rebooking cruise with points

[zellda]

does anyone know if there is a discount when rebooking while on DCL using points? Want to try to book for the whole family, and it'll take a LOT of points. (I'm also looking at the cash options.)

 

[mickeyc]

It is not always the best option to use points to book a cruise. For example, Jan. 2003 we booked the Disney Wonder for two using 168 points. The day after we booked the cruise the cruise was deeply discounted to $ 399 and you would receive a $100 ship credit. Also, at that time I paid a $75 administrative fee, which all have to pay when using points to book a cruise. I thinkit is now $95.

Needless to say in this example it would have been better to pay cash. If I knew they were going to discount the cruise the next day I would have paid cash. When I discussed this with member services they indicated they had no idea when cash discounts would occur. MS said they are trying to have better communication when DVC members book so this option is open to us. Anyway we had a great time and it was worth taking the trip. However, I will be more cautious in the future.

You should also be aware that you can use both cash and points to book a cruise.

To answer your orginal question I have seem post that indicated if you rebook a cruis prior to leaving the ship some type of discount is applied. Others may have more information in this regard. Enjoy!

 

[eva]

You actually can't book with points on the cruise. Instead they give you three days after disembarking to call MS to book the cruise. If the cruise that you are taking is more than 11 months out you still have to call within the 3 days to have them note on your account that you are going to book the cruise at the 11 month window. Then you have to book right at 11 months. They will even tell you which day you need to call back on. I think that they actually give you a 3 day window at that time too.

We booked a second cruise with this incentive. We are in a cat. 6 on the Eastern cruise in May. The points normally are 186, but with the rebooking credit we only paid 174 per person. For two people we saved 24 points. Not bad, it does give you an extra night or two at WDW.

I know that a lot of people will tell you to rent your points and pay in cash, but we rather not go through the hassle. Plus we have talked to a friend of ours who is a tax lawyer and he says that we have to claim the money that we get from this type of rental as income on our taxes. With a 30% tax rate that only comes to $7 a point. That would be only $1218 per person. I wish that I had hung onto the price list for early booking the 7-day cruise. But I know that it was more than $1218 per person in a cat.6.

Then again, we booked our daughters in a cat. 11 for the same cruise and paid cash. We aren't renting points to pay for it though. Really when we compared the price for their cabin it was about the same either way you went. The points are 123 per person which would give us $861 if we rented the points. The early booking price was $799. So we just paid cash and saved the points.

I guess what you have to do is calculate it for yourself and decide if you want to go to the trouble of renting out your points for cash.

 

[Dean]

The fee for DCL is still $75, only the CC and Adventurer Collection went up. If you book using points and the on board discount, you can only book cruises up to 14 months from you cruise date though I don't know how strictly they monitor those dates. If you were to book with a combo of cash and points for one room, you do not get access to any cash discounts that might be available otherwise. You pay the contract price that DVC has negotiated. You also must pay the entire amount up front rather than at 60 days before you cruise. Ther are signigicant penalties in cancelling compared to just cash as well.

You should pay taxes but there are deductions you can claim which would reduce any rentals to far less than described above.