Booked Aruba thru II question

[DeeCee735]

I used my points to book Aruba for my son and his wife. The room is in his name, with his address and is shown on the confirmation paperwork. I am not going. The trip is a gift to them. Do I need to do anything as the member or are they good to go for check in?

Tia
Dee

 

[drusba]

What is needed is to have the reservation in a My Disney Experience account. If they do not yet have an MDE account online, they need to sign up for one and then add the reservation number to it. They should also get the Aulani Resort mobile app put on a cell phone. They can then do most things needed for the reservation, including early check-in, restaurant reservations, etc., using the online MDE account or the mobile app.

Otherwise the only things you may need to do is make requests for things that can be done only by the member, e.g., through MS make a non-guaranteed room location request.

 

[CarolMN]

What is needed is to have the reservation in a My Disney Experience account. If they do not yet have an MDE account online (and also put the app on a cell phone), they need to sign up for one and then add the reservation number to it. They can then do most things needed for the reservation, including early check-in, restaurant reservations, etc., using the MDE account

Otherwise the only things you may need to do is make requests for things that can be done only by the member, e.g., through MS make a non-guaranteed room location request.

Is this really necessary for an exchange to Aruba via II?

I think you may have misread the OP's question.

 

[drusba]

Yes I did not catch that the poster did not do a member reservation. However, they likely should still get an MDE account and the Arusha app. If process is now the same as RCI was, someone then needs to call MS and inform it that they have a reservation for Arusha through II, and, with the info provided by II, request the DVC reservation number. so they can put it in the app and MDE account, However, MS may not have that exchange in its account until a couple weeks after the reservation is made.

 

[DeeCee735]

What is needed is to have the reservation in a My Disney Experience account. If they do not yet have an MDE account online, they need to sign up for one and then add the reservation number to it. They should also get the Aulani Resort mobile app put on a cell phone. They can then do most things needed for the reservation, including early check-in, restaurant reservations, etc., using the online MDE account or the mobile app.

Otherwise the only things you may need to do is make requests for things that can be done only by the member, e.g., through MS make a non-guaranteed room location request.

No no. Not Aulani. Aruba, through interval international using dvc points.

 

[DeeCee735]

No no. Not Aulani. Aruba, through interval international using dvc points.

I’ll call member services. They’re on the flight now. This doesn’t really make sense to me that they should have the res in their MDE account. But I’ll find out. Crazy with this disney website stuff

 

[drusba]

I’ll call member services. They’re on the flight now. This doesn’t really make sense to me that they should have the res in their MDE account. But I’ll find out. Crazy with this disney website stuff

They do not need anything for Aruba (sorry, I was incorrectly thinking Aulani).

 

[DeeCee735]

I’ll call member services. They’re on the flight now. This doesn’t really make sense to me that they should have the res in their MDE account. But I’ll find out. Crazy with this disney website stuff

All good. All my son needed was the confirmation certificate in his name and his ID. Not at all necessary to use MDE or have the number linked. (Which is good because he doesn’t have an MDE account ! LOL)

 

[bp2412]

Sorry to not be any help but just wanted to say my wife and I did Aruba for part of our honeymoon in 2019 and it was amazing- such a beautiful place! Hope they have a fantastic time!

 

[DeeCee735]

Sorry to not be any help but just wanted to say my wife and I did Aruba for part of our honeymoon in 2019 and it was amazing- such a beautiful place! Hope they have a fantastic time!

They are happy with the resort, which was only booked a few months ago. They're not the pre planners I am....I was able to get them La Cabana resort but I think there's more than one of them, so I'm sure which one they're in. I tried to sign into DVC site so I could connect to II and look, but it's down again, of course. It was working this morning, but not last night, and now again it's out. Unreliable at best. Which has become very very annoying since I rarely have time to log on....

Thanks for the good wishes. My husband and I were there in 2015, also using DVC points, and we agree, great place!

 

[Prince John Robin Hood]

They are happy with the resort, which was only booked a few months ago. They're not the pre planners I am....I was able to get them La Cabana resort but I think there's more than one of them, so I'm sure which one they're in. I tried to sign into DVC site so I could connect to II and look, but it's down again, of course. It was working this morning, but not last night, and now again it's out. Unreliable at best. Which has become very very annoying since I rarely have time to log on....

Thanks for the good wishes. My husband and I were there in 2015, also using DVC points, and we agree, great place!

Did you find the exchange was an okay value? I haven't looked into the new exchange yet but we love Aruba.

 

[bobbiwoz]

Did you find the exchange was an okay value? I haven't looked into the new exchange yet but we love Aruba.

We do too! I would love a change to go there via the exchange!

 

[DeeCee735]

Did you find the exchange was an okay value? I haven't looked into the new exchange yet but we love Aruba.

They are still there, and they LOVE the resort they are at, which is La Cabana Beach & Casino resort in Oranjestad. It is across the road from Eagle Beach, not in the high rise area. When I was there, we stayed in the high rise section (The Divi), also on an exchange. We hope to go back...

 

[Prince John Robin Hood]

They are still there, and they LOVE the resort they are at, which is La Cabana Beach & Casino resort in Oranjestad. It is across the road from Eagle Beach, not in the high rise area. When I was there, we stayed in the high rise section (The Divi), also on an exchange. We hope to go back...

We love Eagle Beach the most of all the beaches. It's one of the most beautiful in the world.

 

[abdgeek]

Did you find the exchange was an okay value? I haven't looked into the new exchange yet but we love Aruba.

I’ve already done a couple of II exchanges through DVC since the switch and they have been fine. Both of them were in Hawaii and one I had done as an RCI exchange before. This time, I had a full ocean view and was right near the pool. The last time I had a peak a boo ocean view and was further from the pool. The second resort was on Kauai and wasn’t my favorite. The one I wanted wasn‘t available. There wasn’t anything really wrong with the room, I just didn’t care for the way the property was run.

You will find that some of the exchanges are the same properties that were available through RCI, just in a different part of the resort. You will have to do more homework with II because they don’t have the same designations RCI did (Gold crown, silver crown, etc) to differentiate between properties. It is also a little more challenging to search for availability in II. You really need to put in a larger range of dates than the one you’re really looking for to have the best options. That wasn’t the case with RCI. There also seems to be less availability that shows two years out (unlike RCI); so if you’re a planner like me you’ll be waiting longer to solidify your plans.

I stayed in Aruba at the Divi Aruba Phoenix with RCI a while ago and had a great time. There are typically two different options available, the 5-7 story newer tower building and the older one that is 10 stories. Since it isn’t always obvious, make sure you understand the one you’re booking so you won’t be disappointed.

For what it’s worth, my sister has owned II, RCI, and DVC. She said II is the best by far.

 

[DeeCee735]

We love Eagle Beach the most of all the beaches. It's one of the most beautiful in the world.

I can say this….my son and his wife are still there and are already planning to return! Without DVC, we wouldn’t have been able to send them or take our family to Disney like we have been for the last 22 years! Love my DVC-changes or no changes!

 

[alldiz]

They are still there, and they LOVE the resort they are at, which is La Cabana Beach & Casino resort in Oranjestad. It is across the road from Eagle Beach, not in the high rise area. When I was there, we stayed in the high rise section (The Divi), also on an exchange. We hope to go back...

Happy to hear they like La cabana!
Did you stay there as well? If not from there opinions …. Which is better?
Also I’m curious how many points and what type of room thanks

 

[DeeCee735]

Happy to hear they like La cabana!
Did you stay there as well? If not from there opinions …. Which is better?
Also I’m curious how many points and what type of room thanks

Hi!
They returned last night and raved about the resort. It’s not in the high rise section, it’s closer to the main town and not far from supermarket. They bbq’d a couple of nights. The resort has grill areas. They said it had a beautiful pool but with the sea right there no one used the pool much. It was a studio, cost was 100 points. Not a water view. They said it was first floor, had a patio and had a view of the other hotels or buildings. ( I’m not sure which).
They’re in their early 30’s and found the resort to be a romantic place at night (dinners by the beach). They also used the trolley to get around Oranjestad. They used the bus system to get to other places, since it was more cost effective than Ubers.

I did not stay there. When we were there some years ago we stayed at a Divi….it was the first hotel of the high rise section coming from Eagle to Palm beach. Don’t remember which exact Divi it was, as there are a few. That was back in 2015. We had an ocean front studio which at the time, was 80 points through RCI, not II. It was a smaller quieter more laid back place than the other high rises. We are NOT in our 30’s (obviously) and found the Divi to be more our age group, even though we can still party like the kids! I did appreciate the fact that there is no casino or nightclub at the Divi we stayed at. We travelled with another couple and a few drinks relaxing outside at night was all we were interested in. The pool had a swim up bar thoughand that was fun!

I would try LaCabana hands down…. It does have a casino and I think a spa

Anyway, hope this helps! My kids can’t wait to go back!

Dee