How do you pay for your cruise?

[bynum66]

Do you use points and cash? Just points (which you will need a lot of) depending on your family size and season? Or do you just pay cash? TIA

 

[xABearx]

We use our points to book and take advantage of the rebooking offer they have while on board the ship.....depending on what time of the year, we usually go late August/early September, you can get a pretty good deal.....Andy

 

[SeaSpray]

We are not DVC members so we use old-fashioned CASH

 

[Memaw2Wm]

PLASTIC, LOL!!! Actually when I booked our cruise I had high hopes of being able to pay all cash, but it's being to look like I may be putting part of the cruise on my credit card.

Oh well, it's a one-in-a-lifetime trip with my kids and grandkids.

 

[mouseclick1]

We have paid cash for our 2 previous cruises, but we are paying on points for our upcoming April cruise.

 

[jiminy579]

It is a great deal if you pay the balance in full each month. They are also offering a $100.00 shipboard credit when you pay for your cruise with it! <b> PLUS</b>, you earn free $$ to spend while vacationing with the mouse! We just transferred our Disney Reward Dollars and have $357.00 to put towards our shipboard credit! Woohoo baby!!
It's a lot more fun spending *free* money!

 

[Penny12]

Apart from the special DVC cruise where I used points, I pay by Crediit Card because first, it's not the most effective use of points and second, I rack up lots of FF miles too

 

[Verandah Man]

On our first cruise this past August we used all points, for our next next August, we used half points and half cash.

 

[CRSNDSNY]

We're new to DVC, so we haven't used points yet for the cruises. So far we've saved up every penny we have to pay for the cruise. We have a certain amount of money auto-deducted into a "cruise-fund" every paycheck. Depending on how much the cruise costs and when the final payment is due, I figure out how much money per paycheck to transfer over to our fund. I also take any extra money we make/have: side-jobs, change/bills from our pockets, gifts, etc. and put it in a jar. That is our spending money. It adds up fast!

 

[hydster]

We use our AMEX card and pay on the balance or pay it off when they offer double airline miles...that way we get twice the amount of miles offered which means we get free airfare for just hubby and I go to alone once in awhile! We do however save the cash up in the savings account so we dont carry a balance but get the extra miles! Flying from Utah to Florida is a load of dough but if we get 2 or 3 of us going on DL ff miles it is much cheaper.

Heidi

 

[DisneyBill]

First time we used DVC points for the 1st adult and cash for the rest of party. Became more enlightened to availability of DCL cruises at much better prices than through Disney, now we'll only pay cash. ie, 7-31-04 western catagory 4 cruise was 318 points for 1st adult (2nd adult also), then about $4900 cash for 2nd adult, 11 yo & 17 yo. Booked w/allseasons for $6600 cash, so I would have only been getting $1700 worth of value for 318 DVC points. However, they're your points use them as you best see fit.

 

[tweetsie]

We scheduled our four-day one year in advance and paid the $600 for DH, DD, and myself. We booked through Dreams and had the remainder debited from time to time from our checking account (debit card with visa symbol) That worked great for us.

 

[brack]

We put money into a savings account just for vacations every month. We book our cruises in advance. The one we go on in January 2004 we booked while still on our cruise in January 2003! When the 60 day deadline to pay comes we put this one on our Disney Visa card. This gives us points and another 30 days to pay. Then we transfer the cash from savings to checking to pay the Visa bill off. This gives us the best use of money and points. To travel to Florida we used American Express points to buy Delta airline tickets through Delta Skymiles. Also, for some extra cash this time I have money earned on my Discover card. It's not much but everybit helps towards Disney "stuff".

 

[AnnMorin]

First cruise was all cash, second cruise all points, cruises three and four were cash for one adult and points for the other adult and child.

 

[Nick@ VB+OKW]

Originally posted by jiminy579
We just transferred our Disney Reward Dollars and have $357.00 to put towards our shipboard credit! Woohoo baby!!

...........way to go Deeann!

We paid half down on credit card(FF miles) then paid $100 month on credit card for FF miles. Using DVC points wasn't a very good option for us. We got the rebate and on-board credit going the cash route.

 

[jiminy579]

Originally posted by Nick@ VB+OKW

...........way to go Deeann!

We paid half down on credit card(FF miles) then paid $100 month on credit card for FF miles. Using DVC points wasn't a very good option for us. We got the rebate and on-board credit going the cash route.

You crack me up Nick! BTW, I am jealous you are going to end up in Florida! What fun!!

 

[Sebastian_the_crab]

This may sound crazy, but to pay for my cruise...I sold my house! Actually I bought a new house and sold the old one. Paid off ALL my bills AND had enough left over for a cruise. Yup...that was money well spent. So to everyone who says they can't afford a cruise, I say "Sell your house!" You probably want a new one any how.

 

[disneygal58]

Sebastian,
I LOVE YOUR THINKING!!!! I actually moved to Florida to be closer to all things Disney (and the great Florida resident rates is a good perk). The jury is still out on how I feel about living in FL. But, I console myself with regular visits to the World and drives by the Port.
Enjoy,
Dawn Hope

 

[CRSNDSNY]

Originally posted by Sebastian_the_crab
This may sound crazy, but to pay for my cruise...I sold my house! Actually I bought a new house and sold the old one. Paid off ALL my bills AND had enough left over for a cruise. Yup...that was money well spent. So to everyone who says they can't afford a cruise, I say "Sell your house!" You probably want a new one any how.

That is very funny!