Is this a total waste of points?

[rombar]

For all of you experienced DVCers that chart and plan your points, what do you think of the following vacation:

3 nights at BCV - Monday - Wednesday 3/24-3/26, 2003 - at 90 or 120 points depending on whether I choose a one bedroom or a two bedroom

3 night Bahama cruise - March 27-30, 2003 for 481 points (2 adults, 7 year old, 11 year old and infant)

for a grand total of 571-601 points

I own about 400 points so I could beg and borrow to cover this, but it seems like an awful lot for 6 days.

Opinions please?

 

[vacationman]

Sure is a lot of points but what good are points unless you are using them for something you want? Sometimes you need to let the $10 per point value theory fly out the window and just go with whatever your current plans are. Crusing may not be the "best use" of points when comparing the cash cost of a cruise but IMHO you are paying for the points no matter what you use them for so even if paying cash sounds cheaper, it is still cash you have to pay out of pocket in addition to the $ paid for your points. You have 40 more years to use the points so why not splurge on a cruise.

 

[Firefighter Mickey]

For myself, I would be asking the question: Do I have the cash to afford the cruise or not?

DCL is quoting $3,000 for a cat 4 stateroom for the cruise you are looking at. If you figure that your "value" for a point is about $10/point, then you are paying $4,810 for the same cruise by using points.

If you don't have the cash to pay for the cruise, and you want to take the cruise, well.....

 

[Horace Horsecollar]

Consider a 7-night cruise on the Disney Magic. A 3-night cruise is really just two full days. That's a lot of points for such a short cruise. And, frankly, the least enjoyable part of a cruise is embarkation and debarkation. The 7-night cruise goes to better ports, provides far more things to do, and really lets you enjoy the cruise experience

A land/sea combo might be good for someone who is doing this as "once in a lifetime" experience, and wants to see WDW and take a cruise on a single, rushed trip. But as a DVC member you'll be back at WDW another time.

As to whether the cruise is a good use of DVC points, you'll have to make that determination for yourself.

It was a great use of DVC points for us. For the Disney Magic 3/23/02 cruise, we paid 578 points for two adults and two children in a category 6 stateroom. If I had booked with cash back in May 2001, the same stateroom would have cost $6,055 (which includes the early booking savings) according to Disney Cruise Line's online reservation system. That's because the week of 3/23/02 was a very popular week. If we had gone during most other regular season weeks, the cash price would have been lower, but the number of points would have been the same. I'm sure the cash price for the cruise would have been somewhat less from a discounter.

This works out to a value of around $10 per point.

Instead of spending around $6,000, I spent a $75 fee plus the money we were spending anyway on DVC. Of course, in either case you have to plan for tips, alcohol, some non-alcoholic beverages, shore expenses, and shopping. But, except for the tips -- which is how your servers and stateroom host are paid (and which thus really aren't optional) -- the other expenses can be as little or as much as you want.

Does this mean we couldn't enjoy the Central Florida attractions for a couple of years because we used all our points for the cruise? The answer is no. Because we own other timeshares, we picked up some bonus weeks in very nice 2BR Marriott timeshares for $199/week. True, they're not quite as wonderful as DVC resorts, but they come close.

 

[Laurabearz]

600 points is what we are spending on our upcoming vacation..... 4 nights at the BC Con and 5 nights at Poly Con LV this coming May.... Yes it is a lot of points but we all wanted to have a resort vacation...... We are only going to the parks 2 or 3 days..... the rest of the time to be spent at the pool and roaming the grounds. We bought into DVC know we would be hitting the higher point options occasionally......

I do agree with a previous poster.... the 3 day cruise is a short one.... It maybe more enjoyable to just do the 7 days cruise and skip BCV. Of course that would run closer to 720 points. but you could soak in the whole experience....... Does that make sense? If your going to beg and borrow for points.... might as well get the most of it....

Good luck deciding.... I know how hard it is!!!

 

[newarknut]

I have a feeling you might be disappointed in your trip. I say this because of the short duration between two major events. We did a 7 day land/sea (pre DVC) last October. We had a great time, however, it felt a little short. You're talking about a three night land and a three day cruise. An earlier post mentioned the fact that it's really only two days on the boat. Something to think about.

It is alot of points. I am one of those who believes in using the points. That's why I have them! However, you might consider two separate trips. We are anxious to take another cruise and we are leaning either towards the 7 day or the 4 day. The three day was a nice "intro" to cruising for our family.

Also, I've seen alot of talk about booking a cruise on points and paying cash for the kids.

Newarknut