Hi! The only member cruise Ive been on was the first one they had in 2003. So, I don't know if anything has changed since then (except the "lottery" system they are using this time) But, what made it extremely special was all of the freebies we got. It seemed like each night when we got back to our stateroom there was another freebie there for us for the next days' activities. And there was a very nice gift in each stateroom the final night. It was also neat to know that everyone else aboard was a member of DVC. You knew you had something in common with everyone else on board! My advice is that if you have the opportunity to book the member cruise, DO IT!!! Hope this helps!!