Anyone used points for Disney Cruise Line?

[Anjelica]

Before I get blasted I still haven't gotten all my paperwork, etc. for our sign up to DVC so please don't yell at me to go read my paperwork (it still hasn't gotten to use over 1.5 weeks later).

In any event - does anyone know how many points are required for the 7 night western cruise in september 2007? We are thinking of switching our ressies to points if it makes sense.

Anyone who has used points for DCL - have you had any issues with looking up your reservation on the DCL website? Can you still request certain stateroom (and you get it), etc?

Thanks,
Anjelica

 

[mndisfam]

OK - people can blast away too - bcs using points isn't the best way to book...but, we added 200 points last year and then got the extra 200 points , borrowed a bit and went on a 7 day cruise at no cost...Was expensive, but DH had just had majot heart surgery and started a law firm, so $ was tight and it was a good use of points.

The only drawback I saw for using points (aside from it not being very penny wise...) was that you had to make all your plans thru DVC not DCL. THe DVC people who handled the cruise were just as knowledgable, but, they are only available Mon- Friday 9 to 5...or whatever their hours are.

DCL has better hours...Not a big deal, but it always seems our questions come up on the weekend! Yes, we were able to get an exact stateroom and do our shore excursions, etc.

By the way, when you use yr points to book, you get neat "Welcome Home" magnets on yr stateroom door - we saw a lot of them.

So, its not the best use of points, but if you have points to "Burn" it works out...

PS - the cruise was the best 7 days of my life!

 

[Anjelica]

can you still get travel insurance (I don't care if we have to pay for it) but just in case something happens and we have to reschedule? Is there a certain point where we lose our points if we cancel?

 

[mndisfam]

Yes, you can get travel insurance...don't remember how the cancellation worked tho.

 

[pogopossum]

we have cruised four times on points, and i don't feel that we got a bad deal at all, hearing some of the cash prices for the same room that we had, i think we did pretty well. i know that this is based on when you book the cruise, but we can't always book a year and a half out, so the points thing works well for us.

as far as the availability of dvc, i've only had one issue with them, and it was on the hurricane francis cruise, there was no emergency contact while we were at the resort and waiting to go, and had some issues that needed addressing. we felt that if you have guests booked and staying somewhere during a storm, you should have a contact around to iron out rough spots. but dcl did their share of ball dropping during the same time regarding communication, but that is a risk of hurricane season cruising, we just get by spoiled by disney quality and when they come up short it is a bit surprising.

you can use your reservation number and get access to your booking on the dcl site, and do all the early reserving and kid registering, just like a dcl booking.

 

[evaready51]

We used our DVC points and took the 4 day Bahamas Cruise in Dec 2005. (Family of 4) It was by far the best use of our points ever! We could never have afforded that cruise if we paid cash.

DVC handled everything for us, travel insurance too. When I made the original reservations we were immediatly assigned our stateroom as technically we were making the full payment.

 

[ottosmom]

What are the point values for the cruises?

 

[Plutofan]

If you have a great vacation any use of points ia a great use. The things that you should consider about using points versus renting out our points and paying cash are as follows:

1. We booked a 4 night cruise for July 8, 2007. We booked it in December to get the best rate. We used a travel agent that offered a cash rebate back after the cruise was completed. When I compared our rate with Disney the value per point was around $7.5.

2. With cash, depending on the type of stateroom room, you can cancel up to 45 days in advance and get the full cash deposit back. Please check for current terms.

3. I believe that the point insurance only covers $5 per point but I am not totally sure. I believe the cash insurance is a better deal if you cancel for permitted reasons.

4. If you cancel on points those points are tainted so they can only be used for specific types of reservations and must be used by a specific date. I have seen a few people post on this boards that canceled on points and said they will never do agaian.

5. One of the most important reasons, you can rebook on cash if a great deal comes along especially if you are booking in September. Check out this great cruise cash booking annouced by Disney for September this year:

They have a really great deal at www.mousesavers.com for a 10 day cruise if you go in September. It is just a little bit more than the price we are paying for a 4 night cruise in June 2008. try the following link:

http://www.mousesavers.com/dclsept06.html

 

[RachelTori]

5. One of the most important reasons, you can rebook on cash if a great deal comes along especially if you are booking in September. Check out this great cruise cash booking annouced by Disney for September this year:

They have a really great deal at www.mousesavers.com for a 10 day cruise if you go in September. It is just a little bit more than the price we are paying for a 4 night cruise in June 2008. try the following link:

http://www.mousesavers.com/dclsept06.html

I didn't think 2008 rates had been released yet?

 

[Plutofan]

2008 rates have not been released but my point is that by paying cash you have flexibility in case a good deal is announced in 2008. You can cacel your cash reservation prior to the deadline and rebook. With points you have no flexibility.

 

[MiaSRN62]

We used a combination of cash and points once. All communication/booking has to be done thru MS. The cash portion had to be paid in full at time of booking even though we were a year out. If you pay full cash (no points), then all you need is a deposit at time of booking and then final balance is due 30 days prior to sailing. The points really have gone up since we used them in 2002. We sailed again in 2004 but paid cash all the way. Got a much better deal we felt.

 

[RachelTori]

2008 rates have not been released but my point is that by paying cash you have flexibility in case a good deal is announced in 2008. You can cacel your cash reservation prior to the deadline and rebook. With points you have no flexibility.

That makes sense. There are many of us waiting for 2008 to be released - so I kinda got *hopeful* when you mentioned a 2008 cruise!!


So the consensus seems to be that using points to book your cruise is not the best use of the points.

 

[Hixski]

My DH and I did our 2005 7 day cruise on points. We have 200 a year so it took 2 years worth. While everything was great we decided that we don't ever want to give up 2 years worth of points again. We are going for 10 nights this year to WDW and VB and still banked points. Next year we are doing another 7 day cruise and plan to use points for 1 of us and pay cash for the other. We know someone who did it that way and it worked great. This will leave us enough points next year to do a 4 night the 1st week of December to see all the Christmas decorations.

 

[Towncrier]

We've done it both ways. Our first cruise was entirely on points. We purchased a resale that had a lot of banked points and we wanted to use them before the expired. At the time, we figured that an equivalent cash ressie would have worked out to about $10/point.

Since then we've cruised three more times, always using cash. In the rare event that DCL decides to discount a cruise or provide some other incentive, those using points do not benefit from the special prices as DCL and DVC negotiate the transfer price a year or two in advance. So for us, the ability to take advantage of the special price (and to use Dreams Unlimited Travel to book our cruise) made the decision easy for us.

You may want to consider renting your points and using the cash from the rental to pay for your cruise as another possible alternative.

Bon voyage!!!

 

[CarolMN]

For those of you who just want a link to the point charts for the cruises - you'll find them in this thread:

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1089437

Best wishes -

 

[kendzee94]

So along these lines, can you use your points to "pay" for just the kids portion of a cruise, and pay cash for the adults, would you still get the "free" hopper pass or no?

 

[aclov]

DH and I used points for the 4night cruise in January, we booked the stateroom that used less points, I think it was Cat. 11. There's no guarantee to this obviously, but we were lucky enough to get upgraded to Cat. 8. For us it was a good use of our points.

 

[Dean]

So along these lines, can you use your points to "pay" for just the kids portion of a cruise, and pay cash for the adults, would you still get the "free" hopper pass or no?

You have to pay one adult on points. And you lose the discounted cash rates frequently available through DCL and TA.