20pluscruises

Not clear what you mean by this. You earn a certificate from your play onboard. That certificate will give you a free cruise (at least it did for me) with a varying amount of days and cabin categories depending on your play. I'm not sure what your differentiation of comped cruise and certificate are as there is only one way to earn them from Blue Chip under the new program.

 

If you are referring to free cruise offers from land-based casinos then no you cannot combine that with a certificate or incentive from Blue Chip but that was the case even prior to the change to the new system. You will get all of your tier benefits though like the ones I mentioned in my previous post even if you are on a free cruise.

 

 

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Were you able to apply the certificate to an upgraded room? Free balcony room, upgrade to a Aqua and apply the certificate (free balcony or $1000 off cruise) of $1000 to the upgrade room?

I'm confused :) If you always qualify for a free balcony room, it seems the certificate is not worth anything. Is that right? Maybe I'm missing something? :)

Celebrity's Blue Chip Club just changed their system back in April to become more like a land-based casino with different tiered levels. Based on your play with them going back 18 months they determined a rating for you as of April. You remain at that level until June 2018 when they will do another assessment based on your play since the new program started. My husband and I each qualified for Sapphire level based on prior play which is the second highest. It entitled us to all sorts of nice benefits while onboard including: $1000 each in free play, 1 free specialty meal for 2 each, free unlimited internet each, free classic beverage package each, $100 spa credit each, $50 laundry credit each, access to Michael's Club, priority embark and debark, shoreside concierge service, 20% off for friends and family reservations, welcome gift in cabin, fees waived for cash advances, VIP tender tickets, plus the standard ability to turn points earned during the cruise into free play. Since we cruise in suites, often in upper level suites, many of these benefits overlap and aren't always useful to us.

 

 

 

Also, at the end of each cruise the Casino Manager will evaluate your play and may make an offer to you for a future cruise. We took a 10 night cruise this past May (casino only open 9 nights of the cruise) and based on our combined play we earned a free 7 night cruise in a Sky Suite. There are no restrictions on which cruise you take but the cruise must depart within one year from the certificate date of issue. You are just responsible for port charges and taxes. There are no admin fees. Now you can upgrade to a different cabin category or to a different cruise length but when you do your offer reverts to a monetary value that gets deducted from the overall cruise price. The Sky Suite value is only $1750 per person based on what a Blue Chip agent told me which was ridiculously low. You can earn certificates for a higher number of nights, I know there was definitely 10 nights that was a reward possibility, not sure if there was above that. Sky Suite is the highest cabin category you can earn though. But maybe that was the limits for Sapphire category which we were in. Perhaps you can earn higher rewards if you are in the top category, Ruby.

 

 

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Sapphire here and very recent booking was told you can no longer combine a comped cruise and cerftificate. Not even with an upgade to a sky suite. Curious if any recent bookings out there found the same new rule applied? Thanks!

It is very organised with no 'guessing' as with RCCL. I was one of the first to use the new system. Cruised on Solstice on day of implementation. Casino manager & host were on top of it. I'm at Sapphire level and happy with their program. Always cruise comped and very discounted on 2nd leg if doing B2B. Happy sailing

 

 

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Were you able to use your certificate on a comped cruise? I wasn't able to use the certificate (very recently) They can't (new rules) even apply it to an upgrade on a suite.

It sounds like they may be running both Blue chip and RCCL the same.

I also lost my regular rep. She left the company. :(

That's very disappointing!

FYI...a few years ago we had to go back to the room during the drill and the cabin steward actually had three assistants for the 24 rooms. 8 rooms per assistant. Seems like this is more work for the cabin stewards. I can't understand the reasoning behind this as I'm certain tips will not decrease.

..the only thing that makes any sense is adding more paying customers. Must be a person / actual body limit on each ship. Decrease the crew and fill in with paying customers.

Cruiserstimesthree you were in the cabin next to us. I was in 1141. This was our second time on Summit, same cabin. Two summers ago we sailed the same itinerary and had an AMAZING time. Food and service were excellent. All I can say is things have really changed and not for the better. The quality of food and service have really gone down. We both work in the hospitality industry for over 30 years so we know a lot about the subject. Food in the buffet was mostly good although there seem to be less choices. Blu was OK, our second night all 4 of us ordered the lamb and it was so tough none of us could eat it. Some food choices were ok others not so much. I ordered the Angus ravioli and it was awful. That night my hubby and dad had the lobster and said it was delicious and perfectly cooked. I can't remember what my mom ordered but she loved it. The following day we opted for buffet and had a delicious leg of lamb...go figure! Saturday evening we at at Tuscan Grill and food was tasty. It was comped because of some issues that we had throughout the cruise but in my opinion not worth the extra $45 per person or more if you order the "special" dishes. The calamari fritti was good, papardelle with short rib was fantastic, the rib eye with gorgon zola was fine. Desserts were good, although I asked for the strawberries with zabaglione without the sponge cake and was told no. It was 4 huge pieces of sponge cake with pieces of strawberries and cream. The limoncello cheesecake was very good. My dad and husband enjoyed the donuts.

Service in the buffet was mostly slow and non existent the first couple of days. After voicing our opinions and listening to other people complain we noticed that all the senior staff were now assisting. Service was much better the last two days for sure. Our room attendant was very sweet and very good at his job.

We loved Cafe el bacio and went there every day after dinner. Natalia was such a sweet and funny girl, we loved her. The wine bar on the 5th floor has changed also, they removed all the wine dispensing machines that were on the walls.

I always enjoy the solarium pool and the massage therapy shower heads in the four corners but they removed them....grrrrrr!!! Why??? We very much enjoyed the Persian Gardens every day.

My hubby was very upset that he could not longer smoke on the aft bar on deck 10.

The new lounge on deck 12 is very nice. We enjoyed the nighttime movies up there. There is no longer any daily entertainment on the aft bar and I'm guessing it's because of the movie going on upstairs. Our last cruise there was a fantastic Spanish guitarist there every afternoon.

Overall we had a nice time but if Celebrity wants to maintain its customer base, a more discerning clientele that expects great food and service they need to do something to change things back to the way they were before! After speaking with several staff on board I realized that this was not the doing of the crew, it's all coming from corporate. Hey Celebrity bigwigs at the corporate offices, you need to look at what's going on onboard your ships and make some changes. If not you are going to loose many loyal celebrity guests.

T agree...Blu is not what it use to be. :(

Thanks, I did have a casino host tell me years ago that anything they gave us came out of our bottom line except for when we were invited to casino tournaments for those they did not count our drinks. Now with this new cert giveaway we are getting 2 for every 1 we use with both my DW and me in the program. Told her she is going to have to start taking her sister with her and I will stay home.

Thanks! This makes sense as to the extra charge when I upgraded my room. Upgrades were free prior to this last cruise. Interesting to see what happens with my next booking....

Last November on Anthem I didn't signed anything for my facial/massage and also after dinner.... CL basically wipeed my bill. I aksed host how much aprox I can spend that they will cover and then I spent this amount and CL clean my bill.

We had to sign for the massage...didn't dawn on me as I just assumed it was for an extra tip. Now, I'm starting to wonder. This was a few weeks ago. Wish they would just give us an update on what the changes are up to this point.

Also, we did have to sign for dinner on the cruise before and they did ask for my card each time in the casino. Why I question the $450 extra charge. The cruise before (these two last cruises) they never asked for the card after day one.

Edit to say....no big deal just would like to know so I can decide if it is really worth having the massage or dinner and bottle of wine.

Thanks. There seems to be lack of communication re the new program between Royal, their revenue dept, the people who answer the phones at CR, and the hosts in the Casino which doesn't make it easy trying to get clarification on questions.

 

Will let you know what CR says and re host.

Would love to know if they are also deducting the free dining and spa services :(

Edit to add...my cruise before this last one was almost dollar to dollar spent and won. This cruise was an additional $450 compared to the last one. Just about the price of the dining and drinks. Also, the actual cruise price was a bit less than the previous cruise and it was an older ship. (thus, why I ask if the spa and diner is now also deducted) Thanks all!

Yes - on one cruise on Explorer my husband was told that he was on the minus side because he had drank too much - when we met with the Casino Manager and the Slots Manager, they tried to say that the casinos in Vegas did the same thing - kept track of your drinks against your play!

 

After that we decided not to go on a RC ship if it didn't have the mechanism to put your key card in to keep track of your gambling. I assume by now that they all have it but can someone confirm this? We are going on Serenade in February and I won't be happy if they don't have it.

They can track slot play with your car, but not certain how they do the tables other than by hand. Maybe someone else has more info on the table games versus slot games.

I did try asking the host if there was any news on the new club...standard answer "we are told on a need to know basis". All other guests were told the same. I will say...quite a few guests had to ask for extra perks that were normally offered. (spa, restaurant, etc.) I was offered a specialty restaurant or couples massage at the beginning of the week. However, there were a handful of VERY VERY high rollers on the ship that they were busy with most of the cruise. I would be too. :)

Sadly, everyone was complaining about how tight the slot machines were. It was a fun group in the casino that week so we drowned our sorrows together on a few nights. :)

Maybe I'm the only one who was not aware of this, but recently sailed with friends so went ahead and purchased a beverage package. The casino host said "OH good, you have a beverage package and don't need a sticker. That's good, the cost of the drinks won't be deducted from you next cruise perks".

Has this always been the case? Thanks!

Definitely disappointing experience on Summit! Sorry to hear this.

 

I cruised AQ on Summit last Fall (and will do again this Fall) - last year the team in Blu were nothing short of fantastic. We pre-tipped our sommelier and we had a wine pairing every night (Premium Package). Even had some special orders made for us. The quality of the cuisine was definitely elevated - so this is definitely not up to the standard I'd expect.

 

Ultimately, it is Blu that makes me gravitate to the extra cost for AQ (and I do appreciate the Deck 11 A1 cabins - particularly aft facing - on the ML class ships)... but if Blu is significantly downgraded when I revisit Summit this Fall, there will definitely be a conflab or two with the dining management team onboard!

We were on last August and Elvis was the best!!! The food was good and service (while sometimes on the slow side) was excellent. Quite a different experience this year.

Just wanted to add...we did tip extra to the waiter because it really wasn't his fault. We did not tip extra to the wine guy or the host due to the host just standing there with a blank stare when we mentioned it had been sometime to get our after dinner drinks. Then he went off to clear a table. (it was past the 9:30 dinner cutoff) They seemed to be more concerned on getting the place cleaned for the following day.

I am very sorry to hear this as we are cruising on the Summit July 31, and this is our first time in AQ. I was really hoping the sommelier would be of some help with wine pairing! Did anyone try to order a caesar salad?

 

 

Marie

I believe one did, but can't 100% say for certain. Baby shrimp cocktail, french onion soup and escargot were offered. They did tell us this the first night the 3 were always available. We ate a lot of escargot.

Would you mind sharing more details? Sorry to hear that there were downgrades in Blu - that is a lynchpin of the whole AQ experience!

The lobster is now in a soupy sauce with rice, the filet was awful, niccoise salad...oh dear, just a plain salad with a soggy slice of jicama, no brie to be found n the fried brie (one said it was essence of brie), 1 teaspoon of crab salad (and I'm not kidding when I say 1 teaspoon) the spring roll was a teeny tiny tortilla with just cabbage, no artichokes and capers with the seabass just red peppers...I will ask the other two couples if they remember the rest. I do remember having the everyday salmon on three of the nights. That was a first for me and wasn;t the only one at the table. Needless to say, all six of us were very disappointed and did state this on our Celebrity email. This bothered some...the wine guy never offered an upgrade on wine by the glass (prem package) and when they asked he said there really wasn't anything. The desserts have never been good but they somehow managed to make them worse. The appetizers are pretty much half the size as they use to be, but you can always order two or even more. The Fred Flintstone lamb on the bone is still on the menu for those who enjoy that. Hopefully, this is only on the Summt, but impossible to get a cocktail with and/or after dinner. They are so short staffed that we left before they delivered dessert or after dinner drinks on three of the nights. The wait was awful. We did enjoy the cafe after that experience. Prompt service (after dinner) and you can get after dinner drinks at the cafe.

Sadly, it wasn't just one or two dishes that had changed.

We got the sparkling wine last February in Aqua.

Are you sure it's been taken away?

 

 

I do agree with the rest, though.

We did receive the sparkling wine a few weeks ago...but many downgrades in Blu

Reading all these posts some people come across as hankering for the"old days". I am 69 and DH is 73 and we have just enjoyed a fabulous cruise on the Equinox . It was every bit as good as the first cruise with Celebrity in 2004 and all the others since. Yes there are things we miss like everyone dressing up on formal nights and we don't like the loud music in the martini bar but we are not the only people on the ship and they have to cater for a wide age range and people from lots of different countries. I have been on Pand O and Cunard sailing from Southampton and they were like floating old folks homes . I would rather have the younger vibe of Celebrity any day!

 

 

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If hankering for the "old days" is 2015 versus 2016...then yes, I am hankering for the old days.

Does anyone have a full menu, with prices for the spa on Summit? Also, if anyone knows of recent promotions and their details (sea days, later in the week, etc.), I'd appreciate it.

MY Hubs got a massage...50 minutes on a day in port for $200. Add 18% tip on top of that. First time he didn't add an extra gratuity. It's a bit pricey, but he did say it was a good massage. Oh, he also said this was the first time they didn't try to push a lot of product.

Again, that was my point. The Celebrity cruise was NOTHING like Carnival or NCL.

I'm hoping the other ships don't follow in the Summit's foot steps. Fingers crossed!

Not really sure what you mean by "problem?" We found Celebrity to be a much better experience than our cruises on Royal, NCL, or Carnival. We are in our late fifties, fun loving, educated, and upper income. Kind of their target passenger, no?

 

To be honest, I was a bit fearful when I booked our first Celebrity cruise. So many "get off my lawn" types of posts. If I wanted to vacation with grumpy old folks I could have stayed home and pitched a tent in the parking lot of my Publix.

 

I shouldn't have worried. The cruise was wonderful as were my fellow passengers.

Not grumpy...just don't want to see it turn into a Carnival or NCL. If the majority is fine with that then absolutely Celebrity should go that way. I don't want to go that way. Like I said before.. been there done that ONCE on Carnival and NCL. Never went back

I'm not much for bringning liquor onboard, but that's good to know. Just wish we could find a deal. Would really love to try Crystal.

We just received a flyer and the prices for very nice size suites were amazing. What scares us.. once we make that plunge there is no doubt we will NOT go backwards. Only did one Carnival and one NCL and never went back.

9:00 p.m. and they did stay open till the wee hours. Did not see that on our last Reflection cruise.

Sorry, I thought O included those in their pricing. So they are not all-inclusive like some other premium lines?

I think specialty restaurants are free (at least 4 nights are) and you can bring any liquor you want on board. Not certain about the other items

Food was excellent when we sailed. I even got three small boats of Caviar (the third was without asking; sent as compliments of the Chef served with with champagne) as an appetizer in the main dining room. No extra charge.

WOW!!! Yummy!!! :)

We had an inside Marina cabin. It was much nicer than when we had an inside Celebrity cabin. The whole ship felt more upscale.

Thanks! Can't wait to try it out! How was the food? I've only heard great things. The Tuscan on the Summit very recently was not anywhere near where it once was.

AZ includes: free gratuities; free liquor (spirits & wine); Bottled water, soft drinks, specialty coffees and teas; Complimentary AzAmazing Evenings; free Self-service laundry with free soap.

 

On O the inside cabins get one free night in each of the four specialty restaurants and free gratuities.

 

That's without the special promotions. When we sailed O, it included free round-trip air fare to Europe plus other perks including top shelf liquor and free internet.

How are the cabins? Are they all called suites? Or did we just look at the suites offered....they seemed quite large and beautiful

I thought that I've read you can order food from the MDR when dining in Blu. Is this correct?

Just the baked salmon and 1/4 inch steak thing for entrees.

Shrimp cocktail, escargot and french onion soup for apps.