Redeeming Marriott Rewards for cruises in 2009

Has anyone redeemed their Marriott reward points for a cruise in 2009?

I have been accumulating points to use for a cruise. In the past two years, I have noticed that you had to exchange your points for a specific cruise line that offered certain itineraries for that calendar year. (for example, x number of points for the Caribbean cruise or x number of points for a Mediterranean cruise).

This year, it looks like a certain amount of points can be used to get a credit toward any cruise line, in increments of $1,000. I think you can then choose to redeem as many of your points to earn more than one $1,000 credit, ultimately paying for the entire cruise if you have enough points.

Has anyone redeemed their points for a cruise using this new system?

Was there a maximum amount of credits that can be requested?

There have been discussions on this board in the past that using your reward points for cruises is not a good value. That would seem to be especially true now. With the economy in the dumps cruise lines are offering some incredible deals. Marriott has contracted with a outside travel agency to arrange for MR memebers to use their points for cruises. You appear to no longer be restricted to certain cruises on certain lines but can now apply your reward points as a credit against virtually any cruise on any line. However I would be concerned that there would be some built in mark up here and that I would not get a dollar for dollar credit. You really need to do your homework here. All of the cruise lines have web sites. You need to find the cruise that you want to take and then determine the cabin level you want and the price for that cruise and cabin level. Let's assume for out purposes that the cruise line will sell you that cruise for $2000 per person. Once you have that information you can contact the travel agency that Marriott uses and make sure that they quote you the same $2000 a person for that same cruise and cabin level.

Redeeming points for a cruise

I won't go into the discussion of whether this is a good value for your points, but tell you our experience is redeeming points for a cruise.

We redeemed once in November for a cruise to Mexico and again for a cruise to Alaska this May. It is very easy to do. You call the number on the website and they take care of everything for you, including getting the redemption certificate. You can use as many points as you want, but remember they don't give "change". If your cruise is $2400 and you use $2500 worth of certificates you don't get onboard credit for the remaining $100, so use up everything you can. You can prepay gratuities or pay for insurance.

Our agent at the cruise travel agency has been wonderful. Have a great trip.

Make sure not to compare the brochure prices but prices from cruise discounters like vacationstogo, etc., so as to determine real value.

I have done this 3 times so far. Once last year for a balcony cabin on the Ruby princess inaugural cruise. Once for a Alaska cruise tour (over $4K and used certs for most of it) and then finally a 9 nt cruise out of NY. We had a unique experience because we ended up having to cancel the cruise tour because Princess cancelled the land portion, because of this Cruisesonly waived their cancellation fee of $75, and refunded all of our certs. That is when we decided to re book a cruise and go for the 9 nt out of NY.

I have found the pricing through cruises only to match Princess's pricing, however, according to their site, they will price match for any other cruiseline. In other words, if you found a lower price (for non member related travel agents) within 48 hrs of booking they are supposed to give you the lower price plus 10%.

And I have to admit, one phone call to book and use the Rewards points is nice. You only call the TA and they handle the rest. Keep in mind though, that the points can only be used at the time of deposit, you cannot add them on after.

Any other questions, let me know, I have done it 3 times now, and plan to do it again in 2011 to rebook my Alaska cruise tour. I know they say it is not a good use of points, but we have the points for flexibility, and it is definitely giving us that!

The detailed information on the web site says you can use the points for your cruise cost and for "Some' on board expenses like cruise tours but not for other personal purchases (I take that to mean like your bar bill or anything you charge in the ships shops).

Penny S said:

I won't go into the discussion of whether this is a good value for your points, but tell you our experience is redeeming points for a cruise.

We redeemed once in November for a cruise to Mexico and again for a cruise to Alaska this May. It is very easy to do. You call the number on the website and they take care of everything for you, including getting the redemption certificate. You can use as many points as you want, but remember they don't give "change". If your cruise is $2400 and you use $2500 worth of certificates you don't get onboard credit for the remaining $100, so use up everything you can. You can prepay gratuities or pay for insurance.

Our agent at the cruise travel agency has been wonderful. Have a great trip.

Click to expand...

What website are you referring to? Please explain more in detail, it sounds like something I might be interested in.
Thanks!
Vicki

Go here and click on View details on the individual rewards fro cruises at the bottom of the page

http://www.marriott.com/rewards/usepoints/morecrc.mi