Member cruise or regular cruise?

[Norm1]

I recently came back from the 2010 member cruise which was my first cruise ever. Needless to say I am now hooked and ready to book again. However, looking at the point chart for the 2011 cruise and the point chart for the exact same cabin the week before and the week after I would save 150 points for DW and myself.
Besides the gifts and the special guests what would I be missing between the member and regular cruises?

 

[alldiz]

Personally i wouldn't do a member cruise because they always cruise during hurricane season. Which is "cheap"...I wouldn't pay a premium for that.
Kerri

 

[speicher46]

My family has been on eight cruises and have never taken a member's cruise. I really do not see any advantage other than the ones you mentioned. You can get much more value for your points if you pass on the member's cruises.

 

[BigDogHU75]

This is from another thread (http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2554646) but I think it will help answer your question.

Sandy - I've known people who have waitlisted on just about every single Member Cruise and they all came through. Not everyone still booked it when it came through but the waitlist did come through.

For everyone else - my 2 cents on the high premium. We've been on the '03, '05, '06, '07, 08, and '09 Member Cruises. For '03-'07 we thought the premium was more than worth it with the entertainment and special guests we got. For '08 & '09 we felt it was more of the b-team and that most of the ideas, gifts, etc. were recycled. That's one of the reasons we didn't go on the '10 cruise. From what little I've read it doesn't sound like things were much better on the 2010 cruise. Having the same gift (with different art) for 4 cruises in a row is crazy. For someone who has never sailed on a Member Cruise go for it. It is different than a regular cruise. For those who have sailed before ask yourself what you enjoyed most. If it is friendship of your fellow DISers, going to CC twice, or enjoying the FE gifts than I think you will find that you can get that a lot cheaper with a regular DCL cruise. If it truly was the guests/gifts that DVC provided and you think you got a good value then by all means go for it again. IMHO the value has gone down over the years while the cost keeps staying high.

And, another thread http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2554646:

As someone who has sailed on the 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, and 2009 DVC Member Cruises I think I can help answer some of your questions.

First off the DVC Member Cruise is a charter between DVC and DCL so your normal DCL discounts etc. don't apply. In fact you will find that the DVC Member Cruise is more expensive than the same 4 night cruise right before or right after it. In addition you have to book it through Member Services (they set up a special booking day). You can pay with points, cash, or a combo. If you pay with cash it has to be in full on that day. You can't put down a deposit and pay the balance over time like with a regular cruise.

So what makes a Member Cruise different than a regular cruise:

The Members Cruises are different than a regular 4 day cruise at the same time for the following reasons:

• Usually a different itinerary than the regular cruise.
  • 2003 was Castaway Cay, Nassau, Castaway Cay
  • 2005 was Key West, Sea, Castaway Cay
  • 2006, 2007, 2008 and 2009 were all Castaway Cay, Sea, Castaway Cay
• Special guests. Over the years we had talks and tours from different Disney Imagineers, Roy Disney, Art Linkletter, Disney Legends and some wonderful entertainment from some of Disney's Broadway stars.
• Special gifts. Limited edition pins, artwork, and other fun gifts
• Group picture on the beach
• DVC themed DCL shows and games like bingo and who wants to be a mouseketeer.

Now all of this doesn't offer a value to some people and that is great. It isn't for everyone. In addition DVC likes to surprise you so you often won't know what the theme is (though they have been using Disney Inspirations for the last couple of cruises) or who the guests are before you sail.

Another thing to keep in mind is that the DVC Member Cruise seems to be more geared to adults than to children. If you are someone that loves Disney history than you would more than likely enjoy the guest selection but they are most likely not anyone your children may know or care about. This usually means that the Member Cruise has a smaller number of children than a regular cruise. I remember back on the 2003 cruise that everyone was complaining that the adult beach was packed while the family beach was pretty quiet.

I believe that members can book up to 3 staterooms on booking day. One other thing is that since 2005 tips have been included in the Member Cruise price which is also different than most regular cruises.
BTW - one other thing not listed above. The price for the Member Cruise includes your tips. They aren't included in regular cruises.

Only you can decide what is right for you. I will say that we were a bit disappointed in both the 2008 and 2009 cruises which is one of the reasons (but not the only one) on why we didn't book this year. Communication seemed to be poor and the guests didn't seem to be as good as on previous years.

On other thing to consider. Since 2006 that first day at Castaway Cay had a late arrival of 10:30 or so while DVC was doing an on board presentation (they did one on CC day and the other on the sea day). It has been a game show, a musical show, but in reality it is a sales pitch. The good news is they give out some great raffle prizes and if you are looking to add on they have some great incentives (some who are sailing this year are doing so because they go the cruise free from adding on last year).

Hope this helps many of you decide if the Member Cruise is right for you.

Hope this helps.

 

[WDWLVR]

This is from another thread (http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2554646) but I think it will help answer your question.



And, another thread http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2554646:




Hope this helps.

Well I was going to answer but I see Marsha already gave you what I would have said. Thanks Marsha!

Bottom line - if what you enjoyed was the cruise itself than book a regular cruise. If you really enjoyed the extra gifts and special guests and felt it was worth the extra money than do the Member Cruise again. We used to feel the Member Cruise was worth it, but as you can see above we no longer feel that way.

 

[LIFERBABE]

IMO there is no such thing as a regular cruise. DCL does an excellent job of providing entertainment , special guests and gifts.

I am gold castaway and 2 of my 5 cruises are MC's
The first 2

After the 06 MC I decided that I liked Dcl for what they provide on a consistent basis. The MC was highly inconsistent, as was the DVC staff on the cruise. It is a charter and there were big gaps in programming that occurred as DCL tried to accommodate DVC schedule. We received our Navigators late each night some days not till morning
Dcl is a well run cruise and the MC felt disjointed. I was extremely impressed in 05 with the Dvc staff but 06 they focused more on sales team staffing and less on event staffing and it showed

 

[Norm1]

I want to thank all of you who responded it was very helpful. What I got was that we, DW and I, need to try a non-member cruise for ourselves and then make a decision of what best suits us. I think what everyone was saying is that there is no right or wrong answer. That no matter what DCL cruise we sail on it will be enjoyable because of the consistancy of the service. Thank you all again. I need to go plan my next cruise.