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Using MVC Points for a Cruise?

crew

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My SO and I each have a milestone birthday in 2016 and we are looking into going on a Mediterranean cruise to celebrate it. We have a lot of points available and called into the MVC to see what our options might be.

The MVC rep transferred us to the appropriate person who asked us a few questions. We told him we wanted a "higher end" experience and mentioned the Seabourn line as our first choice. He immediately suggested that we consider Celebrity Cruise Line and looked at some of their itineraries. We, again, said we'd like to also look at Seabourn. Long story short we got quotes on a cruise from both lines.

The Celbrity cruise (8 nights) was about 9200 points and about $1000 in cash.
The Seabourn cruise (11 nights) was 18,000 points and approx $17,000 in cash. That seemed so high I decided to call Seabourn direct and get a price for the cruise directly from them. That price, for two, was $21,000. That means that my 18,000 points are worth about $4000.
Apparently using points for a cruise may, or may not, be an efficient use depending on the company.
Anyone here have useful input on cruising with points?
 

Luvtoride

TUG Review Crew
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Marriott Cypress Harbor
Marriott Ocean Pointe
Marriott Desert Springs Villas II
Marriott Grande Ocean
Crew, on the couple of occasions that we have inquired about cruises, we were led to the same conclusion. I don't know why they require so much in cash as well as the points to book these. I appreciate the info about Seabourn cruises as that is the line we would like to try sometime. I have a friend who has gone on several, paying cash, and he raves about the service and intimacy of their cruises.
Apparently, some of the cruises must be better deals thru MDC than others, like celebrity that the rep was trying to steer you towards, but it Marriott is touting high end luxury experiences for large points owners (we're now chairman level too) they are going to have to do a better job on the conversion rate for these cruises! I'd be curious to hear from others that have snagged good deals for cruises.
Thanks for the info.
 

LisaH

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My SO and I each have a milestone birthday in 2016 and we are looking into going on a Mediterranean cruise to celebrate it. We have a lot of points available and called into the MVC to see what our options might be.

The MVC rep transferred us to the appropriate person who asked us a few questions. We told him we wanted a "higher end" experience and mentioned the Seabourn line as our first choice. He immediately suggested that we consider Celebrity Cruise Line and looked at some of their itineraries. We, again, said we'd like to also look at Seabourn. Long story short we got quotes on a cruise from both lines.

The Celbrity cruise (8 nights) was about 9200 points and about $1000 in cash.
The Seabourn cruise (11 nights) was 18,000 points and approx $17,000 in cash. That seemed so high I decided to call Seabourn direct and get a price for the cruise directly from them. That price, for two, was $21,000. That means that my 18,000 points are worth about $4000.
Apparently using points for a cruise may, or may not, be an efficient use depending on the company.
Anyone here have useful input on cruising with points?

Much does it cost you for 9200 points?
 

LisaH

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On top of the 9,200 points it's about $1,000 for various fees and port charges.
Is that what you were asking?

Oh sorry. I meant to ask how much does it cost for your 9200 points in relation to M/F. Then the cost of points plus $1000 is the cost for the cruise going through Marriott. I just want to get an idea if using MVC points makes any sense for Celebrity cruise exchange. From your post we already knew it does not make sense for Seabourn :)
 

NboroGirl

TUG Review Crew
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Massachusetts
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Marriott Grande Vista
We booked an Alaskan cruise using points recently. I looked at the cruises available thru Marriott, points required, etc and did a cost analysis.

I wanted to use our 3BR Grande Vista week, and either rent it out, using the money received towards the cruise, or convert it to points. Either way we'd have to spend additional money to get a balcony cabin.

Some cruise lines were way out of our "price" (i.e. points) range. Basically we ended up with a choice between Celebrity or Princess. And the week chosen also vastly affected the money or number of points required. So we settled on mid-June, just before the cost went up.

I priced out the cost of the cruise, subtracted the amount I hoped to get for renting it out, and came up with a net cost.

Next I determined the number of points I would need for the cruise, deducted the amount I would get for converting my 3BR, determined the additional number of points I would need to rent at approx. $.50 per point, and this net cost ended up being cheaper. My 3BR languished on TUG's rental board, so the decision was easy.

And it turned out to be easier renting the points we'd need than it was trying to rent out our 3BR, so this worked out well for us.
 
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