How do you book a DCL vaca on points before dates released?

[disneyfool_1202]

I want to book a DCL vaca on points for April 2015 but the dates on DCL web site are only going out to December 2014 right now. I know which weekend we want and we want a 7 night so it will either be a Sat or Sun departure day- we are fine with both. I was reading our member services guide last night and it said you can book DCL up to 24 months. I know we have done this in the past, but how does one do this when the cruise line hasn't released the date??
We figured out our points and for the 4 of us we can swing it all on points if we get a certain category and do a one time purchase of 15 points - BUT I know that rooms in each category are limited which is why there is a point range per category......
Is member services even open on Sunday??? I'm at myself because we leave in a few weeks for AKL for a week and I'm already planning our next vacation! But why wait?? That's why we purchased DVC 10 years ago and it was one of the best investments we ever made! It has MADE my husband agree to all of my vacation plans! Otherwise, we'd be camping in our back yard!!!

 

[com_op_2000]

MS is open on Sunday's at 9 AM eastern.
Until DVC and DCL get their agreement in place for the 2015 cruises you will not be able to book those dates. MS will have the dates and points required before they appear on the web-site.
You can only borrow points starting at the seven months before your check-in dates and then only for stays at DVC resorts, they are not available for use at RCI, DCL, Disney Collection, etc.

 

[CarolMN]

MS is open on Sunday's at 9 AM eastern.
Until DVC and DCL get their agreement in place for the 2015 cruises you will not be able to book those dates. MS will have the dates and points required before they appear on the web-site.
You can only borrow points starting at the seven months before your check-in dates and then only for stays at DVC resorts, they are not available for use at RCI, DCL, Disney Collection, etc.

Not sure what you mean by your last paragraph. For DVC reservations, We are allowed to borrow points at the 11 month window. We are also allowed to borrow points more than 7 months in advance to book RCI, DCL and any of the other options in the various "Collections". Of course all reservations are subject to availability.

There are special provisions for booking cruises.

OP - Call MS. They will be able to help you. I agree that you will not be able to book until DCL releases the 2015 dates and DVC negotiates the point requirements with DCL. MS may be able to estimate when the 2015 dates will be available to DVC members to book on points.

 

[Sandisw]

MS is open on Sunday's at 9 AM eastern.
Until DVC and DCL get their agreement in place for the 2015 cruises you will not be able to book those dates. MS will have the dates and points required before they appear on the web-site.
You can only borrow points starting at the seven months before your check-in dates and then only for stays at DVC resorts, they are not available for use at RCI, DCL, Disney Collection, etc.

Did you mean to say that the OP can't buy one time use points for cruises vs. borrowing?

 

[disneyfool_1202]

Thanks all - I called MS and spoke with someone very helpful. 2015 dates are not released but should be "soon". The CM suggested I check back "often" at this point, and keep checking the DCL web site as well as the DVC member services site. So I'll check and check and as soon as I see something, grab the phone.
As far as the "borrowing" from a future use year- booking a cruise (or any RCI, etc.. vaca) follows different "borrowing" rules, as you can book up to 24 months ahead of time, the 7 month window doesn't apply the way it does if you are booking a DVC resort vacation. The way he explained it, the points are put on hold for that vacation and as soon as the 7months hit, they get applied to the vacation they are on hold for, but essentially, you CAN book and use those points ahead of the 7 month window.

As far as one time purchase of a few extra points (in addition to borrowing from future use year) we can complete that transaction when we book and pay the transaction fee (is it $95 now??), so we'll just do that now. I believe it's currently $15 per point (we found that on the DVC member site last night so I didn't ask him to confirm the price - it is what it is, and cheaper than paying an entire fare for one of the kids).

So now I wait for the dates....... IMPATIENTLY I might add, because I LOVE looking forward to my NEXT vacation!!!

 

[CarolMN]

Thank you for letting us know what you found out.

 

[bobbiwoz]

Thank you for letting us know what you found out.

Yes, and we too are looking forward to the 2015 cruise dates to be released! DH and I hope there's a WBTA cruise that year!

 

[sskem96]

Just wanted to suggest that once the points charts are released, check and see if it would be more beneficial to book 1 person in your cabin on cash instead of buying the one time use points.

We are cruising on points in Jan. For a 4 night in cat 4B, we paid 133 points each for DH and I, and 72 points for DD16. We paid $506 cash for DD13.

I'm kicking myself now because for our precruise stay, I ended up having to buy 16 one time use points for $240. I would have been so much better off to pay cash for both the kids and keep the 72 points for room ressies. And it probably would have been even cheaper if I had thought to book the kids in with my parents who are in a cat 8D on cash.

We were in the same situation as you, anxiously waiting for dates and point charts to be released, and booked the first day we were allowed to. I knew points didn't go as far with cruising, but I hadn't thought the whole situation through in regards to potentially having to purchase the one time use points for our room. And now we're out of points til Dec 2015! Trying so hard to resist adding on, at least until the Poly is an option!

 

[kim532]

I didn't realize you could book part on points and part with cash. That's a nice option for those of us with small contracts.

Kim

 

[disneyfool_1202]

Just wanted to suggest that once the points charts are released, check and see if it would be more beneficial to book 1 person in your cabin on cash instead of buying the one time use points.

We did that last time- actually paid cash for BOTH kids - due to their ages when we cruised, and the fact that we did a 5 day, they were only about $500 per kid so it was better using cash than points for them. Next cruise we are planning a 7 night so we still need to do the math and see if it's worth paying cash for one kid - and just not using those point (or getting a nicer room!!). Now that I know the dates aren't out YET- I have a week or two to play with numbers....

 

[com_op_2000]

Did you mean to say that the OP can't buy one time use points for cruises vs. borrowing?

Correct. I used the wrong term.

 

[cwdefouw]

I just wanted to mention that the ability to book a cruise with points up to 24 months in advance is true, although it is kind of a hold over from "back in the day". Back when Disney only had two ships and one of them was always on the same itineraries, they used to release sailing schedules a lot further out than they do now. For instance, we booked an Alaska Cruise for August of 2011 in September of 2009 with points. That was an excruciatingly long wait for the vacation to arrive, I will tell you that.

For the OP, just keep watching the cruise line boards for information on when the 2015 cruises will be released. That is probably the best source for advance knowledge. Once they release the booking dates for the cruise you want, call Member Services and they can tell you how many points it will take and what your Banking/Borrowing options are.

 

[lah3hh]

I agree with all the advice given here but wanted to add a point. Historically DCL starts releasing their new dates in October. So thinking along those lines maybe October of this year they will release at least the first half of the 2015 year sailings. Keep an eye on the DIS DCL threads...those folks watch it like a hawk!!! I am glad they do...