should "DCL"ers buy DVC?

[dragonflydreaming]

Hi everyone,

We're in love with disney cruise line and would like to sail every other year with them and do WDW on alternate years. We cruised last year and are booked for another cruise in 2008 and are ready to contact inventory control to request a 2010 cruise.
We noticed a number of category 4 rooms were occupied by DVC members. We sailed concierge last time and would like to continue to sail category 3 or 2 on future cruises. I can't find anywhere if you can sail Cat. 1,2,3 using DVC points and if so how many it would take to do so. If not, how many points does it take to sail 7 nights category 4? Is this info somewhere on this site?

We're looking at purchasing resale at either BCV or BW and will wait until enough points become available at the time of year we're looking for.
Is it worth it to purchase DVC if you plan on cruising every 2nd year? Can anyone offer any advise or direction?

Thanks so much!

 

[Doctor P]

I think having DCL as an option for one to use the points is nice, and I am one who has used points for a cruise (and in fact bought DVC intending to take a DCL cruise) and think it is not as bad a deal as some argue. However, to plan to regularly use points to take cruises every other year is probably not very cost effective. If one books cruises more than a year in advance, you are able to take advantage of early booking and other discounts that make paying cash typically much cheaper than using points. If you want to go to WDW every other year on points and take cruises every other year using cash, that would be an excellent and appropriate plan for getting great utilization out of a DVC membership.

 

[Deb & Bill]

We did use our DVC points to take the 4 night cruise back in 2000 or 2001. It didn't cost us as many points then as it does now. The points requirement just seems to be going up. And we're not going to get anything less than a veranda stateroom (not navigator's veranda, either). If you buy enough points for the DCL this year, it may not be enough in three years when you decide to cruise again on points.

 

[Mtnman44]

Here is a point chart for a 7 night eastern cruise to help give you an idea...

http://dvc.disney.go.com/dvc/common/blankPage?id=PointsChartCruise7NEastCarib07Page

 

[Database]

My experience is that you'll get the best value out of your DVC points if you use them to stay on property. If you estimate the value each point at $10/point..... you'll find that it is more cost effective to purchase a DCL cruise with cash.

We've done DCL with points... but just because we needed to use up points.

Other's may have a different point of view.

 

[crisi]

The value in DVC is in prepaying your vacations - our vacation is 272 points for the week and it will be 272 points for the week 30 years from now (there are a few low risk gotchas, but its pretty low risk).

A cruise that is 200 points (and that's probably just for one of you) may cost you 210 points next year, 230 points the year after. Each year (or after several years) you'd have to either buy more points or pay for another family member in cash.

When I first joined this board there were a few people who'd purchase DVC to cruise. They've all sold.

Now, if you want to buy points for your alternate year WDW vacations and pay cash to cruise, that's a different decision.

 

[CarolMN]

If you only want or plan to go to WDW every other year, just buy 1/2 the points you need for your WDW stay and pay cash for the cruises.

If your every other year WDW stay is less than 160 points, you can look for a resale contract that meets your needs.

As the others have said (or implied), the best value of a DVC point is using it to stay at a DVC resort. If you plan to cruise on a regular basis, it will be less expensive to pay cash for the cruises.

 

[CarolAnnC]

You can book category 3 using DVC points, however, you must call MS to obtain the number of points required. This is not published, possibly because they used to not offer that category with points.

 

[dragonflydreaming]

Thanks everyone! This has been really helpful. It doesn't look like it's a good option for us. I think we'll stick to paying cash for our cruises for now.