Cruising on Points

[antnee]

anyone doen it recently? was it a good value? Where did you stay? how many nights?

I have ALWAYS wanted to do a cruise

 

[bobbiwoz]

Our upcoming cruise is booked on points because most of the points used were banked points from a VB resale that we recently bought. We didn't pay dues for these points, they were like freebies. We have gone on 15 cruises, none were DCL, and every quote we ever got for a DCL cruise seemed too much for the length of cruise, type of accomodations, compared to what we have been on. Yet, we want to go on one, just to see for ourselves if the difference in price for one is worth it.

Even if people rent their points and use the money to pay for a cruise, my thoughts have always been that money goes even further on other cruise lines.

So, we have booked an inside cabin in November for a 3-night cruise. In terms of points, it is very reasonable, in fact, the 62 points per person, is less than the 71 points per person they had asked in '03. The time nicely fits into my part-time teaching schedule, I have Veteran's Day off, and it's a Thursday to Sunday cruise, it was like it was "meant to be!"

We can't wait to go on this cruise, see the shows, experience Castaway Cay and do whatever we choose to do in Nassau. We have a night afterwards in VWL, where we look forward to enjoying a delightful dinner at Artist Point. We are celebrating DH's 60th birthday on this cruise, it's a very special time for us.

Have you read any of the threads on the cruise boards? There are people who have been on many Disney Cruises and think they are wonderful. We hope to be numbered among those!

Good luck in making your decision!

Bobbi

 

[lillasmom]

I have been on a Disney cruise and have another planned for January. The first one was before I was a member and this upcoming one, I rented out my points and paid cash for the cruise because I could get a better catagory with the cash from the points than I could using the points. Either way, I think it is worth it. It was definely more time comsuming to rent out the points than to just book a different catagory, but I decided that the trade was worth it.

Like I said though, either way, points or cash, it's well worth the trip! You will have a great time!

 

[Happy Birthday Cat]

We did a four day cruise on points a couple of years ago. We had leftover points from a resale and it seemed like a good use. Since that time, the number of points necessary has gone up a lot. For next year I rented out our points and we are paying cash for a 7 day eastern cruise. This will be our fourth. I like to think that I am using points for it, just not directly.

HBC

 

[Tiggeriffic]

Last year we cruised on points and cash combo - one adult and two children on points, one adult on cash. That worked out well for us and we figured that it worked out to about $8 a point compared to what we would have had to pay in cash. We were satisfied with that.

However, recently I looked into cruising with points for next April, the same exact time frame as last year. The point charts weren't available at that time so I had to call MS. I was shocked at how many points it was going to cost. Even with borrowing we would not have had enough points for even two adults or one adult and one child. So, I looked at what it would be for one adult on points and one adult and two children in cash. Then I checked what I could get the same reservation for using just cash from various sources- Disney, DU, Allseas. It only cost me about $500 more to book the whole thing in cash and that included trip insurance which would not have been included if I booked through MS.

So, we're just paying cash for the whole thing and saving the points for my next trip to a DVC resort. Look at the alternatives before making a decision. For this trip it made no sense for my family to use points and I didn't want to be bothered with renting out the points because I know that I can use them later.

 

[Towncrier]

We did our first cruise on points. We were in a similar situation as bobbiwoz mentioned. We had purchased a resale with an entire year of intact points, so we needed to use them before they expired. It was a good deal for us at the time, but on subsequent cruises we have always paid cash. I'd rather save my points for staying at a DVC resort.

 

[lovetotravel1974]

We cruised on the Wonder(4 day) this past Feb, and rebooked for next Feb also on the Wonder.

It was our 1st cruise ever and we loved it!! We did NOT get sea sick at all. We were mid ship catagory 6(6076) with a verandah.Castaway Cay was awesome!! We were 2 adults only and never had a problem seeing any kids at the adult pool,Serenity Bay(adult beach at CC).

We stayed 2 days at OKW before our cruise in Feb, and are staying 2 days at SSR before the next cruise.

We paid cash for our 1st cruise and rented our pts to pay for our 2nd cruise trough DU, coming up in Feb.