Dvc cruising: No way

[pinnocchiosdad]

My DW and I just returned from a western mediteranean cruise. It was my first cruise, and I was instantly hooked on cruising. I actualy made another reservation for 2010 on the day I returned home. A short while ago I remembered DVC has a cruise option available. I just looked at the required points and my jaw hit the table. A 7 night trip to Europe in a comparable cabin to what we just sailed in would cost the two of us about 1100 points. That is absurd. We paid $1800 plus $2000 for airfare = $3800
1100 pointa rented at a modest $10 per point would cost $11,000

Am I missing something here?

 

[gkrykewy]

No, you are not missing anything. It is clinically insane to use DVC points for cruises.

 

[chalee94]

that is correct.

DVC points are most valuable when you plan to use them at DVC resorts.

you can use them to trade out for cruises or ABD or for other hotels or timeshares...which might be a nice option to have on occasion...but they tend not to be very good choices from a purely financial standpoint.

 

[rlduvall]

It is clinically insane to use DVC points for cruises.

I agree. I almost lose it when I see people on the boards doing it.

 

[pinnocchiosdad]

No, you are not missing anything. It is clinically insane to use DVC points for cruises.

Its nice to know that I'm not crazy (although my DW thinks otherwise). It make me realy mad when I think of all the DVC promos showing Cruising as a valuable part of DVC membership. I bet you have never seen a DVC ad without some mention of cruising.

 

[mac_tlc]

I agree with the other posters. In fact, the DVC cruise cash prices are close to insane by themselves.

mac_tlc

 

["Got Disney"]

Ditto. But remeber anywhere that is not a DVC property the points are way to high. I for one pay cash for our cruises.

 

[CarolAnnC]

My DW and I just returned from a western mediteranean cruise. It was my first cruise, and I was instantly hooked on cruising. I actualy made another reservation for 2010 on the day I returned home. A short while ago I remembered DVC has a cruise option available. I just looked at the required points and my jaw hit the table. A 7 night trip to Europe in a comparable cabin to what we just sailed in would cost the two of us about 1100 points. That is absurd. We paid $1800 plus $2000 for airfare = $3800
1100 pointa rented at a modest $10 per point would cost $11,000

Am I missing something here?

DCL's 7 night Med cruise next June is starting at $1819 per person for a lower category, inside stateroom. That would be $3638 without air fare added in. The points for this same cruise and category of room is 278 points per adult. Even in the higher category rooms, I do not see any that have DVC points that add up to 1100 for two adults. Perhaps you are looking at a different cruise?

 

[CarolAnnC]

An open mind is a wonderful thing. There are folks who may agree with your points of view on renting out points and then booking a cruise with the cash later. But, there are countless others who do use their DVC points to cruise with, take Adventures by Disney trips, RCI and more...

This does not mean judgments should be made, nor should they be called "clinically insane" for doing so. Any further use of this type of name calling, sarcasm, etc. will result in infractions being awarded. Thanks everyone for your compliance. Let's see if we can keep this thread open and discuss in a civil manner, please...

 

[Inkmahm]

My DW and I just returned from a western mediteranean cruise. It was my first cruise, and I was instantly hooked on cruising. I actualy made another reservation for 2010 on the day I returned home. A short while ago I remembered DVC has a cruise option available. I just looked at the required points and my jaw hit the table. A 7 night trip to Europe in a comparable cabin to what we just sailed in would cost the two of us about 1100 points. That is absurd. We paid $1800 plus $2000 for airfare = $3800
1100 pointa rented at a modest $10 per point would cost $11,000

Am I missing something here?

1,100 points for two people sounds a bit high to me, too. Are you sure you looked at the points table correctly?

In any case, you're still not missing a thing. It does not make financial sense at all to use your points for cruising. While some people may be willing to overpay for the ease of using points rather than paying the cheaper cash price, for most people, paying cash to get the cheapest price is the most logical approach to DCL.

 

[Dean]

While it generally is a poor choice to use points for cruising, one should look at all alternatives as what's a poor choice for one options may not be for another. No one should ever buy in for such an exchange option but once you own, look at the alternatives and see what works. I will point out that even when the numbers look OK on points, the other risks and limitations still make it not worthwhile for most situations.

 

[CarolAnnC]

Do we all shop only at Walmart and garage sales rather than the other choices that are available? It is not always about saving money or paying for something the perceived cheapest way... Carnival cruises are much cheaper than Disney Cruise Line. In fact, staying at Value Resorts is cheaper than DVC too, but it is not a choice everyone makes.

It is all about choices. It is an individual decision for everyone to make. There is no "right" and no "wrong". Some people value their points at what they pay for dues. Some value them at what they rent them out for. Some people do not rent out their points, hence they do not put a monetary value on them comparable to rental income.

So let's not have any preaching that one way is the only way or the right way. Let's try to understand that renting points and using cash to pay for cruises can be a great way to save money for some (just visit our Rent/Trade Board to see how popular it is!). And, using points to cruise can be a choice for some to make that is right for them.

 

[Dean]

Do we all shop only at Walmart and garage sales rather than the other choices that are available? It is not always about saving money or paying for something the perceived cheapest way... Carnival cruises are much cheaper than Disney Cruise Line. In fact, staying at Value Resorts is cheaper than DVC too, but it is not a choice everyone makes.

It is all about choices. It is an individual decision for everyone to make. There is no "right" and no "wrong". Some people value their points at what they pay for dues. Some value them at what they rent them out for. Some people do not rent out their points, hence they do not put a monetary value on them comparable to rental income.

So let's not have any preaching that one way is the only way or the right way. Let's try to understand that renting points and using cash to pay for cruises can be a great way to save money for some (just visit our Rent/Trade Board to see how popular it is!). And, using points to cruise can be a choice for some to make that is right for them.

I don't think my post could be construed as preaching but if I'm wrong, so be it. Everything I said also applies to Disney cruises only as the choice between cash, points and a combo of the 2. I will disagree that labeling the behaviour is inappropriate, even if someone exhibited the behaviour, that does not make it personal if you address the general behaviour and don't single out any one person. I would also disagree that there are not right or wrong choices, there may be a lot of in the middle personal choices but there certainly are good and bad choices. I will agree that anyone has the right to make a wrong or bad choice if they want.

 

[Disneypirate85]

We too are of the mind its insane to use our points for cruising! Beside we just REALLY love staying in the World right now....Shawn

 

[CarolAnnC]

I don't think my post could be construed as preaching but if I'm wrong, so be it. Everything I said also applies to Disney cruises only as the choice between cash, points and a combo of the 2. I will disagree that labeling the behaviour is inappropriate, even if someone exhibited the behaviour, that does not make it personal if you address the general behaviour and don't single out any one person. I would also disagree that there are not right or wrong choices, there may be a lot of in the middle personal choices but there certainly are good and bad choices. I will agree that anyone has the right to make a wrong or bad choice if they want.

Actually, Dean your post was not even up as I composed that reply, LOL! So, it was definitely not directed to you personally..

 

[Dean]

Actually, Dean your post was not even up as I composed that reply, LOL! So, it was definitely not directed to you personally..

Thanks, I thought I was pretty tame given the specifics of the choices involved. There's often a thin line between being honest and being personal and I TRY not to step over it but sometimes it might happen unintentionally. I do think many on this BBS are overly sensitive at times in some of these type of areas, taking general comments about the overall options personally.

 

[tink too]

A short while ago I remembered DVC has a cruise option available. I just looked at the required points and my jaw hit the table. A 7 night trip to Europe in a comparable cabin to what we just sailed in would cost the two of us about 1100 points. That is absurd. We paid $1800 plus $2000 for airfare = $3800
1100 pointa rented at a modest $10 per point would cost $11,000

I'm not too sure about the Med cruise costs as we didn't look into those. However, I did find the Baltic cruise prices ($$ and points) to be too high. Other cruise lines definately offer similar itineraries for way less $$$.

It make me realy mad when I think of all the DVC promos showing Cruising as a valuable part of DVC membership. I bet you have never seen a DVC ad without some mention of cruising.

That's true! And since we bought in on a DCL cruise, the option to cruise on points was hyped up to us like nobody's business!

 

[pinnocchiosdad]

DCL's 7 night Med cruise next June is starting at $1819 per person for a lower category, inside stateroom. That would be $3638 without air fare added in. The points for this same cruise and category of room is 278 points per adult. Even in the higher category rooms, I do not see any that have DVC points that add up to 1100 for two adults. Perhaps you are looking at a different cruise?

Read 'em and weep:

http://advc.disney.go.com/media/dvc...isneyCollection_7and8NightEuropeanCruises.pdf

 

[CarolAnnC]

Read 'em and weep:

http://advc.disney.go.com/media/dvc...isneyCollection_7and8NightEuropeanCruises.pdf

That is the chart I used to illustrate the 278 points per person for the cat 11.

I do not see any category for the 7 night cruise there that adds up to 1100 points for two adults - not even the highest category shown on this chart which is a category 4 stateroom designed for 5 adults...

 

[Anal Annie]

That is the chart I used to illustrate the 278 points per person for the cat 11.

I do not see any category for the 7 night cruise there that adds up to 1100 points for two adults - not even the highest category shown on this chart which is a category 4 stateroom designed for 5 adults...

It looks to me like that chart is saying that the Jul 30 sailing is 575 pts. PER adult for the Cat 4 which would be 1,150 points for 2 people. The OP is trying to compare apples to apples with the cruise they just did - so they're not interested in trying to book the lowest cat. available...they want the same type of accomodations.


Not to stir up any more animosity here but just to add my 2 cents about the whole cruising on points topic...we did it once...not likely to do it again... We just don't have enough points. It cost us over 1 1/2 yrs worth for 4 nights in a Cat 10 (3 people) last summer. And that was from the 2008 point charts - it's gone up even more than that now to just almost 2 yrs worth of our points!! So for that same amount of points we can do WDW and / or Vero Beach for a full 14 nights EACH YEAR! 20 nights vs 4 nights over the course of 2 yrs. sorta made up my mind for me. Take this example being discussed here...we only have 250 points so even to pay for one person it would take OVER 2 years worth of points just to pay for one person!! (But of course we'd never book a Cat 4 either, I'm just sayin' not enough points.)

We love DCL cruising and will go again...but likely only on cash...we just don't have enough points. Actually, we re-booked onboard for the 10% discount. Another thing is if you book 1 or 2 people on points & pay cash for the remaining person(s) you can't get the best cash rate for the last person 'cuz of the way they charge the same price up front the whole time the itineraries are out vs the DCL tiered pricing based upon when you book. So for us, not such a good deal if we can book immediately when the itineraries are released. NOW, if we had a ton of points I might probably feel differently about it. Yep...probably wouldn't worry about it if I had 1,000 or so points.... It's all relative...but that's the great thing about DVC. They're your points so you can do what you want with them!