Blue chip email? Is it a scam?

[Cruise Junky]

We booked the free MR cruise and now received the Caribbean one this morning.  Free cruises raining from the sky.  

[mahdnc]

After ignoring his first free cruise offer from late July, my son got a second free cruise offer emailed to him today. This time it includes Edge sailings. The email acknowledges his Pearl status with 40 points...... Go figure

Edited September 20, 2022 by mahdnc

[mahdnc]

Here are the complimentary sailings being offered.  Also, I need to correct myself--there is only Edge cruise in the list and it is only a 4 nighter

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[westcoasttech]

I suspect that the E-class sailings were snapped up first 😉!  I've seen some postings of people being able to "request" sailings that were not specifically listed on the most recent offer (this might have been for the previous Mexican route sailings offer?), so if there's a sailing that particularly fits your schedule, it might be worth "asking nicely" if there's any possible BC availability on it - see my posting at #320 for a list of the sailings that was sent out on the 1st email I received for the Carib sailings.  

 

I've actually received the Carib offer in 3 separate emailings ... Even though I took up the initial offer the first time ... I presumed I couldn't use each one for a different sailing 😜 ... (I definitely wouldn't be able to take that much time off work anyway!).  BTW, I'm a VERY minimal user of the casino, so no idea how I managed to make it on to their email list ... however, I will happy take them up on their generous offer(s) and consider it a "karmic" reward for 20 years of "donating" to the cruise industry generally (mostly RCCL, with a few Celeb and others, here and there!) 

[KY Deb]

I had this offer and was able to book the Beyond.   Look at page 13 on this thread post #320.   There are lots more cruises that are being offered.  All I did was ask when I called.  

[RichYak]

I'm wondering, for those of you who are surprised at getting free cruise offers due to little casino spend, do you have any X cruises already booked or nothing on the schedule? I'm curious if having no future cruises booked more likely leads to these offers.

[mahdnc]

8 minutes ago, RichYak said:

I'm wondering, for those of you who are surprised at getting free cruise offers due to little casino spend, do you have any X cruises already booked or nothing on the schedule? I'm curious if having no future cruises booked more likely leads to these offers.

 

I have our 26 yr old son booked for a family cruise in Thanksgiving 2023 (Galapagos) and Christmas 2023 (Singapore to Hong Kong).  My son and I usually play blackjack for about 4-6  hours total on each 12-15 night cruise at the low limit tables.

 

Here he is getting abused by the dealer on Solstice in Jan 2018 (Great Barrier Reef) who just dealt him a deuce on his eleven that he doubled down on.  Ouch.  Luckily she busted.  You can see how small his bank roll is. Somewhere in that pile of chips of his ($100 total?) is a free cruise, apparently.

[gpension]

I called today and was able to book a 10 day Edge Southern Caribbean cruise under this deal. The agent said every 2022 Caribbean cruise was eligible.

[read2learn]

1 hour ago, RichYak said:

I'm wondering, for those of you who are surprised at getting free cruise offers due to little casino spend, do you have any X cruises already booked or nothing on the schedule? I'm curious if having no future cruises booked more likely leads to these offers.

I have a 10 day booked in Nov and received this offer today. I may have to pass on this due to the difficulty in getting flights around the holidays and working around my current trips. It hurts my thrifty heart to do that!! There appears to be no rhyme or reason to who receives the offer. 

[read2learn]

3 minutes ago, gpension said:

I called today and was able to book a 10 day Edge Southern Caribbean cruise under this deal. The agent said every 2022 Caribbean cruise was eligible.

Thanks for the info! Now I'll be up all night searching for a cruise that will fit in my schedule. Let's hope the cruise gods are watching over me!  ☺️

[sail2day]

I have a 4 night cruise on the Silhouette in November booked, as well  as a Mexican Riviera cruise on the Solstice in February under the same promotion.

 

 

[sail2day]

On 9/14/2022 at 10:21 PM, gojengo said:

I received a Blue Chip email offer for a free veranda (with an expiration date of 9/12) and booked a cruise. I received a second email today...same code with an expiration date of 9/17. My husband now thinks I was scammed  but everything seems to check out online and on the app that my booking is real. Wondering why I received a second offer when I'm already booked....did anyone else get a second email? How should I confirm my cruise booking? 

Yes, I received the 2nd e-mail and booked a 4 night cruise on the Silhouette in November in addition to my MR cruise in February. 

[sail2day]

On 9/10/2022 at 11:36 AM, sdnich said:

We did it after we received confirmation of our cruise.And moved to concierge class but then read about people moving to aqua class so I called back again and upgraded again .

Was the upgrade cost reasonable?

[NorthStarStateCruiser]

4 hours ago, westcoasttech said:

I suspect that the E-class sailings were snapped up first 😉!  I've seen some postings of people being able to "request" sailings that were not specifically listed on the most recent offer (this might have been for the previous Mexican route sailings offer?), so if there's a sailing that particularly fits your schedule, it might be worth "asking nicely" if there's any possible BC availability on it - see my posting at #320 for a list of the sailings that was sent out on the 1st email I received for the Carib sailings.  

 

I've actually received the Carib offer in 3 separate emailings ... Even though I took up the initial offer the first time ... I presumed I couldn't use each one for a different sailing 😜 ... (I definitely wouldn't be able to take that much time off work anyway!).  BTW, I'm a VERY minimal user of the casino, so no idea how I managed to make it on to their email list ... however, I will happy take them up on their generous offer(s) and consider it a "karmic" reward for 20 years of "donating" to the cruise industry generally (mostly RCCL, with a few Celeb and others, here and there!) 

Like others mentioned, you're not limited to the sailings listed in the drop down in the email. We booked a 6 night on the Apex for December. Center sunset verandah with no upgrade fee! For putting $20 in a slot machine back in 2019, we're making it out pretty good considering this cruise would cost us $3500 out of pocket had we booked direct. Super excited for our first edge class sailing!

[NorthStarStateCruiser]

Side question, can you book a drink package through blue chip to get a larger discount that buying it on the cruise planner?

[Bluemymind]

Sadly my wife got the offer and I didn't. I could squeeze another cruise into my schedule of 8 in the next 6 months but she can't. 

[BlerkOne]

3 hours ago, RichYak said:

I'm wondering, for those of you who are surprised at getting free cruise offers due to little casino spend, do you have any X cruises already booked or nothing on the schedule? I'm curious if having no future cruises booked more likely leads to these offers.

I've never been on Celebrity and received a free veranda offer. I do have a cruise next year booked with them. The only casino "play" I have with them is I bought a discounted slot tournament entry for the cruise next year. Go figure 

[afn10305]

DH and I just booked a Blue Chip offer 7-day cruise in December on the Apex out of Ft. Lauderdale.
Yes, it's legit and for only the cost of taxes and port fees, etc., $324.54 for us both but there's no extra perks of any kind.   It'll cost extra for any drink package, Internet, etc. 

We hadn't cruised on Celebrity since 2010, but we couldn't pass up this offer.

[gold1953]

7 hours ago, NorthStarStateCruiser said:

Side question, can you book a drink package through blue chip to get a larger discount that buying it on the cruise planner?

No you cannot. celebrity has to make money since you are living and eating at no cost

[Fly and Sail]

28 minutes ago, gold1953 said:

No you cannot. celebrity has to make money since you are living and eating at no cost

 

Wrong. You can get your Blue Chip Club discount of 15% which also stacks on top of any currently discounted price.

[read2learn]

11 hours ago, NorthStarStateCruiser said:

Like others mentioned, you're not limited to the sailings listed in the drop down in the email. We booked a 6 night on the Apex for December. Center sunset verandah with no upgrade fee! For putting $20 in a slot machine back in 2019, we're making it out pretty good considering this cruise would cost us $3500 out of pocket had we booked direct. Super excited for our first edge class sailing!

I just called and was told if it wasn't in the email it would only be  60% off!!! I will have to call back as i grabbed flights when I found them and now no cruise!  i have checked and there are plenty of empty cabins. Fingers crossed I get someone else on the next call.  😞

[NorthStarStateCruiser]

15 minutes ago, read2learn said:

I just called and was told if it wasn't in the email it would only be  60% off!!! I will have to call back as i grabbed flights when I found them and now no cruise!  i have checked and there are plenty of empty cabins. Fingers crossed I get someone else on the next call.  😞

I should clarify, the cruises available for this offer are only Caribbean in 2022. It may be that some sailings have no more blue chip club comps available.

[AlbertaCruisers]

28 minutes ago, read2learn said:

I just called and was told if it wasn't in the email it would only be  60% off!!! I will have to call back as i grabbed flights when I found them and now no cruise!  i have checked and there are plenty of empty cabins. Fingers crossed I get someone else on the next call.  😞

 

As a note, I did recently book one cruise with the 60% off and it was with the all included perks.  So, to the extent the classic drinks, surf wifi and prepaid tips are useful to you, maybe ask them for a quote on the 60% price and see how it works out.  When comparing pricing, remember that on the free cruise you pay the taxes and in many cases will not get any of the perks.

 

Edit - also, if you have cruised recently and played, you can also ask them to look at your past play.  I was able to get the 60% off price and they took more off because of my past play.

Edited September 21, 2022 by AlbertaCruisers

[NutsAboutGolf]

12 hours ago, NorthStarStateCruiser said:

Like others mentioned, you're not limited to the sailings listed in the drop down in the email. We booked a 6 night on the Apex for December. Center sunset verandah with no upgrade fee! For putting $20 in a slot machine back in 2019, we're making it out pretty good considering this cruise would cost us $3500 out of pocket had we booked direct. Super excited for our first edge class sailing!

 

Generally speaking it comes down to your play; lately I've only been receiving very select sailing offers that are fully comped and everything at a discount

[NutsAboutGolf]

4 hours ago, gold1953 said:

No you cannot. celebrity has to make money since you are living and eating at no cost

 

Celebrity makes more money off gamblers than any other type of passengers.