New Blue Chip Club offer

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

8 minutes ago, kwokpot said:

Not really, there's the 3rd party cruise casino hosting company URCOMPED. COM

 

Yes, that's true. Of course, then you're gambling needs to be more than just a "bit"! I came on the radar of Ken Froom Tours many years back, and got a great deal on the Allure. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depends how you look at it!) that sailing saw me really scale back my risk level - essentially low playing them. I never received another offer like that from them again, and I don't blame them !
 

Tom

[Islandhop9]

On 10/3/2022 at 12:35 PM, kwokpot said:

Not really, there's the 3rd party cruise casino hosting company URCOMPED. COM

Thanks, will have to look them up. 

We enjoyed the Celebrity cruises, but like other lines as well. 

 

Called to check again and was told my tier doesn't expire for at least another year. Person on the phone was trying to help, but often had to go back and forth asking someone else for answers. 

Seems they could save by combining with the Royal program. 

 

 

 

 

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

18 hours ago, Islandhop9 said:

...

 

Called to check again and was told my tier doesn't expire for at least another year. Person on the phone was trying to help, but often had to go back and forth asking someone else for answers. 

...

 

 

They were actually posting your questions on Cruise Critic, and just had to wait for random responses in order to answer your questions... 😉

 

Tom

[LizO830]

I received the Blue Chip offer via email. The Christmas sailing on the Reflection that we were considering for a family vacation was available, but by the time I quoted the additional cabins, beverage package, internet, & gratuities, it was out of our budget (we need 3 cabins for 4 adults, 1 senior, & 2 teens plus beverage packages & internet for everyone). If the family still wants to do a cruise for Christmas, we'll have to do the HAL Nieuw Amsterdam. If they are willing to skip the family trip this year, we are considering the 4-night cruise on the Summit departing on 12/27. 

 

We've never done a short cruise. Four nights seems really short, and not worth the 12 hour drive to Miami. Has anyone done a 4 night cruise on the Summit? Is there any catch to the Blue Chip deal? The price I was quoted was just taxes & port fees. We're used to doing the all-included with premium upgrades, so we'd still probably spend close to $1500 for the cruise if we add on the premium beverage package/premium internet/gratuities/specialty dining/etc.

[Cruise Junky]

41 minutes ago, LizO830 said:

I received the Blue Chip offer via email. The Christmas sailing on the Reflection that we were considering for a family vacation was available, but by the time I quoted the additional cabins, beverage package, internet, & gratuities, it was out of our budget (we need 3 cabins for 4 adults, 1 senior, & 2 teens plus beverage packages & internet for everyone). If the family still wants to do a cruise for Christmas, we'll have to do the HAL Nieuw Amsterdam. If they are willing to skip the family trip this year, we are considering the 4-night cruise on the Summit departing on 12/27. 

 

We've never done a short cruise. Four nights seems really short, and not worth the 12 hour drive to Miami. Has anyone done a 4 night cruise on the Summit? Is there any catch to the Blue Chip deal? The price I was quoted was just taxes & port fees. We're used to doing the all-included with premium upgrades, so we'd still probably spend close to $1500 for the cruise if we add on the premium beverage package/premium internet/gratuities/specialty dining/etc.

Free is definitely not free when you add in air, hotels, tips etc.  just the Mexican riviera cruise was going to cost us $1,700 Cdn before even boarding.  

[Boo's Mom]

On 9/10/2022 at 7:36 AM, sun bum said:

Called Blue Chip Club yesterday. WE were informed the offers are based not only on the amount played in the casino on board ship but also on amount played at other casinos associated with Blue Chip Club. We play everyday onboard (lots of $$). The most they will offer us is 60% off a cruise. They also stated the offer is not available for the Beyond or holiday sailings. I am seeing on here posts that  contradict what we were told. Not sure what to believe.

I received the offer.  I am looking at one of the sailings they offer and it is an 8 night departing Ft Lauderdale on Dec 18. 

[Georgie562]

1 hour ago, Cruise Junky said:

Free is definitely not free when you add in air, hotels, tips etc.  just the Mexican riviera cruise was going to cost us $1,700 Cdn before even boarding.  

 works pretty well  for some. I paid $145 for taxes and port fees and got issued $125 obc yesterday for some issues with ordering drink packages and wifi before i board tommorrow. luckily i live 15 minutes from san pedro.

[Cruise Junky]

Just now, Georgie562 said:

 works pretty well  for some. I paid $145 for taxes and port fees and got issued $125 obc yesterday for some issues with ordering drink packages and wifi before i board tommorrow. luckily i live 15 minutes from san pedro.

Yes, proximity to the port definitely helps.  If it wasn’t February we could have drove down. 

[Tyro1]

The BCC reps are very inconsistent when calling, I got an offer for a free cabin, called to get pricing for 3 people including myself, fully expecting to pay for the 3rd person. The first rep told me $500 all in, which is just taxes and fees. Had to call back after getting the pricing to confirm with my family. The 2nd Rep told me the 3rd person alone would be $1700 (they were going to make the 3rd person pay double occupancy) Hung up on that call and called again and I got the pricing of $500 all in again for a crusie only fare for 3 people in one cabin. Now I really do think I should’ve paid something like an extra $500-800 for the 3rd person but the reps are not trained well enough to understand how to price situations like this. After booking I emailed just normal celebrity about how much it would be to upgrade to the all included fare, it would have been $1700 extra for 3 people, which is not worth it for my group as we are not heavy drinkers. 

[phoenix_dream]

I confess I am so jealous!  Onyx level (second lowest) and have been on many Celebrity cruises and get absolutely no offers.  I have many cruises already booked in the next year.  Wonder if that is actually working against me?  Meaning I already am a steady customer so why tempt me?  I am going on some of the cruises people are mentioning they are getting for free, only I am paying the full load.  Just doesn't seem very fair to me.  Very curious about how they actually choose who to send the free offers to?  Does anyone have any insight on that?  I know people who gamble a lot get freebees and I have no issue with that.  I'm talking about the people who rarely, if ever, gamble.  

Edited October 7, 2022 by phoenix_dream

[Susanb10567]

1 hour ago, phoenix_dream said:

I confess I am so jealous!  Onyx level (second lowest) and have been on many Celebrity cruises and get absolutely no offers.  I have many cruises already booked in the next year.  Wonder if that is actually working against me?  Meaning I already am a steady customer so why tempt me?  I am going on some of the cruises people are mentioning they are getting for free, only I am paying the full load.  Just doesn't seem very fair to me.  Very curious about how they actually choose who to send the free offers to?  Does anyone have any insight on that?  I know people who gamble a lot get freebees and I have no issue with that.  I'm talking about the people who rarely, if ever, gamble.  

I know how you are feeling…I am onyx as well and have a 4 cruises booked in the next year…I call blue chip and the best offer I had was a discount on a veranda only until March of next year…with no ability to upgrade to Aqua or retreat

[Boo's Mom]

2 hours ago, phoenix_dream said:

I confess I am so jealous!  Onyx level (second lowest) and have been on many Celebrity cruises and get absolutely no offers.  I have many cruises already booked in the next year.  Wonder if that is actually working against me?  Meaning I already am a steady customer so why tempt me?  I am going on some of the cruises people are mentioning they are getting for free, only I am paying the full load.  Just doesn't seem very fair to me.  Very curious about how they actually choose who to send the free offers to?  Does anyone have any insight on that?  I know people who gamble a lot get freebees and I have no issue with that.  I'm talking about the people who rarely, if ever, gamble.  

I have to believe that Celebrity (and all cruise lines) are suffering tremendously ....still. 

They have to get people back into cruising mode.  

The Blue Chip Club is a tool in their toolbox. 

 

They clearly have been offering a free cruise to BCC members who are not big gamblers. 

I would offer an educated guess that they are reaching out (through BCC) to regular Celebrity cruisers who have not sailed during Covid and/or who are not currently booked. 

 

Hypothetically speaking, these ships are going to sink unless they can get the passengers back onboard.  🛳

[Redtravel]

Just sailed on a small ship that had only 40% occupied cabins.   Great service, but limited activities.  Most excursions were canceled.  It felt like visiting a resort town in the off season.  

[SHIP TRAVELER]

16 hours ago, phoenix_dream said:

I confess I am so jealous!  Onyx level (second lowest) and have been on many Celebrity cruises and get absolutely no offers.  I have many cruises already booked in the next year.  Wonder if that is actually working against me?  Meaning I already am a steady customer so why tempt me?  I am going on some of the cruises people are mentioning they are getting for free, only I am paying the full load.  Just doesn't seem very fair to me.  Very curious about how they actually choose who to send the free offers to?  Does anyone have any insight on that?  I know people who gamble a lot get freebees and I have no issue with that.  I'm talking about the people who rarely, if ever, gamble.  

Another jealous gambler here.  I have tried to figure out the system.  Obviously they are trying to fill empty cabins without lowering their posted prices.  At one time these bargains were opened up at deep discounts to airline employees and other special groups.  Now it seems that they are being filled via the Blue Chip club.  My DH keeps telling me to get over it.  Some of those getting the e mail have cruised a lot since shut down but it seems most have not.  A few of the offers are going to big gamblers but some are not gamblers at all.  I hate it that I am not eligible because I did not get an email.  I did call to check.  I am sure the Casino manager on board would rather have gamblers than non gamblers in those empty cabins.

[Cruising Cindy Lou]

We didn't get an email.  We got a card in the mail that I almost threw away without reading.  We did the request online, but they haven't called us yet.  Sounds like we might need to call in.  We haven't cruised with Celebrity since late 2019.  We had 3 more booked thru 2020 and 2021 but they were cancelled.  We have never gambled on Celebrity that I can remember.  Maybe $20 on RCL.   We cruised Virgin in August and MSC last week.  Virgin is struggling to fill their ships.  MSC was maybe 2/3 full, but they had cancellations from hurricane.  I love cruising.  I own stock in RCL and NCL.  I sure hope they all can survive this awful situation they are all having to deal with.  

[Angua]

We have only been on 2 Celebrity cruises to date, but I did organize and run the Slot Pull on our last cruise, although that was the only gambling we did in the casino.

 

We have been on a couple of Carnival cruises with my parents this year and they are big gamblers so we spent more time in the casino than we usually do (usually 0 hours), so we are getting casnio offers from them as well.

 

I signed both of us up for the BCC recently and we did get a couple of these free veranda offers, and were able to take advantage of one in december.  We are excited to cruise with Celebrity again, not sure if we will spend any time in the casino this time as I hear the table limits are higher and my parents aren't with us this time ;-).

 

 

[Cruising is my passion]

On 9/10/2022 at 9:25 AM, AnnaNicole said:

You won't get a 1099.  They have a basic charge for the cruise and then a discount.   My cruise fare was $70pp then discounted $70pp.   My husband's cruise offer fare was $1pp then discounted.

 

[Cruising is my passion]

Husband and I are Pearl on our Seapass cards. We have never received any communication regarding a free cruise. Does it come via e-mail and does it state from Blue Chip or something else. Maybe they look at someone’s Celebrity cruise history and don’t send to someone with a lot of cruises. They know we are already repeaters and don’t need to lure us. However, I would be glad to take a free cruise! (Knowing we would pay gratuities, taxes and fees.). Feedback appreciated.

[retird]

Well my blue chip offer came today for a free veranda cabin on a wide selection of cruise dates between now and Dec 27, 2022.    Of course i would have to pay grat., taxes, air, hotel.   I did the math and for the most expensive cruise they were offering me it meant i was getting a $1500.  Fare for free since they are struggling to fill cabins this fall and Nov. and Dec.are extremely cheap.   Then my math showed me my air, tax, grats, car parking, and pre cruise hotel would cost me between $3000. And $3400.   
 

Im not knocking the $1500 gift, but i just booked a cruise a week ago on Celebrity for Jan 12, 2023.     Same thing happened in 2019 . I booked a cruise for December 2019 and one week later i received a blue chip free veranda offer from celebrity on a cruise leaving on same day as my first cruise ended.  And it would have been impossible to get to the free cruise on time.

 

coincidence that it happened to me twice?    

[RichYak]

9 hours ago, Angua said:

I signed both of us up for the BCC recently

How do you do this? I thought it was automatic when you gambled on board.

[ORV]

18 hours ago, retird said:

Well my blue chip offer came today for a free veranda cabin on a wide selection of cruise dates between now and Dec 27, 2022.    Of course i would have to pay grat., taxes, air, hotel.   I did the math and for the most expensive cruise they were offering me it meant i was getting a $1500.  Fare for free since they are struggling to fill cabins this fall and Nov. and Dec.are extremely cheap.   Then my math showed me my air, tax, grats, car parking, and pre cruise hotel would cost me between $3000. And $3400.   
 

Im not knocking the $1500 gift, but i just booked a cruise a week ago on Celebrity for Jan 12, 2023.     Same thing happened in 2019 . I booked a cruise for December 2019 and one week later i received a blue chip free veranda offer from celebrity on a cruise leaving on same day as my first cruise ended.  And it would have been impossible to get to the free cruise on time.

 

coincidence that it happened to me twice?    

Wouldn’t you have the same grats, air, hotel, etc costs on any cruise? I look at it as the cruise is a bonus, I wouldn’t pay all the extra cost if I didn’t want to go. Are they where and when I’d pick? No, but it’s really cheap cruise. My incidentals aren’t as high as yours though. Flying on miles, hotel on points

[retird]

13 minutes ago, ORV said:

Wouldn’t you have the same grats, air, hotel, etc costs on any cruise? I look at it as the cruise is a bonus, I wouldn’t pay all the extra cost if I didn’t want to go. Are they where and when I’d pick? No, but it’s really cheap cruise. My incidentals aren’t as high as yours though. Flying on miles, hotel on points

You are 100% correct in your comments.   And my wife was quick to point that out to me as well.  Out of all the cruise options offered we could give them choices 1, 2, and 3.    Seeing the error of my thinking (as pointed out by wife) we have responded in the affirmative with our three choices.  Now we will await their call back confirming.    Thanks for your response.    

[Angua]

14 hours ago, RichYak said:

How do you do this? I thought it was automatic when you gambled on board.

I signed us both up for communication at the following link 

 

https://www.celebritycruises.com/things-to-do-onboard/casino/blue-chip-club

 

my husband didn't get any offers until i signed him up as well, then he started getting the free veranda offers.

 

[Smmessineo]

I'm another disgruntled regular Celebrity cruiser We visit the casino daily. Since restart we have been considering devoting more of our yearly  gambling budget to raising our level in BCC to get a free cruise.  But after reading about the people who aren't gamblers getting these offers, while we get nothing,  we are pissed. We'll be gambling less on Celebrity. I'll launder my  OBC through the slots, but won't spend any more money there.  

I can't be the only person thinking this way.

 

Edited October 13, 2022 by Smmessineo

[NorthStarStateCruiser]

28 minutes ago, Smmessineo said:

I'm another disgruntled regular Celebrity cruiser We visit the casino daily. Since restart we have been considering devoting more of our yearly  gambling budget to raising our level in BCC to get a free cruise.  But after reading about the people who aren't gamblers getting these offers, while we get nothing,  we are pissed. We'll be gambling less on Celebrity. I'll launder my  OBC through the slots, but won't spend any more money there.  

I can't be the only person thinking this way.

 

Just because others are getting a perk based on a business decision doesn't mean you need to "stick it" to the casino by not gambling. Would I feel left out if I were in your shoes, yes. But let's understand Celebrity is not intentionally shorting their more frequent players.