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BLUE CHIP QUESTION


Cruisegirl6
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Hello,

 

My other half always gets comp cruises on Carnival and Royal Caribbean.  I have been on 92 cruises so far and our first cruise on Celebrity will be on the Edge December 15th.  We originally booked through Celebrity but had a cruise agency take it over as they offered gratuities also.  My question is, if we book through a cruise agency, does that mean we will not receive Celebrity Blue chip offers/complimentary cruises?

 

I am unable to cancel it as I will loose the entire cost of the cruise, I wonder if something can be done so that we will receive our blue chip points and receive the comp cruises as we do on other cruise lines.  Any information you have as we are new with Celebrity would be greatly appreciated!

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There may be more information in the cruise casino section area of the boards.  (Below the cruise lines, near the ports and cruise air sections.)

 

Here is my knowledge, FWIW:

 

Initially, it doesn't matter which agency you use for your first cruise.  You can even keep using the same agency.  I have booked through bluechipclub and and an offer from my local casino (free) once.  And followed that with a paid cruise with an online TA that I like, which typically comes in around 18% less than Celebrity's direct website price. 

 

After those 2 cruises, we were sent an offer for a free balcony cabin on the Edge, with a choice of 3 or 4 specific dates, one of which was a holiday date.  We jumped on that and will be at the Onxy and Amethyst levels.  First 2 at the lowest, Pearl.

 

Our experience has been that the offers aren't as frequent as other lines and the casino itself has a major challenge in the UTH Poker table game payout for a 'luxury' line.  (Max payout of $5k for a Royal Flush?!, compared to the majority of $25K .. i.e. CARNIVAL.  ahem.) BUT the smoke free casino is fantastic for hair/clothes/lungs!  And the drink program is foggy to me.  It seems that although the first 2 days it was difficult to get a drink playing at the table, they were covered/paid for  most players later in the week? We had packages, so I couldn't tell for sure.

 

I also think I read somewhere that you can contact the Blue Chip Club directly to book and get a 20% discount from web price.  I haven't done that but will compare with my  online TA if I have to pay for my next Celebrity cruise.

 

You earn your club points by inserting your ship card into the slot machines and turning the card in at the table games. You won't loose any casino benefits by using an independent TA.  You get your earned benefits on subsequent cruises.  Also, pretty tough to earn, comparatively speaking.  It's not the best casino club at sea, in spite of claims to the contrary, but the smoke free environment and shipboard experience are hands above the line that does have the best casino offers.

 

 

 

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Thank you so much for explaining that!!  We get nonstop offers from Royal and Carnival but its time to make a change as good food is important to us (tired of the specialty restaurants with the same menu's) and having the smoke free casino is an added bonus to both of us.  On RC cruises I know playing slots you get one point per $5.00, I read on Celebrity you get one point per dollar...my other half generally earns an average of 8700 points on RC, so I am hoping on our first Celebrity cruise coming up that he make Onyx level.  It be nice trying a different cruise line and from what my sister/brother in law told me Celebrity now is their favorite.  Thank you!

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I'd introduce yourself to the Casino Manager on board.  If there aren't many high rollers on your cruise the Casino Manager might take an interest in you if you play enough. The Casino Manager can offer free specialty restaurants etc on your current cruise if you qualify.  Everyone who plays gets free drinks while playing from a limited menu, if you don't have a beverage package.

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