Ins and Outs of the DVC Member Cruise? About This Page:

[norm & linda]

I would so love to hear some of the basics of the DVC Member Cruise, if anyone has some time -- costs, booking, dates, itineraries - any info would be appreciated!

[tjkraz]

Not much is known about the 2010 cruise yet. The dates have been announced for September 12-16, 2010--a 4-night cruise. But that's pretty much it.

Booking typically occurs on a Saturday in early November. I would expect the date to be announced any time now. You need to be prepared to call right when the phone lines open and to be on hold for hours. Also have several acceptable cabin categories in mind since the one you want may well be gone by the time they get to your call. If you don't call on the designated booking date or call later in the day, there's no way of knowing what will be left over.

Cash and point prices are usually a little bit higher than a typical 4-night cruise during the same season. The main reason for that is because staff gratuities are included. (They are not included with a standard cruise booking.) They will also give you a lot of special freebies throughout the voyage.

There is usually a theme for each voyage and a number of celebrities on board. Those features are not announced until well after the bookings so you are sort of going into it blind. Some of the past rosters have been very impressive with highly-regarded Imagineers, animators and performers from the Disney company history.

Comments I read about the 2009 cruise suggested that some frequent cruisers were disappointed. It sounded like the lineup of special guests was quite similar to another recent member voyage. But first-timers seemed to enjoy it just as much as ever.

Hope others chime in with their first-hand experiences.

[lukeandbrookesmom]

Thanks for the info Tim!

[rescuesk]

We were on the 2008 member cruise. It was wonderful! This is my trip report about it:

Steve and Sue and the Wonder-ful DVC Member Cruise **Updated 11/1** COMPLETE

It was slightly higher points then a regular cruise, but there was no booking fee, gratuities were included and there were tons of staterooms gifts and extras on board!

We got notification of the date to start calling via postcard, and I called after the 9 AM start time. It took me 21 times to get through, and I was on hold for a long time, but in the end it was well worth it. There were still lots of choices when I got through, and we ended up in a category 6. It was a great stateroom, we loved it!

I would love to do another member cruise in the future. One of the most magical things was being on board with 2500 other DVC members. We never ran out of things to talk about!

[aliceinwdw]

About how many points are required? For an average room (category?) with a window?

It'd be fun to see if we even had enough points to consider going next year....

[tjkraz]

Originally Posted by aliceinwdw

About how many points are required? For an average room (category?) with a window?

It'd be fun to see if we even had enough points to consider going next year....

Look up the 2010 cruise points for a 4-night sailing in September. Figure on the member cruise being 5-10% higher since there is no $95 booking fee and gratuities are included.

[aliceinwdw]

Will do! Thanks!

[tjkraz]

Cruise booking date has been set for November 7. Point charts, itinerary and other details are now available.

DVCNews.com - The essential Vacation Club resource! - 2010 S.S. Member Cruise Details

[DVCBird941]

For someone who has never been on a cruise I have 2 questions. What is the difference between a cat 8 and 9 room, as both say Deluxe Oceanview Stateroom, other than the 13pts more? Also the diference between a cat 5 and 6 room , as both say Deluxe Stateroom w/ Verandah, other than the 8pts more?

[tjkraz]

Originally Posted by DVCBird941

For someone who has never been on a cruise I have 2 questions. What is the difference between a cat 8 and 9 room, as both say Deluxe Oceanview Stateroom, other than the 13pts more? Also the diference between a cat 5 and 6 room , as both say Deluxe Stateroom w/ Verandah, other than the 8pts more?

The only difference is location on the ship. The Cat 8 & 5 rooms are on higher decks than the Cat 9 & 6 rooms. Other than that, the room layouts are exactly the same.

Unless you are mobility challenged, I can't see paying more for a "better" location. Our first cruise was on Deck 2 (second from bottom) and I didn't feel that we were at any sort of disadvantage. Most of the ship's services are on decks 3, 4 and 5 so we were just a short stairway climb or elevator ride away from the restaurants, theater, kids club, etc. Getting up to the top decks (9/10) was obviously an elevator ride, but that was no great inconvenience IMO.

[DVCBird941]

Thanks for the info. That is what I thought it was going to be but I would rather be certain.