Cruise Line points and Cash?

[felway17]

Hi All,
I have 250 points, and I am giving them to my brother next year to use for his family. But they are looking to go on the Disney Cruise. But 250 points would only get them like bottom of the barrell cabin.

And NO I do not want to borrow from the following year, that is my other brothers year to use.

Can they also pay cash for the balance of whatever?

Does anyone have any experience or tips on this topic?


Thanks

 

[Happy Birthday Cat]

You can pay for one person in the room with points and all the other with cash. Or you can pay for as many as 250 points will get you and the rest in cash.

We did a combination (cash/points) trip once and it was very simple to do through MS.

HBC

 

[Tiggeriffic]

You need to look carefully at the costs when doing this. My family took a cruise on points/cash two years ago and it worked out as a reasonable value. However, we're looking at taking another cruise next year and when I determined how much money I would have to pay after using points for the first person, it turned out that it was more than I could get the whole reservation for from Dreams Unlimited. So, you may want to price the cruise from some of the travel agents and then compare it against a points/cash combination. Depending upon the time of year and when you are booking, the comparison could be very different.

 

[Dean]

If you compare using points or point plus cash through MS compared to a full year out early booking discount, I don't think it'll ever be a comparable value. Besides the lower than market returns on the points, you must pay the entire cash amount up front, pay the $75 fee and pay an additional fee if you make even the slightest change in your reservation. I'd rent the points and book with cash directly or through a TA, you'll be glad you did.