Cruising on Points - res question

[CRSNDSNY]

DH and I will be on the 12/14/03 Wonder. We want to rebook for a 7-day using points 12/2005 (dates aren't released yet, but that's besides the point). A couple of questions:

1 - We are only allowed to book on points 11 months out?

2 - If we book on points (to get the point discount) onboard at an 11-month out date, what is the penalty for switching dates? Do we lose the point discount?

 

[Dean]

You can actually get the discount for up to 14 months after your cruise. I'm not sure if you have to do anything on the cruise but you must call DVC within 3 days of departing your cruise. If it's more than 11 months out, they record your info and you call back at 11 months. If you change, you will have a $75 change fee but I'm not sure about losing the discsount. IMO cash is so much better than points both due to ultimate costs and the extra protections and flexibilities involved.

 

[CRSNDSNY]

That's so good to know. We want to rebook on our 12/14 Wonder for 12/2005. We will not be able to make a trip for most of 2006 & 2007 and would rather use our points ourselves than renting, so a 7-day cruise would be good for us. Otherwise, you are right -- it isn't very economical and we wouldn't do this under normal circumstances.

 

[RLAlden]

What do you mean by points discount? I had just assummed that to book the cruise using points, that it would take the number of points listed on our point charts. Is there a way to use fewer points? Thanks...

 

[CRSNDSNY]

When you rebook onboard paying cash, you get an onboard credit for that cruise. When you rebook using points, you get a discount on the amount of points needed, but no onboard credit.