2011 DVC Member Cruise on sale Oct. 2nd.

[MarkRG]

Unless there's some amazing revelation in the next few days, count us(wdwlvr and myself) out as well. After going to all the DVC Member events, not just the cruises, the past few years we were very underwhelmed with what DVC brought. So much so we didn't go this year, which from reports was the right decision for us.

It's great to meet others and enjoy the ship, but for us for that higher point value, DVC has to bring their part and I'm sure due to the economics they just seem to not be able to do that any longer.

One thing to be aware of, Don 'Ducky' Williams is Disney Animation's ambassador at large, a brilliant guy. However he sails a lot on DCL, he is by no means exclusive to the Member cruises.

The Dream will be sailing 4 day cruises over the entire rest of the year and we'll be considering that.

 

[MarkRG]

We did the member cruise in 2007. It was our first cruise ever. Being I Disney Geek, I got overwhelmed with what was going on extra.

Hi Dave, It's no surprise you were so overwhelmed. In my opinion, by far, the 07 cruise was the best DVC has done with these events.

 

[RAD]

While DVC does have to pay for all the extra's provided on the members cruise I wonder if this is a profit center for them vs. a break even? Besides the, what I consider a very large premium, are they saving money by not having to pay fees to Nassau for docking there? DCL/DVC has a sold out ship within a matter of a few hours at those premium prices, no need to offer discounts to fill it later. I would think DCL is going to make more money by keeping folks on the ship or CC for four days buying more drinks, don't have dollars going off ship in Nassau. They've got folks that weren't considering an add on making a snap decision due to the incentives that aren't offered once they're off the ship.

 

[DaveH]

While DVC does have to pay for all the extra's provided on the members cruise I wonder if this is a profit center for them vs. a break even? Besides the, what I consider a very large premium, are they saving money by not having to pay fees to Nassau for docking there? DCL/DVC has a sold out ship within a matter of a few hours at those premium prices, no need to offer discounts to fill it later. I would think DCL is going to make more money by keeping folks on the ship or CC for four days buying more drinks, don't have dollars going off ship in Nassau. They've got folks that weren't considering an add on making a snap decision due to the incentives that aren't offered once they're off the ship.

I may be mistaken, but I believe DVC is not allowed to make a profit on these things. If there is one, I would think they have to use the money on things like the get to gethers they have in Dec at WDW. The is a guess by me.

 

[Eeyore'sthebest]

I may be mistaken, but I believe DVC is not allowed to make a profit on these things. If there is one, I would think they have to use the money on things like the get to gethers they have in Dec at WDW. The is a guess by me.

Why wouldn't they be allowed to make a profit?

 

[rtkane]

Why wouldn't they be allowed to make a profit?

DVC isn't allowed to make a profit on maintenance fees for the resorts themselves (which is maybe what DaveH is thinking of) since those have to be actual costs, but I don't think there's a reason why they can't profit off of stuff such as this.

 

[DaveH]

Why wouldn't they be allowed to make a profit?

I suspect FL time share laws may have some restrictions. I have no first hand knowledge. I also would not put it past DVC to do so. I have no proof either way.

 

[Eeyore'sthebest]

DVC isn't allowed to make a profit on maintenance fees for the resorts themselves (which is maybe what DaveH is thinking of) since those have to be actual costs, but I don't think there's a reason why they can't profit off of stuff such as this.

I suspect FL time share laws may have some restrictions. I have no first hand knowledge. I also would not put it past DVC to do so. I have no proof either way.

Thanks for the responses. I was just curious.

 

[Robin"D"]

...I am sorry to report, that we just can not swing the SS Members cruise for 2011...
But still going on the REO/1st (B2B) Alaska Cruise....

Robin & Angel "D"

 

[pyrxtc]

The more I research and think about this, the more I am thinking that we either don't do it at all or do it just for myself and DH. IF/When we do a family cruise, do a longer cruise when we won't have to take them out of school.

Kids do sail free during our school vacation next year. maybe they will the year after that too ?

 

[Eeyore'sthebest]

I spoke to DH and have decided that we're not doing this either. No matter what the perks are, I just can't stomach the premiums they are charging.

 

[RAD]

It's been said that Disney keeps raising prices until customers start to push back/resist the increases. I wonder it this will be one of those times where they see they've might have overreached on their pricing?

 

[DaveH]

It's been said that Disney keeps raising prices until customers start to push back/resist the increases. I wonder it this will be one of those times where they see they've might have overreached on their pricing?

Remember those of us on the DIS is a small percentage of DVC owners. It is my guess that the cruise will sell out as usual. Will be as fast as in the past, I have no idea. When we booked for the 2007 member's cruise, it sold out rather quickly. I believe there were a few rooms available on the second day.

 

[RAD]

Remember those of us on the DIS is a small percentage of DVC owners. It is my guess that the cruise will sell out as usual. Will be as fast as in the past, I have no idea. When we booked for the 2007 member's cruise, it sold out rather quickly. I believe there were a few rooms available on the second day.

That may be, but you don't need to be a DIS member to look at the pricing and say the premium is way too high for the value received.

Will it sell out, probably since there's over 80K DVC members IIRC and probably a bunch that haven't been hit too bad with the current economy, that will spend whatever it take for a Disney function.

 

[DaveH]

That may be, but you don't need to be a DIS member to look at the pricing and say the premium is way too high for the value received.

Will it sell out, probably since there's over 80K DVC members IIRC and probably a bunch that haven't been hit too bad with the current economy, that will spend whatever it take for a Disney function.

I agree with you others can think it is too high. We ran into DVC members who said it was too high in 2006.

I believe only DVC members can book the member's cruise. As for other DVC/Disney events I agree with you also. If I had considerable more disposable cash, we would consider it more. We still may not do it anyway.

 

[STLDisney_Freak]

We wont be on the member cruise next year either as we are already sailing the Dream in October, but I can tell you there was a whole lot of hands up when they asked who was returning in 2011. The premium is quite high that only DH and I went this year.

 

[Brandis]

How fast do those member cruises sell out?

I read different things, some say they sell out in hours, others that there are still rooms available for weeks before they sell out.

Won't be able to book on Oct. 2 as it is our travelling day to WDW but was hoping to still get cabins the next day or so.

 

[gometros]

Does anybody have an experience with wait listing for past member cruises? We are going to be at sea on Saturday and won't be home until late Sunday night. I'm trying to figure out f we put our names on a wait list, how good our chances will be.

 

[WDWLVR]

Does anybody have an experience with wait listing for past member cruises? We are going to be at sea on Saturday and won't be home until late Sunday night. I'm trying to figure out f we put our names on a wait list, how good our chances will be.

Sandy - I've known people who have waitlisted on just about every single Member Cruise and they all came through. Not everyone still booked it when it came through but the waitlist did come through.

For everyone else - my 2 cents on the high premium. We've been on the '03, '05, '06, '07, 08, and '09 Member Cruises. For '03-'07 we thought the premium was more than worth it with the entertainment and special guests we got. For '08 & '09 we felt it was more of the b-team and that most of the ideas, gifts, etc. were recycled. That's one of the reasons we didn't go on the '10 cruise. From what little I've read it doesn't sound like things were much better on the 2010 cruise. Having the same gift (with different art) for 4 cruises in a row is crazy. For someone who has never sailed on a Member Cruise go for it. It is different than a regular cruise. For those who have sailed before ask yourself what you enjoyed most. If it is friendship of your fellow DISers, going to CC twice, or enjoying the FE gifts than I think you will find that you can get that a lot cheaper with a regular DCL cruise. If it truly was the guests/gifts that DVC provided and you think you got a good value then by all means go for it again. IMHO the value has gone down over the years while the cost keeps staying high.

 

[mudd]

received flyer about diney dream ship cruise sep 18-22,2011 it stated for more info go to dvcmember.com i have looked around and can't seem to find out anything, never have done a cruise before so all assistance will help
could someone assist me in letting me know exactly were on the site to look
thanks for all help