Casino Host

[Projunior]

I am Elite Plus with Celebrity and Amethyst in BCC. Let me start by saying that I have never, even once, gotten an email or a snail mail or any kind of offer from BCC. So instead I call when I pick out a cruise and ask if I can get a BCC discount. Sometimes yes, often no. My wife and I both bet $35/hand playing Ultimate Hold 'em for at least two hours a day when sailing on Celebrity. No offers for us for that, not good enough for BCC. And let me tell you that nothing is more infuriating than reading on CC how someone dropped $20 in a slot machine over the course of an entire cruise and got an offer for a comped veranda cabin.

 

My last two cruises have been on Princess and the difference between the Princess Players Club and the Blue Chip Club is like night and day. When I booked my December cruise on the Regal I was given $100 in casino freeplay even though I hadn't sailed Princess since 2015. So on Celebrity you have to earn your way up to middle tier Amethyst to get $100 while on Princess they gave that same amount to someone (me) who hadn't set foot on a Princess ship in eight years.

 

We randomly picked this sailing of the Regal and only found out once aboard that it happened to be a casino cruise for Princess slot players. Lots of gamblers on board and as a result the casino, both machines and tables, was swarmed all the time. I once waited an hour and a half to get on the single WPT Heads Up Poker (Carnival Corporation's version of Ultimate) table. As the cruise progressed my wife and I got tired of all the waiting for a seat and we ended up playing only perhaps 1/3 the amount we would on a typical 7-day cruise on Celebrity. But get this -- on the second to last night of the cruise the Players Club slipped two offers under our door, one for $250 of freeplay on our next Princess cruise the the other for $300. As someone used to the stinginess of BCC, I was shocked beyond belief.

 

Then we used that offer on a second Princess cruise, this one on the Ruby out of Galveston last month. The casino was lovely and uncrowded. There were seats any time we wanted to play. On the fourth day of the cruise the Players Club sent, unannounced, chocolate covered strawberries to our cabin. On the fifth day, again unannounced, they sent a bottle of nice Italian wine to our cabin. On the fifth day they sent an offer for a free inside cabin on our next cruise along with $750 in freeplay. This was playing the exact same stakes/amounts we always play on Celebrity and this is after just two recent cruises on Princess!

 

Meanwhile, after 17 cruises on Celebrity and lots of donations to the casino, BCC can't be bothered to send me a single offer. BCC may be attracting some new business by offering those comped cabins to those dropping a few bucks in a slot machine, but they alienated me to the point where I looked for greener pastures and found them on Princess.

Edited February 6, 2023 by Projunior

[Fly and Sail]

2 hours ago, Guppy99 said:

The casino is a vendor.  The Casino host cannot answer a lot of the questions posters here have asked. It isn't the host's fault.

Also, he has no control over who gets offered a comped cruise. That criteria is decided in the casino home office and changes frequently.

Your guessing, is just that, a guess.

 

That's not correct. The onboard offers are decided by the host and on the last two cruises the ladies at the Future Bookings desk told me there are rarely any people on the list these days. They used to have like 30, nowadays its more like 10 or less. I saw the list.

 

And as far as the questions are concerned, a professional host does familiarize himself with the program. That's part of his job. However, I found most of the X/Fortunes hosts to be pushed into the job without any background or interest. They could just as well sit at a cash register. They would NEVER be employed as a host in Las Vegas. Not one of them, and I met most.

[kwokpot]

7 minutes ago, Fly and Sail said:

 

That's not correct. The onboard offers are decided by the host and on the last two cruises the ladies at the Future Bookings desk told me there are rarely any people on the list these days. They used to have like 30, nowadays its more like 10 or less. I saw the list.

 

And as far as the questions are concerned, a professional host does familiarize himself with the program. That's part of his job. However, I found most of the X/Fortunes hosts to be pushed into the job without any background or interest. They could just as well sit at a cash register. They would NEVER be employed as a host in Las Vegas. Not one of them, and I met most.

My husband always tries to engender a good relationship with each host. With our cruising style we don't have onboard charges of any substance so on the last day of each cruise he makes sure to meet up with the host to figure out how much onboard comps he earned so we can go to the gift shops and spend up to what the host will absorb. He has had a host complain to him that they don't like this whole onboard comp rebate and wished they didn't have to do it. That's your job! We now have whole set of Edge, Apex, and Beyond matching coffee mugs in addition to logo and non casual clothing of every type; hoodies, long sleeve pullovers, gymwear, polo shirts. 

[Guppy99]

15 minutes ago, kwokpot said:

My husband always tries to engender a good relationship with each host. With our cruising style we don't have onboard charges of any substance so on the last day of each cruise he makes sure to meet up with the host to figure out how much onboard comps he earned so we can go to the gift shops and spend up to what the host will absorb. He has had a host complain to him that they don't like this whole onboard comp rebate and wished they didn't have to do it. That's your job! We now have whole set of Edge, Apex, and Beyond matching coffee mugs in addition to logo and non casual clothing of every type; hoodies, long sleeve pullovers, gymwear, polo shirts. 

We're talking about free cruises NOT Celebrity "stuff".   If you don't use your points you can trade them in for Celebrity underwear.

[kwokpot]

3 minutes ago, Guppy99 said:

We're talking about free cruises NOT Celebrity "stuff".   If you don't use your points you can trade them in for Celebrity underwear.

I'm not understanding your hostility towards my post. The thread is about Celebrity casino hosts and I'm adding real information that's germane to the conversation. On Celebrity the onboard casino host doesn't issue cruise certificates like their sister line Royal. Nor do they handout specialty restaurant meals like Carnival hosts do.  What they can do is wipe off onboard charges on the last cruise day based on your play. The free cruise decisions are made at the home office. My husband is Sapphire. 

[Janthere]

35 minutes ago, kwokpot said:

My husband always tries to engender a good relationship with each host. With our cruising style we don't have onboard charges of any substance so on the last day of each cruise he makes sure to meet up with the host to figure out how much onboard comps he earned so we can go to the gift shops and spend up to what the host will absorb. He has had a host complain to him that they don't like this whole onboard comp rebate and wished they didn't have to do it. That's your job! We now have whole set of Edge, Apex, and Beyond matching coffee mugs in addition to logo and non casual clothing of every type; hoodies, long sleeve pullovers, gymwear, polo shirts. 

Why dont you just ask for freeplay instead of all the unwanted x gear?

[Guppy99]

8 minutes ago, janbear said:

Why dont you just ask for freeplay instead of all the unwanted x gear?

You don't even have to ask, it's loaded to your card.

[kwokpot]

1 minute ago, janbear said:

Why dont you just ask for freeplay instead of all the unwanted x gear?

My husband is the gambler so that's his call. I'm just here for whatever bennies he gives me, lol. I have asked if he want to go to a specialty restaurant but we're both fine with the included restaurants. I think the main issue is the payback on cruiseship slots verses land-based casinos. We actually wear all the clothes we get and use the mugs every day. Our last cruise was on Virgin and on an 8 night cruise he won over 14 jackpots and we had $700 worth of onboard spend. I had spa charges wiped and we bought over $600 worth of stuff. The Virgin host comped a bottle of wine every night, bottles that were $60-$100 each. 

[Janthere]

24 minutes ago, kwokpot said:

My husband is the gambler so that's his call. I'm just here for whatever bennies he gives me, lol. I have asked if he want to go to a specialty restaurant but we're both fine with the included restaurants. I think the main issue is the payback on cruiseship slots verses land-based casinos. We actually wear all the clothes we get and use the mugs every day. Our last cruise was on Virgin and on an 8 night cruise he won over 14 jackpots and we had $700 worth of onboard spend. I had spa charges wiped and we bought over $600 worth of stuff. The Virgin host comped a bottle of wine every night, bottles that were $60-$100 each. 

Haha you are his groupie 🙂 We are headed out on Virgin this weekend and can only hope for half the luck he had - wow 14 jackpots is crazy!! Good job! 

[Janthere]

27 minutes ago, Guppy99 said:

You don't even have to ask, it's loaded to your card.

No I meant free play at the end of the cruise as a comp.

[kwokpot]

Just now, janbear said:

Haha you are his groupie 🙂 We are headed out on Virgin this weekend and can only hope for half the luck he had - wow 14 jackpots is crazy!! Good job! 

Which ship?

[Janthere]

Just now, kwokpot said:

Which ship?

Valiant 

[kwokpot]

Just now, janbear said:

Valiant 

That's what we sailed on. The host is Dex. He's very nice. Are you on a comped cruise? Or an casino invited guest cruise?

[dazey]

We were on Summit in December and I played quite a bit on slots. We did receive a card to our cabin about complimentary cruise and the price quoted was excellent for a 10 day from Boston to Canada. I never put down a deposit and when I got home called Blue Chip and the offer was not similar to what the offer on the ship was.  I have to say there was a $3500 difference!  Kicking myself. I was only offered the Net10 offer.

 

Regarding the host on Summit - it was a woman and I spoke to her at the beginning and on the last day.  She was pleasant but nothing to note.  She did tell me that the Blue Chip program would be changing in 2023 but no further info. In the past 2 years I have had offers of several complimentary cruises(taxes + fees for veranda and with no perks).  Even the Net 60 was a good deal.

 

It is kind of funny that this last time I played(and lost) more than ever before and now no offers.  And some people get offers and do not play.  

 

We will be on Summit in May and hope to get a "free cruise" card!

 

 

[Georgia_Peaches]

2 hours ago, kwokpot said:

I'm not understanding your hostility towards my post. The thread is about Celebrity casino hosts and I'm adding real information that's germane to the conversation. On Celebrity the onboard casino host doesn't issue cruise certificates like their sister line Royal. Nor do they handout specialty restaurant meals like Carnival hosts do.  What they can do is wipe off onboard charges on the last cruise day based on your play. The free cruise decisions are made at the home office. My husband is Sapphire. 

I had no idea this was even a thing!  Does this work with slot play as well?  I usually use the points I've earned on additional slot play.  Are these the comp point you're talking about or is it something else?

[Guppy99]

2 hours ago, janbear said:

No I meant free play at the end of the cruise as a comp.

yes, and it loaded to your card to play with.

[toohod]

The biggest word in comps—Vegas, cruise, etc. = Theoretical 

 

All of my front end and back end offers/comps and future offers whether Vegas, cruises, etc are based on this. Generally across the board these offers are always in line with what i expect. Higher or lower always based off established relationships where they have very good history of your play. 

[kwokpot]

1 hour ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

I had no idea this was even a thing!  Does this work with slot play as well?  I usually use the points I've earned on additional slot play.  Are these the comp point you're talking about or is it something else?

It's something else. On Celebrity you earn onboard comps that must be used by the end of the cruise. There's no way of knowing how much you've earned unless you speak to the casino host on the LAST day of your cruise. They will tell you how much accrued comps you have earned which can be used to offset onboard charges from the spa, specialty restaurants, bar bill (not gratuities),excursions, gift shop purchases. The reason we wait until we know what the amount is before buying anything is we want the lowest bill possible, so we wait until we know what amount we can spend. Of course if I want to go to the spa for a treatment or we do want to go to a specialty restaurant we'll just put it on our account and let the casino host offset it. 

[kwokpot]

2 hours ago, dazey said:

We were on Summit in December and I played quite a bit on slots. We did receive a card to our cabin about complimentary cruise and the price quoted was excellent for a 10 day from Boston to Canada. I never put down a deposit and when I got home called Blue Chip and the offer was not similar to what the offer on the ship was.  I have to say there was a $3500 difference!  Kicking myself. I was only offered the Net10 offer.

That's highly unusual for BCC. My husband has been with BCC for years and has NEVER received any kind of onboard offer for a free cruise on a Celebrity ship. That's not how they do things.  Also maybe you didn't explain it thoroughly but I'm not understanding what exactly was the offer on the card? Your statement is a bit contradictory and maybe for brevity sake you omitted some details. Can you explain further? Did you meant to imply the card said you had a comped cruise offer and you went down to the Next cruise office and got a quote on a specific cruise you wanted to go on and it was a good discount but not fully comped? 

Edited February 6, 2023 by kwokpot

[Guppy99]

16 minutes ago, kwokpot said:

It's something else. On Celebrity you earn onboard comps that must be used by the end of the cruise. There's no way of knowing how much you've earned unless you speak to the casino host on the LAST day of your cruise. They will tell you how much accrued comps you have earned which can be used to offset onboard charges from the spa, specialty restaurants, bar bill (not gratuities),excursions, gift shop purchases. The reason we wait until we know what the amount is before buying anything is we want the lowest bill possible, so we wait until we know what amount we can spend. Of course if I want to go to the spa for a treatment or we do want to go to a specialty restaurant we'll just put it on our account and let the casino host offset it. 

That is known as onboard credit.  You do not earn onboard credit in the casino. 

[kwokpot]

40 minutes ago, Guppy99 said:

That is known as onboard credit.  You do not earn onboard credit in the casino. 

No, that's something entirely different. I know what I'm taking about and not sure why you're doubting what I'm saying. If you're a gambler and don't know about onboard accrued comps then you're missing out. 

[Guppy99]

5 minutes ago, kwokpot said:

No, that's something entirely different. I know what I'm taking about and not sure why you're doubting what I'm saying. If you're a gambler and don't know about onboard accrued comps then you're missing out. 

I don't think you know what you are talking about or you are not explaining correctly.

[Projunior]

14 minutes ago, CelebrityCruizer said:

You cant lie or trick this board.

Since you've clearly demonstrated that despite your complete ignorance about the game Ultimate Hold 'em (see: "rotating chairs" and "three hands a minute" in your first post), you've managed to conclude I am a liar and a trickster regarding my experience. Feel free to add that to the list of things that you don't know anything about.

 

The table minimum on Celebrity for Ultimate Hold 'em is $10, but in reality this minimum bet must be placed in equal amounts on both the Ante and the Blind, so the actual minimum is $20. I play just $5  over that, resulting in a wager of $15+$15=$30 ante/blind a hand.  Then I also play the Trips bet for $5, so $35 a hand total. 

 

The house edge in UTH is 2.185%. That means that a theoretical loss on $10,000 played is $218.50. BCC gives 8 points for each dollar of theoretical for table games, or 1,748 points for $10,000 played. On my last cruise I earned just over 2,400 points.  So it would take almost 10 cruises, wagering around $15K per cruise just to maintain measly Amethyst level (25,000 points) in BCC. You really think $10,000 play through on a single cruise guarantees what you call "top comps"? Laughable. 

 

The point of my post, sadly lost on you, is that BCC sneers at my level of play but, in a surprise to me, Princess rewarded it in what I felt was a generous way. I merely wanted to share that most simple point. And, to reiterate, BCC has never once sent me any kind of offer. Ever. 

[kwokpot]

28 minutes ago, Guppy99 said:

I don't think you know what you are talking about or you are not explaining correctly.

I know exactly what I'm talking about. There are 3 ways of earning rewards for gambling. The 1st is the guaranteed Freeplay that is given with each tier level. The 2nd is the Freeplay earned on your cruise based on your play that's shown on the slot machine screens along with your tier points earned. The 3rd is what the casino host calculates on the last day of the cruise which they can use to offset onboard charges.

On our last Celebrity cruise, the 10/26 Beyond sailing, my husband received $855 Freeplay, which is is more than the guaranteed $500 Sapphire tier level Freeplay because of his gambling on the previous Celebrity cruise. On this cruise he earned 52,235 points. Auto freeplay earned that was shown on the slot machine was $203. On the last day of the cruise the casino host was able to wipeout onboard charges of $230. The host, Renee, who is a very nice woman, already told my husband that when we sail next week on the Solstice he will receive $750 tier level Freeplay, which means he earned more than the Sapphire tier min of $500 Freeplay for his play on the Beyond.  

Edited February 7, 2023 by kwokpot

[Fly and Sail]

2 minutes ago, kwokpot said:

My husband always tries to engender a good relationship with each host. With our cruising style we don't have onboard charges of any substance so on the last day of each cruise he makes sure to meet up with the host to figure out how much onboard comps he earned so we can go to the gift shops and spend up to what the host will absorb. He has had a host complain to him that they don't like this whole onboard comp rebate and wished they didn't have to do it. That's your job! We now have whole set of Edge, Apex, and Beyond matching coffee mugs in addition to logo and non casual clothing of every type; hoodies, long sleeve pullovers, gymwear, polo shirts. 

 

I never got anything on board. No comps of any onboard charges and they can keep their merchandise stuff. I have no space in my baggage anyway.