Timeshare trade for cruise

[wilson9112]

I have a timeshare but I hear that it is not worth the trade. Has anyone ever done this? Any comments would be appreciated:D

 

Edit: In case this helps. Its with Westgate in Orlando Florida, 5 star, 2 bedroom.

[wilson9112]

Hello, anyone out there? I see you peeking lol...:D

[MD34]

Be patient. You are asking a more specialized question and you waited all of 45 minutes. In all liklihood, someone will have done this and can offer advice.

 

Ourselves, we do not own timeshare but have sat through the presentations. But I doubt the exchange is worthwhile - after all the exchange company (RCI, II) must purchase the cruise with cash. You do not see the transaction, but basically they must fund it somehow.

 

My feeling is that there is no free lunch, and that you will find better deals booking the cruise on its own.

[wilson9112]

Be patient. You are asking a more specialized question and you waited all of 45 minutes. In all liklihood, someone will have done this and can offer advice.

 

Ourselves, we do not own timeshare but have sat through the presentations. But I doubt the exchange is worthwhile - after all the exchange company (RCI, II) must purchase the cruise with cash. You do not see the transaction, but basically they must fund it somehow.

 

My feeling is that there is no free lunch, and that you will find better deals booking the cruise on its own.

 

LOL, I am patient, just joking. I figured few would respond. Your probably correct. When I call to exchange they keep saying they have to review to find out the value? Very strange and Im new as a timeshare holder. Kind of sorry I did now because I love to cruise:)

[kimmiecruises]

Hi, yes I have done this, in 2001 thru RCI (the exchange company). I don't know if you are familiar with TUG, but if you search there most people think you can do better yourself or thru a TA - I would agree if you are booking 1 cabin, we booked 4 and used a timeshare with a low maintenance fee that we bought for trading so it did save each person $50-$100 depending on the cabin they chose. Hope that helps a little! :)

[wilson9112]

Hi, yes I have done this, in 2001 thru RCI (the exchange company). I don't know if you are familiar with TUG, but if you search there most people think you can do better yourself or thru a TA - I would agree if you are booking 1 cabin, we booked 4 and used a timeshare with a low maintenance fee that we bought for trading so it did save each person $50-$100 depending on the cabin they chose. Hope that helps a little! :)

I never heard of TUG but I will check into it. If its $50-$100 its totally not worth it. The timeshare maint fees are over $500 a year alone. I am so sorry I got this. Cost over $19k, what a sucker I am:mad: Thanks for your help and I will ck it out

[kimmiecruises]

TUG is www.tug2.net check them out, their boards are just like these. Sorry that you're not happy with your purchase, there are many ideas on TUG to maximize the value of your timeshare that have helped others who feel like you do - but don't feel like a sucker, those sales people are good at what they do!

 

And just to clarify what we paid, the savings were after I added in the maintenance fees and exchange fee and calculated the difference, but that was divided by 8 people.....

[wilson9112]

TUG is www.tug2.net check them out, their boards are just like these. Sorry that you're not happy with your purchase, there are many ideas on TUG to maximize the value of your timeshare that have helped others who feel like you do - but don't feel like a sucker, those sales people are good at what they do!

 

And just to clarify what we paid, the savings were after I added in the maintenance fees and exchange fee and calculated the difference, but that was divided by 8 people.....

 

Thanks for the site. I really appreciate it. Too bad I cannot divide like you. One divided by one LOL.........:D

[boulders]

If you go to rci.com, log in and click on vacation offers and then cruise vacations, you can see what discounts are available. It depends on the cruise. Some cruises have good discounts, some have none.

 

For example, I prefer to cruise with RCCL. I was planning on taking their 14 night cruise on IOS next July. RCCL does not allow discounting by TA's, so other than an onboard credit or similar, a TA wouldn't be of any use. I booked 2 cabins thru RCI. I don't recall the exact savings, but it was about $2000 total. This doesn't subtract the MF's that I paid, since MF's are a fixed cost.

 

TUG's boards are found here. TUGThere are many ins and outs of timesharing. Please spend some time learning how to maximize the use of your week. Timesharing gets a bad rap since so many people don't know how it works. It really is an economical and fabulous way to vacation, but there is a learning curve.

[boulders]

Darn double post

[kimmiecruises]

You're welcome - I'm always glad when I've helped someone, I definitely receive more than I'm able to give on both sites, like boulders said, timeshares are great once you know how to "use" them - I traded for a 2 bedroom in Kauai with a maintenance fee of only $400 - but I'm getting away from cruising.......good luck!

[Fredr]

I have a timeshare but I hear that it is not worth the trade. Has anyone ever done this? Any comments would be appreciated:D

 

Edit: In case this helps. Its with Westgate in Orlando Florida, 5 star, 2 bedroom.

 

Hello,

 

I have a timeshare and we have gotten great value from using it since our purchase in 1994. We also like to go on cruises. We have a points based timeshare. Could someone advise on how we can trade our points for a cruise?

 

Thanks,

 

Fred

[wilson9112]

If you go to rci.com, log in and click on vacation offers and then cruise vacations, you can see what discounts are available. It depends on the cruise. Some cruises have good discounts, some have none.

 

For example, I prefer to cruise with RCCL. I was planning on taking their 14 night cruise on IOS next July. RCCL does not allow discounting by TA's, so other than an onboard credit or similar, a TA wouldn't be of any use. I booked 2 cabins thru RCI. I don't recall the exact savings, but it was about $2000 total. This doesn't subtract the MF's that I paid, since MF's are a fixed cost.

 

TUG's boards are found here. TUGThere are many ins and outs of timesharing. Please spend some time learning how to maximize the use of your week. Timesharing gets a bad rap since so many people don't know how it works. It really is an economical and fabulous way to vacation, but there is a learning curve.

 

Thanks guys, I guess Im going to have to investigate like boulders. Thanks again!:D

[wilson9112]

If you go to rci.com, log in and click on vacation offers and then cruise vacations, you can see what discounts are available. It depends on the cruise. Some cruises have good discounts, some have none.

 

For example, I prefer to cruise with RCCL. I was planning on taking their 14 night cruise on IOS next July. RCCL does not allow discounting by TA's, so other than an onboard credit or similar, a TA wouldn't be of any use. I booked 2 cabins thru RCI. I don't recall the exact savings, but it was about $2000 total. This doesn't subtract the MF's that I paid, since MF's are a fixed cost.

 

TUG's boards are found here. TUGThere are many ins and outs of timesharing. Please spend some time learning how to maximize the use of your week. Timesharing gets a bad rap since so many people don't know how it works. It really is an economical and fabulous way to vacation, but there is a learning curve.

 

Thanks guys, I guess Im going to have to investigate like boulders. Thanks again!:D

[JolieMadam]

We also have a timeshare and have checked into an exchange for a cruise. In our case, RCI is the management company for our timeshare, but we have not found cruise prices low enough to make an exhange worthwhile. You can compare the price of a cruise you are interested in and they can also tell you what you would pay without the exchange. RCI operates their own travel department that will book everything for you as long as you have paid your membership dues. We took a cruise a few years ago and booked with RCI travel and it was less money than what several other TA's offered.

 

If you are booking more than one cabin, you might find it to be worth your while.

[wilson9112]

We also have a timeshare and have checked into an exchange for a cruise. In our case, RCI is the management company for our timeshare, but we have not found cruise prices low enough to make an exhange worthwhile. You can compare the price of a cruise you are interested in and they can also tell you what you would pay without the exchange. RCI operates their own travel department that will book everything for you as long as you have paid your membership dues. We took a cruise a few years ago and booked with RCI travel and it was less money than what several other TA's offered.

 

If you are booking more than one cabin, you might find it to be worth your while.

Thanks, Im new at this. What do you mean by if I book more than one cabin it might be worth your while. Why? Sorry if it sounds stupid but I dont understand that one:confused:

[kimmiecruises]

I can explain the way we did it when we booked 4 cabins - everyone chose their cabin and then we all split the cost of the maintenance fees and exchange fee evenly - so those costs were only 1/8 (per person) of what they will be if you book only 1 cabin and have to pay them all yourself.

 

When we did it that way, the cost for each person was $50-$100 less than we were finding with a TA - depending on which cabin they chose.

 

Hope that's clear

[JolieMadam]

Kimmiecruises has a good answer to this dilemna. Furthermore, in order to come up with the true price of the cruise, one has to add in the cost of maintenance fees and any fees involved with making the exchange for the cruise. This is why we did not feel the cost was beneficial for a couple booking only one cabin.

[sayaguru]

We booked our cruise (to Alaska) through RCI. We didn't exchange though. I couldn't find a price cheaper.

In order to get value from your timeshare you have to be aware of, and use all the offerings. Use the bonus weeks etc, not just your one week a year.

I have stayed at 5 star resorts for $99 for the week in a studio.

 

We got a 12 berth house boat for $299 for the week. It was short notice and Christmas week. Luckily our Christmas day was planned for less than 12 so we just changed venue. The kids still talk about it, years later.

 

I was very concerned for a few years but we have saved thousands.

[SkipsMom]

We just did this for our last cruise… We own timeshare at Westgate in Orlando as well.. sounds like the same place 5* 2 bedroom. We saved about $125 per person on a 8 day Carnival Western Caribbean cruise. I didn’t take into account the maintenance fees.. I felt that we had to pay that regardless of whether or not we booked a cruise. I did take into account the exchange fee. Sounds like you are with II as well. The week you are considering trading can’t be deposited in the II system. They will charge you the exchange fee before they will even “research” your request and get back to you with a price…you will have 24 hours to accept .. If you choose not to book the cruise, the exchange fee is refunded. What they didn’t tell me until I booked is that the full amount of the cruise is due upon booking. So be prepared to pay the entire cruise at that time and is not refundable unless you have insurance.

[wilson9112]

We just did this for our last cruise… We own timeshare at Westgate in Orlando as well.. sounds like the same place 5* 2 bedroom. We saved about $125 per person on a 8 day Carnival Western Caribbean cruise. I didn’t take into account the maintenance fees.. I felt that we had to pay that regardless of whether or not we booked a cruise. I did take into account the exchange fee. Sounds like you are with II as well. The week you are considering trading can’t be deposited in the II system. They will charge you the exchange fee before they will even “research” your request and get back to you with a price…you will have 24 hours to accept .. If you choose not to book the cruise, the exchange fee is refunded. What they didn’t tell me until I booked is that the full amount of the cruise is due upon booking. So be prepared to pay the entire cruise at that time and is not refundable unless you have insurance.

Yes, thats exactly what I have. I already banked with II and now they said its a separate banking for a cruise and they cannot transfer it. So, my next years I can bank with II cruise but I didnt know if it was worth it. Basically, it sounds like you didnt even get you maintenance fees covered. If I dont use it, maybe Im better off renting it for the week. I really new at this so I have to learn the ropes. I did hear from many people that it was not worth the exchange for cruise. Thanks for your help:)

[boulders]

Hello,

 

I have a timeshare and we have gotten great value from using it since our purchase in 1994. We also like to go on cruises. We have a points based timeshare. Could someone advise on how we can trade our points for a cruise?

 

Thanks,

 

Fred

 

Fred

 

What kind of points do you have? If it is RCI points, then it's just like I described above. It costs, I believe, 50000 RCI points to get a discount. If it's points in another system, then you would have to deposit a week with the exchange company.

 

For the question about why does booking several cabins make it more worthwhile: RCI allows one week or 50000 points to be used to get the discount for up to four cabins. They quote their discounts as amount per person assuming double occupancy. so, if the discount is $200 per person and you book 1 cabin, the discount is $400, but if you book 4 cabins, the discount is $1600.

 

Like Skipsmom, I don't factor in maintenance fees. Those are fixed expenses and I have more weeks than I can use. :D

 

Wilson9112, if you have banked the week with II, you can't rent it out, since you have given the use of it away to II. You will need to find an exchange .

[wilson9112]

Fred

 

What kind of points do you have? If it is RCI points, then it's just like I described above. It costs, I believe, 50000 RCI points to get a discount. If it's points in another system, then you would have to deposit a week with the exchange company.

 

For the question about why does booking several cabins make it more worthwhile: RCI allows one week or 50000 points to be used to get the discount for up to four cabins. They quote their discounts as amount per person assuming double occupancy. so, if the discount is $200 per person and you book 1 cabin, the discount is $400, but if you book 4 cabins, the discount is $1600.

 

Like Skipsmom, I don't factor in maintenance fees. Those are fixed expenses and I have more weeks than I can use. :D

 

Wilson9112, if you have banked the week with II, you can't rent it out, since you have given the use of it away to II. You will need to find an exchange .

Yes, I was thinking about booking it like Hawaii or Vegas and then renting the week out after I get a week booked. I don't know yet, just fishing around. I have 3 weeks LOL (but expiring, I keep cruising instead)! Any suggestions?:D

[JolieMadam]

Wilson: You should look into extending the expiration date of your weeks with those timeshares. You will be charged a fee but it's worth it so you don't lose the time...then work on using the one with the least amount of time left. We have successfully rented our week also....we put out the word to friends who glady pay the amount we ask for.

 

If you haven't already noticed, you are charged fees for every move you make; however there are a lot of perks that get thrown in the mix that you can take advantage of as another poster stated. We recently spent a week in Mexico for $299 total at a high end resort. Of course, they're hoping you attend the timeshare presentation when you arrive....it's called a "hook."

[NYCFOD]

I belong to a vacation club that issues points. To get a cruise I have to exchange 3000 points plus pay. For 3000 points I get a studio for a week at a 4-5 star resort in peak season. I am currently booked on the Carnival Miracle for 8 nights out of NYC in May. To book that cruise through my vacation club, I would surrender 3000 points, plus pay $900 each for two people. We are currently paying $1200 per person. I don't think this represents good value for money.

 

My feeling is that when you swap your week at the timeshare, you end up paying the full brochure price for the cruise, plus you have to pay straight away. My recommendation is take your vacation club/timeshare vacations on land and buy your cruises at the best discount you can. You can always rent out your timeshare weeks or give them to family.