Hey There, Hi There, Ho There, Brian!
You're as welcome as can be here at planDisney. I love it when I get to chat with other Disney Vacation Club Members about the ins and outs of Membership, so I really appreciate you dropping by with your question today. How cool that you're planning to use your Vacation Points for a high-seas adventure with
Disney Cruise Line –– my family and I have recently been considering this very same thing and I'm dying to pull the trigger and book one, too. Let me share a few details about the booking process to help you get ready to set sail.
If you're planning to use cash or another form of payment for your sailing, you'll be able to book your cruise directly from the Disney Cruise Line website. However, if you prefer to use your Disney Vacation Club Vacation Points (or a combination of Points and cash), you can view the Points Charts directly on the DVC website, but you won't be able to book your sailing online. To do this, you'll need to give
Member Services a call at (800) 800-9800 to check availability and begin the booking process.
The process of booking a cruise with your Vacation Points
works a little differently from booking a normal DVC reservation, so let me share a few details to keep in mind. When you use your Points to book a sailing with Disney Cruise Line (or for other non-DVC Disney destinations and experiences), this is known as a Disney Collection Exchange, which requires you to convert your Vacation Points to Reservation Points. As a result of that, each reservation you book will require a non-refundable $95 transaction fee (amount subject to change), due at the time your reservation is confirmed. Most Disney Collection Exchange reservations are subject to the
Rule of Four, which means they can't be booked during the last four months of your Use Year if you'll be traveling during the same year. And finally, once you've converted your Vacation Points to Reservation Points, those Points can no longer be used to book reservations at a DVC Resort. This means that in the event your cruise needs to be canceled or modified, you won't be able to use any surplus Points to book a different DVC reservation. Don't worry, though –– your Points won't be lost. You'll still be able to use those Reservation Points to book another Disney Collection Exchange before they expire at the end of your Use Year.
Thanks so much for visiting planDisney, Brian. I hope this helped to answer your question, but if you need more information or think of something new as your upcoming adventure with Disney Cruise Line gets closer, I hope you'll come back again –– we're always here to lend a helping hand!
SEA Ya Real Soon,
Amy