Booking a Cruise with DVCR! A Handy How-To for Both DVC Owners & Non-Owners!
I love cruising! It’s a good thing that being a Cruise Specialist is part of my role here at David’s because it is something I always want to talk about and today, I want to talk about it with YOU!
The first question we’re always asked as Cruise Specialists when someone is interested in booking a sailing with one of the five cruise lines we work with is, “How does this work?” Our team will then usually answer your question with another — “Are you a DVC Owner?”
This is because while we can book cruises for everyone, the process will be slightly different depending on your answer. Either way, we’re happy to help (and I should mention there’s a complimentary onboard credit involved either way!) Let me take you through the steps of sailing the seas with our team from the perspective of a DVC owner and a non-owner below:
If You’re NOT a DVC Owner:
Ahoy mateys! Most of our guests find us because they’re looking for a good deal, and they know renting points for a DVC reservation can be a huge savings. You also don’t need to be a DVC owner to use our service to book a sailing, but long story short, we don’t rent points for cruises. Before you quit reading here, let me explain!
When DVC owners use their points for anything other than a resort reservation, such as a cruise, the Vacation Club offers them a really low value for their points. Far less than what they should be worth! If an owner books their cruise directly through DVC, it requires a huge number of points, and owners have to pay a conversion fee of around $100.
Ultimately, this means it would end up costing more to book a cruise by renting points from an owner! We’re not here for that! We always want to be sure that our guests are getting the best value possible, so instead, we’d act as your travel agents and book your sailing with the cruise line directly. This way, you’re not paying anything more than needed, and it offers more flexibility and choice in your cruising options.
Each of the five cruise lines we work with offers hundreds of itineraries to choose from! There are different destinations, lengths of sailing, departure ports, ships, and more, and we can book nearly any itinerary that’s available. This means you have THOUSANDS of options to consider and can find just the right sailing that works for your needs. To help you decide which cruise might be the best fit for you, I always recommend browsing the cruise lines’ websites, as there you can search by those different variables and see what options are within your specifications.
Once you have an idea of the cruise line, sailing itinerary, and departure date that’s right for you, it’s time to reach out to our team of Cruise Specialists! We’ll check availability and pricing for you and provide you with a specific quote for the sailing you have in mind. Costs vary widely depending on the cruise, stateroom category, and number of passengers who will be traveling. Typically, the cost is the same as what you would see on the cruise line’s website, but if a promotion or preferred pricing rate happens to be offered, we can check to see if your desired cruise is eligible for it! We’ll let you know the details of the deposit, what the final payment will be, and when the funds will be due.
After you’ve reviewed the quote, if you would like to proceed with booking, we’ll take your information and get started on securing your stateroom! We’ll act as your travel agents, book the stateroom in your name, and handle the details of your booking to help save you time and energy. Trust me; you end up needing to contact the cruise line more than you’d think! For example, if you want to add ground transfers to and from the cruise terminal, we’re the ones who wait on hold for 40 minutes on the phone to make the arrangements. You don’t have to worry about lengthy hold times! Need to note an allergy or special dietary requirement? Yep, we can do that for you too! Essentially, you’re the captain, and we’re your crew. Just let us know what you need, and we’ll take it from there!
If You ARE a DVC Owner:
I know you’re used to hearing “welcome home,” but let me change that to “welcome aboard” today!
As you may know, if you were to use your points to book a Disney Cruise Line sailing directly through DVC, not only is there a conversion fee to use your points for a cruise, but there are also restrictions on the types of points that can be used. DVC also offers very little value per point, so you end up using a TON of points on your stateroom. It doesn’t have to be like that!
Here at David’s, we’re all about trying to get the best value possible, so we’ve come up with an easy-peasy Cruise Swap program that allows owners to avoid those less-than-ideal DVC policies. Instead, we book your stateroom(s) through the cruise line as a cash booking, rent your points, and then apply the funds earned from those point rentals toward the cost of your sailing.
This way, we can offer the same pricing rate per point as we do through our usual rental process. Each point goes a bit further value-wise, you bypass the need to pay the DVC conversion fee, and there are fewer caveats regarding the types of points that can be used. For us, as long as they are active DVC points, we can work with them! Additionally, you have more cruise line options to choose from besides Disney if you want to try something new, and we can book almost any itinerary offered (with the exception of DVC Member cruises).
Once you have an idea of what cruise you’d like, the process begins with you reaching out to our team of Cruise Specialists, and we’ll then provide you with a specific quote for your desired cruise itinerary, stateroom category, and sail date. If you want to lock it in and proceed, you’ll then send us all of the details about your guest list, contact information, as well as your point and membership details. We’ll send you an Intermediary Agreement to review and book the stateroom in your name.
Want to hear another perk of participating in our Cruise Swap program? We act as your travel agents and handle the details of your stateroom reservation so you can sit back and relax with extra time to daydream about your upcoming sailing! You don’t have to wait through the lengthy phone line hold times (which can sometimes be hours long!) if you have questions or want to add a request or a celebration note…we got you!
Once your points are in our rental queue, our team works to find a guest request that would match with them and provide you with the details needed to make the booking under your membership. We then apply those funds earned from renting the points to the cost of your cruise. It really is that easy!
Because we’re renting your unused DVC points, you also don’t usually need to pay the cruise deposit yourself at the time of booking! Our team takes care of that for you, so you don’t have to worry about any upfront payments.
Another common question our Cruise Specialists are asked by DVC owners is, “What if my points don’t cover the total cost of the cruise?” No problem! We can rent the points you do have available, and the balance not covered by the funds earned from point rentals can be supplemented with a cash payment. Because we know we’re working with a specific timeframe set by the cruise line, our goal is to get your points rented as quickly and efficiently as possible and make sure the process is as seamless as we can for smooth sailing!
DVC owner or not, we appreciate your business, so as I mentioned earlier, when you book your cruise with us, we want to say thank you! To do so, we offer a complimentary onboard credit for you to use during your sailing! The amount of the credit is based on the fare of the cruise you book, so we can let you know the amount you’d receive once we’re quoting a specific sailing for you.
Now, there’s a lot more I could tell you about the wonderful world of cruising, but it’s more than I can fit into a single blog post, so if you’ve got questions or would like to chat about a sailing you have in mind, the best thing to do is get in touch with our team! Send us an email to team@dvcrequest.com, check out the Live Chat feature on our website, or give us a call at 800-610-5791. We love to talk about the ins and outs of all things cruise-related, and whether it’s Disney Cruise Line, Royal Caribbean, Celebrity, Norwegian, or AmaWaterways, we would be glad to help you set a course for fun on the high seas!
~Stacy
