think you'll be able to use 2011 points to do so at least not yet. DVC may find a way to work it out for you if there's a problem but no guarantees.

 

[CarolAnnC]

Can I do this: book a cat 4 room (sleeps 4-5) on 10/14 all with points (11 night Med cruise May 2010). Call back four months later (Feb 2009) when my DVC points renew and book two additional passengers (teenagers) in the same room? I would already have the room booked, just adding two more passengers. I would do it all now but the total points required is massive and I "only" have 800 points/year (I never thought I would actually consider buying even more points). Your expert opinions?

The problem with this scenario even though you have sleeping space in your cabin, the ship reaches capacity depending upon dinining rotations, filling, lifeboat occupancy, etc. It is common that folks try to add on later and find they cannot. Especially in the case of DVC where we do not have full access to the booking inventory of the cruises. I would price out a lower category for the 4 of you - perhaps a category 6 or even category 8 to see if you can swing that. Also, you can borrow the points and book now anyway. If you do make changes down the road (if possible) you will pay another $95 booking fee as well.

 

[eva]

I'm assuming you are already in your 2008 UY AND that the cruise falls in the 2010 UY and not the 2009 UY. If not, I don't think you'll be able to use 2011 points to do so at least not yet. DVC may find a way to work it out for you if there's a problem but no guarantees.

Dean, we are talking about the 2010 European cruises.

 

[Dean]

Dean, we are talking about the 2010 European cruises.

I know. My understanding is exchanges are paid in the UY they occur UNLESS they occur 2 UY ahead in which case they can be paid for either by this UY or the next. But they are not paid for in the UY they occur if it is 2 Use Years ahead. Say you had a Dec UY and were in your 2007 UY. The cruise would be in your 2009 UY (summer 2010) and you would not be able to use 2011 points as I understand the rule. In this example you could use either points in the 2007 UY (inc banked, current and borrowed 2008) or you could use 2008 UY (including any banked 2007, 2008 and borrowed 2009). If I'm counting correctly, the only way to use 2011 UY points for this cruise would be to wait until you're in the 2009 UY, Feb at the earliest. Now DVC might be willing to work with you in some way but this is the rule as it has been explained to me by DVC. It'll be interesting to see what happens.

 

[eva]

I know. My understanding is exchanges are paid in the UY they occur UNLESS they occur 2 UY ahead in which case they can be paid for either by this UY or the next. But they are not paid for in the UY they occur if it is 2 Use Years ahead. Say you had a Dec UY and were in your 2007 UY. The cruise would be in your 2009 UY (summer 2010) and you would not be able to use 2011 points as I understand the rule. In this example you could use either points in the 2007 UY (inc banked, current and borrowed 2008) or you could use 2008 UY (including any banked 2007, 2008 and borrowed 2009). If I'm counting correctly, the only way to use 2011 UY points for this cruise would be to wait until you're in the 2009 UY, Feb at the earliest. Now DVC might be willing to work with you in some way but this is the rule as it has been explained to me by DVC. It'll be interesting to see what happens.

Sorry about that. You are correct. Our use year is February. So we are using 2009, 2010, and 2011 points. But if your use year is after the cruise you are taking, you will have to slide the use years back a year. I get it now! I sure wasn't thinking.

 

[Dean]

Sorry about that. You are correct. Our use year is February. So we are using 2009, 2010, and 2011 points. But if your use year is after the cruise you are taking, you will have to slide the use years back a year. I get it now! I sure wasn't thinking.

Not a problem. I think it's a difficult concept for members given the disconnect for UY and travel time for non DVC trips. It is rarely an issue as there are few things you can actually book 2 years out and it takes just the wrong combination of UY and travel dates. DCL is one but hasn't been more than a couple of years. The other that comes to mind is some of the II exchanges but not many II resorts are actually able to deposit 2 years out. The ones that come to mind on the DVC II list are Kona Coast resort in HI and the Royals in Cancun and MX. Even for the other Royal managed resorts in the Caribbean, I don't think they can deposit 2 years out.

I'm still not sure they'll let you use the 2011 points if complete the transaction before Feb. But I suspect they have a way to make it work in this situation.

 

[eva]

Not a problem. I think it's a difficult concept for members given the disconnect for UY and travel time for non DVC trips. It is rarely an issue as there are few things you can actually book 2 years out and it takes just the wrong combination of UY and travel dates. DCL is one but hasn't been more than a couple of years. The other that comes to mind is some of the II exchanges but not many II resorts are actually able to deposit 2 years out. The ones that come to mind on the DVC II list are Kona Coast resort in HI and the Royals in Cancun and MX. Even for the other Royal managed resorts in the Caribbean, I don't think they can deposit 2 years out.

I'm still not sure they'll let you use the 2011 points if complete the transaction before Feb. But I suspect they have a way to make it work in this situation.

We went over how we are paying a number of times with MS and our guide and they are saying that it will be no problem. But I am still keeping my fingers crossed.

 

[thesoldtrain]

Does anyone know if there is a point chart somewhere for these new cruises? MS isn't open today and I would love to know. Thanks!

 

[CustardTart]

Does anyone know if there is a point chart somewhere for these new cruises? MS isn't open today and I would love to know. Thanks!

Here's a resume of most of what we know about the European cruises - the points shown are per person and for the first two passengers...

Baltic Cruises (all dates are the same points):

cat 6: 771
cat 8: 652
cat 9: 628
cat 10: 574
cat 11: 549

Mediterranean Cruises:
11 nights...

Cat 4: 764
Cat 9: 546
Cat 11: 471

Mediterranean Cruises:
10 nights... August 18 2010

Cat 9: 487
Cat 11: 419


Mediterranean Cruises:
10 nights... the rest

Cat 5: 583
Cat 6: 564
Cat 7: 546
Cat 11: 383

Hope that helps...

 

[thesoldtrain]

Thank you!!!

So I am trying to wrap my head around this. If we sailed in 2010 but booked Tuesday, with a December use year I could technically borrow into what year? I know I can only borrow into 2009 right now, but does that change at all for this situation? Anyone gotten info on that?

 

[CustardTart]

As far as I understand it you can bank Dec 2008 points, use Dec 2009 points and borrow points from Dec 2010 to put towards one of the cruises...

 

[CarolAnnC]

Does anyone know if there is a point chart somewhere for these new cruises? MS isn't open today and I would love to know. Thanks!

FYI MS is now open 7 days a week! I did call there 3 times today myself regarding the cruises, lol.

As far as I understand it you can bank Dec 2008 points, use Dec 2009 points and borrow points from Dec 2010 to put towards one of the cruises...

Yes you are correct!

 

[snackyx]

FYI MS is now open 7 days a week! I did call there 3 times today myself regarding the cruises, lol.



Yes you are correct!

If you are booking a 2010 cruise, depending on your UY, you will most likely be using 2009, 2010 and 2011 points. 2008 banked points would not be able to be used for the cruise, as they would have to be used for a trip of some kind in 2009.

 

[eva]

If you are booking a 2010 cruise, depending on your UY, you will most likely be using 2009, 2010 and 2011 points. 2008 banked points would not be able to be used for the cruise, as they would have to be used for a trip of some kind in 2009.

If your use year starts after the cruise you would be using 2008, 2009, and 2010. It all depends on how your use year and the cruise date lands in the year.

 

[CarolAnnC]

Yup, between our 3 master contracts and multiple addons we are using 2008, 2009, 2010 and borrowing some 2011. Yikes...