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Re: ICE Cruises (by Donna W.):

I've been a member for about 6 years. I received a 35 yr. membership to Ice when I bought my very first unit at Playa Grande (have bought all other timeshares second-hand... but was a big dummy the first time around!). I used to LOVE Icegallery, but now so many of the resorts have fallen out with Ice that there aren't many resort units available anymore (unless you like Mayan Palace... they're always in there). The good news is, you can basically pick up a week at a resort for what is the equivalent of that unit's maintenance fee. For example, we rented a two-bedroom unit in Las Vegas for only $500 for a week! Great value!

We also booked a cruise through them. It used to be that you got a certain discount based on the size/location of the unit that you deposited. For instance (and this was several years ago), we got an $800 per person discount for a luxury suite on an Alaska Cruise. However, now I notice that it doesn't matter what size unit you deposit, you'll only get a fixed discount. And, now their cruise prices are the same 'fixed' prices that you see on every other cruise website. The cruise industry pretty much put a stop to anyplace offering discounts. Seems like no matter which travel agent you use, or which cruise website you use, they all offer the exact same price for the cruises (even on Ice). A few places might offer an onboard credit, or if you're lucky, an upgraded room (but be careful of that... you might be 'upgrading' to a room with an obstructed view... those are often the rooms that don't sell). The only deep discounts on cruises that I can find anymore are for last-minute cruises. Unless you're self-employed or retired, it's really hard for your average person to use those.

So, these days, Icegallery is only good (IMO) for getting cheap units at 3-star (or if you're lucky, 4-star) resorts. And, you'd better check inventory daily... usually, good units at good resorts are usually gone the same day they are posted on Icegallery.