DVC Member Cruise (seems rediculously overated!) whose going???...

[bradpga]

Is it worth 450 points (absolute minimum)???? This is the bare bones rate for a family of 4 (2 adults and 2 kids under the age of 12). To get any room upgrades you must add 100-500 points! This is for a 4 night cruise and the first day doesn't start until 4:00pm. I don't understand. First off- you arrive at Castaway Cay for a full day (sounds great). Day #3 you set sail for a day of cruising ONLY TO RETURN WHERE YOU CAME FROM(seems like a waiste)!!! Day #4 at Castaway Cay??? If this Island is so great, why do we leave it to get back on the boat??? Why not stay docked and for those who would like to spend the day on the boat, fine. The rest of the folks would have 3 days on or off the island. Does this make sense to anyone??? I have a 150 point contract- so it would take me 3 years to save the points to do this. Ummmmmm NO! With 450 points I can book 5 different WEEK LONG (as in a week at SSR, a week at Boardwalk, a week at Wilderness Lodge, a week at Hilton Head, and a week at Old Key West) vacations from Sunday-Thursday in a one bedroom condo that is surely larger than an inside statesman on a 4 DAY cruise. Seems overated to me!

 

[JerJan]

I took the Disney Cruise 2 years ago with DH, DD4 and DD13...also with us were my MIL and FIL We were NOT impressed at all! Some people swear by it but I've enjoyed much better cruises on Norweigen and Costa! My opinion is I wouldn't waste my points either!

 

[Donna]

They build in the cost of the gifts you get each night and also tips are included. Still not worth it for that alone but if you get a group together and go, it's fun to cruise with friends. You can do that on ANY cruiseline though!

 

[cherylp3]

Please don't forget the incredible guests. I will be trying to get on again.

 

[jemiaule]

Well considering we are doing a cruise the month before the answer is no.

IF I had known about it prior to booking our cruise and IF I could pay cash rather than points I would have considered it.

 

[Donna]

Please don't forget the incredible guests. I will be trying to get on again.

omg, i forgot about Roy Disney. He would have been the single reason i would have done that cruise. Possibly a once in a lifetime thing. I wish he would have been on the first one that i was on.

 

[crzy4dals]

Well considering we are doing a cruise the month before the answer is no.


IF I had known about it prior to booking our cruise and IF I could pay cash rather than points I would have considered it.

UM - You do not have to use points at all - you can use points, cash or points cash combo.....

DCL is a great experience. For us we wont do it again unless they change when they do the cruise because of school schedules. CASTAWAY CAY is absolutely beautiful and the day at sea is a wonderful day of guest speakers that are not on a "normal" cruise.

It is your choice. I did not mind the cost and I have made some GREAT friends... See yall on Saturday!

 

[bradpga]

Guest, gifts, huh? Please enlighten me!

 

[cherylp3]

Guests: Disney Ambassador Michael Collier, 2 singers (Jodi Benson and someone from American Idol. ), we had Disney Animator, Domenic Carola, (he replaced Ducky last minute. There was Jason Surrell and Bonnie St. John. We also had Roy Disney.

As for gifts, we received limited pins and a hardcover scrapbook.

 

[WDWLVR]

A DCL cruise isn't for everyone.

A DVC Member cruise isn't for everyone.

We have been on 9 DCL cruises and all three DVC Member cruises. We love the Member Cruises and hope we can make it on to the 2007.

Here's why:

For us Castaway Cay, a day at sea, and Castaway Cay is a perfect cruise. We love the island. You cannot stay overnight there because of the bugs, plus to me a sea day is one of the best things about a cruise.

The entertainment. DVC books the best.

In 2003 we got to take a tour of the ship with one of the Imagineers who oversaw the building of the Wonder. He was the person who commisioned 3 little Italian ladies to do the tile mural in Triton's. We got to see and hear some other wonderful speakers and had a concert by Andrea McCardle (the original Annie) and her family.

In 2005 we got to hear about opening day at Disneyland from Art Linkletter. We got to see Ducky Williams do what he loves (draw and tell the story about how he got hired at Disney). We were treated to a concert by Susan Egan (Meg from Hercules). Again we had a number of other opportunties as well like Chef Gordan from Hilton Head and one of the 2005 WDW Ambassadors.

In 2006 we got to hear about growing up in the Disney family from Roy Jr. Truly a once in a lifetime event. We also were treated to a concert by Jodi Benson and Jefnnifer Hudson (from American Idol who got her start on the Disney Wonder). Again there were a series of other talks like Michael Collier (the 2006 WDW Ambassador) and Domenic Carola, Jason Surrell and Bonnie St. John.

As for the gifts - there are always a number of limited edition pins given away to go with the theme for the night. Hats, a small dvc bag, a mickey statue and a scrapbook were among the other offerings.

Something else we found a lot of on the 2003 and 2005 cruises but not so much on the 2006 cruise was a sense of being part of the club. It was a chance to chat with other members and DVC cast. We had taken over the ship and it was fun.

As I said it isn't for everyone, but it is for us and we will be trying to get on the 2007 cruise.

Hope this helps.


edited to add: for a first hand view at the cruises check out this thread for the 2006 cruise http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1254492 or click on the monorail.info link in my signature for the 2003 and 2005 cruises. Last, but not least, something we have found on all of these cruises are wonderful DIS friends.

 

[jemiaule]

It is your choice. I did not mind the cost and I have made some GREAT friends... See yall on Saturday!

It is not the cost; it is the fact I am doing DCL one month before and did not know the cruise dates, details, cash vs points, etc.

 

[madaboutpooh]

We are going to go if we are picked. Been DVC members only since March 2005 and have yet to go on a DVC member cruise. We have been on 2 previous DCL cruises and have loved them so much we thought we would try this one.

 

[Melrosgirl]

We were considering it, but then we saw the cash prices. Basically it's 4 nights for $4000 (family of 4, category 6). I can take the 7 night cruise the same week (On the Magic) and it's $4000 also roughly for the same category through most of the online travel agencies. Right now it's just a matter of figuring out if we want to do 4 days or 7 days at sea.

 

[bobbiwoz]

We're passing again. I can't take what amounts to my whole week off in October.

Have fun, cruisers!

Bobbi

PS. We would go again. We had a great time. For us, it wasn't the gifts, but the people behind the scenes of the Disney Company and their talks, the DVCers, and the special entertainment that we remember the most.

 

[Muushka]

WDWLVR, you said:

Something else we found a lot of on the 2003 and 2005 cruises but not so much on the 2006 cruise was a sense of being part of the club. It was a chance to chat with other members and DVC cast. We had taken over the ship and it was fun.

I did not keep up with the Member cruise thread. Just wondering, why did this aspect of the cruise this year change?

 

[WDWLVR]

PS. We would go again. We had a great time. For us, it wasn't the gifts, but the people behind the scenes of the Disney Company and their talks, the DVCers, and the special entertainment that we remember the most.

Bobbi - I agree with you. It is the chance to get special entertainment and special behind the scenes that we enjoy the most. The gifts are secondary to us.

 

[chipscinderelly]

WDWLVR, you said:

I did not keep up with the Member cruise thread. Just wondering, why did this aspect of the cruise this year change?

We went on the SSMC05 and SSMC06 and the difference between the two years (excluding entertainment as that was good) was in the details for us. These are just our opinions and don't get me wrong we had an AMAZING time on the cruise!

1. lack of communication from DVC overall

* we were allowed to book excursions and such at the normal DCL dates, however, several weeks later we found out the ship would not be docking at CC in time the first day for many of the early morning excursions therefore they had to be cancelled. Instead of pulling into CC at the regular hour that morning we sat off the coast and instead were invited to one of many marketing shows to add on more points.

* for 2005 we received many emails about activities and attire well in advance, however for 2006 those details were few and far between - I believe Mark and Mary's site may have the emails still but in my memory it was half the number from the prior year and much later. Heck the last email came after some people had already left for their trip.

2. Lack of planning the details - on pirate day/night we had Formal Characters in the atrium for photos, Captain Jack was not on CC that day but two days later and well it was poor planning on the teams part. For 2005 each day's photos in shutters were available with special backgrounds just for the Member Cruise - this year our entrance shot even said we were going to Nassau - puleeze.

3. THE HARD SELL - we felt that all DVC cared about during the events was the add on or new contracts. Sad since we added on last year - no pressure last year - and have enough points for now. This year the DVC team did not address the future of DVC but only the past even though the company released a press release about Animal Kingdom on the 10th of October (or so) they acted as if it was a rumor and would not speak to it. Sad

The gifts are great, the itinerary is top notch, but we won't be going on the 07 cruise for the above reasons and also because of the "new member cruise lottery" we disagree with and our personal schedules. We'll be cruising on a 7 night in 2008 with our MC buddies for the SAME price we'd pay for the 4 day - WOW!

 

[Muushka]

Thank you for that summary Chips.... While I don't go on the member cruises, I always hope that they are nice for those that do. Hopefully DVD/DCL has kept track of this type of complaints and will make it better in '07. Again, thank you.