Member Cruises - Are they worth it?

[tgj]

Evidently many people find the MC well worth it. The cruise went on sale Saturday, April 6 and by Sunday morning April 7, it is sold out.

Actually, saw that it was SOLD OUT before 2pm on Saturday. I was surprised at the demand, especially since other Member Cruises had availability at later dates....

 

[jarestel]

Actually, saw that it was SOLD OUT before 2pm on Saturday. I was surprised at the demand, especially since other Member Cruises had availability at later dates....

I looked on Sunday morning and all categories except concierge were gone. Then 10 minutes later, that was gone as well. Regardless of the exact moment when it sold out, it definitely sold fast!

 

[tidefan]

Actually, saw that it was SOLD OUT before 2pm on Saturday. I was surprised at the demand, especially since other Member Cruises had availability at later dates....

My guess is that it had to do with the Alaska itinerary and the ship. So, on our 2015 Alaska MC, they only had 2,000 or so passengers, so the ship doesn't sail completely full. Now, a number of what that other 600 were, I believe, were people from DVC, the special guests, people from RCI, Adventures by Disney, the Broadway people, etc. Anyway, it was less than normal actual paying passengers. We had second seating and the place seemed only half full.

Another thing to consider is that the Wonder carries many less people than the Fantasy or Dream anyways, so that will lend it to selling out faster.

We did the 2015 Alaska cruise and I recently went through and ranked all 23 of my cruises (I am a math nerd, don't ask...) and that Alaska MC was our favorite cruise of all of the cruises that we have been on still to this day. We'd have gone on this one in a heartbeat too if it wouldn't have fallen during school term...

 

[Corwin]

...We did the 2015 Alaska cruise and I recently went through and ranked all 23 of my cruises (I am a math nerd, don't ask...) and that Alaska MC was our favorite cruise of all of the cruises that we have been on still to this day.

What did you like so much about this cruise? Was it mostly the fact that it was an Alaska cruise or that it was a DVC member cruise?

 

[tidefan]

What did you like so much about this cruise? Was it mostly the fact that it was an Alaska cruise or that it was a DVC member cruise?

Well, both really. Alaska is amazing, and I'm sure contributed to the feeling that we liked that MC better than the Dream 2018 MC Double Dip. Here is a few things I remember as standouts (BTW, this list is not exhaustive, there were a bunch of things that we did not make it to):

• Getting to meet James Ford Murphy after he did his hour-long presentation on the making of the short "Lava" (the Pixar short that precedes "Inside Out". He gave an hour talk on how the culture of Hawaii influenced him and how the artists for this particular project were selected. He also gave a bunch of insight into the process for making the short. At the end, he pulled out his ukelele and played the song for us right there on stage. After this, I noticed that when I would go up the rear stairs (love the Magic/Wonder rear stairs), he would often be outside his cabin on Deck 8. I got to strike up a few conversations with him and discuss things further (we were heading to Aulani after the MC and he gave us a lot of tips). While walking around Juneau, he came over to us on the street to say hello. Really good guy...
• How available Ken Potrock was to the members. Say what you want about DCL management, but Ken was out and about and made sure to have most people come by a reception. He had his family on the cruise as well and would be out at the pool deck, at shows, etc. Always talking to members. Again, I appreciated that.
• Got to see "Inside Out" about 2 months before it was released to the public. A good number of Pixar staff (see James above) were on the ship. I'm sure being on the west coast didn't hurt...
• Not only having snacks and hot chocolate out on deck during Tracy Arm, but having hot chocolate with Bailey's
• The Broadway performance. Still, to this day, the best thing I've ever seen in one of the DCL theaters, and that is saying a lot. Ashley Brown (the original Broadway Mary Poppins) was especially good.
• They limited the number of passengers on the ship. It was noticeable how sparse the ship was. We had been sold out for months (really since day 1), but there seemed to not be many people on the ship. Again, second seating was about half full. I was told that there were only 2,000 guests on the sailing.
• The return of the famed Midnight Buffet (like I needed it at that point...)
• Free drinks at all of the DVC meetings (also, back then, DCL allowed all liquor to be brought on, so we were "well supplied" in our stateroom).
• Really great gifts. My favorite to this day is still my Mickey and Friends Totem. We also got binoculars, a DVC Clue game, a scarf and toboggan set, bags, Inside Out T-shirts and merchandise, lithographs, etc., along with a lot of handout type things like luggage tags, bracelets, etc.
• Getting to meet other DVC members. We have met some of our still best friends on this cruise. There is a sense of camaraderie among the members that was palpable.

 

[cedricandsophie]

We are platinum cruisers and dvc members. We have been on one dvc Cruise, a 5 day on the Dream about 3 years ago. We were also signed up for the dvc Cruise this fall but decided to do the TCM Cruise that is on the magic instead. We only pay cash.

We loved our dvc Cruise. The entertainment was amazing throughout the ship. The guest lecturers were terrific. And the in room gifts included great bags, leather portfolios, glasses, Disney monopoly games, assorted other stuff, for all four of us. we usually only do cruises that are 9 days or more so the cost of a 5 day was considerably less than that and I never compared it to another 5 day since we wouldn’t have done that short of a cruise any other way. We may do another one if the timing works out but we much prefer the longer cruises. We are doing Norway and Iceland this july and are signed up for the 12 Greek cruise in 2020.

 

[Corwin]

Well, both really. Alaska is amazing, and I'm sure contributed to the feeling that we liked that MC better than the Dream 2018 MC Double Dip. Here is a few things I remember as standouts (BTW, this list is not exhaustive, there were a bunch of things that we did not make it to)...

Wow! That's a pretty compelling list.

 

[bobbiwoz]

Our West Coast DVC Member Cruise is less than a month away, and our ABD is two days closer than that. Looking forward to the experience!