DVC & Disney Cruise- HELP

[Coach81]

I have tried to search this out, and for some reason, I am not getting any results. Here are my questions:

1. What does "double occupancy mean" (guessing its for 2 adults)?

2. If I spend 150 points for my wife and myself- for example- can I pay cash for my children, will they allow me to mix points with cash?

3. I have heard its probably "cheaper" to just do the cruise by cash, is this true?

4. For a family of 4, how many point would it cost?? Double occupancy is 160 I believe.. and each additional is around 60 points???

Thanks,
Coach

 

[cobbler]

1 - Yes it's the price based on 2 adults staying in the cabin.

2 - Yes you can do a mix of cash and points

3 - Overall yes it is because you get the most value of your points by using them at DVC resorts. However they are YOUR points so do with them what you want to and see fit. If you don't have the cash for the whole cruise but can do a mix of points and cash and want to then go for it.

4 - Based on the information provided it would be 160 for you, 160 for your wife, 60 for child 1 and 60 for child 2. So 440 points.

 

[Coach81]

Thanks Cob.

Not sure what we going to do, but looks like we may just pay cash for a trip next year.. in addition to a trip to AKV

Thanks again..

 

[Doctor P]

Just to clarify--double occupancy means that you pay that number of points PER PASSENGER for the first two persons in the cabin.

 

[Coach81]

WOW , looks like I'll be paying cash if we do the cruise thing!

 

[White_Sox_Fan]

When is says "based on double occupancy" they mean that the price listed is good only If there are at least two people in the room. I don't know about Disney but on every other cruise line the first two people, regardless of age, pay the full amount. Also there is a singles supplement on most cruise lines of 150-200%. This means a single in the room pays extra in order to occupy the room by themselves.

 

[nezy]

We have used a mix of points and cash and are doing so next Sept. At least the first adult passenger must be points,all others can be a mix. That is what we have tried to do-use pts. for 1 adult. We have 3 children so we get a Cat. 4. It seems to ease the pain a bit.

Something people do is rent the points and use that cash for the cruise.

I have also reasoned with myself to do add on and use that for a cruise. I figured if I am going to pay all that money I may as well add on points and use the points towards the cruise. Anything for an add-on!

As someone said, they are your points--do what feels comfortable to you.

Have fun.

 

[fluffykim]

We used our points for a 5night stay at SSR, then paid cash for 4night cruise. We did our "own" land and sea trip. It was amazing and the best use of our points for a family of 3 I beleive.

Kim

 

[Dean]

Plan ahead and compare points to cash and for points plus cash, subtract the cash added to points compared to directly with cash to get your value for the points you're using. As a rule if you do all on points you'll get a return about $6 to $7 per point compared to the early booking discount. For Fl residents, it may actually be less than the dues in some cases. But if you are planning late (like less than 11 months), looking at a high end cabin that's usually not discounted much or looking at a high demand week; the numbers may be more favorable for points. That's why you need to compare specifics. Also realize there are other negatives for points compared to cash. If you book cash you simply pay a deposit which is totally refundable until 2-3 months prior to the travel (I think it was previously 60 days for DCL). But if you do points or points plus cash, the points are converted to reservation points and if you cancel, they are not usable for DVC reservation and expire at the end of the use year with no banking options, a hefty penalty in my book. Also any cash portion for cash plus points is due in full when you reserve. Plus you have the $95 fee (2008) and if you make any changes, you have to pay the fee again even for minor changes to the reservaiton. IMO, one would need to get a return of greater than $12 pp to make it worthwhile using points during the early booking window. Reserving short notice does shift the curve somewhat both financially and away from some of the additional protections of a direct cash reservation.

 

[tidefan]

Plan ahead and compare points to cash and for points plus cash, subtract the cash added to points compared to directly with cash to get your value for the points you're using. As a rule if you do all on points you'll get a return about $6 to $7 per point compared to the early booking discount. For Fl residents, it may actually be less than the dues in some cases. But if you are planning late (like less than 11 months), looking at a high end cabin that's usually not discounted much or looking at a high demand week; the numbers may be more favorable for points. That's why you need to compare specifics. Also realize there are other negatives for points compared to cash. If you book cash you simply pay a deposit which is totally refundable until 2-3 months prior to the travel (I think it was previously 60 days for DCL). But if you do points or points plus cash, the points are converted to reservation points and if you cancel, they are not usable for DVC reservation and expire at the end of the use year with no banking options, a hefty penalty in my book. Also any cash portion for cash plus points is due in full when you reserve. Plus you have the $95 fee (2008) and if you make any changes, you have to pay the fee again even for minor changes to the reservaiton. IMO, one would need to get a return of greater than $12 pp to make it worthwhile using points during the early booking window. Reserving short notice does shift the curve somewhat both financially and away from some of the additional protections of a direct cash reservation.

The other thing to look at is that you may get better deals in the Value season for your points. We are doing a 7 night eastern for 2 adults and 1 child for 327 points, most of which are the extra points that they gave us when we joined earlier this year. Looking at the pricing, we came out to something like $8.40 per point.

 

[lovetotravel07]

We actually bought our DVC points mainly to use on Cruise. With all the points we had now and some borrowing we were able to do DVC resorts and cruise with a little of future points available. Don't know how old your kids are, but for less points then the Category 6 room we were going to buy we got two lower end rooms, connecting. That also gives us an extra bathroom and TV.

We looked at it as how much cash we were saving right now, by using points. Gives us extra in our 2008 vacation budget for other things.

 

[dvc guy]

We used points and cash for our upcoming cruise in Feb.
Note for anyone planning on using Disney Visa with extended no interest for 6 months, when you use points even though they are transferred to the cruise line, the charge comes from Disney/DVC NOT the cruise company and therefore you need to pay the balance in full to avoid interest.

It hurt but we are paid in full 6 weeks to go