Amhere219

For everyone curious about my post on the soda, water, coffee being included....I recommend you call either your travel agent or Celebrity reservations at 888-751-7804 to verify. I was only passing on what I was told by two different agents and wanted to make others aware.

37 minutes ago, drakes2 said:

That's actually not true.  The non alcoholic package is now called zero proof at a cost of $30 per day.  

I agree it seems to good to be true, but it's also weird that I can't purchase that "Zero" package on my current bookings.

Maybe it's only included in current bookings since we made those reservations before the drink package changes?

1 hour ago, jenf22 said:

Hmm.  I wonder when that starts.  We board in 2 weeks and I paid for the soda package for my husband.  I see that option is no longer available.  Do I cancel it? 

My cousin is the same situation. I told him to just keep the soda package and once onboard if he finds out it's included he can then ask for a refund. Hate to cancel a package that you can no longer get.

46 minutes ago, stellarose said:

I saw zero proof package. isnt' that soda/water?

I thought that too, but that "zero" package is not an option when I try to add a drink package to my currently booked cruises. 
Maybe it's only included in current bookings? 

I called Celebrity reservations today about the drink package pricing. They stated that the "cruise only" fare now includes unlimited water, sodas, and non alcoholic specialty coffees.
Just to be sure, I called back, got a different person, and they stated the same thing. Hope it's true. 🙂

I called Celebrity reservations today about the drink package pricing. They stated that the "cruise only" fare now includes unlimited water, sodas, and non alcoholic specialty coffees.
Just to be sure, I called back, got a different person, and they stated the same thing. Hope it's true. 🙂

5 hours ago, MarinerBoy said:

 

$15 000 play through  is $3000 in free play not $300. No one would play 15,000 unless there was a huge reward, your post said $300 (1$ freeplay for every $5 spent).

 

Also, who are you kidding to get 25,000 points just for lowest status? Most people only sail on 1 or 2 cruises a year, and from those people they have fun in the casino with $100 daily slot budget. You are kidding your self yo think anyone is spending $25,000 in a year on a cruise gambling..  get real.

I think MarinerBoy just forgot to add a 0 onto that 5. It's actually 50 points to earn $1 in casino free play. 

In regards to your 25,000 points to earn the lowest status, that doesn't necessarily mean they spent $25,000. Many gamblers don't cash out as soon as they win, so if that win amount is played back into the slot machine it also goes to your point balance. Example: You put $10 in a slot machine press spin and win $10, but instead of cashing out $20, you put it back into the machine and lose it all. You've now earned a total of 20 points.

The BCC is geared towards larger gamblers, just like hosts at land based casinos. The incentive just isn't there for casual gamers. You have to pay to play.

On 10/13/2021 at 6:18 PM, winslow050 said:

Yes the benefits are going away, also the last Celebrity Cruise we were on was December 30, 2019 at the end of the cruise the casino host gave us a rough total of points that we earned and I had a total of over 400,000. still had 6 months to earn more for the new Sapphire Plus tier. Received a few emails offering free cruise with a balcony cabin, I did book one for November.

At the bottom of the email in small print it gives you your tier status and also your Blue Chip Club Points, it says that I only have 11,336. The question is now what happen to my 400,000 points???

Just found the flyer that showed they were extending the earning period to December 2021. Maybe it will help in your case.07-17-sp-casino-bcc flyer-update.pdf

On 10/13/2021 at 6:18 PM, winslow050 said:

Yes the benefits are going away, also the last Celebrity Cruise we were on was December 30, 2019 at the end of the cruise the casino host gave us a rough total of points that we earned and I had a total of over 400,000. still had 6 months to earn more for the new Sapphire Plus tier. Received a few emails offering free cruise with a balcony cabin, I did book one for November.

At the bottom of the email in small print it gives you your tier status and also your Blue Chip Club Points, it says that I only have 11,336. The question is now what happen to my 400,000 points???

Around April of 2020 Blue Chip had sent out an email that read like this:

As a valued Blue Chip Club member, you are always eligible for benefits, rewards, and exclusive offers towards your next vacation. We’ve extended your Blue Chip Club earning period. Your ability to earn a new tier will now end on December 31, 2021 (extended from July 31, 2021). This gives you more time to play and earn a higher tier level. Call in and we’ll be happy to go over the details. 

So it looks like originally they were going to extend the earning period for 6 months, which would have given you time to achieve that last 100K in points. Then because the cruising suspension lasted so long they decided to just start a new 18 month earning period and let everyone keep their prior status. This is probably acceptable to most people, but those who were close to earning the next tier ended up losing out. I'd definitely give them a call like FastandFurious said. Maybe they can do something to help?

16 hours ago, SoFlaAtty said:

The “Play Onboard Points” amount provided me during that cruise by the casino host did not equal my tier points, the redeemable (those that were usable for free play on that cruise) points, nor equal to the amount of my tier points divided by the number of nights on that cruise.

 

So, that reference by the host was not attributable to my ADW (avg. daily worth).

Hmmm...I have no idea what "Play on Board" points would be used for then. Hopefully someone else will come along and clarify. 🙂

On 10/9/2021 at 1:10 PM, SoFlaAtty said:

Amhere219, THANK YOU!

 

I figured that tier points might be the answer, however, the host onboard my July sailing provided me both my tier points (slots and table games played) as well as what was termed, "Play Onboard Points". I suspect that measurement used some formula for converting table games points to overall tier points earned.

 

As for your other observation regarding an apparent downgrade in the BCC program, I hear you regarding the quality of casino loyalty programs. However, I know from personal experience with another cruise line (since the resumption of sailing) that its casino loyalty program seems to provide slightly less generous benefits/perks to its members.

The "Play Onboard Points" that your host was referring to might have been the amount of points that you could convert into casino credit during your present cruise. If you don't use those on that cruise you lose them. Hope that makes sense. 🙂

Celebrity may have better comps than other cruises (I don't sail with anyone other than Celebrity), but there was a time when they were way better. In July of 2018 they took the following away from us:

For those in Amethyst

Free play went from $175 to a $100 guaranteed

and the removal of the free specialty dinner

For those in Sapphire tier

Free play went from $1000 to $500 guaranteed

Removal of the friends and family discount

Removal of the free specialty dinner

Removal of the $50 dollar laundry credit

Removal of the $100 spa credit

Removal of the welcome aboard amenity

Added casino host event

For those in Ruby tier

Free play went from $5000 to $2500 guaranteed

Removal of the friends and family discount

Removal of the free specialty dinner

Removal of the $100 dollar laundry credit

Removal of the $250 spa credit

Removal of the welcome aboard amenity

Added casino host event

That was the first time they cut our benefits. My Sapphire benefits technically went down again this year. I sailed just this past August and it was a cruise that was not comped, so the rate I paid was the "Always Included" price. This means I paid for my drinks that should have been comped. I also only received the "surf" Internet package (which I paid for) instead of the "stream". There was no priority check in either, I even asked the crew member that was going through the line and pulling out the suite guests and he said "We're not doing Blue Chip now".  There were no Casino Host events and we weren't allowed inside the Retreat (VIP) lounge. So basically the only thing I received for being a Sapphire player was my $500 free play. 

In my opinion, Celebrity is not the best when it comes to informing all of their crew (or even the players) about Blue Chip benefits. It seems mileage varies depending on the cruise. 

Yes, free play is calculated using your tier points earned the prior sailing. The only way that I know of to get that info is to call the Blue Chip Club at 866-461-7170. There was a time when I could just contact them at BlueChipClub@celebrity.com, but they haven't answered any emails I've sent to them in the past 6 months. Be prepared for long hold times if you call, normally about an hour, once I waited for 2 hours.

FWIW, Blue Chip Club used to be an outstanding program when it first launched the tiers a few years ago. It has been slowly going down hill ever since. 

11 hours ago, Paulras said:

I have several W2Gs this year from celebrity on video poker. Ranging from $1250 to $4000. None were jackpots and was told they had to give the form of it's $1200 or more even though I was playing $25 a hand. Had a couple from NCL on slot machines too. Not jackpots either but over $1200. 

Hmmm....well that's interesting. Looks like I just had lazy staff. Thankfully my hand pay wouldn't have affected my taxes that year anyway. LOL

I've been in the Blue Chip Club since its inception and didn't find out about the new changes until today.....just like others, I received no emails or notifications, so I've been reading the threads to try and find out more information.

The new changes are definitely a step down for me as a Sapphire level player. My onboard casino credit amount will drop from $1000 to $500 as I've never lost enough to qualify for anything higher under the new system.  I'm also not very happy they did away with the Speciality Restaurants, Spa and Laundry credits. 

Hopefully this thing with the Casino hosts being able to add more perks under the new system pans out. I thought they had that ability with the old program, but I've been on 6 cruises in the last two years and haven't seen much from them. I guess I'll find out in January of 2019 on my next cruise.

For those who are wondering about W-2G's for hand pays, I was told they are not required onboard ships like they are at land based casinos. The only time you will receive one at a ship casino is if you win the Jackpot for that particular slot machine.  This was told to me by the casino staff on one my Celebrity cruises last year. I'm not big on the table games so I don't know how it works for them. 🤔

How far in advance do you recommend signing up for CN01? Does it fill up quickly? We're taking this same cruise but not until October 2019 and I don't want to miss out but it's still so far away! Thanks!

I'm scheduled to go on the cruise departing March 30, 2018 (2 months away) and that excursion is still available. Hope this helps.

On both types of snorkel trips, CN01 (pontoon) and CN30 (no pontoon), two types of scuba are offered.

 

The first kind of scuba offered is for certified divers. You have to bring your divers card and in theory show your dive log to establish when your last dive occurred (they like to see that it has been less than a year since your last dive but this is not always checked). As certified divers, you can go diving without supervision. However a dive master is usually provided for your group as a courtesy to show you around. They are familiar with the reef and having one is very nice.

 

The second kind of scuba is for non certified divers. This includes beginners that have never dived or even snorkeled before. The dive is geared towards introducing people to diving. These types of dive trips are much more heavily supervised. Although not necessarily one to one, there is a high number of master divers involved versus beginner divers. The depth of the dives are shallower (15 feet?) as a safety precaution and you usually don't dive far from the boat or pontoon.

 

Your confidence level as a first time diver should dictate whether you do this from a pontoon (CN01) or the back of a snorkel/dive boat (CN30). In general I would recommend the pontoon because it is easier and better set up for this activity. It allows you to concentrate on becoming familiar with your scuba equipment.

Again I thank you for the information. I'm an experienced swimmer and snorkeler, but I think I'll take you recommendation of the pontoon just to be safe.

I never ended up talking to anyone on our cruise that booked the Overnight on the GBR tour. However I have identified the company that operates the tour who Celebrity uses. They are Sunlover Reef Cruises. They have an excellent webpage that does a very nice job of detailing what the two days are like: Sunlover By Starlight

 

Apparently you take the catamaran to the pontoon on Cairns Day 1 and do the normal stuff on the pontoon that is offered during the day (snorkel, scuba dive, helmet dive, glass bottom boat, etc. some activities are free some are extra cost). The catamaran then leaves with the day passengers on board at 3:45 pm and the overnight passengers stay on the pontoon. You have the pontoon pretty much too yourself for the evening, night, and early morning until the catamaran arrives on Day 2 at 11:30 am with the day passengers. At the end of Day 2, you leave on the catamaran with the day passengers.

 

Here are a few items that are not mentioned well in the website (if at all):

 

1. The number of customers is limited to 20 for the overnight with a crew of 4.

 

2. It is more like camping out under the stars. There are fancy sleeping bags (called swags) that are provided for you to sleep on the deck of the pontoon. There is a top deck on the pontoon that is open to the stars for the nice nights. For the rainy nights, the fancy sleeping bags are located on the first deck of the pontoon where it is under cover.

 

3. Normally pontoons are not equipped with bathrooms and so you use the bathrooms (with plumbed toilets) on the boat/catamaran that brings you to there. After the catamaran leaves the pontoon for the night, there are Porta-loos installed on the pontoon in the change room cubicles. Camp showers are rigged up in another block of change rooms.

 

4. There is wi-fi on the pontoon.

 

5. You have to bring your own telescope or binoculars.

 

6. Night diving is not offered.

 

7. Sunlover offers the tour for $499 AUD/person. On our cruise, Celebrity was charging $649 USD/person.

Thank you so much! My 71 year old mother booked that excursion for herself, so all that information is a great help to her. I'll be doing one of the GBR snorkeling/scuba excursions instead. I know you did one of those also. I see they have 2 offered at Cairns, do you know what the difference is between them? I would like one that offers scuba diving for first timers. I've always wanted to try it, and I can't think of a better place to experience it.

Again, I thank you for all of your time, the information you have provided has been crucial and made our trip planning easier. :-)

Hi Mahdnc:

I'll be going on this cruise in March/April of this year and was thinking of booking the "Overnight on the Great Barrier Reef" excursion while we're in Cairns. I'm unable to find any reviews for it and was curious if you know of anyone who went on it and what their opinions were.

Great job on blogging your cruise, I enjoy reading about it. :-)