I think what everyone has to remember about this while it seems complicated - it is very simple in principle.
All DVC member's access to DVC and all of its offerings boil down to one point - BALANCE.
All the points at a DVC resort are not owned by members - some are held at CRO for reservations for NON-DVC members to stay in a Deluxe Villa - instead of a 'standard' resort room. It's just like renting a week at a beach house - you don't get the perks of 'living there' but you can 'rent' there for a week (or however long you need)
SO - CRO has to fill those rooms to turn a profit.
What most people don't realize is that the everything in the hospitality industry is perishable - just like food.
If a hotel has 12 empty rooms on any given night they cannot recover that loss. A hotel can't go back and recover inventory to 'make rooms' on a night for which they have no vacancy.
Just like if a catering facility is only booked 1 weekend out of the month for a wedding reception - the other weekends are 'loss' on their books.
There is a daily expiration date on hotel rooms, banquet facilities, rental properties etc etc etc.
SO - in light of all of that - DVC - and CRO have to FILL their rooms to continue to turn a profit.
If every DVC member that owns at Boardwalk Villas decided to 'trade out' that year to an RCI resort - to do an Adventures By Disney Trip - to do a
Disney Cruise - they would have to work harder to fill the resort.
When you look at the balance at the end of the day - people that aren't staying at a DVC resort aren't shopping in the gift shop, aren't eating at the restaurants, aren't buying park tickets, and aren't booking spa appointments.
If the demand for
Disney Cruise Line rises amongst DVC members who have the desire to pay with points - DVC has to work all that much harder and spend all that much more to market Deluxe Villas. SO it is in DVC's best interest to enter into an agreement with
DCL that will benefit both business lines. DVC and DCL are good business models - and they make decisions that make money. Are the decisions they make ALWAYS in the best interest of the guest/member? NO - they can't be - because if we all had our way we would want there to be a bus pulling into the state as we were walking up, we would want free dining, buy one night get one week free, and 'at will' take what you want gift shops. That's the PERFECT world! But then again - how would they make money that way.
A ship sitting in port isn't making money - an airplane sitting in the hangar isn't making money - a restaurant sitting empty isn't making money - in fact (other than consumables) it costs the same to operate any of these scenarios when you consider the staff, the maintenance, the upkeep - and impacts most importantly the bottom line.
DVC has to balance what they do - what they make available - partnerships that are made- and how many rooms they can fill with non-DVC members when the points that a member owns at the resort are not used at the resort.
An interesting point to make is this -
Overall - it is cheaper to rent your points to another individual or family than to 'trade' them to DVC for a cruise. Cruises are on the pricey side 'per point' - so look at it this way - instead of making DVC do the legwork in 'trading' your points - do the leg work yourself and the problem will be solved on all accounts - DVC will fill a room - you will save money on booking your cruise with cash - and your maint. fees may go down because DVC's marketing cost goes down.
BUT - in the end - it's all about balance. And just how your bank account has to balance at the end of every month - DVC's room inventory has to balance at the end of every day.
If what I have said is incorrect - forgive me - it's just how I feel!
Bill
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...DVC take a lesson in their mistakes.
