Cruise -- points -- is it worth it?

[pentex]

We are thinking of using our points to do a 7 night cruise this summer....has anyone done this and if so, did you find it worth it? Please let me know what you think!

On top of points, are there any other additional $$ fees they charge?

Please give me any thoughts....

 

[SpoonfulofSugar]

They charge a $75 booking fee and if you make any changes you will have to pay that fee again (because when you make a change they must cancel your ressie and rebook).

 

[Cinderella072004]

We used points for the four day cruise, it is alot of points but just remeber the food and non-alcoholic drinks are included. So for those points you also get food!

 

[agotta]

We used our points this past April for a 3-night. It was a lot of points, but I would do it again. Maybe not for a longer cruise, but definitely a short one!

 

[pbharris4]

we used points for a 3 day cruise and a 4 day stay at WDW. it is alot of points, but I would do it again. I would also use them for a 7 day cruise and I would use them in combination with cash or another 7 day cruise. to me it's worth it. I don't have that kind of cash laying around and I am not going to charge it either. renting points out and then using that to pay for the cruise, is kind of a pain and a risk and time consuming. So for us it is worth it to use points. others will say no it isn't, but I guess it depends on how you want to use your points.

 

[Johnnie Fedora]

We feel cruising on points and the DC collection are major rip-offs. We have always rented out a certain numer of points and paid cash for DCL. When compared to what DVC charges for a 7-day, we saved 200 points on our last cruise purchase. That's a whole other DVC trip!! Plus we don't get stuck with the left over rooms at 11 months, because we booked at 18 months. We also won't get stuck with ressie points should we have to cancel. Whether food is included is irrelevant, because food is included with my cash DCL purchase too. I understand why people may choose an easy exchange, but for us it's a waste.

It really just depends on how much DVCing/vacationing you want to do. We choose to vacation more frequently, and one way to do that is to not trade in points for anything but DVC accomodations. We rent points out for other vacation options, on and offsite.

good luck

 

[DBBN]

I don't think it's worth it. We did a 3 day DCL cruise on points in 2001 but, wouldn't do it again for several reasons including: too many points, fees to book and more fees to change a reservation, restrictions on the points if you have to cancel and we don't like to wait for the 11 month window to book our cabin.

We've done three additional DCL cruises, 1 three-day, 1 Eastern and 1 Western on cash and we've found very good fares by booking whenever the new rates get published. For example the April 2007 rates are on the DCL website now.

We currently have 2 DCL seven-day Western cruises booked with cash. One in October 2006 (Cat 5 balcony, 2 adults, $3,150.22 includes tax and insurance, then we get a bonus $200 onboard credit) and then another in December 2006 (Cat 5 balcony, 2 adults, $2,916.22 includes tax and insurance, then we get a bonus $200 onboard credit). For us cash is a much better value, especially with the rates we've been able to get. Booking as early as possible further allows us to book the exact cabin we've come to prefer.

I've found renting points to be easy and enjoy meeting the renters I work with. So for us renting out our points and paying cash suits us best.

Good luck with whatever decision you make and please travel safe.

 

[Scotch]

If my mom had decided to join us on our upcoming cruise, cruising with points would have saved us money: see my post (#10) in this thread.

 

[QuiltTeddy]

They charge a $75 booking fee and if you make any changes you will have to pay that fee again (because when you make a change they must cancel your ressie and rebook).

Actually the fee is now $95.


And in answer to the OP......YES, YES, YES, YES, YES, it's definitely worth it! We've done both the western and eastern 7 day cruises with points and thought it was worth every point.

Also just made reservations for the Alaska cruise on HAL using points (but paid cash to upgrade to a better cabin with a verandah).

 

[bicker]

We looked into it, and ended up renting our points and paying for a cruise in cash. (We even chose another cruise line, to save enough more money.)

 

[Cinderella]

I was going to do it but didn't have enough points! Some say it is more cost effective to rent out your points and pay cash - that is ok, if you feel comfortable about renting out your points.

I paid cash at www.cruisevalue.com which worked out cheaper than through Disney. But, if i had enough points, I would be tempted to use them.