DVC 2006 Cruise Points Are on the Member Site!

[NJDVCFan]

And they have gone down which is what I was told by my guide, and posted here a couple of weeks ago (with some negative comments from some who claimed they were going up ).

 

[calypso*a*go-go]

Thanks for posting the info. -- I'll have to check it out!

Isn't it great to have the last laugh?

 

[tjkraz]

And would you believe the points actually went DOWN about 7-8% from 2005?!?!?!

 

[wbcincy]

for those of us in the process of purchasing that dont have access to the member site yet, how many points do the different cruises cost?

 

[grimgrinnin]

*faints*









grim

 

[tjkraz]

for those of us in the process of purchasing that dont have access to the member site yet, how many points do the different cruises cost?

If you're trying to base a purchase decision on it, you'd probably be best to ask your guide. There are 4 different seasons, 8 different room classes (cat 4 to 11) and 4-6 different cruises itineraries. Each combination has its own value. That's a lot of combinations!

 

[NJDVCFan]

Thanks for posting the info. -- I'll have to check it out!

Isn't it great to have the last laugh?

 

[lisareniff]

So... having never looked into this... is it reasonable to book with points for a family of 4 going during a popular time (school breaks)? or is cash the way to go?

 

[NJDVCFan]

And would you believe the points actually went DOWN about 7-8% from 2005?!?!?!

My guide did say it was around 6% when I talked to him about a month ago. So I guess he was right.

 

[NJDVCFan]

So... having never looked into this... is it reasonable to book with points for a family of 4 going during a popular time (school breaks)? or is cash the way to go?

From what I read here, that's a loaded question. It's a personal decision, IMHO. The way we feel is we bought the DVC points and we'll use them as much as we can, no matter where. We don't want to be bothered with the worries that go along with renting, etc. We did use points last year for the 3 night cruise.

School breaks tend to be higher - cash and points.

 

[Doctor P]

While there would appear to be a slight decrease from 2005 to 2006, I would note that the 2006 points are still higher than what we paid for the same cruise in 2004. I'm glad they didn't go up, but a summer Western Caribbean cruise for three people in a category 11 is still 643 points as compared with approximately 500 points in summer 2004 and as compared with 492 in summer 2003. That's a 30% increase in two years. While again I appreciate the fact that the cruises didn't go up, because of the special circumstances of the Magic in 2005 I think you need to really look back to 2004 and consider the two year increase as a better measure of what has truly happened with the cruise points.

 

[JimMIA]

So... having never looked into this... is it reasonable to book with points for a family of 4 going during a popular time (school breaks)? or is cash the way to go?

That IS a loaded question. From a strictly financial viewpoint, even with the reduction, you would probably come out ahead paying cash and renting points to cover the cash outlay.

It varies widely, as you might expect with all the variables of season, stateroom type, etc, so you really have to get a cash price, figure renting at $10 per point, and see how it looks for your cruise. Most of the actual comparisons I have seen look like you have to rent about 60-65% of the points you would need for a points cruise to cover the cash outlay.

If the cash prices remained where they were and only the point cost went down, points may look a little more favorable than before, but I suspect renting and paying cash is still more cost effective, if you are not averse to renting points.

OTOH, I saw a post a few weeks ago which said they bought DVC for the ability to do all sorts of things. They looked at DVC as a variety of vacation options. If a cruise costs more points than you might think, so be it. A 2 BR at VWL costs more than a studio at OKW, and some seasons cost more than others. They didn't see any difference, and that is a perfectly sane way to approach the cash/points decision as well.

Once again, DVC offers options for everybody.

 

[DisneyBB]

The points may have gone down, but the Value Season covers less than 2005. So if you want a cruise at the beginning of May, hasn't it gone up?

 

[lisareniff]

Sorry, I forgot that this was a hot topic....
I was just thinking those cruises looked fun, since we have never been on any, was curious if ~1000pts for a cruise was a good price or not

Thanks.

 

[Tramp68]

OTOH, I saw a post a few weeks ago which said they bought DVC for the ability to do all sorts of things. They looked at DVC as a variety of vacation options. If a cruise costs more points than you might think, so be it. A 2 BR at VWL costs more than a studio at OKW, and some seasons cost more than others. They didn't see any difference, and that is a perfectly sane way to approach the cash/points decision as well.

Once again, DVC offers options for everybody.

I am not sure I really agree with this as the cash prices are comparably higher in the case of VWL vs. OKW as well as the points. So you would not be able to "make money" for DVC rooms, but...

If you rent out the same number of points as it would cost for the cruise itself you would probably cover your airfare and any incidental expenses as well as the cost of the cruise. (Of course that doesnt apply to 3rd and 4th passengers but you still save some money there as well.)

So, it comes down to rent all the points OR only rent the points to cover the cost of the cruise and keep the rest of the points (which is essentially free points for your use in the future) Either way it seems silly to pay with points, but I have to admit, I am about to rent points for the first time, so I haven't had the chance to see if it is a lot of hassle or not.

DW and I are going on an Alaskan cruise next year and are going to pocket about $1400 after renting the points and paying for the cruise...I find it hard to imagine that the hassle is not going to be worth $1400...

 

[NJDVCFan]

While there would appear to be a slight decrease from 2005 to 2006, I would note that the 2006 points are still higher than what we paid for the same cruise in 2004. I'm glad they didn't go up, but a summer Western Caribbean cruise for three people in a category 11 is still 643 points as compared with approximately 500 points in summer 2004 and as compared with 492 in summer 2003. That's a 30% increase in two years. While again I appreciate the fact that the cruises didn't go up, because of the special circumstances of the Magic in 2005 I think you need to really look back to 2004 and consider the two year increase as a better measure of what has truly happened with the cruise points.

I have to respectfully differ with that comparison. Everything costs more. DVC's price has gone up, DCL's cash prices have gone up, dues have gone up, everyday things have gone up. You can't really expect that 2006 points to be the same or close to the points of 2003. DCL's cash prices have gone up quite a bit since then - especially since we forst went cash on DCL in 1999. And I wouldn't call a 6 to 8% decrease "slight". I just think your comparison is faulty IMHO.

This does not also preclude further point drops either. As it was explained to me by my guide, the points are based on what DVC is getting for rentals - and since DVC pays DCL in cash, the result was a decline in points for 2006.

 

[NJDVCFan]

Sorry, I forgot that this was a hot topic....
I was just thinking those cruises looked fun, since we have never been on any, was curious if ~1000pts for a cruise was a good price or not

Thanks.

Here's an example for you: We are a family of 4 (2 DD ages 4 and 7 at the time). We went to BCV on the Monday after Easter in 2004 - stayed 3 nights, then went on the 3 night Wonder cruise in a Cat 8, and it took 478 points for both the BCV and cruise.

And DCL is a lot of fun, and my kids really enjoyed it. We've been on the 4 day Magic in '99 and the Wonder last year. We are looking forward to eventually doing a 7 night.

 

[lisareniff]

OK, I did my own little comparison...

Family of 4 (DD's 4 & 9)
Feb 18th (Pres. Week)
7 day Cruise - Cat. 6

1,024 pts or $7,149 (Disney Web Site)

 

[Doctor P]

30% in three years is a BIG increase. The price of DVC points has gone up rapidly, but not that rapidly. The rack rate of rooms has gone up, but not that rapidly. I think you missed my point--my point is that the 2005 point schedule was artificially high due to moving the Magic to the West Coast for the summer (changes the pattern of demand and availability of cruises for both the Magic and the Wonder). Therefore, I don't think the decrease in point costs was all that unexpected necessarily and that to get a better picture of the true year-to-year increase I would skip the spike in 2005 and look at the 2003 and 2004 points as a comparison. YES, I would expect an increase from year to year, but I think that increase shows up in this comparison rather than between the artificially inflated rates (or what I perceive to be artificially spiked up rates) in 2005 and the following (2006) year. I'm not complaining, mind you, but rather pointing out that a one year decrease is not that out of whack necessarily since we are not really comparing apples to apples. In addition, we don't necessarily know if the allocation of staterooms to DVC has also changed in any way. I hope that this is the beginning of a trend away from large year to year increases, but it may not be.

 

[Tramp68]

OK, I did my own little comparison...

Family of 4 (DD's 4 & 9)
Feb 18th (Pres. Week)
7 day Cruise - Cat. 6

1,024 pts or $7,149 (Disney Web Site)

So, even at $9 a point the 1024 points would be $9216...$2000 extra dollars to spend on whatever...

OR

Rent 795 points for $7155 and have 229 points for 6 days in a 2 bedroom at OKW just before or after your cruise.....