Blue Chip Club Questions

Good Morning,

I received a certificate for a free 7 night cruise (ocean view) on my trip last week. Since this one is my first (others with RCCL) I had a couple questions bc the booking process did not go as expected this am...

First off-will my travel agent get any credit for helping me book this?

Next-I originally wanted to upgrade to Aqua class, since on this specific cruise the only remaining Ocean View cabin is the same price as Aquaclass, and they wouldn't let me. They said if I changed categories from Ocean View the certificate only had a value of $840? Which is crazy.

Finally they couldn't add any of the Go Best promotions.

Has anyone had luck with calling closer to the trip and getting the room upgraded or adding the Go best? I don't mind paying some for the upgrade but they wanted to charge me $3K for the upgrade when the cabins were the exact same price online-

Thanks!

Hi,

Any Blue Chip offers must be booked through the Blue Chip Club, so your travel agent does not receive any credit or commission.

If you book any other cabin category other than what your certificate is, you get a dollars off amount only. Blue Chip department "buys" their space from Celebrity revenue at a discounted amount. So the value of the certificate is almost always less per cabin category than what is on Celebrity's published website. So, if you want an Aquaclass cabin, you would have to pay the Celebrity website rate, and Blue Chip Club would credit you the $840 against the base cost of the room. The certificates have been combinable in my experience with whatever the promotion offered on the Celebrity website has offered for your sailing. So if your room came with one perk, you can pick the one perk(such as $300 onboard credit for the cabin) and get your oceanview cabin, and just pay the taxes and gratuities for your sailing.

For instance if you had a certificate for a one week Caribbean sailing in a sky suite, you can book that category, but if you wanted a Celebrity Suite, the credit from Blue Chip is a total of $3500 based on two people in the cabin against the published Celebrity website cost of the Celebrity Suite. Most sky suite prices on a newer S class ship cost more on the base fare ( not including port charges)for the cabin than $3500 .

You should ask Blue Chip Club if there is an upcoming Blue Chip tournament sailing that you qualify for, as perhaps you would get a better offer for the type of stateroom that you want. You should also ask if the value of your certificate($840) can be applied to upgrade from a free tournament cabin to a higher grade of cabin that you want on the tournament sailing.

Sometimes the certificates are useful, and sometimes not as much depending on what your category offer was for and what category and sailing you wish to book that fits your vacation schedule and your wallet. There is also fine print on the back of the certificate that tells you which sailings the certificate cannot be used for such as holiday sailings, and the time in which to redeem your certificate and to sail by date.

You can also email Blue Chip and ask for an explanation by return email about the best use of your certificate.

Good luck and happy cruising.

Thanks so much, all good to know (and a little frustrating at the same time ;)). As my husband always asks-how much is this free cruise going to cost me-lol.

Thanks so much, all good to know (and a little frustrating at the same time ;)). As my husband always asks-how much is this free cruise going to cost me-lol.

hahaha .... Yes, you have to book through the casino, which they consider a travel agency, so you won't be able to use your own. I think you still might have to pay the taxes and government fees... at least this is true on other cruiselines.

Also, depending on your level in the Blue Chip Club (probably pretty high if they are giving you a free cruise), they will most likely give you free drinks while in the casino as well as a bit of gambling money. I think our friends got $175 or something like that. It has to be used in the casino, of course, but the winnings are yours to keep. Oh, and you may get a free specialty dinner for 2 as well. Be sure to introduce yourself to the casino host on the first night onboard and he/she will make sure you get everything that is coming to you.

Yes our host on the Reflection, Angel was super great I was just unfamiliar with their free cruise certificates. I mean we ended up with a darn sweet deal of only $441 in taxes for a Seattle RT Alaska trip in May-which honestly you really can't beat. It's just that an Oceanview stateroom isn't ideal and the upgrade process just hoses the whole thing.

Yes our host on the Reflection, Angel was super great I was just unfamiliar with their free cruise certificates. I mean we ended up with a darn sweet deal of only $441 in taxes for a Seattle RT Alaska trip in May-which honestly you really can't beat. It's just that an Oceanview stateroom isn't ideal and the upgrade process just hoses the whole thing.

We actually enjoyed our last trip up to Alaska in May in an OV room on deck 3. It was so much better than I had assumed it would be. I know some people need a balcony or more room ... and no criticism there. It leaves the cheaper rooms open for us that don't mind the OV. If we'd have been placed in one of those rooms way up front on deck 7 or 8, we may not have enjoyed the experience as much (we had booked a guarantee). But the location on deck 3 was so convenient to everything!

Well it sort of doesn't help (I don't think) that the only ocean view left was alllll the way in the front looking forward on deck 7. We've never had a room in this location so I have no clue what it will be like.

I've done nine cruises on Celebrity and I have no idea what the "Blue Chip Club" is? Never heard of it. Can someone enlighten me?

I've done nine cruises on Celebrity and I have no idea what the "Blue Chip Club" is? Never heard of it. Can someone enlighten me?

Affinity club for those gambling in the casino's on Celebrity ships. Don't get too excited about those mentioning they got free trips since they really are not.