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Help! Is it difficult to trade into the Carribean???

jakezmom

TUG Member
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Location
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We own a timeshare in Oorlando and were wondering if it is difficult to trade into the Carribean.

Would we be able to get a nice carribean resort with our orlando resort?

If so, what exchange company should we use? Our timeshare is RCI and II.

Thanks to all who can help!
 
If your flexible with your dates and islands then you shouldnt have a problem. If you are limited to holiday weeks then it becomes much more difficult.
 
I would recommend choosing an island, and them looking where most of the timeshares are affiliated, either II or RCI.

Orlando will typically not trade for a Westin(Starwood) or Marriott in the Caribbean. Pleanty of better resorts like Divi's and Wyndham's can be acheived.

Also keep your eyes out daily for sightings listed on TUG. The better caribbean trades don't last long.
 
I frequently see a lot of availability with II for St. Maarten and Aruba mostly from May through October. These islands have the most timeshares.
 
The lowest demand time in the Caribbean is the height of hurricane season - September. Consequently, that is the easiest time to trade in, but you have to keep your fingers crossed that you will dodge any hurricanes that may be about at that time of year.

Sint Maarten is the most heavily built island in timeshare, some would say verging on overbuilt, so it is usually one of the easiest to trade into. St. Johns and St. Lucia are two of the most difficult, along with, for some odd reason, Jamaica. Sint Maarten is a beautiful island, one of my favorites, so it is good that it is a relatively easy trade.

You may want to try an independent exchange company. I have used DAE to trade into the Cayman Islands and Puerto Rico. DAE has some trading partners in the Caribbean whose inventory does not show up online. You have to request it and then they get it for you. I traded into the Caymans through a DAE trading partner and found the Thanksgiving week in Puerto Rico sitting online at DAE. see www.daelive.com Membership is free and you don't have to prepay an exchange fee or deposit a week to put in an ongoing search.
 
Its importnt to know which Orlando week you are depositing and which week you are hoping to get in the Caribs. An offseason Orlando is not likely to get you anywhere. As already pointed out St. Martin is easier to get than many other islands although I can see some Aruba resorts in most seasons with my Orlando summer week. Another important factor is the unit size, - studios are often available, one bdr. infrequently and you would be very lucky to get a two bdr. So you need to compromise on your expectations and decide what is more important to you, - destination, resort quality, season, unit size ?
And make sure to make your requests as far in advance as possible. Good luck.

Kola
 
Just a bit of our personal II experience over the last 10 months. We had airline miles that were about to expire so booked St. Martin 10 months out. The reasons - we do love St. Martin and we felt that getting a St. Martin timeshare in Aug. should be very very easy. Although we had easily traded into St. Martin in the past, it was very difficult this year. We just got our trade and not even our top choice 2 weeks ago. I called II often over the months and vacation counselors repeatedly told me that Aruba would be an easy trade if I could change islands. Aparently this years excess units are in Aruba. It would not be a choice for me personally to return to Aruba, but if ease of exchange is what you want this seems to be the place.
 
Exchange companies vary on where they have their inventory. For RCI, the biggest supply is Sint Maarten, and it sounds like now for II it may be Aruba.

One place that is a difficult trade with RCI, but comes up fairly often at DAE is Ambegris Caye, Belize. I have never been there but friends who have say it is a very nice island. Having just looked at the DAE availibility list, they have a number of weeks online in Ambergris Caye, Belize including Thanksgiving, as well as the Caymans and Puerto Rico. Your Orlando week will trade for any of them, as anything you deposit will get anything on their inventory list.
 
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Based upon what my weakest trading week sees in RCI, St. Martin and the Cayman Islands are very, very easy trades. If you own a decent to a strong trader, which I would imagine would have to be a holiday week if you are plan to trade within RCI, it's very easy to get a Caribbean week almost anywhere with the exception of St. John and possibly St. Lucia. Based upon my observations, if you own at a high quality resort in Orlando that is a 2-bedroom unit or greater, you might do better with II. They will value the quality of your Orlando resort more. While I do not see nearly as much on-line with II in the Caribbean, if you place an on-going search you should be able to pick up either St. Martin or Aruba fairly easily.
 
Morritts Tortuga Club in the Caymans bulkbanks, so if you seek an exchange right after they have flooded the market with inventory through a bulkbanking, the trading power required to get Morritts is substantially reduced. Once that inventory is absorbed by the exchange market, it gets more difficult.
 
With a trader of one bedroom pink week in Outerbanks, RCI has the following in 2008:

Antigua Village Beach Club (#0635)
St. John's, Antigua and Barbuda
Available Unit Size - S - S
Check-in Date Range - 08/23/2008 - 08/23/2008


Morritt's Tortuga Club (#2082)
Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands
Available Unit Size - 1 - 1
Check-in Date Range - 09/05/2008 - 09/07/2008

Green Blue Houses (#3070)
Saint Francois, 97118, Guadeloupe
Available Unit Size - 1 - 1
Check-in Date Range - 05/10/2008 - 09/06/2008


Sint Maarten Sea Palace (#1151)
Philipsburg, Netherlands Antilles
Available Unit Size - 1 - 1
Check-in Date Range - 08/30/2008 - 08/30/2008


The Ocean Club Villas (#2899)
Sint Maarten, Netherlands Antilles
Available Unit Size - S - S
Check-in Date Range - 09/06/2008 - 09/06/2008

Belair Beach Hotel (#1765)
Philipsburg, Netherlands Antilles
Available Unit Size - 2 - 2
Check-in Date Range - 08/30/2008 - 09/06/2008

Pelican Resort Club (#1516)
Sint Maarten, Netherlands Antilles
Available Unit Size - S - S
Check-in Date Range - 08/31/2008 - 09/07/2008

Sandy Point Beach Club (#0080)
Tobago, Trinidad and Tobago
Available Unit Size - 1 - 2
Check-in Date Range - 06/06/2008 - 09/05/2008

Bluebeard's Castle Hilltop Villas (#7654)
St. Thomas, VI 00801, USA
Available Unit Size - S - S
Check-in Date Range - 04/26/2008 - 04/26/2008

Bluebeard's Castle Villas III (#7655)
St. Thomas, VI 00801, USA
Available Unit Size - S - S
Check-in Date Range - 07/06/2008 - 08/31/2008


Trade Winds Cruise Club-Antigua (#6850)
St. Johns, Antigua and Barbuda
Available Unit Size - H - H
Check-in Date Range - 07/05/2008 - 08/16/2008
All Inclusive - Mandatory

Morritt's Tortuga Club (#2082)
Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands
Available Unit Size - 1 - 1
Check-in Date Range - 10/10/2008 - 10/18/2008

Green Blue Houses (#3070)
Saint Francois, 97118, Guadeloupe
Available Unit Size - 1 - 1
Check-in Date Range - 10/04/2008 - 11/29/2008

Divi Little Bay Beach & Racquet Club (#4219)
Philipsburg, Netherlands Antilles
Available Unit Size - S - S
Check-in Date Range - 10/04/2008 - 10/04/2008

La Vista (#2645)
Sint Maarten, Netherlands Antilles
Available Unit Size - S - S
Check-in Date Range - 10/04/2008 - 10/04/2008

The Ocean Club Villas (#2899)
Sint Maarten, Netherlands Antilles
Available Unit Size - 1 - 1
Check-in Date Range - 10/11/2008 - 10/11/2008

Pelican Resort Club (#1516)
Sint Maarten, Netherlands Antilles
Available Unit Size - S - 1
Check-in Date Range - 10/04/2008 - 10/12/2008

Sandy Point Beach Club (#0080)
Tobago, Trinidad and Tobago
Available Unit Size - 1 - 2
Check-in Date Range - 10/03/2008 - 12/05/2008
 
In the Eastern Caribbean (East of Puerto Rico), the hurricane season is really September and October. See www.stormcarib.com for historical records. This is because the trade winds only permit storms coming off of the Afrrican Sahara which are late in the season.

While you odds of being hit by a hurricane are 1 in 12 years as per the US Weather Service, you will get 1-2 days of rain each week.

May - July is less demand but actually the best weather of the year as the dry season starts in April and continues until early-mid August.
 
My weakest SA trader sees 3 Aruba and 5 SXM for August 2007 and SXM, St Croix and Windjammer Landing St Lucia for Aug 2008

I am a little surprised about St Lucia but again- it is august.

seen with RCI
 
I own an Orlando timeshare I did finally get my trade to Aruba for 2008 after an 8 month ongoing search thru II. Started my request late August 2006 and got my request May 2007. Plan early enough and if you're a little flexible you should be able to trade into the Carribean. :wave:
 
Using an ongoing search, I was able to trade my Orlando week though II for the Sea Aquarium Resort in Curacao in September 2008. The ABC islands seldom get hurricanes.

When I search II out two years for all of the Caribbean with my Orlando resort, I get 6 pages of results. If you want to post details on the sightings board, I would be glad to run a more specific search for you.
 
When I search II out two years for all of the Caribbean with my Orlando resort, I get 6 pages of results.

Six pages! Wow! I need to buy a lower-quality trader. My Club Intrawest pulls exactly 7 resorts in the Caribbean right now over the next 2 years - 3 in Aruba, 2 in SXM, and one each in Grand Cayman and the Dominican Republic. I knew that there were lots of resorts I could never see, but six pages vs. one page is really a big difference.
 
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