DCL 2010 announcement & DVC

[dylan'smom]

I'm hoping someone may have some info on this!

On Mon. DCL will announce the new itineraries for 2010 and there's been much speculation on the DCL board about Baltics, etc.! MS for DVC has just told us that it is impossible that we would be able to book with them before the first of the year. She asked everyone in the room and they all agreed they were just now finishing up contracts for 2009, and would definitely NOT be booking the new itins when they are released!

My first thought was that maybe they just have not been informed, and they will be brought up to speed on Mon. as well, and of course DCL would not leave DVC out of the big booking fest they have planned following all the promotion! Bookings are rumored to open up 1 or 2 weeks after the announcement.

Anyone have any info or thoughts about this??

thanks!!
bev

 

[CraftyMouse]

No, you probably won't be able to book 2010 cruises for a while. I would guess that the earliest you'll be able to do so would be early 2009. The same situation has happened with other special DCL itineraries in the past.

One thing to keep in mind is that the points price does not work the same as the cash price directly through DCL. As the ship fills up the cash price goes up. This does not happen with the points cost. The cruise will cost you the same number of points whether you book it when the itinerary becomes available or last minute. Most of the Med. cruises had availability up until the last few months so you should be fine.

 

[dylan'smom]

No, you probably won't be able to book 2010 cruises for a while. I would guess that the earliest you'll be able to do so would be early 2009. ..Most of the Med. cruises had availability up until the last few months so you should be fine.

That's a very good point -- it won't effect the cost of point at all if we wait to book. The thing that's confusing me is that when the Med cruises opened for booking, they opened with DVC at the exact same time.

Just wondering though, if you are paying cash for part of it, will that fluctuate as the boat fills up, or is that pre negotiated as well??

thanks!!
bev

 

[SoCalDCLfan]

that's interesting. I was on with MS yesterday and they told me they'd have the 2010 points charts available when the itineraries were released. They also said that we could book with DVC the same day as non-dvc. MS explained that they'd delayed DVC bookings in past years but received a ton of grief for doing so (understandable!). MS also told me that they have a dedicated line from MS to DCL to alleviate the wait times and ability to get through. I guess we'll find out on Monday where we stand for DVC bookings. My back-up plan is to book with cash and then flip it to points later. I did this before and it was very easy. If DVC points charts aren't out until later, I'd worry about waiting as we want connecting cabins.

 

[lah3hh]

When I booked my Westbound DCL Panama cruise that sailed in May of this year....

I called MS the very first day they were taking ressies for the special cruises. They did NOT know the point values at that point but you were given a room category guarantee. In other words I knew which category of room I was going to be in but I did not know which room nor did I know how many points it was going to cost.

Then when the points for those cruises were finally released MS contacted each of us and we had 1 day to accept and book officially with points or the room would be released back to the general availability. When MS calls you with the actual points assigned you can also choose to pay cash for the ressie. We chose to use points for myself and DH but paid cash for our DD.

This way DVC members were able to get in on those special cruises but we did not actually know our room assignment until about 2 months before we set sail. It didn't matter to me cuz as long as I was on the Magic....life is good!!!

 

[dylan'smom]

that's interesting. I was on with MS yesterday and they told me they'd have the 2010 points charts available when the itineraries were released. They also said that we could book with DVC the same day as non-dvc. MS explained that they'd delayed DVC bookings in past years but received a ton of grief for doing so (understandable!). MS also told me that they have a dedicated line from MS to DCL to alleviate the wait times and ability to get through. I guess we'll find out on Monday where we stand for DVC bookings. My back-up plan is to book with cash and then flip it to points later. I did this before and it was very easy. If DVC points charts aren't out until later, I'd worry about waiting as we want connecting cabins.

Oh this is great news!

So you booked before to get what you wanted and then changed it to a points reservation?! Perfect!! Even if the points aren't out at the same time it is so much easier to get through to DCL directly.

For the Med cruises we had to use 2 impacted phone lines -- California AND Florida -- calling MS and holding (and holding and holding...) while they called DCL....ugh.

But I do remember that we could start at the same time for both DCL & DVC -- I think it's a bit weird that the person in MS was so adamant that we couldn't do it.

Sounds like you had a better connection! Thanks!!!

bev

 

[dylan'smom]

...I called MS the very first day they were taking ressies for the special cruises. They did NOT know the point values at that point but you were given a room category guarantee. In other words I knew which category of room I was going to be in but I did not know which room nor did I know how many points it was going to cost.
This way DVC members were able to get in on those special cruises but we did not actually know our room assignment until about 2 months before we set sail. It didn't matter to me cuz as long as I was on the Magic....life is good!!!

Good to know! Maybe this is what MS will do this time (?) but this is so exciting -- can't wait till Monday and the announcement!!

bev

 

[CarolAnnC]

We waited quite a long time to book our Med Cruise in 2007 - about 7 months prior to the cruise in fact. I am not too concerned about this. We plan on booking the 2010 but not right away.

FYI, the room inventory will differ for DCL versus MS. They are two separate inventories, so I do not believe you can book directly at DCL and change it over to points with MS later on. At least, that has always been the case on prior cruises including the Med.

Since the email I received today was for Castaway Club members, I would venture to say that DVC may not have this available to book as soon as DCL starts (probably a couple of weeks). Just my opinion, but time will tell soon enough! BTW, we ended up with a category 6 and category 11 on the Med Cruise for our family, totally booked on points, and we were thrilled beyond belief! Can't wait for the announcement on Monday!

 

[funnybunny921]

No, you probably won't be able to book 2010 cruises for a while. I would guess that the earliest you'll be able to do so would be early 2009. The same situation has happened with other special DCL itineraries in the past.

One thing to keep in mind is that the points price does not work the same as the cash price directly through DCL. As the ship fills up the cash price goes up. This does not happen with the points cost. The cruise will cost you the same number of points whether you book it when the itinerary becomes available or last minute. Most of the Med. cruises had availability up until the last few months so you should be fine.

we took the med cruise last summer --it was great! but i wanted to say that we got a significant amount of money back as they continued to drop the price for our sailing. i don't know if you can recover points like that, but i will say that in the end it was an increadible trip well worth the price.

 

[Dean]

That's a very good point -- it won't effect the cost of point at all if we wait to book. The thing that's confusing me is that when the Med cruises opened for booking, they opened with DVC at the exact same time.

Just wondering though, if you are paying cash for part of it, will that fluctuate as the boat fills up, or is that pre negotiated as well??

thanks!!
bev

My understanding is the price does not change for a given cruise based on when it is booked through DVC. However, DVC gets somewhat limited inventory so just because DCL still has openings doesn't mean DVC can access those cabins.

 

[SnowWhite2]

In the past, for a regular cruise, the points chart was not available and I booked on-board thru DCL. I was later able to switch my room from DCL to DVC ressies. It was early in the process and it was the year when the points chart was waayyyy late being released.

 

[drewmisha]

Don't know if it was erroneous info but the DVC dcl cm told me to book the cabins thru dcl and then at the later date, transfer the ressies to dvc and then I can pay by points/cash/combination.

I remember asking them about DVC dcl inventory and they didn't seem to worry about it as they said I can just transfer the reservation. I guess I better check with DVC tomorrow to make sure!

drew

 

[whithouston]

I have also inquired with DVC about booking 2010 Cruises. They did confirm you can book with cash with DCL and then switch over to points and DVC once the points charts are out. See the e-mail below I received from Member Services:

Hello Scott,

Thank you for contacting Member Services.

We have not been advised of when the Vacation Points will become
available for the 2010 Disney Cruise Line sail dates. Typically they are
released shortly after the itineraries have been announced, however, we
have not been advised of when that will occur either. You may confirm a
reservation on "cash" and have it converted to a Disney Vacation Club
booking providing you do the following:

*Book directly with Disney Cruise Line
*Do not pay the balance in full

Any reservations confirmed with a Travel Agent or paid for in full
cannot be released to Disney Vacation Club to convert to Vacation
Points.

You may wish to periodically check the DISNEY CRUISE LINE Website as it
will be posted, in advance, when they will be accepting reservations
for 2010 itineraries. You would then be able to contact them to confirm
a reservation. When Disney Vacation Club has determined the Vacation
Points you may convert your cash reservation to a Disney Vacation Club
reservation at that time providing the above mentioned criteria has been
met.

Please let us know if we can be of any further assistance.

Sincerely,

Lisa

Member Services | Online Communications
Disney Vacation Club


Thanks!

Scott

 

[Dean]

My understand is this is not a true conversion from cash to points but a coordinated cancellation of the cash reservation and rebooking through DVC often to the same cabin. The exception might be a member on cruise where you're working through DVC directly for either. This will work on the front end when the cruise is opened up to DVC but not necessarily on the back end for this reason. DVC is normally limited to the number (%) of cabins they can book, lets assume 10% for sake of discussion. My understanding is that DVC has reached their quota in any way, even just for that cat, then you cannot then still make the switch (see first sentence).

 

[CarolAnnC]

My understand is this is not a true conversion from cash to points but a coordinated cancellation of the cash reservation and rebooking through DVC often to the same cabin. The exception might be a member on cruise where you're working through DVC directly for either. This will work on the front end when the cruise is opened up to DVC but not necessarily on the back end for this reason. DVC is normally limited to the number (%) of cabins they can book, lets assume 10% for sake of discussion. My understanding is that DVC has reached their quota in any way, even just for that cat, then you cannot then still make the switch (see first sentence).

To add to this, if you follow the advice of booking per the email from DVC above, you are not able to book a particular stateroom, but only a category guarantee. That is because the inventories are separate - what is available for DVC is not what DCL can reserve for you. Hence, you will not have a stateroom choice until it is confirmed with DVC on points, and perhaps it will remain a category guarantee even then until shortly before sail date. Anyway, this is how it has worked in the past.

Having booked once on category guarantee status, I much prefer to choose my own stateroom at time of booking. JMHO.

 

[Inkmahm]

We waited quite a long time to book our Med Cruise in 2007 - about 7 months prior to the cruise in fact. I am not too concerned about this. We plan on booking the 2010 but not right away.

FYI, the room inventory will differ for DCL versus MS. They are two separate inventories, so I do not believe you can book directly at DCL and change it over to points with MS later on. At least, that has always been the case on prior cruises including the Med.

Since the email I received today was for Castaway Club members, I would venture to say that DVC may not have this available to book as soon as DCL starts (probably a couple of weeks). Just my opinion, but time will tell soon enough! BTW, we ended up with a category 6 and category 11 on the Med Cruise for our family, totally booked on points, and we were thrilled beyond belief! Can't wait for the announcement on Monday!

Hey, I'm a Castaway Club member and I didn't get any email!

 

[drewmisha]

I just spoke with dvc ms about transferring a dcl ressie to dvc. As long as the rsvp was not paid in full and you have a stateroom assigned, you can tx the ressie at anytime. I asked her about the dvc dcl inventory and she did not have a comment regarding that. From what she said and based on the above, it appears that there is no dcl dvc inventory to speak of.

drew

 

[dylan'smom]

The inventory issue is interesting though.... I'm wondering just how that works in terms of differences, if any, between DVC's allocation & general inventory. There seems to be a difference of opinion, but that part is also true for those of us who've called MS and gotten different responses!

But could be a deal breaker if true.... Both times we booked directly with DVC for DCL we received aft deck 5 for our category 6 requests. Really didn't like the hydraulics (or whatever it was!) sound that fired all the time, so I would be disappointed to find that they are ONLY given those rooms, for example, for cat. 6!!

But for those who did not receive the email (some were for CC, mine was a TA blurb), on Mon. at 12:30 EST there will be an announcement of new itin, and a webinar at 12:45...barring any techno glitches. lol

bev

 

[CarolAnnC]

Hey, I'm a Castaway Club member and I didn't get any email!

Mine arrived at 10 am yesterday and my DH's email arrived at 1 am this morning. Maybe they are sending them in waves, or maybe they don't have your email address? Good thing you visit the DIS for up to date info! LOL!

 

[goingsouth]

I am not clear on one point..can we select a specific stateroom thru MS and have it confirmed over the phone? Do they have access to cabin assignments "live"?

Thanks!

Joanne