DVC points for cruise

[Camryben]

Hey all,

My girlfriend and I finally bit the bullet and started on DVC. We want to use the points for our honeymoon cruise in Oct 2011. We only have 2/3 the points now but our use year starts in Feb. What's the best way to book the cruise now? Should be book half cash? If we do can we change it to points later on? Or should we just put the deposit down and then change to points? What would you guys reccomend?


Thanks,
Ben

 

[Inkmahm]

What I would recommend is renting out those points and using the cash to pay for the cruise for the two of you. You may be able to cover the entire cash cost of the cruise with those 2/3 of the points necessary.

 

[parlay]

What I would recommend is renting out those points and using the cash to pay for the cruise for the two of you. You may be able to cover the entire cash cost of the cruise with those 2/3 of the points necessary.

We have done just that. We rented out points (that would have just covered 3 out of 5 members of my family) and the cash was enough to pay for the entire cruise.

 

[Wilver]

I've heard that currently it is not advantageous to use points for booking a cruise. There are other threads on this subject that go into more detail about the specifics of why this is true.

 

[Dean]

Your best bet financially is to rent the points and you would likely have enough now. Assuming that's not your choice, I'd wait until you have enough to book the entire thing and hope what you want is still available, it may not be on points.

 

[Inkmahm]

Uh oh. I think we scared the OP away!

 

[johnsonville5]

From my experience it does not make sense to use points for cruises at this point. Disney is really dealing on cruises. I would pay cash and save the points

 

[rice4u]

So it is better to rent out your points and use the cash to book? Im new and have not use my points yet.

 

[Mommb]

So it is better to rent out your points and use the cash to book? Im new and have not use my points yet.

In most cases, you would have a better "cash" value for points by renting them out than by using them for a cruise. The cash price for a cruise divided by the number of points required for the cruise is around $7. If you can rent your points for more than that (which you should be able to) you will come out ahead.

 

[Dean]

So it is better to rent out your points and use the cash to book? Im new and have not use my points yet.

You'll have to decide what's better for you. Overall the return is usually around $6-7.50 per point used for cruises, barely more than the dues and much less value than I put on each and every point I own. In addition there are other negatives and risks in using points for a cruise as the recent thread on the limited availability illustrates.

 

[AdventureLover67]

If there is any way you can pay cash for your cruise I would recommend that. We used our points last year to "pay for" mine and my husabnds cruise tickets and cash for my daughter's. We later found out there were some excellent specials on the cruise and I think we even had to pay a higher price for my daughters ticket.
There are several threads that people much better versed in this than I am share their expertise, I would highly recommed doing some serious research and keep checking those specials!

Congrats on the coming nuptuals and enjoy your cruise!!