DVC/DCL question

[Iceman10]

I am looking to do a 5 nighter Bahamas in August and plan to use my points to pay for the trip. However when I call DVC they say there is no availability, but when I check on the DCL site they have Concierge Family rooms available. So my question is, can I book direct on the DCL site and then have DVC take over the reservation later and use my points or could I be stuck paying $$$ for the trip instead?

 

[DebbieB]

I am looking to do a 5 nighter Bahamas in August and plan to use my points to pay for the trip. However when I call DVC they say there is no availability, but when I check on the DCL site they have Concierge Family rooms available. So my question is, can I book direct on the DCL site and then have DVC take over the reservation later and use my points or could I be stuck paying $$$ for the trip instead?

Only a limited number of rooms are available for DVC points. They recently cut back on the number of rooms available for points, so it's unlikely one will open up.

 

[Tara]

I am looking to do a 5 nighter Bahamas in August and plan to use my points to pay for the trip. However when I call DVC they say there is no availability, but when I check on the DCL site they have Concierge Family rooms available. So my question is, can I book direct on the DCL site and then have DVC take over the reservation later and use my points or could I be stuck paying $$$ for the trip instead?

Nope. Similar to DVC resorts, the availability on the DCL website has no connection to what is available to DVC.

 

[RRB]

to answer your question, you will not be able to make cash ressies then switch them over to points. There are no Bahama DVC ressies available until late next year. I spoke an upper management person at DVC and she said that the number of DVC reservation requests have more than doubled for the new ship. I have read other threads that DVC lowered the number of staterooms available but I'm not sure that is correct.

 

[Iceman10]

Thanks all. It's actually what I did last year, but obviously they must have had the space. Stinks too cause the points needed for the Aug 16th 5 nighter is very low! Oh well at least the kids will get a week at Sea World Camp the week before.

 

[CheetoGuido]

We are in the process of buying resale and i was wondering how many points it would take to use for the 5 nt cruise and for how many people? We are a family of 3, our DD is 7 yrs old. We would be interested in using our points on occasion for DCL but I wasn't sure how many points it took and it would help me figure out how many points would be good for us to purchase. We are currently looking at 80-100 pts.

Thanks!
Nancy

 

[Tara]

We are in the process of buying resale and i was wondering how many points it would take to use for the 5 nt cruise and for how many people? We are a family of 3, our DD is 7 yrs old. We would be interested in using our points on occasion for DCL but I wasn't sure how many points it took and it would help me figure out how many points would be good for us to purchase. We are currently looking at 80-100 pts.

Thanks!
Nancy

It varies widely from 96 points per person per night for the first 2 people for the lowest level stateroom in the cheapest season to 249 points per person per night for the first 2 people in peak season for the best staterooms. I didn't carefully average it, but I'd count on 150 points per person on average. It's pretty expensive...but not as much as it used to be!

 

[CheetoGuido]

you mean 150 points per person per night not per cruise? So for the 3 of us, a cruise for 5 nights would be 2,250 points?? ((150 x 3)x5 nts)
I didn't realize it would be that much.
Geez.. i guess that part won't work for us..

 

[DebbieB]

you mean 150 points per person per night not per cruise? So for the 3 of us, a cruise for 5 nights would be 2,250 points?? ((150 x 3)x5 nts)
I didn't realize it would be that much.
Geez.. i guess that part won't work for us..

That's not correct. I could not find a chart for a 5 day but for a 4 day, it's 77 points each for the first 2 people, 61 for 3rd & 4th person 12 or older, that's for the lowest category during value season in 2010. That's for the full 4 day cruise. During the highest season, it would be 160 each for the first 2 people, 137 for 3rd & 4th person 12 or older, again the lowest category. In any case, it would be alot of points but not that many.

 

[Deb & Bill]

We are in the process of buying resale and i was wondering how many points it would take to use for the 5 nt cruise and for how many people? We are a family of 3, our DD is 7 yrs old. We would be interested in using our points on occasion for DCL but I wasn't sure how many points it took and it would help me figure out how many points would be good for us to purchase. We are currently looking at 80-100 pts.

Thanks!
Nancy

Use your points for DVC and pay cash for the cruise. Rooms onboard for points are so limited these days. You might not be able to get what you want when you want it.

 

[mickeys girl 52]

Don't no if this is something you thought of, Have you considered renting your points.I never did it before myself until now .I had reserved 3 cabins with cash for the 5 day June 7th cruise with the intention of changing it over to points. Back in Sept. there was all that craziness going on about not being able to transfer to points. So I started looking into renting. I got a call from member services that I could use my points. By than I realized it was a better deal renting my points for $10.00 each.I was able to get all the money I needed with 2 rentals and 2 transfers.I was initially nervous about it,but I am so glad I went through with it in the end.

Now my family is staying 4 days in the Tree houses followed by 5 days on the Dream

 

[hollis]

... the points needed for the Aug 16th 5 nighter is very low ...

Interesting. From all I read, it is better to take the cruise with cash and rent the points out. When I booked the Christmas cruise last year, I analyzed the point requirements and that is certainly the case. And like another post pointed out, renting for $10 per point you get more than enough money to pay for the cruise. I wonder how low the Aug 16th 5 nigter is.

Besides, when booking with DCL direct, you get other room types (such as 1-bdrm) to choose from that is not available with points.

Anyway, Disney cruise was great.

 

[CarolAnnC]

Besides, when booking with DCL direct, you get other room types (such as 1-bdrm) to choose from that is not available with points.

Anyway, Disney cruise was great.

Actually, all staterooms are available on points. Concierge level are not published, though, you must call Member Services for the point costs.

 

[Dean]

Thanks all. It's actually what I did last year, but obviously they must have had the space. Stinks too cause the points needed for the Aug 16th 5 nighter is very low! Oh well at least the kids will get a week at Sea World Camp the week before.

What they almost certain did was cancel your cash reservation and rebook it with points for the same cabin. Many have done such over the years but it assumes there is DVC availability, something which has changed and not very likely right now.