Cruising on points

[kramer_clan]

Hi guys,

We decided to use our points this year on a 4 night cruise. I know that you all believe that it is not a great value to use points on the cruise, but with trying to sail in the summer (kids off of school), it worked out best for us since it is so expensive. I used points for three of us and paid cash for one of the kids. I am now wishing that we could opt for a veranda room.

I really don't want to make changes to the reservation. We are on Deck 7 in a Category 8, but I was wondering if there was anyway that I could upgrade at the port (with cash) if there was anything available to upgrade to.

We are cruising the 4 night on August 18th and there seems to be plenty of availability on the cruise (at least Cat 5's available). Has anyone been able to do this for cash at the port?

Vicki

 

[DoeWDW]

I haven't done the cruise yet but I believe that others have posted that they paid cash at the port to upgrade to nicer accomodations, even though they used points to book the cruise.

I'm sure there's someone here with firsthand experience!

Bon Voyage!

 

[dvcmomdeh]

I hope that this is a contribution!

We used 396 points for a 7 night cruise for myself, DH, DS (13) and DD (10) last November. It was not a waste of our points. We opted for the cruise instead of 11 days a Disney. We've been there before and are going back.

Now to the point, We opted for a veranda cabin, category 5, deck 7, I think. It was great. We have some really nice pictures of us all on formal night with the railing in the background. However, we won't be booking that type of accomodation again. We just didn't use it. We woke up and the kids were not awake yet and stepped out to see the sun rise, but the kids ended up waking up and ruining that moment.

We have decided when we go again, we can get a cat 5, 6 or even 7 inside for hopefully a much better rate (of points) than for the outside. If we want the railing or outside viewing we can go outside. There are many, many quiet places to sit and enjoy moments on deck.

Hope this helps.

 

[Michelemouse]

Just a clarification...

Categories 5, 6 & 7 all have verandahs. Cat. 5 & 6 have full verandahs while Cat. 7s have partially enclosed Navigator's verandahs. Categories 8 & 9 have portholes and Cat. 10 - 12 are inside cabins with no windows.

 

[AnnaS]

Last year we cruised for 7 days and we used points for 4 adults and paid for one child. We had two cat. 11, deck 6. First two always pay adult price/points. Next year we are doing the west. cruise and are planning on doing 3 adults points and 1 adult and 1 child cash. Again two rooms. I would love to have the verandah, perhaps some day we will do the 4 day cruise. I hate to borrow all of 2004 so I will pay two cash and settle for inside cabin again - we really were not in there that long. Good Luck in your decision.

 

[disneychic]

We did the 4 day cruise last year using points, and we are going again in Sept. using points. I can't see paying $$ for the cruise when we are in the vacation club! We didn't feel that it was a waste of p oints, we had an amazing time! As long as you have the points use them!!

 

[EROS]

We just took the 4 day/3 night cruise for 316 points for the three of us in Category 6. I know, I know, it's NOT the most efficient way to utilize points. However, we didn't buy into DVC to vacation "efficiently" ..............

 

[gscott8075]

We have been on four and have two more booked - all inside or portholes.

Friends went with us and had a verandah - very nice as long as they were paying for it!

Save the points!

 

[imgoingtodisney]

And to further clarify
Cat 10 has the split bath - cat 11&12 dont

 

[disney6]

cruised on 7 day Oct. 2000 all on points (3- cat. 9 cabins) and going again this Oct. all on points (1-cat. 9 and 2-cat.10). Lots of points but worth every single one! FYI- cat 11-12 do not have connecting cabins available, only cat. 10 and higher.

 

[Renee']

We're going on our 4th DCL cruise using all points this September. They've all been 7-dayers with the exception of the first one in '99. We bought the points with full intentions of using them. Love every minute of them too.

 

[dbkelly]

Please don't bash me for being negative. I used my points for a 4 day cruise and I am regretting it. I don't have enough points to stay entire week at WDW next year, so I am paying cash for 3 nights. The cruise was very nice, but I am not sure if it was worth it. The best part of our vacation this year was the one night we stayed at WDW after the cruise. However, as you can see, a lot of people prefer the cruise. You must try it, because how will you ever know if you like cruising or not.

D. B. Kelly

 

[imgoingtodisney]

We joined DVC this past Nov after our 9 night stay at the Wilderness Lodge, courtyard view. We rolled last years points over to this year. I was debating borrowing a few points from next year so we could have a porthole but decided combining 2 yrs points was enough. Maybe when we/I cruise in the future as I know I will.