How many DVC owners cruise Disney/other cruises?

[christianweecare]

Us too! We bought DVC in 2005 aboard the Magic!

 

[edk35]

What we love about DVC is the flexibility. . We have used points to cruise as well as cash, and a combo of both too. We go to the parks some years, DCL some, and the concierge collection other years. We do it all, and enjoy every moment. We love DCL cruising, but given the cost (points and/or cash), I can see why people balk. I think you need to do what is best for your family, and situation, and make sure you enjoy it all.

I have always heard that cruising on points is not a good use for them ...however they are our point to do what we want with right? Our cruise is on cash. I agree with another person that replied..we won't know until we cruise whether we are "cruisers" or not. So we are definitely keeping the ressie for next June.

 

[bobbiwoz]

I've replied before and mentioned that we cruise a lot, mainly other cruise lines but DCL with the DGC. We were on a DCL in November and our next one will be in August 2012. Our DGC have moved and would miss the first few days of school with the present planned cruise. It's costing us over $1200to change the cruise to one the week before!

If we had booked on points, perhaps the week before wouldn't have been available, and well, that would have been a whole other problem. DGD just called to ask how the cruise changing was going, and I was able to tell her that we're just about good to go for the week before. She was one very happy 8 year old!

 

[uncw89]

OK, now you KNOW we love our DCL's!! Just got back from a lifetime event for us with the Med cruise. This was our 4th DCL cruise. And yes, we re-booked onboard for another "placeholder" cruise!! Wish we could afford to go more often.

Don't you even THINK about canceling your Magic cruise!! You will be wishing it was longer than just 5 nights!!

I agree...5 nights is too short!! We just did a 5 night Dream cruise and wished it was longer!
OT...Are you going to do a TR? How was your cruise? We are hoping to do a Med cruise someday...hoping for 2013!

We have our third cruise coming up on the Magic in one month, one week, one day

We have always paid cash for our cruises. We save our points for WDW!

We've always paid cash too!!

We bought our DVC on a Disney Cruise!

We've sailed with Royal Caribbean before and hated it. We only sail Disney now!

We bought on board as well in 2006!!
We liked our RCL Freedom of the Seas cruise!

 

[dgaston]

We have sailed DCL twice (for cash), and Holland and NCL 4 times. Our next cruise will likely be on NCL next March. My husband strongly prefers freestyle cruising over set dinner times.

That said, I think DCL is perfect for little girls aged 5 to 10 for all the wonderful dancing. I will soon start saving up money to take Abby (see signature) with her mom and dad, and maybe uncles when she's older.

I guess I've read a lot of Bobbiwoz's posts about her DGC!

 

[Dean]

We are not using points for the cruise.

Sorry if I misunderstood. I thought you were talking about adding on to cruise. If not, then you must be talking about adding on instead of cruising which would be a separate personal decision.

 

[edk35]

Sorry if I misunderstood. I thought you were talking about adding on to cruise. If not, then you must be talking about adding on instead of cruising which would be a separate personal decision.

Oh that is okay. We are going to keep the cruise and add on the points.

 

[helenk]

We went on our first Disney cruise in May and I really enjoyed it. We took my son, his wife and my 3 year old Grand-daughter. I know my son and his family would go again in a heart beat. But my husband I usually cruise with Celebrity and enjoyed those cruises a lot more.
I would cruise with Disney again taking my grand daughter, but my husband just did not like it and has already said he would not go again.

 

[Dean]

Oh that is okay. We are going to keep the cruise and add on the points.

Have you considered diversifying and adding a different timeshare?

 

[GoofItUp]

We are the cruising-type. We've done HAL twice, NCL three times, Celebrity once and DCL once. I've enjoyed all my cruises. We will be watching the Galveston cruises for last-minute specials as the port is drivable for us, but I'm not going to pay the premium that DCL usually charges. It's just not worth it for my family.

 

[GoofItUp]

Have you considered diversifying and adding a different timeshare?

Can I jump in and say that I have considered this, but other timeshares seem overwhelming. Weeks, points, trade power, this brand over that brand....it leaves me never knowing where to start so I usually just end!

 

[BWV Dreamin]

We were just on the Magic in the Med. Not impressed with the ship. This was our second DCL cruise and the last. We want to try RCCL next. I absolutely would never use points for a cruise. I think your children may get bored on the ship. What are your ports of call?

 

[bobbiwoz]

...
I guess I've read a lot of Bobbiwoz's posts about her DGC!

Well, I found out that the difference will be $850 rather than our first estimate. Here's a link to my last trip report of the cruise. It was called "Our excellent servers" and watching those wonderful men take time with our DGC was so worth it.

http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2597790

That was the second DCL cruise we were all on. The first was excellent too!

 

[Anal Annie]

We were just on the Magic in the Med. Not impressed with the ship. This was our second DCL cruise and the last. We want to try RCCL next. I absolutely would never use points for a cruise. I think your children may get bored on the ship. What are your ports of call?

Hey - I thought you were going to call me?! We loved our Med cruise. You should've stuck with us!!

 

[Anal Annie]

I agree...5 nights is too short!! We just did a 5 night Dream cruise and wished it was longer!
OT...Are you going to do a TR? How was your cruise? We are hoping to do a Med cruise someday...hoping for 2013!



We've always paid cash too!!

I haven't done one YET...trying to get around to it. Been busy futzing with pictures (we took 1,700)!! That's a lot to weed thru. I posted about 1,000 on FB at first just to get started then got distracted with other shiny objects. Now I'm trying to go thru them all in Photoshop to edit them a little and get them uploaded to Shutterfly. I want to order a photobook. But it's very time consuming. Gotta fit this TR in somewhere soon tho!!

We also feel it's a better deal to pay cash for the cruises than to use points. We used points ONCE on a 4 night cruise...took almost 2 years worth for 4 nights in a Cat 10A. Could've had 3 weeks at WDW if we'd have used them wisely. Won't be making THAT mistake again any time soon!!

 

[DisneyMim]

We love cruising, but with RCCL. We only use our points at WDW. For us using our points for a cruise would not be worth it as we get two rooms/suites and it would require way too many points. We love RCCL especially the big ships. You have to find what's right for your family.

 

[DenLo]

We've taken around 23 cruises most with Princess and we usually have another one booked. And every time we think about a DCL cruise the price just blows my mind. There are still so many places we want to cruise to that I'm not sure we'll have time or money to do them all.

Now that DCL cruises out of Galveston we too will be looking for a discounted last minute cruise. But otherwise we'll stick with cash cruises on other lines. One thing we have found that once you have cruised with a specific line for a number of cruises, the offers, discounts and perks available to past cruises lower the price of cruise even more.

 

[edk35]

We were just on the Magic in the Med. Not impressed with the ship. This was our second DCL cruise and the last. We want to try RCCL next. I absolutely would never use points for a cruise. I think your children may get bored on the ship. What are your ports of call?

I sent you a PM Hope...... inquiring minds want to know?!!

 

[Golden Rose]

We love to cruise, and we started cruising long before we bought DVC. DVC ownership slightly changed our cruising patterns, though, since we used to do a cruise a year, and lately it's been closer to every other year. I actually used to cruise with my family before I married DH, so I've been cruising at least occasionally my whole life. Together DH and I have cruised with NCL, RCCL, and Celebrity. (We love RCCL and Celebrity; we didn't like NCL.) We're taking a year off from WDW next year, and doing two cruises. We're trying a Disney cruise for the first time (cash, not points), and we're in the process of booking a second cruise for the route instead of the ship (on HAL.)

I've cruised to Alaska, the Mediterranean three times (including a cruise focused on the Greek islands), the Panama Canal, and the Caribbean many times. I like the mix of interesting places to see during the days in port, and the almost enforced relaxation of the sea days. I like not having to unpack every night, while still seeing new destinations.

We're never going to give up cruising, even though we love our DVC. It's an entirely different sort of vacation, but we love both. It's one of the things that has kept us from adding on too many points. We only have so many vacation days, and we like a broad assortment of vacations. We love our WDW vacations, we love our cruises, and we love just going to a place and exploring it in some depth. We've considered getting a second (non-Disney) timeshare, and we may yet, but right now we do a mix of DVC, cruises, and stays in very nice hotels and resorts, and it works for us.

 

[Dean]

Can I jump in and say that I have considered this, but other timeshares seem overwhelming. Weeks, points, trade power, this brand over that brand....it leaves me never knowing where to start so I usually just end!

No doubt there's some work involved and a learning curve, but so was DVC or at least, it should have been. The rewards can be great for the right person though.