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Ritz Carlton Explorer Collection

GregT

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All,

With compliments to Puck for finding this (and sending me a note alerting me to it), it is confirmed that Marriott has added certain of the Ritz Carlton properties to DClub. It is interesting how they've added them -- I thought they would add them via direct addition to the Trust (like they did with Kauai Lagoons) but they've added a special Explorer Club for them.

The link is below:

https://www.my-vacationclub.com/en-us/owners/2_explorerRcdc.jsp

Some points to note:

1) Reservations are restricted to Premier and Premier Plus
2) Five (of the 10) Ritz Carlton Clubs have been added
3) Reservations can be booked 6 months out
4) Minimum of 3 night reservation

I think it is most noteworthy that it is restricted to Premier and Premier Plus. We have speculated before that Marriott needs to find ways to appeal to this ownership base to find ways to get these owners to embrace the DClub (and buy Trust Points). We may start to see situations where Marriott offers things that are targeted to Premier and Premier Plus specifically, to try to stimulate purchases of Trust Points.

Personally, I am pleased to see DClub include Ritz Carlton properties, specifically St. Thomas and Abaco. I stayed at the Ritz in St. Thomas this past January and I believe it is one of the finest properties in the Caribbean. I certainly do not dispute that the points required are significant, but the addition of these properties is an interesting development.

Best,

Greg
 
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ondeadlin

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If they've added Bachelor Gulch, and you're a skier, I highly - highly - recommend it.

Edited to add: No Bachelor Gulch. Bummer. The Vail property is very nice, but it's not ski-in/ski-out, which is what makes Bachelor so amazing.
 
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dioxide45

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Here is a direct link to the points chart.

https://www.my-vacationclub.com/common/vc/en-us/pdfs/points_charts/rcdc_points_chart.pdf

If you are already a Premier or Premier Plus owner with legacy points, this is a great benefit. I doubt the value if you have to add additional trust points just to get access to this.

It appears that you can make single night reservations within 60 days of checkin.

I also don't think they will get a lot of complaints from non premier owners. Given the point requirements, I doubt there would be many no premier owners using this option. I know we certainly wouldn't burn an entire years of points for the two weeks we own for a couple of nights at one of the Ritz Carlton properties.
 
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thinze3

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So is this the wave of the future, having resorts reserved for Platinum or P. Plus members?
 

potchak

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I noticed that over the weekend when I was looking at the explorers club for the african safari. I am waiting on them to release Sept 2012 dates so I can book.
 

SueDonJ

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Did anybody check out the other new link there for "Premier Events?"

http://www.corpsport.com/mvci/PremierSports.html

Ridiculously high point costs BUT if a once-in-a-lifetime trip to a major sporting event is on your bucket list and you don't have the connections or cash to do it any other way, this could conceivably make it happen. I'd consider using a year's worth of points for a once-in-a-lifetime trip to the MLB All-Star game or the US Open Golf.

I like that at the very least, Marriott is fulfilling their promise of adding new vacation options via the DC Points program. They may not be for everybody, and you may be able to put together similar trips that are less expensive than whatever the point-to-cash conversion rate is, but I like that the flexibility and convenience they promised is being delivered.
 
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WINSLOW

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Thanks for posting this.

We haven't joined the DC yet, but with this addition I think it might be worth it.

The Ritz at St Thomas is high points but I'd be willing to use points for the Aug - Nov season. They aren't that bad if you consider that a hotel room for the same week would cost about $2,500.00 for just a guestroom (RitzCarlton.com price) x's 2 rooms = $5,000.00

So for 5025 DC points, the price of M/F for our St Kitts week of $1,850 having the option of getting a 2 bedroom at the Ritz timeshare seems pretty good. (I know you could get 2 weeks at Frenchmans Cove in the same season, But to try something different every once in awhile it's not too bad a deal)

I haven't priced hotel rooms in Prime season, but like others I wouldn't be willing to spend 11,000 -15,000 DC points for a single week there.

Again, Thanks for the info
Crystal
 

Pens_Fan

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Did anybody check out the other new link there for "Premier Events?"

http://www.corpsport.com/mvci/PremierSports.html

Ridiculously high point costs BUT if a once-in-a-lifetime trip to a major sporting event is on your bucket list and you don't have the connections or cash to do it any other way, this could conceivably make it happen. I'd consider using a year's worth of points for a once-in-a-lifetime trip to the MLB All-Star game or the US Open Golf.

I like that at the very least, Marriott is fulfilling their promise of adding new vacation options via the DC Points program. They may not be for everybody, and you may be able to put together similar trips that are less expensive than whatever the point-to-cash conversion rate is, but I like that the flexibility and convenience they promised is being delivered.

They had better be getting you some really nice accomodations and throw in an escort or two.

The US Open package would cost $6400 in maintenace fees alone, forgetting the fact that you would have had to purchase properties that gave you 16,000 spare points to use.

I guess if you had nothing better to do with your money...
 

SueDonJ

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They had better be getting you some really nice accomodations and throw in an escort or two.

The US Open package would cost $6400 in maintenace fees alone, forgetting the fact that you would have had to purchase properties that gave you 16,000 spare points to use.

I guess if you had nothing better to do with your money...

Yes, I agree (and said) that you may be able to put together similar trips for less than the DC Points-to-cash conversion rate. But these kinds of trips are expensive no matter how you put them together considering that box-office tickets are expensive to begin with and go through the stratosphere if you have to use a re-seller like stubhub, and local lodging vendors always hike up the prices when these events are happening. So if a major sporting event is on your bucket list, it's not a bad thing to consider the convenience of one of these options even while acknowledging that your vacation budget/opportunities could be spread so much further if you did something other than one of these trips. But isn't that the age-old argument anyway with vacation budgets, that some folks wouldn't pay one cent more than a Motel 6 will cost while others think that convenience and luxury are worth whatever price you pay?

About your $6,400 MF remark, though - there's a 2-day US Open Golf package for 12K DC Points; the 4-day 16K option isn't the only one. And if an enrolled owner uses converted Weeks then the MF s/he would pay is probably much less than the .40/Point that a Trust Member would pay. In my case, it would be less than $3K.
 
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hotcoffee

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This was the big news to me at the MOC presentation I recently attended. I am interested in the Abaco option. I will probably look at that for 2013 or 2014 if the program continues to exist by then.
 

hotcoffee

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What is exciting about the Ritz Carlton options for me is that they are within reach of my point total. My wife and I have already discussed the possibility of trying to get one or two Abaco Cabanas for my oldest daughter's college graduation in 2013. With just a small amount of borrowing from 2014, we could get two cabanas (assuming availability). We will have to wait to see just how available the Ritz Carlton options will be to Marriott DC members.
 
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