I just don't get cruising on points

[pinnocchiosdad]

So last year DW and I had the vacation of a lifetime. A 7 night western mediteranean cruise. We can not wait to go back and when we do we plan on talking our 2 sons. I just looked at the point chart for a mediteranean cruise in August of 2011. A balcony room for the 4 of us would cost 978 points. Even with banking and borrowing I fall short. t the average point rental of $10/pt. These 978 points would net us $9,780.00 far more than the cash price of the cruise meaning we could rent our points, pay cash for the cruise and still have several thousand dollars left over. And by the way the 978 is just for the cruise, we are on our oen for airfare. Like I said, I just don't get cruising on points, but many people are doing it. Perhaps I am missing something?

 

[bytheblood]

It is a better deal to pay out of pocket and use your DVC membership to go to WDW. Use your points and create your own land/sea package!

 

[bumbershoot]

I could very well be wrong, but I don't think you have to use points for everyone in the room...

Many people don't want to deal with renting out their points, nor do they want a broker to do it.

Many people might just want to cruise that year, don't want to go to WDW or DLR, have the points, and there they go! There's financial value, and then there's other sorts of value. Seems that for those who cruise with points, they are taking the other sorts of value as being more, um, valuable, as the financial gain part.

If I had any interest in cruising with Disney (and right now, I don't, RCCL was terrific for us and much much cheaper!), and had no interest in using the points for anything else, AND had enough points for a cruise, I can see using them for the cruise.

 

[disneychic]

We typically pay cash for cruises (we are going on a cash ressie in October) but we are going on a 7 night Mediterranean cruise August 2011 and for the 2of us, in a GTY (inside stateroom) it was only 298 points. It was worth using our points for this cruise in particular because the airfare is going to be an expense, as well as multiple shore excursions. So, we would rather use points for the cruise, and then use cash for other things.

 

[Dean]

So last year DW and I had the vacation of a lifetime. A 7 night western mediteranean cruise. We can not wait to go back and when we do we plan on talking our 2 sons. I just looked at the point chart for a mediteranean cruise in August of 2011. A balcony room for the 4 of us would cost 978 points. Even with banking and borrowing I fall short. t the average point rental of $10/pt. These 978 points would net us $9,780.00 far more than the cash price of the cruise meaning we could rent our points, pay cash for the cruise and still have several thousand dollars left over. And by the way the 978 is just for the cruise, we are on our oen for airfare. Like I said, I just don't get cruising on points, but many people are doing it. Perhaps I am missing something?

Your experience is almost always the case. In general a cruise on points will return you between $6-$6.75 a point compared to cash and has a lot more risk. One should look at their exact circumstance in case that generalization breaks down for some reason for a specific situation which it generally only does if you miss the early booking discount or are looking at an option that is not being discounted much or at all. Even then about the best you can expect is to break even compared to renting your points and IMO, renting points is less risky than using points to cruise unless you're looking short notice (2-3 months out) or the points are encumbered (like already reservation points, banked and will expire, etc).

 

[CarolMN]

Not everyone values thier points the same way that you do. Renting is not always as easy to do or as risk free as some here would have you think. It takes time and know how, and can be overwhelming, especially for a first timer.

Some people highly value the convenience of using MS as their TA and are willing to pay a premium for it.

Others bought DVC many years ago and value their points at the cost of the annual dues. That can make using them to cruise a good value.


If getting the most economic value for your points is a very high priority, you're not missing anything. Those who cruise on points consider other priorities in addition to the economic ones and weigh them differently than you do.

Not wrong, just marching to a different drummer.

 

[Anal Annie]

I am booked on the Aug 13, 2011 Med cruise in a Cat 10 SPH cabin for under $4,000 (only 3 ppl tho). This is after our 10% rebooking discount. We also have a $200 OBC from DCL and $100 from Dreams Unlimited which combined is enough to cover our gratuties. We cruised on points ONCE. A 4 night cruise in July (in a Cat 10 SPH cabin) sucked down just almost 400 points (392 to be exact). That was about 1 3/4 yrs worth to us. Then we had no points left for anything else and resorted back to cash reservations (I wanted to catch back up & didn't want to start borrowing). We can typically get about 14 nights of vaca / year on our measley 250 points if using them within DVC. So I started weighing 4 nights every other year compared to 14 nights EVERY year. Guess what wins in our book?! We love DCL but will now take advantage of the cash discounts & rebook a dummy res. onboard while we're on the ship. MUCH better deal for us to cruise on cash.

I really think the cash prices on the 2011 cruises are a lot more reasonable than in the past years (at least compared to what we paid for a 3 nighter before). My advice to you if you really want to use points is to consider booking a lesser cabin. Those 7 night Med cruises are SOOO very port intensive - there is only 1 sea day and you have onboard times of like 9:00 pm in 2 ports - you will BARELY even have time to sleep let alone enjoy a balcony. Just my 2 cents...

OH, and BTW they've started discounting the June 2011 Meds just in the past week...with any luck at all they will discount the July ones next month and the August ones in August - at least that's what I am hoping for!!! I would love to save a little bit more if they drop the price!! But if this happens that devalues the points even more when comparing to a cash price!!


(PS) If you decide to go in August think about going on the Aug 13 one - we already have a meet thread started!!

 

[honeymo78]

We chose to book our Sept cruise using points. We have plenty of points that allow us to visit WDW at least once a year and still have points left over for something else. We've been averaging 3 trips in 12 months since we purchased DVC, even with approx 250 points used for a cruse.

I'm sure we could have rented out our points and paid cash for the cruise, but I'm not really comfortable with renting. Also, I've never cruised before and if I don't enjoy it, I will be less upset with losing points than having spent cash on something I didn't like. Of course I hope I love cruising and we can make it part of our vacation every few years.

 

[FourM's]

I don't think you are missing anything. In its current format I can't see myself using points to cruise. I admit I haven't run the numbers since last year but based on that I would pay cash for cruises.

 

[Dean]

We chose to book our Sept cruise using points. We have plenty of points that allow us to visit WDW at least once a year and still have points left over for something else. We've been averaging 3 trips in 12 months since we purchased DVC, even with approx 250 points used for a cruse.

I'm sure we could have rented out our points and paid cash for the cruise, but I'm not really comfortable with renting. Also, I've never cruised before and if I don't enjoy it, I will be less upset with losing points than having spent cash on something I didn't like. Of course I hope I love cruising and we can make it part of our vacation every few years.

There are choices you can make in renting that offer ALMOST no risk to the DVC owner. You simply rent only current UY points and either no banked/borrowed or only banked/borrowed you've already done so for other reasons. You rent EARLY in your UY. And you have a no cancelation policy. This limits all risk except damages that might occur and get charged or similar. You could transfer points with payment up front but I don't do that because it's technically against DVC's rules and therefore I'm not comfortable with it. There is a minimal amount of work involved in doing so but not much.

The risks of using points include the inherently higher costs and the reduced options if you have to change or cancel your plans. We've seen more than one post over the years of people that had to cancel a cruise or exchange and couldn't use the underlying points either the way they wanted or in some cases, lost them totally.

They're your points of course, you should do what you're comfortable with. I just want you to have all the info that might be helpful for you and others.

 

[FigmentLady]

I just joined the dvc this weekend. We got the 2009 use year points and a use year that will make it hard for us to use them by the time they expire in a way that makes sense to us.
Since we've always wanted to take a Disney Cruise but couldn't afford the cash, we'll be using the 2009 and a few of our 2010 points to travel in early 2011 and bank the rest to use later on.

We definitely don't plan to use the points to cruise regularly, maybe not at all after this, but for right now it's awesome b/c it's like paying $740 for the two of us.

The cost of using points vs paying cash for the date and room we looked at is almost identical, allbeit a little more expensive with the $10/pt value using points...

 

[Dean]

I just joined the dvc this weekend. We got the 2009 use year points and a use year that will make it hard for us to use them by the time they expire in a way that makes sense to us.
Since we've always wanted to take a Disney Cruise but couldn't afford the cash, we'll be using the 2009 and a few of our 2010 points to travel in early 2011 and bank the rest to use later on.

We definitely don't plan to use the points to cruise regularly, maybe not at all after this, but for right now it's awesome b/c it's like paying $740 for the two of us.

The cost of using points vs paying cash for the date and room we looked at is almost identical, allbeit a little more expensive with the $10/pt value using points...

Perfect example of a situation where it's likely the best choice to use points for a cruise. The price issue is likely that you missed the early booking discounts.

 

[Inkmahm]

So last year DW and I had the vacation of a lifetime. A 7 night western mediteranean cruise. We can not wait to go back and when we do we plan on talking our 2 sons. I just looked at the point chart for a mediteranean cruise in August of 2011. A balcony room for the 4 of us would cost 978 points. Even with banking and borrowing I fall short. t the average point rental of $10/pt. These 978 points would net us $9,780.00 far more than the cash price of the cruise meaning we could rent our points, pay cash for the cruise and still have several thousand dollars left over. And by the way the 978 is just for the cruise, we are on our oen for airfare. Like I said, I just don't get cruising on points, but many people are doing it. Perhaps I am missing something?

You're not missing anything at all- you've logically figured out that cruising on points makes no sense at all if you want the cheapest price.

 

[Inkmahm]

There are choices you can make in renting that offer ALMOST no risk to the DVC owner. You simply rent only current UY points and either no banked/borrowed or only banked/borrowed you've already done so for other reasons. You rent EARLY in your UY. And you have a no cancelation policy. This limits all risk except damages that might occur and get charged or similar. You could transfer points with payment up front but I don't do that because it's technically against DVC's rules and therefore I'm not comfortable with it. There is a minimal amount of work involved in doing so but not much.

The risks of using points include the inherently higher costs and the reduced options if you have to change or cancel your plans. We've seen more than one post over the years of people that had to cancel a cruise or exchange and couldn't use the underlying points either the way they wanted or in some cases, lost them totally.

They're your points of course, you should do what you're comfortable with. I just want you to have all the info that might be helpful for you and others.

I"m the opposite of the above- I prefer to do the transfer to a fellow member and be done with the transaction at that point. No reservations to make, nothing else to do. I also will transfer IN if I need points for a family reunion, etc. I am not comfortable with renting to non-DVC members when I can take the easy way out and do a transfer instead.

 

[Dean]

I"m the opposite of the above- I prefer to do the transfer to a fellow member and be done with the transaction at that point. No reservations to make, nothing else to do. I also will transfer IN if I need points for a family reunion, etc. I am not comfortable with renting to non-DVC members when I can take the easy way out and do a transfer instead.

I get that transferring is likely easier and safer still but as I said, I'm not comfortable doing so because it's technically against DVC's rules and rules are important to me. Actually I don't think I've mentioned that I didn't transfer and why in the past but now you you have it.

I don't care what others do with their points, I do care if they have the info to make the best decisions they can. Then again how many times have I seen someone go buy retail for a timeshare when they were given the info up front about resale for pennies on the dollar and told not to buy by someone they knew. Or people that go to a timeshare tour (DVC, Marriott, or otherwise) and are instantly a timeshare expert, see it all the time here and elsewhere. I realize people are going to do what they do and that all I can control is my side of the equation.

 

[Anal Annie]

I just joined the dvc this weekend. We got the 2009 use year points and a use year that will make it hard for us to use them by the time they expire in a way that makes sense to us.
Since we've always wanted to take a Disney Cruise but couldn't afford the cash, we'll be using the 2009 and a few of our 2010 points to travel in early 2011 and bank the rest to use later on.

We definitely don't plan to use the points to cruise regularly, maybe not at all after this, but for right now it's awesome b/c it's like paying $740 for the two of us.

The cost of using points vs paying cash for the date and room we looked at is almost identical, allbeit a little more expensive with the $10/pt value using points...

That's a completely different animal - you're in a use 'em or lose 'em situation. IF we had "extra" points or a bonus cache of them like from an add-on or something I'd use 'em to cruise too rather than lose 'em. But not for a "normal" annual usage.

 

[jerseygal]

In my opinion, "unwise" use of points...

Much rather pay "cash" and do a Land-Sea package!

Summer 2011!!! Created my own Land-Sea Package on the Disney Dream!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Can't wait to try this AWESOME SHIP!!!!

4 nights pre-cruise DVC!!! Will secure my "home" at 11 months at Kidani, but at 7 months try for BCV!!! Love Stormalong Bay and the Boardwalk Area!!!

"Dreaming" of my Disney Dreams Cruise will get me through a cold winter probably!!!

Can't wait to see Castaway Cay and get back to Bahamas for 8 hours!
Planning to do either Atlantis or 8 hrday pass to Wyndam/Sheraton! LOVE CABLE BEACH!

 

[Donna M]

We have cruised twice on points with no regrets. We only plan to take one vacation a year due to time and air fares. Since we bought the points for vacations we use them for whatever the vacation may be, trading, cruising or staying at WDW. We have enough points and I think that makes a big difference, but if we had to be banking and borrowing and thus losing a vacation in those years then we would be thinking differently about how we used the points we have. Also, I don't want to deal with renting to strangers.

 

[tidefan]

Wow, those are a bunch of points. One thing that I have noticed about DCL and points is that it really depends on the cruise and the category as to whether or not using any points at all makes sense. In your case (or, more recently, in the case of the Mexican Riviera with the Kids Sail Free promotion), cash is the much better option. However, there can be times when it's not all that bad. We did the Eastern 7-night on the Magic back in Jan 2008 for 327 points for all 3 of us (me, DW, DD4 at time). Worked out to about $8.50 per point, just not worth it for me to rent. Plus, 200 of those were like the previous poster stated (previous use year that we got when we joined).

(* I should note that I don't think that I could ever rent unless I really, really knew the person...)

 

[rescuetink]

I was going to use points to cruise because I was affraid to rent my points. And it would have taken 3 years of my points to put us all on the cruise. But I rented my points for 2 years, and with a few more dollars I was able to pay for my cruise, flights and transfers!!

And I'll do it again... and again... and again...

Every other vacation till my kids tell me otherwise!!!