Can you exchange a week for a cruise?

[kamumma1]

Can you exchange a Marriott TS week for a cruise through II?

 

[LUVourMarriotts]

Yes. You have to have a Gold Membership with II. There have been other threads on this topic. Most of them include many posts about this exchange being a waste of a week/exchange. I'd have to believe that it must be, due to all the posts. However, I did a cruise exchange back in 2004 and I believe the exchange was very good.

Basically, II values the week you are giving them, and then takes that amount out of what you owe them for the cruise. Mine ended up equalling a 2-for-1 deal. We went on a 7 night Royal Caribbean cruise to the Southern Caribbean. We exchanged a Platinum MFV.

 

[Liz Wolf-Spada]

Does that mean you paid for one person and the second was free, or covered by the exchange? Did you check the prices elsewhere? I have always read here that it isn't worth doing, but we've never taken a cruise and having to pay both the cruise cost and the maintenance fees plus exchange gets tricky.
Liz

 

[LUVourMarriotts]

Liz, yes, the exchange basically covered 1 persons fare, that is what I mean by 2-for-1. I did check the prices elsewhere and I could not have gone elsewhere to get the same deal. At least at the time.

As I mentioned, I'd have to believe that the deals from II for a cruise exchange haven't been that great lately based on TUG responses. I feel like I got a good deal, but maybe the deals aren't as good anymore.

The process is (was): Book your own week with your home resort and do not deposit it to II. Call the Cruise Exchange department and tell them the week you have and the cruise you want to be on. They called me back about 4 days later with pricing. They gave me about 6 different prices based on category and floor. You can then accept or deny and keep your week to do something else with it.

 

[KathyPet]

Can they get you a cruise on any cruise line or only certain lines?. I know you can use Marriott Reward points for cruises but only on a couple of cruise lines

 

[dougp26364]

It's NOT a good deal. Especially since I.I. values the cruise at the cruise lines price and not the discounted price you can find at most online TA's.

Most of the time you end up getting a discount that's a little short of your timeshare's MF's. Add to that the fact you have to pay the upgrade fee to become an I.I. Gold member AND pay the international exchange fee and you're quite a ways in the hole from what you could have done if you'd just booked the cruise yourself.

The only time I would consider doing this is if there is no way you'll be able to use your week. In that case it's better to get some value out of the deal rather than lose the week all together. Since you can deposit a week for exchange with I.I. or exchange your week for Marriott Rewards points, those times are few and far between IMO.

 

[Liz Wolf-Spada]

So, could you do this with a week already deposited with II?
Thanks,
Liz

 

[LUVourMarriotts]

So, could you do this with a week already deposited with II?
Thanks,
Liz

No. Not when I did my exchange anyway.

 

[dougp26364]

So, could you do this with a week already deposited with II?
Thanks,
Liz

No. Not when I did my exchange anyway.

That's correct. The reason is that the week you exchange for a cruise doesn't hit the exchange inventory. It hits the rental market instead.

 

[Liz Wolf-Spada]

Oh,
Thanks,
Liz

 

[KathyPet]

I would expect to see the cruise lines discount even more especially on cruises to Alaska, Europe, Mediterrean. With the increased cost of airfare and the reduced availability of frequent flyer seats I would think that it may be difficult for them to fill those ships.

 

[dougp26364]

I would expect to see the cruise lines discount even more especially on cruises to Alaska, Europe, Mediterrean. With the increased cost of airfare and the reduced availability of frequent flyer seats I would think that it may be difficult for them to fill those ships.

Actually, the numbers I've read seem to be just the opposite. Cruising offers value in that you don't have to fly anywhere, or very far in most cases, to still enjoy a vacation/holiday. Don't forget, it's not just Americans that cruise. When we sailed Brilliance of the Sea's on a 12 night W. Med cruise, there were a LOT of Nationalities represented. At our very large table there were only 2 American couples including ourselves. There rest were from other parts of the world. Many on that sailing were Spanish.

The Caribbean sailings offer the advantage of still getting to the Islands but only having to fly to Fort Lauderdale, Orlando, Tampa or Miami plus several other ports along the gulf coast and eastern seaboard (Galvaston, New Orleans, Norfolk and New Jersey come to mind).

I haven't been watching all prices but I can say that the W. Med cruise we've booked for 2009 certainly hasn't come down in price.