Cruising on points - what should we know?

[tink_n_pooh]

DH & I are considering our first DCL cruise for January 2010, probably 3 or 4 days to the bahamas. We would like to use our points and then stay at a DVC resort on points for a few days after the cruise.

What should we know in advance? We have never used our points outside of DVC resorts and it's been awhile since we purchased so I don't recall all of the details

Will we need to pay for or supply our own transportation to and from the cruise terminal or is that included?

 

[fers31]

You should know that you will be paying triple the price for the cruise if you pay with points. Look into taking 1/3 of the points you were going to use, renting them for $10/pt and booking the cruise with said cash.

 

[disneynutz]

I think that most DVC members will agree that using points for anything outside of the resorts at WDW or DL is a poor use of points.

Disney spends a lot of advertising money telling people that DVC points can be used for cruses and exciting travel all over the would, they can, but why pay double or triple the when using points verses paying cash.

 

[Good Ol Gal]

and, you have to pay a $95 fee when you book with points.

If you do partial points, partial cash then you have to pay the cash in full at time of booking.

 

[LisaRN97]

Will we need to pay for or supply our own transportation to and from the cruise terminal or is that included?

Yes, you will need to pay $69 each person for transportation from DCL

 

[CarolAnnC]

Cruising on DVC points can be advantageous - it all depends on your personal needs.

For example, as you draw closer to the sail date, booking at that time can be cost beneficial. DCL books their cruises in tiers, so folks who start booking 2 years out (in some cases) will pay far less than someone who just now decides to start looking into a January 2010 cruise.

The points are going to stay the same, and the cash portion will stay the same, no matter how close to sail date you book.

Yes, you will pay a $95 booking fee. That is paid at time of booking as well as any cash portions via credit card.

I am not inclined to rent out my points at all. In fact, with the deals CRO offers, ie free dining, pay for 4 get 3 free (or whatever it is called lol), renting has become not quite so easily accomplished these days.

So the decision is an individual one. You need to decide which is the best way to go. But I have cruised countless times on points and always felt it was the best use of my points for me.

In fact, we are booked next summer on the Baltic Cruise, using two years worth of our points. No regrets, and very much looking forward to it!

 

[JasonDVC]

You should know that you will be paying triple the price for the cruise if you pay with points. Look into taking 1/3 of the points you were going to use, renting them for $10/pt and booking the cruise with said cash.

You're not "paying" anything! You are going on a cruise for a $95 fee. The quote above takes into account that you could potentially rent your points out and then pay cash. You don't have to. You bought the points to take vacations without having to pay for them at the time, so do it. Don't feel like you are losing money. Renting can be nerve racking to some and risky.

As DVC members, we should feel fortunate that we can use points for other types of Disney vacations.

I have created an excel spreadsheet to chart how much I have spent on my membership and what the cash value of the same vacation I am taking would have cost OOP. DCL is expensive. A few 7 night, or more, cruises and you will be close to break even (depending on how many points you own).

Have fun!

 

[WiscBill]

I've done three cruises on DCL. On one I used all points, on the next we split points and the last one we just paid for. I would agree with the above posters who say they are your points and you should use them anyway you want. I do think that the cost is "triple" based on an assumed cost of $10 per point is very high ratio. However, for any cruise you would need a spreadsheet like the above poster indicated. The price of a cruise does vary in dollars while the price in points is fixed. In the case where we used only points, we had a bunch we needed to use, the cruise was in January so the points needed were low, but we were within about six months of the sail date, so the cost in dollars had increased some from the inital pricing. After the sailing and even figuring the $10 per point figure to be real (remember that figure doesn't include your time or risk in renting them), I figure in that instance all it cost me was the $95 fee. However, that was one particular cruise at one particular instant in time. In the end, its up to you. After all you bought into DVC to go on vacation and have a good time not stress about maximizing your investment.

A few more points to consider:
1) Whenever using points, fully or partially, if you rebook you will need to pay the $95 fee. IF you pay $$s, there is no rebook fee if you are outside certain windows that are at least 90 days out.
2) You do not have to take the DCL transfers. Many people rent a car at the Orlando airport and then drop it in Port Canaveral at a considerable savings relative to the DCL transfers. However using DCL, they will transfer your luggage to the bus and from there to the ship. If you drive yourself, you will need to hand the luggage to the porters at the dock.
3) You should consider flying in the night before the cruise. Many people do use their points to book at DVC resort for that night (or even come in a few days before).

 

[toniosmom]

Curious on the transportation. Assuming you stay at a DVC resort for a few days on points and use ME to get from the airport to that resort.

Will ME take you from the resort to the cruise port?

And then to the airport when the cruise returns?

 

[WiscBill]

Curious on the transportation. Assuming you stay at a DVC resort for a few days on points and use ME to get from the airport to that resort.

Will ME take you from the resort to the cruise port?

And then to the airport when the cruise returns?

You will need to use DCL transportation to take you to the port and back to the airport. There is a charge for that (it's listed above, about $70 per person round trip). However, the DCL bus does pick up at most of the DVC resorts, so that is a convenience.

 

[toniosmom]

You will need to use DCL transportation to take you to the port and back to the airport. There is a charge for that (it's listed above, about $70 per person round trip). However, the DCL bus does pick up at most of the DVC resorts, so that is a convenience.

Thank you!

 

[WolfpackFan]

I've been playing around with the idea of doing a cruise on points in 2011. I'm actually getting a little burned out with WDW and getting ressies at HHI at 7 months seems to be getting more and more difficult. I'm considering doing the Western Caribbean cruise during September when the points are lowest. I'll probably use points just for one of us and pay cash for the other. I know folks say this isn't the best use of points, but I have no wish getting involved with renting out points. Plus I know DCL cruises are more expensive than other cruise lines but once again we have the points and using the points to pay for one person will still save us money over booking with another cruise line.

 

[LIFERBABE]

You should know that gratuities are not included in your point price. You pay for those separately.

Multiple changes to your cruise reservation result in multiple fees of $95.

If the cost of the cruise decreases you do not get any type of adjustment in points. The point cost is fixed for the year.

If you cancel a cruise that you used points for, your points are returned to you as "Reservation Points" RP cannot be used at DVC Resorts and expire in the use year they were used for. Reservation points cannot be banked or transferred but you can use at WDW Resorts or DLR. I believe they can be deposited into RCI and used for the Concierge Collection.

The DVC Cruise point Charts are issued well after the cruiseline opens booking for cash guests. This means most of the most desired staterooms will be long gone on most sailings before you have the opportunity to book on points. An example are the Secret Porthole staterooms. There are only 10 or less and they are a bargain because you pay CAT 10 price for an obstructed oceanview.

That said, we do plan on sailing in the future using points. You just have to do your research, but we are excited to know that our are points offer us this option.
Considering food is included, and plenty of free entertainment I consider it a decent value. There are plenty worst things you could do with your points, like letting them expire!

 

[msabol01]

I've used points once before to cruise and while it's not the best use of points from a value standpoint, each situation is different and it made sense for us at the time. It would not be wise to use your points for cruising ALL THE TIME, but an occasional cruise in my opinion in fine. Knowing the value of various vacation is important, but over 50 years, the low value of an occasional non-DVC vacation not a major impact.

If you are in a situation where you have the points and you are ok with using them then I say go for it!

As for transportation to the port, I've found one-way rentals with a family of 4 and even with just my wife and I was cheaper than Disney Transportation. Most of the major car rental companies have shuttles that run to the port.

I'd recommend going over to the DCL boards to get yourself with the basics and must know info. Enjoy, but be careful DCL can be addicting. One recommendation is to rebook on board for additional savings.

 

[ladycop67]

We are going on a 3 night Bahama cruise on 01/14/10 and used 260 points. We are staying in a Cat 7 room.
Paid the $95 fee, and also $69.00 per person round trip from airport to port, there is 3 of us.

We also added the insurance in case of bad weather that time of year.

To me using the points is no different than using cash. You have paid for your points already and dont have to take money out of you pocket to pay for the cruise.

Like everyone else has stated it is up to you on how to use your points.

 

[lark]

You're not "paying" anything! You are going on a cruise for a $95 fee. The quote above takes into account that you could potentially rent your points out and then pay cash. You don't have to. You bought the points to take vacations without having to pay for them at the time, so do it. Don't feel like you are losing money. Renting can be nerve racking to some and risky.

Yup -- this is an important point. Different people value different things differently. It's easy to book a cruise using the points -- you just make a phone call. No messy rentals, or setting up paypal if you don't have it, etc. However, I think it is important to understand what your options are and what you're paying for convenience. Maybe some people don't even want to mess with it, but I think knowing at least three things is a rational thing before using points to get a cruise: (1) the cash cost of booking the same cruise; (2) the value of those points, whether in the rental market or something else; and (3) the $95 fee plus the cancelation policies once you commit those points to a cruise.

I think it's also not a bad idea to understand that the points do cost you something -- your maintenance fees are paying for the cruise. Now, it's true you have to pay the MFs no matter what, but I think in calculating the true value of a point to each individual, you should have at least a sense that a 500 point cruise using points with a $5/year resort means you're paying $2500 to maintain a resort you won't use that year in order to cruise.

 

[CarolAnnC]

You should know that gratuities are not included in your point price. You pay for those separately.

Multiple changes to your cruise reservation result in multiple fees of $95.

If the cost of the cruise decreases you do not get any type of adjustment in points. The point cost is fixed for the year.

If you cancel a cruise that you used points for, your points are returned to you as "Reservation Points" RP cannot be used at DVC Resorts and expire in the use year they were used for. Reservation points cannot be banked or transferred but you can use at WDW Resorts or DLR. I believe they can be deposited into RCI and used for the Concierge Collection.

The DVC Cruise point Charts are issued well after the cruiseline opens booking for cash guests. This means most of the most desired staterooms will be long gone on most sailings before you have the opportunity to book on points. An example are the Secret Porthole staterooms. There are only 10 or less and they are a bargain because you pay CAT 10 price for an obstructed oceanview.

That said, we do plan on sailing in the future using points. You just have to do your research, but we are excited to know that our are points offer us this option.
Considering food is included, and plenty of free entertainment I consider it a decent value. There are plenty worst things you could do with your points, like letting them expire!

We are going on a 3 night Bahama cruise on 01/14/10 and used 260 points. We are staying in a Cat 7 room.
Paid the $95 fee, and also $69.00 per person round trip from airport to port, there is 3 of us.

We also added the insurance in case of bad weather that time of year.

To me using the points is no different than using cash. You have paid for your points already and dont have to take money out of you pocket to pay for the cruise.

Like everyone else has stated it is up to you on how to use your points.

The gratuities are not included in DCL reservations, and for the most part not for points either, except for the DVC Member Cruises which thus far (except for one cruise) have included all gratuities.

I have booked as late as 4 months prior to cruise via MS on points, and have always had an excellent choice of staterooms. The cat 10 obstructed view is not anything I would be interested in, but there are not many as stated and they do go quickly.

We booked on opening day for the Baltic Cruises which was last October 2008 for our July 6, 2010 cruise. So there was no difference using points - we had the same choice of staterooms as the cash DCL clients had as well....

We always figure our DCL points prices based on what we pay for MF's. This makes it a much better value, and we don't rent out so $10 a point is not something we would ever factor on anyway.

 

[bobbiwoz]

We have been on 3 DCL cruises, 2 for points and 1 for cash, and we have another one for cash booked with on board discount during last cruise for November 2010.

Something happened on this last cruise that had never happened to us before, but it has happened to others. We got to the port around 11 to find the port closed by customs for a "problem." We had a rental car, as we always had in the past, but this time it was not as easy for us. The port re-opened around 2...we had left the immediate area, there were not enough potties/food choices for the hundreds people who were stranded as we were. It took hours for the rental car shuttle to make the round trip from the port back to the car agency place to pick us up to take us to the ship. We were among the last to board the ship. We missed the safety lifeboat drill. It was nerve wracking.

We had 9 people and though we rented 1 car + 1 van for us, it was cheaper than Disney transportation. We were coming from the BCV. We are not sure that we will risk our cruise for the money saved by renting our own transportation to/from port. We have 14+ months to decide, but it was an eye opener for us, gave us a problem that we never thought about before!

Bobbi

 

[LIFERBABE]

The gratuities are not included in DCL reservations, and for the most part not for points either, except for the DVC Member Cruises which thus far (except for one cruise) have included all gratuities. Correct. I was pointing out that Gratuities would still need to paid on points. Some people think that using points is all inclusive and it is not unless you are on a charter Cruise.

I have booked as late as 4 months prior to cruise via MS on points, and have always had an excellent choice of staterooms. The cat 10 obstructed view is not anything I would be interested in, but there are not many as stated and they do go quickly.Yes, many cruisers are interested in them and that is why they go so quickly. I would love to be able to get one of these SPH rooms on points but the delayed booking window for DVC makes that a challenge to say the least

We booked on opening day for the Baltic Cruises which was last October 2008 for our July 6, 2010 cruise. So there was no difference using points - we had the same choice of staterooms as the cash DCL clients had as well....
This was definitely the exception, not the rule

We always figure our DCL points prices based on what we pay for MF's. This makes it a much better value, and we don't rent out so $10 a point is not something we would ever factor on anyway.

I agree with this as well. I calculate the dues cost. There is also much to be said for all the dining and entertainment that is included. On our 15 day EB Repo (paid cash) I was very surprised on how little we spent onboard and for excursions. It was very equivalent to our DVC Resort stays once we factored in Park Tix and Dining Cruising on points can be very budget friendly if you want it that way.

Have a great cruise! I hope to be on the EB TA

 

[tink too]

We've booked the WBTA on points and I may even change my ressie (I know, I'll have to pay an additional $95 ).

Our thinking is this, it's our points and we can do with them what we like. It may not be the best value, but then again, if we paid cash for the cruise, our points would be lost - so it's a no-brainer for us.

I don't fancy renting out our points - unless it was to family or friends because at least if anything went wrong, we would know where to find them!