Disney Cruise-How to pay w/ Points and Cash?

[NUHuskies#1]

Thinking about a cruise for 2009. I want to know other DVCers experince in booking. I would like to pay partially in points and the rest in cash. Has anyone done this before? do I book with Member Services or through cruiseline. Do they have to be separate reservations. We are a family of 5- would like to book 1 A 2 ch through points and 1 a 1 child in cash. Can this be done? Would like 2 rooms-


TIA

 

[CarolAnnC]

You do not mention the ages of your children, but in any case the first and second passengers in each stateroom will be priced as adults. So whether you use points or cash you will be paying two adult fares in each room.

You can combine points and cash, they use a contracted price each year with DCL to come up with the price.

You can call MS and follow the prompts for the DCL vacations and they can assist you with the booking. Please remember the booking fee as of 1/1/08 is now $95.

One other point to note, at time of booking you will need to pay the cash portions in full over the phone with a credit card.

 

[owensamo]

We leave in 3 weeks for our 7-night cruise booked on points. You need to book through Member Services to book on points. The first 2 people in any room will be booked at the adult rate - either for points or for cash. Additional people will book at the add'l rate (I think by age).

We booked 1 room for three. We paid for the first 2 (adults) with points (total 266 - cat 11), and we paid cash for our 5 yo ($500 - less than from DCL direct).

For 2 rooms, you'll need to book at least 1 person on points for each room, unless you want to book a room completely on cash (not sure if you can book cash-only through DCL, but would think you could if you had to tie the reservations together, needed connecting rooms, etc). Your best bet would probably be to book 2 on points in 1 on cash in 1 room, and 1 on points and 1 on cash in the other.

To book, call DVC Member Services and they should be able to guide you through it. One thing to note - points charts aren't out for the 2009 cruises yet, so they may not be able to book you, or may book you at the 2008 rate with the understanding that the point total may change once the 2009 charts are available.

Good luck! We love DCL!

Amanda

 

[NUHuskies#1]

Hi- thanks for responding and Happy New Year! Children's ages will be at the time of cruise- 16, 12 and 5. Is it possible to book 2 adults and 1 child for 2 Cat 10 rooms and add other 2 children later? 2 certain connecting rooms w/secret portholes are available and I would love to wrap this up but not sure I can add cash to a points reservation later.

 

[Dean]

Hi- thanks for responding and Happy New Year! Children's ages will be at the time of cruise- 16, 12 and 5. Is it possible to book 2 adults and 1 child for 2 Cat 10 rooms and add other 2 children later? 2 certain connecting rooms w/secret portholes are available and I would love to wrap this up but not sure I can add cash to a points reservation later.

You can book them any way you want and have the points/cash for. You could book one points or cash plus points through DVC and the other through DCL assuming both are still available. You must book one adult per cabin on points for each cabin you book through DVC. The rest you can do for cash or points as your resources allow. Realize that the cash portion though DVC will be more than the direct price in most cases. Also I'm sure you know that the first two in any cabin will have to be paid for as adults no matter their ages. You also must have 1 adult for each cabin. You could book yourself in one and your Wife in the other with the kids as appropriate. If you do 2 Cabins you'll end up paying for two of the kids full price as adults. If you can get a Category 4 family suit or higher, you will lose some of those costs. I guess it comes down to what's available and the cost comparisons of the options. Good luck and enjoy.

 

[Anal Annie]

You should try to call MS on Monday to discuss all your options with them and try to snag these connecting SPH rooms while they're still available! The Cat. 10 will save you several points. Your 16 yo is gong to be more pts. than the other 2. We booked a SPH room on the 4 n cruise for next July - the Cat. 10 was the only way we'd have enough points to cover all 3 of us in a peak season. But I DID price going with a higher Cat. using points for DH & myself and paying cash for DS. Their cash price was a couple hundred more for DS than on the DCL website 'cuz they base the cash prices on as high as they may potentially go, not on early booking prices. The 2009 point charts probably won't be out until spring (maybe around March). If you wait for the point charts, those SPH rooms stand a good chance of being gone - so if you're cutting it close on points & can't afford a higher Cat. with your points I wouldn't wait too long! For now, you will have to estimate your points based on the 2008 charts and hope they don't change drastically - a lot of people got point shock tho on the Mexican Riviera and Repo cruises. We got lucky on our 4 n. cruise as the points didn't change from 2007 to 2008. I believe there are special exceptions to cancel once the point charts ARE published if you can no longer swing the points. It's like a good faith booking.

But I would say that the MS Cruise dept. is really the best place to get your questions answered and I think you have to book all of it thru DVC. I would think that you probably should book all of your party at once but I don't know what the rules are to adding people later. Again, a good question for MS.

 

[CarolAnnC]

I am not sure of the policies for booking staterooms through DVC for cruises in 2009. The points are not published yet, nor is the to be contracted cash rate with DVC/DCL. Since the cash has to be paid up front, not sure how they could do this. But definitely worth calling MS and asking as suggested above.

 

[CarolAnnC]

Hi- thanks for responding and Happy New Year! Children's ages will be at the time of cruise- 16, 12 and 5. Is it possible to book 2 adults and 1 child for 2 Cat 10 rooms and add other 2 children later? 2 certain connecting rooms w/secret portholes are available and I would love to wrap this up but not sure I can add cash to a points reservation later.

Keep in mind what you see as available on DCL website is not necessarily what will be available through MS for staterooms and categories. This varies with what is allowed for MS to book for DVC.

In the scenario above, you would have to book one stateroom for one adult as a single supplement which is I believe 175% of the price. In other words, you will almost pay two full adult fares for one person to travel. The other room you can book with two adults (one actually being a child). Now as far as adding people later, that may or may not be possible. Headcount is very important for lifeboats, dining rooms, kids clubs etc. So you could possibly find yourself with a stateroom holding one person that nobody else can be added to.

I would not recommend this scenario for you at all.

 

[engle]

I booked my December 2009 cruise today with points. It was lower than the points for that same date in 2008!!

 

[CarolAnnC]

I booked my December 2009 cruise today with points. It was lower than the points for that same date in 2008!!

Wow! Since the Member Website does not have the 2009 points published yet for DCL, and we don't have our planners, are you sure you have the finalized points? Generally, they will book your cruise and then adjust it when the points are finalized either way, more or less.

 

[disneymom8589]

We booked a cruise for July 2009 last week and the CM at MS said they had just gotten the 2009 points chart that day (12/26).