exchange for a cruise?

Just curious if anyone has deposited their week to do an exchange with RCI cruise or a cruise through Registry collection.
I recently deposited a 2 bedroom Grand Mayan with Registry collection.
I believe they have a cruise department, right?
Anyone been on a cruise to Alaska? We plan to go this summer and will be taking our 2 teenage daughters.
Thanks for your help!
Beth

I'm sure it has been done, but the usual TUG advice is that a cruise is a lousy use of your MF dollars. It is not a direct exchange, just a discount from the published retail price of the cruise. Nobody pays retail for a cruise. You have to select from RCIs list, which is far from inclusive. You still have to pay gratuities, port charges, etc. on the cruise. Before you commit, check what the cruise discounters charge for the cruise you want, compared to RCIs discounted price, plus the value of your exchange. We use www.vacationstogo.com or www.crucon.com to check prices, then usually book directly with the cruise line. Fwiw, for Alaska, Holland America, or Princess have better access to Glacier Bay than other lines, and that's why you cruise to Alaska.

The only time we've seen exchanging pay off is when booking 4 cabins on the exchange rate.

Jim

We used RCI Cruise to book a 15-nt Panama Canal cruise from Ft Lauderdale to San Diego in Nov 2012 on Celebrity. We stayed in AquaClass which was very nice. It cost us 14 RCI "points" (from Weeks program) and supposedly saved us $1200. I called a number of other cruise-booking agencies before finalizing (I think we had 24 hours to secure) and none could come close to the deal we got through RCI. I believe the closest bid for exact same cabin was about $500 more. So I felt that 14 points in my RCI bank netted us at least $500 in savings. To me it was worth it for that cruise but I would always shop around and compare.

When I checked with RCI Cruises, their price was higher than using a "discount" travel agent.
We use CruiseCompete.Com to get best price.

Rich:whoopie:

I'll second Cruisecompete.com.

I pick my cruise on Vacationstogo.com, then go to cruisecompete and let them bid on my business.

Works great.

Mike