DCL on points???

[SafariTigger]

My DH and I have decided to go on a 7-night cruise next summer as a graduation present (He's getting his PhD!). We will have the points and can't use them for any other vacation time so we figured we would just book on points. BUT, I've read so many comments about not using points for cruises that I'm a little confused. Is it really that bad of a deal to do? If we try renting our points, how difficult is that? What kind of responsibilities come along with renting your points to someone? I did read that people got some deals booking cruises as DVC members, is that only with a cash booking? I would really appreciate some help deciding what to do. Thanks!

 

[we3luvdisney]

We went on our cruise using our points and I would NEVER do that again. I've never rented my points, but others have. Try and rent your points and use the money for the cruise.

Deals booking cruises as DVC members Getting deals from DVC is like pulling teeth from a lion

 

[married@wdw]

We're cruising on a 3-day and we booked using points. Didn't want the hassle of renting points. Cash would have been around $900. I probably could have rented the points for around $1150, but it just wasn't worth it for me this time.

However, if I was going to do a 7-day cruise, I'd definitely look into renting points out to pay for it. The minimum points you'd use, if you went the end of August on the Eastern, would be 246 for a Category 11 standard inside stateroom. Cash price is probably around $1600 for the cruise. You could probably rent those 246 points for somewhere around $2294-2460 ($9-10/point). So you'd probably make enough to pay for shore excursions, a visit to the spa, drinks and souveniers! Or just rent enough to pay for the cruise and save the extra points for a few nights at WDW before or after.

Happy planning!

 

[MrsG]

First, congrats to Hubby!

Secondly, the reason we bought into DVC is so that our vacations would be taken care of monetarily and all we would have to worry about was the amount of cash we wanted to spend on vacation. We have booked one cruise on points and plan to do a 7 day on points in another two years. We feel that is why we bought into DVC and we don't get caught up in the dollar-to-dollar cost factor. To us we just want to call and book and not have to rent or worry about how much money we could have saved. This is just us (I respect others who chose to do it differently), but if I had the points, I would book the 7 day and ENJOY!

 

[Michelemouse]

I would never go through the hassle of renting out my points, but that's just me. We bought them so we could use them. We've used them for 2 cruises so far (along with many, many DVC Resort stays) and will be taking our first 7-day cruise (on points!) this October.

I figure that the point value works out to about $7-8 per point when you spend them on the cruise. That is still more than I paid for them so I figure I am ahead. Sure, I could rent them out for $10 per point but, to me, that is just a time-consuming, stressful hassle that I don't need.

Just my 2 cents.

 

[westjones]

We are going on a 3 day on points next month. I wouldn't want to try to rent them either, so I don't mind using them this way because this is what we want to do. We only have 150 points and we banked all of last year's points to use for this trip.

The part I didn't like was having to pay $75 (which I believe is now $90 or $100) for the transaction fee. If we wanted to make a change it would have cost us that again to make a change (with a travel agent there is no cost for making changes).

If you don't plan to use your points for anything else, then you should use them for the cruise. But it is true that the 'better deal' is using the points at the DVC resorts. I am using points for a 1 night stay at Animal Kingdom Lodge and the truth be told, it isn't the best use of points, but hey! That's what we want to do.

So use the points for the trip that you want and then enjoy. The cruise is wonderful!
DJ

 

[mrsdon]

We are going on the day and used points.
Its all a matter of preference. At this time we are point rich and cash poor.
I dont want to try and rent points and have someone cancel on me.
So I choose how to use my points.

 

[SheriB]

They're your points to use as you please. If it doesn't matter to you, it shouldn't matter to anyone else. We're actually considering using our 2004 points for a cruise next year and then borrowing 2005 points to stay at BCV afterward. We know we won't be going anywhere in 2005, so I figure I'll get 2 vacations in one with a cruise and WDW stay, take a year off, then come back to WDW in 2006.
Do what feels right for you. I personally don't want to be bothered renting my points. They're mine, and I'll do what I want with them, as should you.

Good luck, whatever you decide!

Sheri

 

[Dean]

We rented our points we would have used for the cruise and had about $1800 left over after we paid for the cruise.

 

[musical2]

I was going to use points for our planned October 2004 Four Night Cruise. Since we are a family of 5 and I wanted a Veranda, it would have cost me 480 points for a Class 4 Family room. The cost in cash was almost $3280 for the Five of us. I decided to try renting out my points. I decided to rent out 278 points for $10 per point ($2780). This saves me 202 points that I can use later for myself at our wonderful OKW resort. I paid the other $500 for the cruise out of my own pocket. I could have rented the 328 points if I wanted to, but decided I wanted to keep all of my 2005 points untouched (I would have had to borrow from 2005 points to make up the difference).

Renting out was easy on the Rent/Trade forum. It does take some trust, but it has worked out great.

Thanks to all who helped me in this decision making process to rent and pay cash for cruising with DCL. It saved me a lot!

Bart

 

[SafariTigger]

Thanks for the advice everyone! It seems that you can really save some money by renting the points, but I'm not sure if I want to deal with the hassle right now. Maybe I will try it in the future, but for this trip I think I'm just going to use my points and not worry about the cost difference.