Timeshare exchanges

[missjean]

I was just curious to find out if anyone has a timeshare and has exchanged their week for a cruise. I tried doing it with my last cruise, but I guess they only exchange specific cruises, and specific dates.

[joycemh]

We have timeshare, and I found you pay more than if you booked the cruise yourself and saved the timeshare for resorts. By the time you pay the exchange fee, and the exchange is for one person and not the cabin. If it was for the cabin then it would pay.

 

Joyce

[Gussie]

I was told by RCI that there was 1 fee charged for the exchange, and that you could book more than 1 cabin. To test this, go to the RCI website, select a cruise that has an exchange rate, and then click on the exchange rate link.

You will see that the exchange fee is per cabin in this case. The exchange fee is $189, and there is an additional processing fee of $19.95.

 

I did notice that in MOST cases our maintenance fees were greater than the savings. But there were a few exchanges that did make financial sense. I still check RCI cruise on a regular basis, but have not found a cruise exchange that meets our needs yet.

 

What exchange company were you using?

[SailBadtheSinner]

Why don't you post your question to the "Exchanging" forum at the Timeshare Users Group (TUG) BBS:

http://www.tug2.net/

 

I believe you have to me a member to post; but if you own a TS, it is worth it.

 

 

SBtS

 

Here's to swimmin' with bowlegged women.......

-- Cpt Quint of The Orca, Amity, USA

[suezyq50]

I inquired about exchanging. You are much better renting the week and applying the money towards your cruise. I love my timeshare:D But you have to buy resale or else you are paying too much.

[hotmike98]

RCI tried to tell me that you exchanged your t/s for the cabin only, and still had to pay taxes, port fees and a hefty charge for the FOOD! The cost was ridiculous. Even if they have relaxed their view on this, I agree with suezyq50: rent your timeshare (or bank it and do two weeks the following year) and search out the best cruise bargain. By the way, you don't have to be a member of TUG to post on their boards (only to look up specific resort reviews), but the membership is very cheap and the folks there are friendly and helpful (just like CC, but without the rants about jeans in the dining room!). In fact you will see several familiar names there!

[missjean]

This information is very helpful! I have RCI as well and tried to book my last cruise as an exchange. Unfortunately that date was not exchangeable... I was told that it was because the value of that particular cruise was cheaper than the value of the timeshare. :confused: I thought that was an interesting response.

 

But I was able to find a MUCH better rate going directly through the cruiseline, and avoiding the extra fees (which I didn't factor in when I considered exchanging for a cruise).

 

Thanks also for the TUG forum... I'll definitely check that out!

[suezyq50]

What is TUG?:confused:

[wizfourfam]

What is TUG?:confused:

Stands for Timeshare Users Group. Great boards with lots of timeshare advice, from exchanging to resorts to location information!

 

Anyone who owns a timeshare or considersing buying, needs to check this board out!. Lots of great advice!

[jnc411]

FIrst I do not have a timeshare and this information is second hand. On our last cruise we met a couple that had exchanged there time share time for the cruise, they ended up in a lowest catagory cabin with bunk beds next to the crew across from the medical center in the bottom of the ship with a little port hole. They were told it was worth over $3000.+ per person, wrong !!! This was a 15 day cruise but that cabin was not that price (some other cabins on the ship yes, this one , NO, they got taken big time. We paid half that per person and had a cat. DD outside cabin. I think you really need to be careful when doing these exchanges. Just my opinion.

Cori

[maryjohn]

WE have points with the Sunterra Group and have used them to book one of the weeks on our B2Bs in October. We really did it because we hardly ever use these points and end up losing them!!

We paid £219 each for the week over and above the points we used - this is for an inside cabin. I have noticed on RC website that there are still some promenade cabins left and enquired about upgrading to one of them. The inside cabins are advertised at £479 and the promenade cabins at £489 - a difference in my book of £10! We were quoted £200 each to upgrade to a promenade cabin!! I tried contacting RC direct but was told they could not deal with my query - I would have to go through my TA.. Seems we have been penalised for using our points - we would have been cheaper paying upfront and keeping the points! Would never book by this method again. WE booked our second week through an American TA and were cheaper for that than the first week!! Beware - at the time we thought we were getting a good deal!

[Gma&Gpa]

We took our first cruise last year on the Inspiration and we went through our RCI timeshare. I agree that sometimes you might find a better price elsewhere - but in our case, we had porthole rooms on the Empress Deck - at what we felt was pretty reasonable. Also, our timeshare exchange could be used for up to 6 cabins... So my sister and her husband were also part of that same timeshare exchange. And we could have had several other couples that could have signed up and received our price. Obviously, the later you book - the higher the price would have gone - but it still would have been part of our exchange.

 

I'm not an expert at this cruising thing yet - and for our next year, we did go through a local TA. But I won't count out the possibilitly of timeshare exchanges in the future.