Using DVC points for Disney Cruise???

[cindycviper]

Hi, we are DVC members and our going on our first Disney Cruise this August. (Paid cash for it.) If we love it, we are planning on booking a future cruise while on board (as we heard you receive a discount). Can anyone tell me if they know if you can reserve the room on board to receive the discount and then pay for all or part of it using my DVC points???? I think I will pay for my husband and my portion of the cruise using DVC points and cash for the kids. Any information would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

 

[tjkraz]

IMO, your best bet would be to pay cash for the cruise and rent your DVC points to cover the cost.

Points easily rent in the neighborhood of $10-12 each. You will definitely get less than $10 each in value from your points if you book the cruise direct through DVC. You will not get any special DVC point discounts for booking a return cruise while on board.

Also, if you have to cancel a cruise booked on points, there are additional restrictions placed on the points.

Search the forum and read up on cruise booking restrictions before you commit to anything. May save you some headaches down the road.

Good luck!

 

[zeinel]

I am interested in buying points if your interested?

 

[Doctor P]

Unless it has changed again, you DO get a points discount for booking an additional cruise on board (though it is done through a slightly different process than cash reservations) and the points discount can be substantial depending on the cruise.

 

[cds62]

You do get a discount on the amount of points needed to cruise if you book while being on the cruise. If the date you want to cruise is outside of the 11 month window for booking with points, you just keep the sheet they will give you with the point cost and notify members services that you are booking with the discounted point schedule and you will have no problems. If you plan on doing this make sure you notify members services as soon as you get home and have them make a note in you account. Also since you would be using points you can not book while on board, you would have to wait until you get home and than call members services since the agent does not have access to DVC accounts.

 

[tjkraz]

Unless it has changed again, you DO get a points discount for booking an additional cruise on board (though it is done through a slightly different process than cash reservations) and the points discount can be substantial depending on the cruise.

Thanks for the correction. I'd not heard of that before.

Unless it's a more substantial discount than the cash discount offered, I still think renting is the way to go in most cases. Booking through DVC is certainly much easier, but every time I've compared cruise pricing the gap between booking direct and paying cash represented hundreds of dollars.

I also don't think many people realize that their points become Reservation Points when committed to a cruise.

 

[Doctor P]

The gap exists many months out, but using points actually ends up cheaper than cash in many cases if you are booking relatively near the time of the cruise. There are pros and cons to booking on points, but it certainly is not a slam dunk in favor or one or the other option. It depends on the cruise, the number of points, and your comfort with the rental process.

 

[Indea88]

If you book on the cruise and you call MS when you get home , are you still able to receive the shipboard credit that Ive read about? Thanks!!!