Cruise with points???

[ghartler]

I've started reading about the ability to cruise with DVC points. Is this true? Where do I find out how many points it takes for each cruise?

Feel free to reply here or personally at ghartler@indiana.edu.

Thanks!
Gayle

 

[Deb & Bill]

It takes a lot and you probably can do better paying cash.

 

[Mary Anne]

You'll get a lot of pros and cons for using points. We bought our points with the intention of using them to cruise once in awhile and / or trade out once in awhile.


We are 4 people (2 adults 2 teens) cruising late August. The point cost was 470 plus a $75.00 exchange fee. Yes, we probably could have sold out points and got something better but it was our choice to just book on points.

 

[AnnaS]

We also have used both points and cash for our two cruises. Due to dh's limited vacation time, we can only take one long vacation per year (weekends closer to home), so it's either, WDW, cruise or a trade. Plan on doing the same thing next year. For now this has worked for us, we shall see in the future.

 

[Nick@ VB+OKW]

We saved 150 pts by renting them out on the DVC Rent/Trade board, and paying cash through Dreams Unlimited.

It took 1 hour and a few e-mails to rent 300 pts to 1 individual. For us it was WELL worth it to NOT use pts.

 

[Jimbo]

Or, to put it another way, there's more than one way to use points. You can book using points through DVC, or you can rent the points on the trade board to get cash to take the cruise. The second way is almost always a better deal, especially if you book pretty far ahead of time.

 

[CRSNDSNY]

We're renting points to pay cash for a cruise. It saves us points and money!

 

[minimahaki]

We cruise annually and the points value differ based on when you sail, which catagory of cabin you choose and which type of cruise you selecrt. There is the 3 day, 4day and choices of two 7 day cruises. The 7 day Western uses the most points becuase it has an extra port of call. In January 2003 we did the 7 day western and it was 394 points for a catagory 5 delux stateroom with verandah on deck 7. We are taking the same cruise July 30 the same catagory stateroom on the same deck and it is 504 points.
We are taking my daughter and her husband this trip so we had to use 1008 points.
We bought an addirtional membership last year so we could cruise annaully and ALWAYS follow up with a 3-7 day stay at OKW.
I guess there are more economical ways to use your points and maybe someday I will explore that but for now I use my points.
Lauretta

 

[Nick@ VB+OKW]

Originally posted by minimahaki
We cruise annually and the points value differ based on when you sail, which catagory of cabin you choose and which type of cruise you selecrt. There is the 3 day, 4day and choices of two 7 day cruises.

The above is correct but there was a 16% overall increase across the board, in "pts" to cruise in 2005. The largest increase ever from 1 yr to another in using pts to cruise.

 

[Dean]

I have yet to see a DCL cruise option that returns more than $7 pp compared to advance booking discounts. You can easily rent for $10 pp. Besides there is so much more flexibility using cash over points that I'd personally rent them out and pay cash if I only broke even. I feel the risk of renting points is less than the risks involved using points to cruise except last minute cruise options.

 

[DVCinderella]

Dean,

DH and I are considering taking a 7-day on pts. I was considering two Cat-6's (one booked on pts for DH and I, and one on a cash ressie for relatives). As a result, I have info on both:

Points - 394 (197 x 2)
Cash - $2700.00

I guess your theory is that I could rent out 270pts at $10pp, and cover a cash reservation? Considering that would save me 124pts, I'd say that sounds like a deal!

Btw, what does the $7pp figure represent? I'm a little confused as to how that factors in.

 

[CarolMN]

Originally posted by DVCinderella
...(snip)....Btw, what does the $7pp figure represent? I'm a little confused as to how that factors in.

I think what Dean is saying that if you take the cash price of a cruise and divide it by the number of points it costs, you will seldom get a value of more than $7/point.

In your example, $2700/394 points = $6.85 per point. So if you use points for that cruise, they have a value of $6.85 each.

Since most here believe that you can rent for at least $10/point, that is why it is said that using points to cruise is not a good value.

 

[Dean]

Originally posted by DVCinderella
Dean,

DH and I are considering taking a 7-day on pts. I was considering two Cat-6's (one booked on pts for DH and I, and one on a cash ressie for relatives). As a result, I have info on both:

Points - 394 (197 x 2)
Cash - $2700.00

I guess your theory is that I could rent out 270pts at $10pp, and cover a cash reservation? Considering that would save me 124pts, I'd say that sounds like a deal!

Btw, what does the $7pp figure represent? I'm a little confused as to how that factors in.

Remember that with a cash ressie, you can cancel up until 60 days out with NO penalty at all. For points, you are charged $75 any time you make any changes. If you cancel, you're points go into reservation status which is severely limiting.

 

[Skip Wiley]

Is it true that you pay taxes on the points your rent? For example, if you were in the 27% tax bracket you are only going to net $7.30 per point if you rent them for $10? In the example posted, you would then need to sell 370 points to net $2,700, not 270 points. I'm curious because I never see anyone mention taxes when figuring out how many points they need to sell to cover a cruise.

 

[CarolMN]

Originally posted by Skip Wiley
Is it true that you pay taxes on the points your rent? For example, if you were in the 27% tax bracket you are only going to net $7.30 per point if you rent them for $10? In the example posted, you would then need to sell 370 points to net $2,700, not 270 points. I'm curious because I never see anyone mention taxes when figuring out how many points they need to sell to cover a cruise.

My understanding of the tax laws is that yes, owners aowe federal (and probably state) income taxes on any rental proceeds. They should probably be paying the Florida sales & lodging taxes as well.

It's a bit cynical of me, but I believe the reason that you seldom see it mentioned here is that very few actually report the income and pay the taxes. Unless the IRS does a very detailed audit or someone turns the scoflaws in, I'm not sure how the IRS would even find out about the rental income. No one issues any kind of 1099 form for that, LOL!

Small Print Disclaimer:
This poster is not a CPA nor does she play one on TV. Furthermore, no one should rely on an internet bulletin board for tax advice.

 

[WolfpackFan]

Regarding using points for DCL cruise. Am I missing something? I looked on the DVC member website and I only see points for 2003, I don't see any DCL cruise points for 2004. Am I missing them somehow or are they just not there.

 

[dbond]

2004 DCL points are there, go to Plan your Getaway and then look under Disney Collection.

We are using points for our July cruise. We are using 334 pts to cruise, the cash price for our cruise from DCL was 3059. We could probably get that cash price down a bit if we shopped, but we had the available pts so we used them. Could I sell my points, maybe, some people have great success connecting with others and making those rent arrangements. I have discovered that it's a lot of trouble to find the right connection. I personally don't have the time. We have the points, we use them.

 

[pogopossum]

We are cruising Labor Day Weekend on 7 day cruise with friends and relatives, F-I-L and wife only wanted inside stateroom, so we booked 2 adults in room with verandah and inside room for 2 adults and let F-I-L pay cash for our two kids which was less than room would've cost them. I prefer using pts, because that's why we bought the DVC in the first place, paying for vacations in advance, and over time instead of laying out cash for lodging all the time. But I can see where if someone has the time and doesn't mind the effort required it would make sense to rent out pts.