DVC member Cruise

[cincinmouse]

We just recently joined DVC at SSR with current incentive. We have our next two trips planned but we will want to do a cruise in the future. I have seen on many post that say 8.5 times out of 10 you can get a better deal/value just paying for a Disney cruise instead of using points if you book in advance.

My question is what about the members cruise. I just went online to the DVC member site and saw the point values. It looks like it cost a few points more to take the member cruise vs the similar 4 day cruise in Sept but I may not be reading things right.

So during the member cruise are there any Non DVC guest or do we have the whole ship to ourselves. Do they do anything extra special. I did a seach on member cruise and was not about to page through an 88 page thread.

Is the member cruise a better point value or cheaper cash reservation than taking a standard 4 day cruise?

Thanks in advance.

 

[WDWLVR]

The DVC Member Cruises have always been slightly more points then a regular 4 day cruise in that same time frame. Having said some of us feel it is a great value because of the special things that DVC does. They are chartered cruises and yes everyone on board is either a DVC member or guest of a DVC member...you can't book the cruise directly through DCL.

My husband and I have been on all 4 previous dedicated member cruises and are booked on the 2008 one as well. Some of the highlights of each.

2003 Member Cruise - which by the way sailed exactly 5 years ago today on 2/2/03. The first cruise with two dedicated stops at Castaway Cay (Disney's private island). It was CC, Nassau, and back to CC. The highlight of this particular cruise for me was a tour of the ship with Tom Acomb a Disney Imagineer who worked on the Disney Wonder and had some wonderful stories to tell. Like the fact that the mural in Tritons which is all mosiac was hand done by three little Italian ladies. If you want to read our whole report check out our web page for this cruise. http://monorailgreen.info/member/Intro.htm

2005 Member Cruise. I think in my heart this will always be my favorite due to some friendships I made. DCL didn't disappoint in the guests on this one. We had Don "Ducky" Willams who is an amazing character artist for Disney. I know you have all seen his work even if you don't think you did. For example when you drive through the arch at WDW - that Minnie and Mickey is his doing! This was also a special itinerary going first to Key West, then a day at sea and then to Castaway Cay. We got to hear a talk by Art Linkletter which was amazing learning about being at Disneyland that opening day. We also got to meet one of the current WDW Ambassadors on this trip. Last, but by no means least we were also entertained on this cruise by Susan Egan (she played Meg in Hercules). Amazing! If you want to read more check this out. http://monorailgreen.info/member2005/index.htm

2006 Member Cruise. This was the first of what I call the perfect itinerary. A day at Castaway Cay, a day at sea, then another day at Castaway Cay. If you are looking for more ports this isn't for you, but for a great relaxing cruise this can't be beat. Our special guest on this cruise was Roy Disney and he was fantastic! We again got to meet one of the WDW Ambassadors (these young people are truly a blessing to the Disney organization). Last but by no means least we had a special musical evening with Jennifer Hudson (from American Idol and Dreamgirls - who had gotten her start on the Disney Wonder) and Jodi Benson (voice of Ariel in the Little Mermaid).
http://monorailgreen.info/member2006/index.htm Oh yeah - we were also lucky on this cruise and DH won the grand prize at one of the events which got us a weeks trade out with II. We ended up with a wonderful week at Marriott's Ko Olina on Oahu!

2007 Member Cruise. DVC labeled this as Disney Legends and boy did they deliver! They had as guests some of the giants in Disney History. The line-up was:

X. Atencio - inducted 1996. He wrote the lyrics to Yo Ho Yo Ho A Pirate's Life for me and worked on Fantasia.

Virginia Davis - inducted in 1998. This wonderful woman was Disney's first star even before Mickey Mouse. She played Alice in the Alice comedies begining in 1923.

Marty Sklar - inducted in 2001. He's been the only man who has been part of every Disney Them Park Opening. His title today is Ambassador for Walt Disney Imagineering.

Alice Davis - inducted in 2004. She has dressed all the dolls in It's A Small World as well as the Pirates of the Caribbean.

Dave Smith - Disney's newest legend inducted this year. The founder of the Walt Disney archives.

Also in a special performance later in the cruise were:

Eden Espinosa - currently staring in the Los Angeles company of Wicked

Sarah Litzsinger - who starred as Belle for 3 years on Broadway.

Andrea McArdle - the original Annie who has also starred as Belle. We saw her in 2003 and enjoyed her performance.

We haven't updated our web page on this cruise yet but you can check out our "live from" thread from the cruise boards.
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1611688


So bottom line if you are just looking to cruise the Member Cruise isn't a better value than a regular DCL cruise at the same time. However if you love Disney history and looking for something special (along with sailing with a bunch of fellow DVC'ers) than you might want to check out a Member Cruise.

 

[cherylp3]

Cash prices will normally be cheaper. Most people don't recommend using points for cruising. The member cruise is definitely worth it in my opinion. As Mary said we have had guests and experiences that were great.

As for non DVC members, there may be a few on board but they must be a guest of a dvc member. Example I could book a cabin for my inlaws.

 

[toocherie]

Is the member cruise sold out for 2008? Where would you find info on this?

 

[WDWLVR]

Is the member cruise sold out for 2008? Where would you find info on this?

The 2008 cruise was the first that didn't sell out in the first two days. We've had two different people sign on to the meets thread in the last week saying they got one of the last two rooms. Not sure if this is Member Services way of saying they are close or if they really are getting sold out.

Easiest way to find out what is still available is to call Member Services. Even if it is sold out at this point if you still want to go you can get on a wait list. I've heard of people on the wait list for all the eithers and each of them got the call before the cruise. Some got on and others declined at that point but could have gotten on. Good luck!

 

[Lenc324]

I heard this past Weds that they still had space available.

 

[cincinmouse]

Thanks for all the good info. Based on the dates for 2008 and 2007 (Sun-Thurs) I take it there are not many school age children on the trip. Is this geared a little more toward the adults?

 

[CarolA]

Thanks for all the good info. Based on the dates for 2008 and 2007 (Sun-Thurs) I take it there are not many school age children on the trip. Is this geared a little more toward the adults?

UH.. this is Disney. There will be lots of school age kids. Parents view this as an "educational experience" or something like that and just take those kids out of school.

(You should hear my friend the teacher gripe about it LOL!)

 

[CarolAnnC]

We found far less children on the first Member Cruise which we were on board for. Hence, the adult beach seem far more crowded than the family beach, lol.

I would say with this cruise scheduled for September 21, it likely will have even less children. Most folks do not take their school age children out so early in the school year. I am sure there will still be a good amount, but not as much as cruises other times of the year. On one of the cruise meet threads they had the group picture taken on the beach and it shows more clearly how fewer children were on that particular cruise.

That being said, I did take my children out of school on occasion for family vacation, but not that particular month of the year.

 

[WDWLVR]

Here is the picture Carol was talking about from the first Member Cruise. The blue shirts are the adults (and those older kids who needed a larger size) and the yellow are the kids (or the few adults who needed a smaller size. As you can see there weren't very many kids.

Since then the number of kids have increased but it is still a much smaller number than a regular cruise. Friends who have had kids in the clubs say they love it because there is more individual attention and the pools aren't as crazy.