using pts for a cruise

[JLitfin]

Who has used their DVC pts to go on one of the Disney Cruises? Do you think it's worth using the pts or would it be better to rent my pts and pay for the cruise? Plus which level would you purchase 9, 8 or 7? There will only be 2 of us going.

Thanks,

 

[speakupjc]

We have used our points for a cruise during the value season. We felt that it was a great use of points as we got around $8 a point with none of the hassle of renting. I suggest going on the disney website putting in the dates and type of cruise that you want to take (eastern, western, bahamas) look at the price and then divide that number by the number of points needed to cruise. The result will be the $ you will receive per point. If it is to confusing just get me the raw data (price of the cruise and the number of points required) and I will tell you how muich they are offering per point. Whether or not you will be better off cruising on points depends on the season you want to travel in. I have found that value and regular season are where you get the most bang for your buck. If possible I would suggest a cat 10 but a secret porthole cabin for you. Here is the description from cruise critic:

The ship has six staterooms known by insiders as "The Secret Porthole Rooms." They aren't secret at all, but they are a great bargain. In essence if you can get one they are the cost of a cat 10 in what used to be classifed as a cat 9. For more information go to

http://www.disneycruiser.info/pics.htm


I hope this helps.

 

[El Nebuloso]

I personally haven't used points for a cruise, but a co-worker has. I think it really comes down to whether or not it is worth it to you.

 

[MommaluvsDis]

DH and I use our points for cruising all the time and we LOVE it! We just love calling MS and paying our $75 and being done. We don't care to go thru the hassle of renting out our points, we bought them to cruise on.

We love, love, LOVE it!

 

[JLitfin]

Thanks guys, We're planning the cruise for 2010, and was also looking at the value season. I know it's several years away, but we purchased our pts for going to Disney every other year and already have our trip planned for 2008, our first visit to BCV on pts. It will just be my DH and I as the kids will all be in college, last one graduates HS in 2009 we looked at the price and pts for all 5 of us to go and it's just to many pts.

speakupjc - thanks for your suggestion for figuring out how much per pt it would cost. I really don't want to go through the renting process either. I was thinking about cat 7 or 8 so we're not so far down in the ship, would rather be on one of the upper decks. Isn't cat 9 way down in the ship?

One more question: does the pts for cruising go up each year or do they stay about the same? I did notice the pts are the same for 2007 and 2008. Thanks again.

 

[speakupjc]

Your welcome! Even though I don't rent I figure out the formula anyway as it will tell me where I will get the most bang for my points so bearing that in mind I then cruise at that time Here is an awesome website about the different cats it even gives reviews of cabins as well: http://www.wdwinfo.com/wdwinfo/cruise-new/cr-stateroom-tour.htm.

Yes a cat 9 is on a lower deck but the secret porthole cabins are on deck 5. I told you about them in an earlier post. If you want something other than a secret porthole cabin I would recommend no lower than a cat 8 if you want a window. We are staying in a cat 11 on the 7th deck in October which is a cat 11 (inside cabin). Cat 8's are on the 5,6, and 7 deck and have a window.

 

[soarin'family]

We used all points for a 7 day cruise one year....and the only out of pocket we had were our two excursions and tips (oh, and the souvenirs!). It felt so great!!

That was before we had done a point rental, and were scared to rent out our points. However, having just had a successful rental of one of our BCV ressies, I would have to reconsider next time. It really depends on you and it is purely a personal decision.

I am not a numbers person, but I really appreciated the poster who could calculate it out so precisely! Impressive! I'm sure you helped a lot of people!

 

[Muushka]

I just booked a 7 night special western for 9/08. I saw this thread and wondered how many points it would cost us.
For our CAT (5) it was 420 points . We are paying $2632 with a $300 refund when we complete the cruise.

And if we need to cancel for whatever reason (it is 13 months away after all) we will not have the hassle of renting distressed points or trying to use them at non-DVC resorts. And we saved the $75 booking fee.

I agree that using points for a cruise is easy, but the thing that really is unappealing to me is the inability to cancel the cruise. Oh, that and the value.

 

[tidefan]

I just booked a 7 night special western for 9/08. I saw this thread and wondered how many points it would cost us.
For our CAT (5) it was 420 points . We are paying $2632 with a $300 refund when we complete the cruise.

And if we need to cancel for whatever reason (it is 13 months away after all) we will not have the hassle of renting distressed points or trying to use them at non-DVC resorts. And we saved the $75 booking fee.

I agree that using points for a cruise is easy, but the thing that really is unappealing to me is the inability to cancel the cruise. Oh, that and the value.

We are going in January (Me, DW, and DD4) on a 7-night Eastern during the value season and it was only 327 points for all 3 of us (Cat 11). Came out to about $8.5 per point...

... But remember, that includes all food and non-alcoholic beverages...

 

[pogopossum]

we have cruised four times using points and have never felt like it wasn't a good deal. we really like the ease of calling up and booking the thing and then we are done. we aren't the type that will cancel unless something catastrophic comes up. and if that is the case then what to do with points will be the last thing we are thinking about. we'll just figure out how to use them somehow.

our last cruise had many there using points to cruise, including a single guy next door to us, in a category 6 stateroom. we like the extra space of the verandah.

remember that each year of dvc ownership, cost per point will go down, so our cruises have cost us less than $10 per point at this time and i was told by a guide that you figure your cost at $5 per point for a vacation. so our first 7 day cruise in 2000 will have cost us $2250 for three in a category 6 stateroom. sounds pretty comparable to the cash deals out there. and we talked to a family looking to buy points on the cruise and she told me that they spent $5000 for the same category for four.

 

[Fortywinks]

Who has used their DVC pts to go on one of the Disney Cruises? Do you think it's worth using the pts or would it be better to rent my pts and pay for the cruise? Plus which level would you purchase 9, 8 or 7? There will only be 2 of us going.

Thanks,

Great idea to ask. I suggest that you crunch your numbers. A cruise with points is not as economical as using your points for a DVC resort. We just booked a 2008 Disney cruise with a combination of points and cash (to save points). We focus on the DVC resorts to maximize the best use of points, thus the use of cash for the cruise. We have calculated the worth of each point over the life of the DVC contract and booked accordingly.

 

[Muushka]

We are going in January (Me, DW, and DD4) on a 7-night Eastern during the value season and it was only 327 points for all 3 of us (Cat 11). Came out to about $8.5 per point...

... But remember, that includes all food and non-alcoholic beverages...

Using the formula from above, ours comes out to $5.55 a point. No thanks!

 

[dwelty]

Here is a great tip also: You can use points for the first 2 adults, and then pay cash for the kids. Since the cash price for the 3rd, 4th, and 5th people are lower, (especially kids) you can do this and only shell out a few hundred dollars. It also makes your points go a whole lot further.

 

[AnnaS]

We have done the Eastern, Western, West Coast and just came back from the 11 N. Med. cruise. We always have two cabins and have used a combination of points and cash each time.

 

[Debbie H]

We always use points to cruise. We had 4 staterooms in July. Cash wise, it would have cost us over $8k. There were 10 of us. With food and non-alcoholic drinks, plus the stateroom, it was a much better value to use points.

 

[Plutofan]

We just got back from a 4 night cruise and I would not consider using points if you book early. We booked 1 1/2 years early so we got the early booking discount. Based upon the price we paid the points were valued at $6.5 per point plus the $75 booking fee. My big concern with using points is that the insurance is not a good value and the cancelation policy is horrible compared to cash. I believe that the insurance covers $5 per point.

 

[JLitfin]

Well, lots to think about, as I mention earlier we're planning to go on our first cruise Jan, 2010 so I still have lots of time. Was talking with my DH this evening and told him all the comments on this thread and I believe he's going to try to rent our pts and pay cash for the cruise. Who knows by than we might end up just using pts, we still have a couple more years to decide. Thanks everyone for your comments.

 

[tidefan]

Using the formula from above, ours comes out to $5.55 a point. No thanks!

DCL bookings are tricky. Some cruises/categories can be an OK use of points (especially in the Value Season) and some not so much to downright terrible. You need to make an educated decision when you look at this. Either answer could be right...

 

[sharond150]

With rentals or transfer or points easily going at $11-12 per point, why not rent the points and pay cash for the cruise? Seems to me you are giving Disney at least 30% of your point value each time you allow them to give you a value of $8 per point.

 

[crisi]

We have enough points for every other year as well, and have chosen to pay cash for two cruises. For us, the deciding factor isn't point value, but that in order to cruise, we'd be skipping Disney - and that would be if we only used our every other year allotment. The reality is we'd be using three years of points to cruise - so if we went to Disney this year - '07 (using this year's and next year's points), we'd use '09 10 and '11 point to cruise in '10 and wouldn't be back to Disney until '12 (using '12 and '13 points).

Even renting our points out, we'd still be giving up a WDW vacation in order to cruise. We bought DVC points to use at WDW. And we are fortunate that we still have vacation budget left over other trips - sometimes we've made the choice to cruise.