Booking DCL with DVC points (x-post)

[nzdisneymom]

I asked this over on the DCL Board, too, but I was wondering if someone can walk me through booking DCL with DVC points when you have to use cash for part of the booking, too.

We are a party of 4 and would have enough points to cover the first 2 guests but need to pay cash for 3rd and 4th. Or could we use points to pay for 1st, 3rd, and 4th and pay cash for 2nd passenger?

When you book, I know there's the $95 you pay to make the reservation - but do you pay the rest of the cash plus taxes/fees, etc., at the time of booking to finish off the reservation?

And if you are wanting to do DCL air / hotel / transfers, how does that work when booking with points?

We have a booking already and were thinking about booking another cruise to make them B2B - and we were going to do air / hotel / transfers with the one we have booked, so if we book one with DVC, can DCL adjust our air / transfers / hotel to coordinate that? Also because we're using a TA for our existing booking, by adding a DVC booked that is B2B, can we transfer that booking to our TA so she'll have all of it to help us mind all our travel plans?

We really need someone to help walk us through step-by-step what happens, what we need to know up front, what things might be a surprise to novice DVC cruise-bookers - things you wish you'd known before starting the booking process with DVC.

Thanks so much for your advice / experiences.

 

[Deb & Bill]

I asked this over on the DCL Board, too, but I was wondering if someone can walk me through booking DCL with DVC points when you have to use cash for part of the booking, too.

We are a party of 4 and would have enough points to cover the first 2 guests but need to pay cash for 3rd and 4th. Or could we use points to pay for 1st, 3rd, and 4th and pay cash for 2nd passenger?

When you book, I know there's the $95 you pay to make the reservation - but do you pay the rest of the cash plus taxes/fees, etc., at the time of booking to finish off the reservation?

And if you are wanting to do DCL air / hotel / transfers, how does that work when booking with points?

We have a booking already and were thinking about booking another cruise to make them B2B - and we were going to do air / hotel / transfers with the one we have booked, so if we book one with DVC, can DCL adjust our air / transfers / hotel to coordinate that? Also because we're using a TA for our existing booking, by adding a DVC booked that is B2B, can we transfer that booking to our TA so she'll have all of it to help us mind all our travel plans?

We really need someone to help walk us through step-by-step what happens, what we need to know up front, what things might be a surprise to novice DVC cruise-bookers - things you wish you'd known before starting the booking process with DVC.

Thanks so much for your advice / experiences.

You can book a cruise partially on points and partially for cash, but it has to be through DVC, not DCL. You couldn't transfer the reservation to a TA because it is a DVC reservation, not a DCL reservation.

And you might not be able to get the cruise on points anyway. It's very limited of what is available for points.

 

[Jennifer_Anne12]

If you combine the reservation and book with points and cash, the cash balance is due at the time of booking. Also, if there are any changes to the reservation, there is an additional $95 reservation change fee. I just got off the phone with member services and discussed this very issue.

 

[nzdisneymom]

Thanks so much for the replies. If we do book a cruise with points, we would be very certain it was one we were prepared to do. I don't know if DVC will even have the points yet for the new Magic summer 2013 itineraries available yet, and then if so, if they would have the cabin class we're interested in (we'd like to book the same cabin for both cruises). Much to think about.

 

[mousefan1972]

We are going on a cruise in April that was booked through MS. We used points for DH and I and paid cash for our 2 kids. As PP stated, the cash amount was due at the time of booking. Also the $95 fee is due at time of booking.

I called MS yesterday to add DCL transfers. We booked Magical Express from the airport to BWV before the cruise, then DCL transport from the resort to the pier, and then from the pier to the airport when the cruise is over. It was very easy and done within a few minutes. HTH.

 

[Dean]

Thanks so much for the replies. If we do book a cruise with points, we would be very certain it was one we were prepared to do. I don't know if DVC will even have the points yet for the new Magic summer 2013 itineraries available yet, and then if so, if they would have the cabin class we're interested in (we'd like to book the same cabin for both cruises). Much to think about.

You likely realize, but in case you don't, the cash portions associated with a DVC-DCL reservation are based on contract rates and generally much higher than early booking discounts. You should look at both situations and compare all angles to decide what's best for you.

 

[Deb & Bill]

One more thing to consider. If you book that cruise with points, then decide not to cruise, your points have become reservation points and cannot be used at DVC resorts.

 

[nzdisneymom]

Thanks for the replies - just wanted to follow up and say we did end up booking with points because we were able to cobble together enough points to take care of three of us - and since that means we won't be using our points to stay at WDW for two years (well, unless we borrow in that last year from the next year), our season-ticket money covered much of the cost of our fourth person. So now we're doing B2B cruises in June 2013 with the DVC one coming first and our other one coming second. And if we needed to cancel, we'd cancel the second one - even though Venice is the draw for that one - we could always hop over to Venice specifically before flying back to the US and probably for a lot less $$ than the cruise is costing us