# How to exchange for cruise - II or ICE?



## tcrny (Feb 20, 2011)

Hi everyone. At Christmas we purchased for first time a 2 BR at Westgate Palace in Orlando for week 51 and want to exchange for a cruise this summer. This is my first timeshare and I'm confused where to start.  With our timeshare we have membership to II and ICE.  I'm trying to read up but so much info that I'm not sure which place to contact first.  Has anyone done this and point me in the right direction?  Thanks so much.


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## Cheryl20772 (Feb 20, 2011)

tcrny said:


> Hi everyone. At Christmas we purchased for first time a 2 BR at Westgate Palace in Orlando for week 51 and want to exchange for a cruise this summer. This is my first timeshare and I'm confused where to start.  With our timeshare we have membership to II and ICE.  I'm trying to read up but so much info that I'm not sure which place to contact first.  Has anyone done this and point me in the right direction?  Thanks so much.



We haven't used II or Ice to book a cruise, but have looked at RCI and I'm afraid you are going to find it's going to cost you more money than you expect to exchange for a cruise.  It's never a points = cruise swap.  Just to prepare you for the inevitable.


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## eal (Feb 20, 2011)

You would be MUCH better off finding a cruise at a reliable discounter such as vacationstogo.com and using your timeshare either for a vacation or a trade.  You will end up paying lots of $$  extra for a cruise through any exchange company.


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## Judy (Feb 21, 2011)

eal said:


> You would be MUCH better off finding a cruise at a reliable discounter such as vacationstogo.com and using your timeshare either for a vacation or a trade.  You will end up paying lots of $$  extra for a cruise through any exchange company.


First check the prices on all the cruises you're interested in on vacationstogo.com, other online discounters, and on the cruise lines' websites.  THEN, with the prices, including taxes and fees, in your hand, call II and ICE to see what they'll offer.  I agree with other posters that usually, you're better off to just purchase a cruise and use your timeshare for something else.  But occasionally the exchange companies offer a good deal.  Be careful, the ICE and II cruise representatives are salespeople and especially if you haven't cruised much before, it's easy to misunderstand their pitch and pay too much  Don't forget to consider the value of your timeshare and its maintenance fee.


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## Carolinian (Feb 22, 2011)

Be sure to add up all the fees.  Very often the cash cost of a ''cruise exchange'' is more than you could buy the same cruise for from a cruise discounter.  And the cruise discounter, unlike the ''cruise exchange'' does not require you to give up your timeshare week!

Here is a list of clickable links to cruise discounter sites:

http://www.timeshareforums.com/links/cruise-ships-8/


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## Learntoselltimeshare (Feb 22, 2011)

Being an ex-timeshare sales guy I can assure you that timeshare's were never meant to be cruise programs. This is the math you need to use to evaluate a cruise option.

If you purchased a 2 bedroom at Westgate for Christmas week you prob paid about $18,000, and I assume you financed it so you are probably paying at least 13% interest. Your Maint. Fee for Orlando has to be around $650 or more as well. So if you own a timeshare for 10 years (normal loan time) you will spend 
the following each year....

Estimated monthly payment $268x12 = $3216 
Maint. Fee = $650

Total $3866 per year you spend on your timeshare.

Add to that the fees they will charge you to trade in your week for a cruise (average $250 per person) and you have one of the worst cruise deals possible. 

Now if you paid off your timeshare and didn't finance....

$18,000 divided by 10 years (average length of time an owner keeps a timeshare) $ 1800 per year plus the $650 = $2450 per week a year. 

Now $2450 divided by 7 nights is $350 a night for a 2 bedroom condo for Christmas week, an ok price. But $350 a night for a Cruise plus the fees they charge you is absolute robbery....


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## tcrny (Feb 26, 2011)

Learntoselltimeshare said:


> Being an ex-timeshare sales guy I can assure you that timeshare's were never meant to be cruise programs. This is the math you need to use to evaluate a cruise option.
> 
> If you purchased a 2 bedroom at Westgate for Christmas week you prob paid about $18,000, and I assume you financed it so you are probably paying at least 13% interest. Your Maint. Fee for Orlando has to be around $650 or more as well. So if you own a timeshare for 10 years (normal loan time) you will spend
> the following each year....
> ...



Yes, you are pretty much right on regarding the price.  Thank you very much for explaining this out for me ... it makes perfect sense.  Because we told them we mainly cruised, thats what they used as part of sale tactic.  But absolutely, your explanation really helped me.  Thanks so much!


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