how many dvc vacation points needed for a cruise for 4 window room?

[kfalsey]

I m trying to figure out how many points I may need for a cruise every three years. I figure maybe 450 points for a family of 4. Or ? for the 2 adults and pay cash for the children?

 

[minnieandmickey]

Point rates for cruises are not as stable as DVC room rates. I am taking the 5 day cruise in September in a Cat 10 (inside room) 2 adults, 196 points. The best thing to do is go on the DVC website and look at the point values.

 

[Anal Annie]

You really need to study the Vacation Planner Guides that DVC publishes every year to determine your exact vacation plans. They have the point charts in them. But I can give you some examples...

We are a family of 3 and booked with points for a 4 n Wonder cruise this July, which is a peak season. We booked at 16 months out, right after the schedule was released and were able to snag one of the coveted "secret porthole" cabins. If you are unfamiliar with these, they are basically what most cruiselines would call "obstructed view" cabins. DCL just books them as "Deluxe Inside" so they're cheaper / fewer points. There are only 6 of them and 2 of the 6 have less obstruction than the other 4 - BUT the others are connecting. SO. They book fast. They are THE CHEAPEST PORTHOLE room you can book and it's costing us 392 points for the 4 nights.

The required points vary widely by the cabin category and the length of the cruise. They also fluctuate a little bit by the ages of the 3rd and 4th persons in the room. I priced it out for a verandah Cat. 6 cabin with MS for points for DH and myself and cash for DS (who will be 11). The same cruise would've cost 406 points for DH and myself and I forget exactly but in the neighorhood of $1,000 for DS. Using all points it would've run 510.

OK, so the same exact cruise in a Cat. 10 in say January would've only cost us only 262 points. But we couldn't go in January (value season) 'cuz we're not willing to pull DS out of school. The lowest "normal" porthole category is a Cat. 9. This is what we would've done if we couldn't get one of the "SPH" rooms. That would've cost us 406 points for all 3 of us in July - for 4 people it would've been an additional 102 - 112 points depending on their age.

Are you ready to hear how many points for a 7 n. cruise? 7 n in a Cat 10 (deluxe inside cat.) in a peak season (summer) on the Eastern cruise would use 234 pts. per person for the 1st two ppl in the room and an add'l 156 - 188 pts for ea. of the 3rd and 4th if between age 9-11. Only 171 - 203 add'l pts. if 3rd & 4th persons are age 8. And only 186 - 219 pp for ages 4 - 7. (2 and under are free). This would all drop dramatically in a cheaper season. Likewise, the "Holiday" seasons surrounding Christmas and Easter would be even higher.

OK, so, to answer your question. 450 points would get your family on the ship in January for a 4 n. cruise in a lower category cabin. If you have visions of a balcony or of a longer cruise you would have to pay some cash for someone....

 

[kfalsey]

I guess to get a cruise I would need about 520 points for a family of 4. so to do this every 3 years or so, I would bank and borrow with a base of points of 175 points

 

[Anal Annie]

Most people do not purchase points JUST FOR CRUISES. It is not the most economic use of your points. The point values change / adjust for cruises from year to year. Although we plan to use our points for cruises from time to time I wouldn't buy them for the sole purpose of cruising.

We have 250 points. We used 98 last summer for a week at OKW and banked the rest into this years to use for the cruise. BUT, I am already missing the fact that we're out of points unless we borrow. And I don't want to start borrowing 'cuz I want to use those points NEXT year to take extended family so now we're making cash ressies for the resorts with the DVC discount! If you use 3 years worth of points at a time for one vacation then you're really only getting 2 vacations in 6 years! Not a good investment plan IMO.... I think if you have a lot of points and have some to spare it's OK to use them to cruise SOMETIMES...but it's honestly not the most efficient way to cruise... Yes, they're yours to use however you want, just think this thru first before you go out and buy points just for cruising.

 

[SnowWhite2]

We cruised on the Magic the first week of February 08 in a category 8 using points. It cost us about 470 points for 2 adults, DD11, DD13. We also booked (or called MS since the points were not out yet) within 3 days of disembarking so we received a re-booking discount. The re-booking price on-board with all cash was about $4100.

I love to cruise, and my kids only want to cruise DCL for vacation, but I would not purchase DVC to only cruise. It's nice to use as an alternate to going to the parks but a very expensive use of points. I have a cat 11 booked for my parents this Christmas. The cash cost is $3800 but the points are over 512. My cost per point plus maint fees times the number of points gets me about $4000. I'm paying cash.

 

[owensjro]

I would concur that buying points just for cruising is not the best use, however if you do the math out you will eventually get to a break even point (money spent+annual dues vs. money "saved"). It will just take you longer than the 5-6 years most people see using DVC points on WDW vacations.

In our case we are using points for cruises in years when we know we either do not want to go to WDW or do not have the time to go. We've already broken even on our initial points purchase so now we just have the annual dues to recoup each year.

Our 7 night cruise in a cat 9 for Jan 17, 2009 is 338 points for 2 adults and $715 for our child. It was 440 points for all three of us. This is after the "onboard" rebooking bonus.

Jim