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2 hours ago, John&LaLa said:

 

I got 90 on Jewel. 445 free spins. But only won $80

266x your bet, that’s not bad!

My two cents now that we've been on a couple of cruises with the "new" vouchers and the new bill signing. Apologies if this is redundant...

We like them.

We no longer have to face the hoards in the Diamond lounge during happy hour, which would be even crazier with concierge access gone. We can visit when we wish, the masses have reduced, and we can get our drinks anywhere anytime.  Huge benefit.

We no longer have to carry around cash to tip, as we understand that the staff don't get any gratuity like they do with drink packages.  We can simply add it to the bill that we are required to sign now, and it shows on  our room charges.

All positive from our perspective. 

20 minutes ago, ZoeyVictoria said:

We selected a cruise and called to verify the rules/restrictions and make a booking for June 2023. The detail that really mattered is that the date of the cruise must be outside of final payment date.  That makes sense, as we would have had to pay in full before we receive the certificate for the complimentary cruise.  That rep did verify that this could be done.

 

We selected another date (November 2023) and called again to book.  This rep has put me on hold four times to “check with the team”.  Now she is saying that it must be booked with an existing offer that we would then change to the complimentary offer in April.  She stated that we cannot book at market rate, it must be an existing offer to be able to convert to complimentary. Since none of my offers includes November 2023, I cannot do this. 
 
It has been a frustrating process so far. I may call again to verify that info if nothing happens after this hold time ends. 

 

 

That does NOT seem to make sense, because as I understand it, if you use an offer then make a change, the original offer is gone.  Why would anyone use an offer then use their annual offer on the same cruise, wasting the original offer in the process? Edited...

Just wondering if anyone knows when the offer becomes available?  Can you book it earlier than the March to April rollover?  Thanks!

37 minutes ago, dobelover said:

thank you for posting this question. I am d+ with Royal, my ta advised I have to go to guest services after we board Summit to get our 'matched status'. 

 

Sue

Do call in if you want Wifi or drink packages as it specifically states that the 15% discount has to be booked pre cruise. The other benefits are loaded on your card just like D+.  Laundry etc. are similar, but the drink and Wifi benefits are not the same. They're listed here:

https://www.celebritycruises.com/content/dam/celebrity/pdf/updated-captains-club-brochure-v6.pdf

Just to add on this, so we have been offered multiple Celebrity cruises through a company called URCOMPED because we are Signature with RCCL.  I was very surprised by the multiple sailing - and the same comment someone made earlier was on the invite - trying to fill up the ships.  There were offers for holiday sailings (both Xmas and New Years) which are never available through RCCL's Casino Royale.

URCOMPED markets rated casino players to other casinos (who are hoping they'll come and donate there ;-).  They market all cruise line offers, but you can't have an active booking or have sailed in the last year with the line (so we can't take any RCCL offers).

I just booked Reflection for Jan 20, 2024. We have 10 RCCL bookings now, - 8 of which are Casino Royale offers, so we're pretty active in the coming months and will continue to book as our offers come.  We receive an offer every cruise, and will be bookending the Jan 20th sailing with RCCL.

It's been interesting navigating the Celebrity system - having to call in to book drink and Wifi packages to get our transferred Elite benefits (our D+ transfers over as Elite). We normally get free Wifi and between the D+ drinks and the Casino don't need a package. 

The BCC benefits are much more "complex" than Casino Royale, but they look very attractive.  If anyone has any suggestions or tips on how to make the most of our Casino time, it would be welcomed!

Thanks!  

Thank you everyone for the navigation help! We were specifically booking drink and wifi packages, and it was worthwhile to call as it saved us over $400 from the planner rates. I think we'll be fine with how the other benefits work as it appears to be very similar to the Diamond + benefits (loaded on the card).

Any other suggestions or advice from your experience would be welcomed - feeling a bit like a novice cruiser again, as all our cruises in the last 10 years have been on RCCL, and we're very "comfortable" with how those ships "work". Two areas that we could use more info on...

- As I mentioned, this was a casino rate, as we are Signature and Prime on RCCL.  The Casino status is a bit more complex, and I've never seen "freeplay" sold on the planner? Is that something we should do?

- There seem to be more options and dining choices. We're contemplating a dining package as well.

Tips and suggestions to help us navigate would be great! Thank you again!  

Thanks all.  After an hour and 45 mins on the phone, I managed to book the discounted drink package and internet. I guess as we booked the cruise through a casino rate, this is the process that has to be followed? Do most bookings include these items in the fare?

17 minutes ago, bigbenboys said:

To get Elite discounts with Celebrity Captains Club. You or your TA must call Celebrity to get the discount. Cant be done on website or while on board.

Thank you!  I will do that today.

We are excited to be back on Celebrity from a URCOMPED offer - first cruise on Celebrity since 2011.  I can see we are Elite from our D+ on Royal, but I'm confused by the perks and packages, and I'm hoping someone can help us navigate to make the best of the benefits, as we were not offered the all in package and need to book things individually.

I see we are offered discounted drink and internet packages, along with Captains Club drinks between 5 and 7pm. I believe we are also given free drinks in the casino.  My confusion is I don't see the "discounts" outlined on the Elite benefits page on the planner (they're offering 9% off, but the Elite discounts were indicated at 30%, etc).  I tried booking and placing them in my cart, but checkout still only shows the 9%.

Any advice and suggestions would be greatly appreciated.  Thanks! 

We are loyal to Royal, but were offered a deal thru URCOMPED on Celebrity, so we've booked our first cruise on Celebrity since 2011.  I can see we are Elite, but I'm confused by the perks and packages, and I'm hoping others who have cruised both can help us navigate to make the best of the benefits.

I see we are offered discounted drink and internet packages, along with Captains Club drinks between 5 and 7pm. I believe we are also given free drinks in the casino.  I don't see the "discounts" outlined on the Elite benefits page on the planner (they're offering 9% off - where did that come from?🤑).

Any advice and suggestions would be greatly appreciated.  Thanks! 

Having just completed a trans pacific cruise, I can say that requirements were confusing as they seemed to be changing weekly.  As an example, our TP cruise originated in Vancouver, and the requirements for those boarding changed to no pre-test required for vaccinated passengers as we got closer to the cruise date, because requirements were changing. However, vaccinated passengers boarding the ship in it's first stop of Hawaii (where we were joining) were still required to pre-test.  We did call to ask as this didn't seem to make sense, and were advised that as it was a TP cruise, it was required.  Yet it was a TP cruise from Vancouver(?). My point being that the fluidity of the rules over the Summer and Fall left many of us confused, along with the CS people.

In their case, it appears they were monitoring the vaccination requirements for children - "6 year old not being vaccinated. ". I'd see that as a bigger concern than a pre-cruise test, and have to say that travelling internationally during the last six months without absolute confirmation on all the requirements was in my opinion a big risk to take.

For the OP and family, it's an incredibly unfortunate outcome. 

One of the many reasons we refer to it (lovingly of course) as the Royal crApp.

Received our 350 onboard the Quantum when we achieved it two weeks ago, and our 210 from the Odyssey (which wasn’t delivered but a letter was) in the mail last week.

We've got our first D+ >340 cruise next month.  Can someone give us an idea of what "Cheers with an Officer for members with 340+ cruise points" is? Thanks!

Just received our Odyssey of the Seas block from our Feb 22 sailing. We’re now up to date!

4 hours ago, The Scurvy Pirate said:

I was on Explorer in early October 2022 and there was no crown at any of the bars, even though bottles of it were for sale on board....

Same on Quantum and Serenade

We just got off Quantum with connecting balcony rooms.  We were travelling with the couple in the other cabin - the connecting room was requested.

The doors (there were two) are located beside the cabin entrance, each with handles that could be operated from the cabin side.  Sound wasn't intrusive, but if all was quiet (like early morning), you could hear normal conversation and understand it if you listened closely.  

12 minutes ago, ggroup said:

Does Jewel have the older style concierge lounge that is open to diamond plus? 
if so, are drink vouchers needed there or is there an open bar in the evening as there is with a suite lounge? 

It wasn't open to us when we were on it in June.

So update on block progress.  Just back from Brisbane after our 18 day Quantum sailing. We passed the 340 mark and had a block waiting for us in our cabin on day 6.  

Still waiting for our Odyssey block we earned in Feb though....

Fleetwide drink menu https://cruisespotlight.com/royal-caribbean-drink-menus-for-2022/#fleet

Curious if anyone has actually embarked under the new testing requirements?  Did you just show a picture of a negative test on your phone?  Did you actually bring the test kit to the terminal? Do the check-in teams even care anymore? Seems so loosey-goosey now.  We're boarding a transpacific from Oahu on the 13th, and are still required to provide a proctored test.  There are people boarding our ship in Vancouver on the 3rd and sailing to Oahu to pick us up.  They only require a home kit test. Some of these policies are really not making much sense anymore.

So we just received a Mariner block for our 280 that happened last April. Still waiting on our Odyssey for our 210...

We have one coming up on the 13th, and it's linked to another couple we are travelling with as I booked both.  Ours says "My cruise", as do the other 7 future cruises.  Theirs shows in the list with no flag.

Hearing conflicting reports on these being open to cruise ships. We are scheduled for late October - hoping they are!