How many DVC points for a cruise?

[jmatias]

We are looking into joing the DVC and know that points can be used for the cruises. Can anyone give me an appx. how many points are needed for a 7 day cruise?

Thanks!
Jennifer

 

[PartiesNBalloons]

Hi,

We're DVC members and we are taking a 7 day western cruise this summer :O) We have 2 adults and 2 children and we are booked in a Cat. 9 right now, hoping to upgrade. The total points for this was 578 points. We own 270 points. We saved last years points, used this years points and are borrowing a few from 2003. This may make it sound as if joining DVC is not worth it but I will tell you that DVC is the best thing we have ever done. It allows us to take incredible vacations, stay in luxury and not have a huge cash out-of-pocket at one time. There is no way ever that we would have been able to take a 7-day cruise without the points. We're not the 'vacation saving' type and refuse to make loans to take vacations so DVC is perfect for us.

 

[DVC1996]

Jennifer......For 2002, the points for a 7 Day Eastern Caribbean Cruise ranges from 126 to 390 pts per person depending on what category you want and the season ( Value, Regular, Peak, or Holiday) you want to travel. The Western Caribbean Cruise ranges from 133 to 390 pts per person. Extra people after the first two people are as follows: Children 2 and under are 16 pts. Children 3-12 range from 52 to 104 for the Eastern and 65 to 104 for the Western. All others ( 13 and over) are 78 to 130 on the Eastern and 91 to 130 on the Western. I hope this gives you a general idea. We are DVC Members and are using points for our first cruise ( DVC 10th Anniversary Cruise in which the pts were discounted for this special event) this Sunday. DVC also has given cruise specials on pts the past couple of years during Fall Fantasy.

 

[jmatias]

Thank you both for the info.

The DVC is sounding better & better. We will be at OKW next month...I think I'll pack my check book just in case

Aloha,
Jen

 

[mikeymars]

If you cruise the DIS DVC boards, you will readily find threads debating the subject of whether is makes financial sense to use points to book a cruise.

Having read them for years, my gut is to agree with those who argue that from a financial point of view, using points to book a cruise is NOT the best return on the DVC investment. This is basically because the number of points required for a cruise are SIGNIFICANTLY higher than those needed for a week or more at the better Disney properties (ergo, luxury category) at WDW or Disneyland. In other words, the DCL option in DVC is "priced at a premium."

So, why did I (as a DVC member) use points for a cruise? Well, we were in a special situation: when we joined DVC (purchasing 270 points), we received 270 points for a prior year, as well as points for the year we joined. That meant that by the end of the following year (this year) we had to use up ALL those 540 points. Looking at our schedule, we realized there was no way we were going to be able to travel to WDW or Disneyland frequently enough in that time frame to use all that. So we looked into a cruise, and found that 500 was enough to allow us to book a cat 6 for three people; I paid cash (around $650) for the fourth passenger (my son). We banked the remaining 40.

I've already told my family that if we want to use points again for a cruise, we are either going to have to do the "three year bank/borrow-a-rama" thing (bank points from the year before the cruise, use all your points from the year of the cruise and borrow some from the year after) or will have to make a larger investment in DVC (which I've been looking into, resales are readily available; just waiting for the "right" number of points at our home resort -- Boardwalk -- to come onto the market).

Again, if your are investigating DVC, I recommend you think of it primnarily as an investment for trips to WDW or Disneyland or the North Carolina or Florida DVC properties. Use of points for trips outside those properties is a best a "secondary and less economic' benefit. Also, DVC works best for people (like us) who don't mind -- in fact enjoy -- planning vacations far (ergo, 11 months) in advance. It is much less beneficial for those into "last minute" vacation planning.

 

[din]

I agree with mikeymars.

If you look at the increase in point from year to year for DCL it may not make sense from a cost point of view. DCL is an added benifit. After saying that we used points for DCL and with almost next to nothing cost. We may do one or two more DCL trips with points, but after that we will most likely use cash for the DCL and use the point for the WDW. That I know stays the same. We may do a land and cruise

As for the DVC resorts, it is fantastic. We use to live in Ohio and love WDW. After moving to California and visiting DL, I would say WDW is still the place to go. DVC is the way to go for that. Sorry do not mean to open a can of worms with that comment....