VERY disappointed in DVC and their member cruise!

[mousefan1972]

I am going to be blunt. I am sorry for the OP but if I were buying resale I would not expect to do anything but stay at a DVC resort period. I personaly think they have made it clear. Sorry OP I think you have every right to blow off steam but in the end you are not entitled to go.

I would tend to agree. When the resale restrictions were put into effect, it was quite common to read how resale purchasers were saving so much money over buying direct that it was well worth losing the "perks". Also, I recall reading many comments here on the DIS that DVC was doing resale purchasers a favor by not allowing them to use points for the Concierge, Adventurer, or Disney collections, since those are perceived to be not the best use of one's points.

The saying "you can't have your cake and eat it, too" comes to mind....

 

[mousefan1972]

In this case that might not be true. Until the OP contacts Member Satisfaction and gets the official answer, they still may be able to go.

Bill

What makes you say that? This seems pretty "official" to me:

•Memberships not purchased directly from Disney Vacation Development, Inc. on or after March 21, 2011 will not have access to 2012/2013 S.S. Member Cruises.

That was copied and pasted from my online DVC account. Seems pretty clear to me that if the OP only owns resale purchased on or after March 21, 2011, he/she can NOT go on either Member Cruise. Emailing Member Satisfaction isn't going to change anything.

 

[Anal Annie]

We love our DCl's but I would NOT pay a cent more than we HAVE to in order to go on one of them. I've always been irked that they were in the fall when kids are in school. So now they go & add a 2nd one ALSO during the school year. That tells me they could give a rats behind about members with school aged kids. I doubt we'll ever get suckered into one of these. The shorter cruises are a worse value per night anyway...I can't imagine the additional cost being worthwhile.

 

[quirty30]

I've always been irked that they were in the fall when kids are in school. So now they go & add a 2nd one ALSO during the school year. That tells me they could give a rats behind about members with school aged kids.

Totally agree with this. It's a pretty safe bet that DVC attracts many members with kids. I would love to do a member cruise, but with kids in junior high and high school starting next year, there is no way I can justify it. I was so disappointed when I read the email and saw that neither option would work for us.

 

[tjkraz]

I've always been irked that they were in the fall when kids are in school. So now they go & add a 2nd one ALSO during the school year. That tells me they could give a rats behind about members with school aged kids.

Disney Cruise Line is largely to blame for that. They won't allow charters during peak travel periods--at least not at a favorable rate.

Even the disparity in point charts doesn't reflect the premium price DCL charges for vacation-period cruises. They'll allow some points bookings and those who book 18-24 months out can get decent rates. But as the ship climbs closer to capacity, guests are truly gouged in the rates for sailing dates that fall during a vacation.

Even if DCL were to allow DVC to charter an entire voyage during a vacation period, the prices would be astronomical.

 

[kyle051777]

I appreciate all the comments whether for or against my position. Just to clarify, I had been through a DVC presentation and researched online for about a month to see which way I wanted to go (direct or resale). I knew what perks I would lose by going resale, but as I believe a majority of members on this board felt, it was not really worth the extra bucks. I paid $55 less per point buying resale and purchased 316 points saving me over $17,000.

The issue I have is that I AM a DVC member. I have the membership card to prove it. So why I would not be allowed on a member cruise is beyond me. This is not in any of my paperwork. I looked twice. I will let everyone know when I get a response back from dvc satisfaction team. I also realize DVC can change anything they want whenever they want.

I am just very disappointed that DVC has decided to go this route, as someone mentioned earlier I hope they rethink there position.

 

[aan1701]

I am not a lawyer but I am sure somewhere it says somewhere in your contract that you can't use your membership for the Disney Colection. DCL is part of that, Members Cruise or not, it is still part of that colection and thus, those who by resale may not go.

 

[ldo]

so sorry for OP. I clearly understood not being able to use resale points for purchase of cruises, but would not have thought this meant not being allowed to go on a DVC member cruise. The DCL/WDW collection resale rule is similar to other timeshares, such as Marriott, where resale buyers cannot convert their timeshare weeks to Marriott points to be used at M hotels, etc.
But, where you can book for cash and not use your DVc points at all--seems like that could have been specified a little clearer.
I also have no use for the DVC member cruises--the Sept/Oct ones are at a terrible time to cruise and now even the winter one is when kids are in school.
As a consolation prize, book yourself on a couple of DCL cruises with the $$$ you saved buying resale and enjoy staying at DVC for 1/2 the capital outlay. Elaine (ps--we bought a timeshare resale 5 years ago and were told this past year that only the new "floating" weeks bought from developer were eligible to join Interval International--something that marketing whipped up to try to increase direct sales,
I assume. OK, so we can only deposit our week with RCI, not II--since we saved about $20K, I can stomach that.)

 

[Inkmahm]

I just received the email like I am sure most of you did but to my surprise it states that I am not allowed to go on a member cruise because I purchased resale after 3/2011.

This is copied from the DVC website:
Memberships not purchased directly from Disney Vacation Development, Inc. on or after March 21, 2011 will not have access to 2012/2013 S.S. Member Cruises.

I spoke with 2 different people at DVC, one was a supervisor, who confirmed the above. I expressed my concern and displeasure over this rule and could not figure it out. Am I not a DVC member? than why am I not allowed to go on a DVC member cruise.

I informed them I knew of the restrictions when I purchased resale including not being able to use points for disney cruises, but not being able to go on a member cruise was not one of them if I wanted to pay cash.

I have a email with a request for a call back concerning the matter. Very, very disappointed in DVC right now. Let me know if I am blowing this out of proportion but this really upsets me.
Thanks for listening to my rant

I have to say that I knew resale points wouldn't be allowed to be used for cruises but I didn't know that meant you couldn't do the member cruise on cash. That would only make sense to me if you had to use points to cruise and your points didn't qualify. Your cash is as green as mine.

 

[CMOORE185]

Those cruises book very fast and every year there are alot of disappointed members that don't get on the cruise. My guess is they want to reward those who buy from them direct. I guess one cannot blame them for that.

 

[DisneyBill]

Perhaps DVC should rename the event, "DVC Direct Member Cruise".
I think this is small minded micro manipulation.
Let me guess, the DVC sales guides are going to hype this restriction as a benefit to buying direct? So you can spend more to cruise DCL on the MC?

 

[disneynutz]

What makes you say that? This seems pretty "official" to me:

•Memberships not purchased directly from Disney Vacation Development, Inc. on or after March 21, 2011 will not have access to 2012/2013 S.S. Member Cruises.

That was copied and pasted from my online DVC account. Seems pretty clear to me that if the OP only owns resale purchased on or after March 21, 2011, he/she can NOT go on either Member Cruise. Emailing Member Satisfaction isn't going to change anything.

I stand corrected. I was trying to give Disney a chance to correct a miss understanding when there wasn't one.

Bill

 

[eyeheartgoofy]

I would be irritated, OP. What's next ... are people who purchased resale going to be given a different colored membership card that doesn't allow access to free DVD rentals at the resorts????

 

[Sammie]

Whew...don't really know how I feel about that. Disney's motivation is pretty apparent. Resale buyers knew they would be treated differently to some degree so is there really room to complain? Don't know.

Unfortunately it appears to serve as a warning to folks buying resale that DVC may tweak these rules again at any time, without warning or grandfathering.



Member cruises are typically more expensive than non-member cruises. Staff gratuities have historically been included in the cost of the member cruise. The info for 2012/13 doesn't specifically address this topic, though.

Either way I would expect the member cruise to be higher priced. They do tend to provide some form of unique gifts and entertainment, but you're also paying for the cache of it being a "Member Cruise"!

Not sure what the new plans will be now that Jim Lewis is gone but he was very adamant that going forward there would be more restrictions to resale versus direct sales.

It will be interesting to see what happens in the future.

 

[tammymacb]

I own almost 600 points. Almost all of them are resale purchased prior to the changes. I do own 120 direct points, which are worth half what I paid for them.

I totally agree with the Op. It is a DVC *Member's* Cruise. The Op is a member. I can see if he couldn't use his points to book, but he should be allowed to pay cash. The day that the purchaser of a resale is no longer a member, will be a very bad day for all of us. Because, no matter what any of us say, there just may be a day you need to sell. And I'd be angrier if I was a direct purchaser than a resale owner. At least I don't have as much investment to lose.

 

[MiaSRN62]

To the OP.....while I am sure DVC is within their right, this certainly would make a DVC MEMBER of resale contracts feel like a second class citizen. I just cannot understand why, if you chose to pay cash, you would not be allowed on a MEMBER cruise ? You pay annual dues/taxes.....and have a MEMBER number and all like the rest of us ? Sorry.....just doesn't seem right to me ?

 

[tjkraz]

Semantics would appear to have little meaning. I think it's clear that going forward DVC will be looking at more and more ways to reward (?) those who buy direct.

 

[horselover]

I am going to be blunt. I am sorry for the OP but if I were buying resale I would not expect to do anything but stay at a DVC resort period. I personaly think they have made it clear. Sorry OP I think you have every right to blow off steam but in the end you are not entitled to go.

No they did not make it clear. When the new resale restrictions were announced they said you can't use your resale points for DCL, Disney collection, etc. They did not say you aren't considered a member in terms of a member cruise even if you want to pay cash.

To the OP.....while I am sure DVC is within their right, this certainly would make a DVC MEMBER of resale contracts feel like a second class citizen. I just cannot understand why, if you chose to pay cash, you would not be allowed on a MEMBER cruise ? You pay annual dues/taxes.....and have a MEMBER number and all like the rest of us ? Sorry.....just doesn't seem right to me ?

ITA. If you have a member # you're a member at least in my book. I'm not happy about this new rule & it's not because it affects me. I just think it's wrong & unnecessary. Maybe if DVC didn't decide to drive their direct prices up to such ridiculous levels they would not have seen such an increase in resale buyers. They created this situation with their own greed & now they're going to punish us. Bad, bad call on their part.

 

[BigEeyore]

I completely agree with you - I thought it was the wrong thing for DVC to start differentiating between direct and resale buyers. Maybe under the new management, things will change...

 

[htmlkid]

I think you are all missing the point here. Disney only wants direct sales members onboard so they can direct sell them more points onboard. They know that if you purchased AKV on a resell at $60 they are not going to be able to convince you to purchase more points at $120.

If you think Disney is "only" doing the cruise to thank you, you mistaken, they are charging you more to come with the intentions of selling you on more points.