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Hi Adam,

I hope you and your husband have a great vacation on the Constellation. we have had several great cruises on that ship. Happy anniversary as well! Good luck in Fortunes casino , and please post back how you like the new program.

Hi WonderMan3,

I had two cruises this year prior to the implementation of the new program. Blue Chip at my request applied my earned bounce back cash to the balance on my next two cruises booked through Blue Chip for later this year.

I was told I had to apply the bounce back rebate money either to my next sailings within a year of the announcement of the new program to the cost of the cabin, or pick it up in free play on the next two sailings or lose it. I have received updated invoices showing the bounce back credits against my next two cruises have been applied.

For any cruise taken after the change, there is no more bounce back rebates , just your tier benefits on the chart. You can also call Blue Chip and find out how many points you have ( since it is a cumulative score starting out), and how many points you would need to earn to advance to the next tier level during the evaluation time period of the program if you are interested. I was also told that the casino hosts have some flexibility in small onboard comp credits to your bill at the end of the cruise after seeing your play above the published chart. I was also told there would be more Blue Chip junket sailings being released in the fall for early 2018 sailings.

I hope as more players sail in the near future, they report back as to their experience with the new program.

Hi neenee61,

Yes, I got priority tender tickets from the Michaels Club concierge on a few cruises this past year when our connections for private tours were tight due to a delay in clearing the ship by the port authority. You could get them even if not staying in a suite or being a Zenith member if you had access to MC due to Blue Chip or asking your casino host to have the tickets sent there. I have never had a problem getting the tickets for those in my cabin or picking them up for our friends who are in suites. Just ask the MC concierge a day or two before your excursion. The bartenders in Michael's are very gracious, and may have a bottle of a good red they will serve you when you are next there. I have had wonderful experiences with all of the MC concierges, and it is a very nice perk.

neenee61, Thanks so much for the reply. I agree that a lot of the new perks are fluff, but will still gamble for enjoyment. I do hope that they rethink the fruit as the welcome stateroom amenity. I never thought about buying spa products instead of services for the credit so that is a nice use of the perk.

I also agree that the loss of bounce back cash is a move to bring the club in line with other cruise casino programs. With the club open as it should be to anyone earning a point from their play, lots of new members but the only real perks are in the top two tiers.

FYI, you can always get your included priority tender tickets from the concierge in Michael's Club if the casino host does not already have them for you on your upcoming trips. Sounds like you have some amazing trips coming up, and the priority tenders really help if you need to get off to catch your excursion.

Good luck on your next sailing.

Hi neenee 61,

Thanks for posting and hope you had a great cruise.

I do have a few questions for you,

1. Were the credits for the laundry, spa and specialty restaurant posted as a dollar obc to your account or just taken off if you used those services? For instance if you did not use the spa, could you use your spa obc in the shops instead?

2. What was the stateroom amenity/welcome gift in the cabin?

3. Did the host say if there were any other benefits other than the list of comp cruises which Blue Chip sends out periodically? ( which I was told was the annual cruise benefit)

It appears that the list of benefits for your tier are similar to other cruise lines and not as generous as before, especially with the bounceback offers no longer based on actual play.

Hi Gary and Jo Ann,

Here is the redacted email chart that I received. It only show the premium beverage package applying to the ruby tier, classic drink package to the sapphire tier, and standard drink package for amethyst tier. Again it will be helpful once someone takes a cruise in the next week or two and reports back on actual experience. with the new roll out. Also it says 8 dollars for one tier point for table play, and in the tiny type at the bottom, it says 8 dollars table theoretical per point which is different than an eight dollar table wager per point. I am glad to see the benefits reduced to writing.

I received a telephone call back from Blue Chip. There will no longer be bounce back cash earned on a sailing, but you can redeem your tier points earned on your cruise for casino play or other onboard purchases. If you have earned bounce back on prior sailings to the announcement of the new program, you can still redeem that on your next sailing. There are five tiers to the program. pearl, onyx,amethyst, sapphire and ruby. The benefits are good for 18 months, and you must re-qualify with the level of points required to maintain your tier or perhaps be moved up or down depending on your play at the end of each 18 month period. The casino host at his or her discretion will reach out to the blue chip casino player in the three highest tiers and may hand out a voucher for the player on that sailing for instance for a "free" (excluding port charges and taxes) or discounted amount for a future sailing in different categories, such as inside cabin, oceanview, balcony cabin etc. This is what is called the annual cruise benefit. The club will continue to have Blue Chip sailings where players are offered the cruise sailing in different categories depending on their level of play such as the slot or blackjack tournaments offered on Equinox this summer which is in addition to the annual cruise benefit. The three highest categories of the club, amethyst, sapphire and ruby get extra benefits. Tier points are counted at 1 tier point for every one dollar wagered on slots, 1 tier point for every two dollars wagered on video poker, and 1 tier point for every 8 dollars wagered on table games. Pearl members have to earn 1 tier point every 18 months, onyx, 2500 points, amethyst 25,000 points, sapphire 100,000 points, and ruby tier member 1 million.points.

It would be difficult in my opinion to earn the point levels in the higher tiers unless you cruise more than once a year.

I received a telephone call back from Blue Chip. There will no longer be bounce back cash earned on a sailing, but you can redeem your tier points earned on your cruise for casino play or other onboard purchases. If you have earned bounce back on prior sailings to the announcement of the new program, you can still redeem that on your next sailing. There are five tiers to the program. pearl, onyx,amethyst, sapphire and ruby. The benefits are good for 18 months, and you must re-qualify with the level of points required to maintain your tier or perhaps be moved up or down depending on your play at the end of each 18 month period. The casino host at his or her discretion will reach out to the blue chip casino player in the three highest tiers and may hand out a voucher for the player on that sailing for instance for a "free" (excluding port charges and taxes) or discounted amount for a future sailing in different categories, such as inside cabin, oceanview, balcony cabin etc. This is what is called the annual cruise benefit. The club will continue to have Blue Chip sailings where players are offered the cruise sailing in different categories depending on their level of play such as the slot or blackjack tournaments offered on Equinox this summer which is in addition to the annual cruise benefit. The three highest categories of the club, amethyst, sapphire and ruby get extra benefits. Tier points are counted at 1 tier point for every one dollar wagered on slots, 1 tier point for every two dollars wagered on video poker, and 1 tier point for every 8 dollars wagered on table games. Pearl members have to earn 1 tier point every 18 months, onyx, 2500 points, amethyst 25,000 points, sapphire 100,000 points, and ruby tier member 1 million.points.

It would be difficult in my opinion to earn the point levels in the higher tiers unless you cruise more than once a year.

A travel agent sent me this press release which answers some initial questions about the ship. Here is the link

https://www.celebritycruisespresscenter.com/pdf/core_press_materials_edge/EDGE-FactsSheet.pdf

I still haven't seen any plan diagrams for the Royal Suite layout or some of the other cabins, only a concept picture. In the press release it states at full capacity Edge will hold 3373 guests and 1320 crew with a total of 1,467 staterooms. 918 Infinite Veranda Staterooms, 176 Suites .

On the Infinite Verandas, there are 104 Aqua Class Infinite Verandas, 2 Accessible Aqua Class Infinite Verandas, 16 Accessible Edge Staterooms with Infinite Verandas and, 16 Single Edge Infinite Verandas. I did not see a breakdown in these materials of some of the other cabin categories, although it is reflected on the information sheets already posted earlier. I am looking forward to seeing the new ship.

You should resend your request to bluechipclub@celebrity.com with each ship and sail date of each cruise you gambled on in 2016. You will get a separate win loss statement for each cruise sailing( at least that is what I received) . Their main number is 866-461-7170, and their fax is 305-982-2932.

It took about a week to get a response from their offices once I submitted it. Good luck and hope you get a prompt response

We brought a set from home and used their set for the 2nd tv in the bedroom. Just confirm with your precruise concierge contact that they have an extra set on hand. Have a great trip!

Hi, We've had the PS on Equinox and Silhouette in the last two months. Yes you can hook the ipad up, but you may have to call the AV guys to switch over the inputs like we did. They also carry all extra cables and boosters for signals. We do bring extra cords with us, and since the TV are Samsungs in the cabin, an older Samsung phone with us which we use as an extra remote control for the TV. The Butler started laughing the first time he saw us change the channels, and volume without using the room remote. They will also bring a dvd player to the room if you request one.

If you have a pre shoreside contact from the concierge, just nicely request that they have the cables for you.

Have a great cruise!

Just off Equinox on Monday. I was much better accommodated on Equinox with the variety of meals ,breads, pastries and desserts than on Silhouette (Thanksgiving 2016) for celiac. The chef met with me and I preordered the next day's meals being offered including desserts beyond fruit and creme brulee. I did eat all of my meals in Luminae, and also brought on my snacks and protein bars for the room. The Luminae Chef Rene was very imaginative in making the dining experience great.

I will say that the signage in oceanview cafe, had several items listed as gluten free which may have not been, and also in Aquaspa cafe. For instance in Aquaspa, there would be different yogurt parfaits with some kind of either cookie crumble or graham cracker crumbs in them. It is possible that the chef made his own gluten free cookies and graham crackers, but without speaking to the chef who made it, I would not trust it. The pre made gluten free pizza crust was handled in the same area as the regular flour dough, so a good chance of cross contamination.

The main problem in oceanview is the cross contamination by passengers putting spoons back into different bowls and pans. It is much safer to eat in the main dining room, Blu or Luminae.

The servers in Cafe Al Bacio were great about not putting biscotti on the plate, and they had separation of the cookies with separate tongs in separate jars for each type of cookie, so the peanut butter cookie tongs did not go into the chocolate chip cookie jar for instance or the gluten free macaroon jar.

It will still take a lot of training for the average staff person to understand what looks harmless can make someone very sick just by the cross contamination.

It would still be absolutely wonderful if Celebrity had a dedicated station for those with allergies to be served by their staff, or have completely preplated cling wrapped items available for pickup in oceanview.

Room service is still a miss in my opinion as far as safe food items. It has improved, but it definitely a work in progress to teach so many individuals in food service some of the basics. We always have a great time, but you are always responsible for making sure and asking all the questions that are necessary to have a safe food experience.

.

I was on the Silhouette Thanksgiving sailing, and I am celiac stage 4.

I had written responses precruise from both the special needs department, the shoreside concierge, and from the ship restaurant department itself confirming my need for gluten free and then met on the first day with the chef and restuarant manager for Luminae.

I brought on my favorite gluten free dry snacks such as protein bars, popcorn, chips, and granola.

I was advised to not eat in the buffet, which I did not, and to only eat meals in the dining room(Luminae) and not the specialty restaurants although our room included the cover charge to them.

There are no item legends like in the main dining room or Blu for items that are gluten free, sugar free, vegetarian and the like. There were no pastries in Luminae which I could eat as they did not have gluten free flour mix onboard.

They did have gluten free bread which could be toasted for your meal. Other than oil and vinegar, there were no gluten free salad dressings.

I would preorder what I wanted for dinner the next night, and sometimes the menu could be modified, and otherwise, I would have gluten free pasta or steamed vegetables.

The only desserts outside of fruit if preordered would be a creme brulee or if enough notice given, a chocolate flourless cake.

I did go up to the buffet with my family members, and observed a gluten free rice pudding dessert( non vegetarian) with a chocolate drizzle on it. Unless one knew the source of the chocolate sauce, it may or may not have contained gluten.

The ice cream servers in the buffet were using the same scoop for whoever they were serving, so again a risk for cross contamination.

I inquired about the gluten free pizza at the buffet and was informed that there was none that day, and no idea if they would have any more gluten free dough that day. There was flour over the work surface where they were making other regular pizzas. Luminae offered to make me a gluten free pizza later in the cruise which I appreciated, but I did not want that for my dinner as there was a better option on what I preordered.

On the day we were in St Thomas, I went to Cafe al Bacio for a decaf coffee and a gluten free macaroon. The cookies are kept in separate jars and had tongs by each jar.

I sat down and was served the coffee and two macaroons. The only thing I previously had that day was a gluten free protein bar and bottled water. Within two hours, I had the symptoms and resulting issues that come with being glutened. My best guess is that the server picked up the wrong tongs, and I was cross contaminated.

I immediately informed the manager at Cafe al Bacio, guest relations and the chef, and also did so in writing. I did not eat anything else the rest of that day.

I want to say that the officers, staff members, restaurant maitre'd and employees on the Silhouette were all outstanding, and I wrote that in an separate emails on the day of departure to Celebrity departments, as well as filling out the online survey.

I did ask to be contacted to follow up with their Dine Aware program to prevent this from happening again to anyone who has a severe allergy, as this was easily preventable.

They could either saran wrap the macaroons, or use different colored tongs only for that jar. I have yet to hear back from Celebrity either by phone call or written response, and that disappoints me

The good news was that I lost three pounds on this holiday cruise, the less good news is that it wasn't due to extra exercise.

I cruise often with Celebrity and was excited to see this educational program being rolled out. It has not been fully implemented and all staff trained. I will avoid taking a cruise right after a transatlantic due to large staff changes, but I will continue to cruise with Celebrity. We cancelled next year's Thanksgiving cruise, and will book something further away from a TA crossing.

Next cruise in January, I am bringing on gf flour mix, along with my snacks, so I can have some baked goods. It would have been lovely to have a scone or a pastry, but it was not available on this cruise.

It would be great if there was a counter in the buffet for those with specific allergies could be served, and no cross contamination and everything properly labeled.

I am hoping that with more training, my experience will not be repeated for anyone else. If the Celebrity representative reads this post, then perhaps they will step up the training under this program for all employees who prepare and handle food.

I still had a great cruise minus the one day, but it would have been better if all days were great.

Silhouette update 11-24-2016

Cameron Robertson returned as Guest Relations manager this afternoon and Jon Pilling left. Truly outstanding officers and staff this cruise.

martiniren, No reason to apologize, internet has been slow at times so I was just trying to convey that Rich Clesen is onboard Silhouette for a while, and a consummate professional. I am sorry if it came across as short. ChezMaryLou I told Niko that you would be coming shortly on the 4th and to look after ya'll She is very nice, and she can run in her high heels down the halls!

Arno, thanks again for keeping the thread and all of your work on it. It is much appreciated by us.

ProjectGal,

I communicated this to both the Silhouette Guest Relations and Hotel Manager who are absolutely lovely people to email shoreside, as well as asking the Silhouette casino manager.

I believe that if people are able to us their refundable obc and get real chips and slot play from their obc, and not the promo chips or slot credits , they should consider themselves fortunate as the published rules from Miami shoreside casino corporate are different.

We will be back on a ship the first week of January, and will report if there are any other changes. Everyone have a lovely upcoming cruise.

Niko's contract on Silhouette has been extended until sometime in January in Michael's Club according to Niko.

Rich Clesen was at the Cruise Critic get together this morning. He is on the cruise this week and did not say he is going to Summit next week. great CD and always visible around the ship. Officers are outstanding as a group.

Onboard Silhouette (11/20) and a Blue Chip member. I asked the casino host and this is the current policy on this ship. The 5% percent charge is waived for all suites. Any Blue Chip rebate money is in promo credits for slots or promo chips for tables. Charges to your seapass for cash are given in Promo chips for tables or slot credits.

If you specifically bought precruise casino credit, they will give you the real table chips instead of promo chips. So if you are in a suite and prebought casino credits, get the real table chips , then if you want to play slots with cash, wait a little and cash them in for cash. They will probably close this avenue as well, but it worked yesterday for one of my siblings.

There is no consistency between the ships as the managers sometimes make variations from the standard published rules. I only see the rules tightening.

Project Gal, I still believe the best answer is setting up a line of credit for your husband if he does not want to carry cash with him. I wish that Celebrity officially publish their guidelines to clear up the confusion over the credits and charges.

Silhouette 11-20-2016

Captain: Athanasios Peppas

Hotel Director: Christophe Belaubre

Chief Engineer: Yannis Chazandroulis

Cruise Director : Rich Clesen

Staff Captain: Christos Galanis

Food & Beverage Director: Srdjan Prastalo

Guest Relations Manager: Jon Pilling

Executive Chef: Victor Mancilla

Michael's Club host: Niko Balla

Captain's Club host: Maria Tudor

Casino host: David Mitchinson

House Band: Casablanca

DJ: Constantine

String Duo: Decameron

Duo: Blue River

Guitar and Vocals: Victor Martinez

Comedian: Bengt Washburn

Jazz Quartet

All Captain's Club benefits loaded onto Seapass. It works great on the first day

Congratulations to the two of you. May the two of you have many happy cruising memories to come. I hope you have many family and friends onboard your next Celebrity cruise to celebrate with on your first cruise as Zenith members. It will be special.

Hi,

We have had several PS and RS on both S class and M class ships. On the S class ships I prefer those on deck 10 to deck 11 as it is sandwiched between two decks. On Silhouette this year we have had both the PS and the RS within a few months.

No noise whatsoever(except once) on the PS on deck 11 or the RS on decks 10 or 11. For the money, I wouldn't pay a $1000 a day difference for the PS on an S class ship unless it was fairly close to the RS pricing. We have been able to upgrade near or after final payment a few times from the RS to the PS for not much more than the cost we paid for the royal suite.

I love the M class PS for the room and especially the deck and the view of the wake. There is a big difference between that PS and the RS on the M class ships.

My only experience with noise in a S class PS was several years ago on a Thanksgiving cruise which was also the cruise that the American Girls doll special event was on.

When they had a pool party one night to announce that all of the children were getting a special edition doll on the sailing, the sounds of their cheering, clapping and yelling was definitely heard in the room( and yes the balcony doors were not open). It only lasted a few minutes, but it was loud!

We have never been bothered by pool noise or the afternoon band at the pool in these suites. If you are outside on the balcony, you can hear the band playing, but not inside the room.

The RS and PS rooms on both decks are quiet and well insulated. Service is great for both. The shower in the PS is wonderful. If you are entertaining, the extra room in the S class PS is very nice. The pianos in both class ships usually need tuning if you like to play.

Here's hoping your price drops, and the cabin of your choice is available. You can also waitlist a particular cabin with Celebrity or your travel agent if it becomes available.

Happy cruising!

Copied from the Australian consular website:

Who to contact

•emergency consular assistance is available 24 hours a day by calling our Consular Emergency Centre (CEC) in Canberra on 1300 555 135 or from anywhere in the world on +61 2 6261 3305 or by SMS on +61 421 269 080

•if you are overseas and it is after working hours, you can call the Australian embassy, high commission or consulate in the country you are visiting and follow the phone prompts to be connected to the CEC

•you can access addresses and telephone numbers of Australian embassies, high commissions or consulates online at dfat.gov.au/missions or in local telephone directories, hotels, tourist offices or police stations

•the CEC may also assist concerned family members in Australia and can be contacted on 1300 555 135.

Here is the contact information for Australian citizens in Rome:

Australian Embassy

Via Antonio Bosio, 5

00161 - ROME How to reach the Embassy

Tel: 06 8527 21

Facsimile: 06 8527 2300

Consular Emergency Centre, Canberra (Toll free from Italy 24hr): 800877790

To contact us from outside Italy

•Telephone: + 39 06 8527 21

•Facsimile: + 39 06 8527 2300 (Chancery)

Visas and Citizenship

Please contact the Europe Service Centre in London:

•Tel. +44 (0) 207 420 3690 (service available in English from 1pm to 5pm, Monday to Friday, international call charges apply)

Tel. +44 (0) 207 420 3698 (service available in Italian from 10am to 1pm, Monday to Friday, international call charges apply)

E-MAIL:

•Visas for Australia, Australian citizenship and immigration issues (online webmail form): http://www.border.gov.au/forms/europe

•Assistance to Australians, renewal or first issue of Australian passports/notarial services: consular-rome@dfat.gov.au

•Enquiries other than the above: info-rome@dfat.gov.au

I'll post it to their roll call as well.

Project gal,

If your husband wants to gamble and does not want to bring cash onboard, he could sign up a for a line of credit with Celebrity. The catch is that the bank account has to be from a US bank( to my knowledge). I have had several friends who are from the UK establish a US Bank account for various reasons, including being able to pull from a line of credit on cruise ships or resorts with casinos. Here is the link:

http://www.celebritycruises.com/media/en_US/pdf/casino/Casino_Credit_Form.pdf

At the end of the cruise, they will either want a check written on the account to repay the casino for the draw or it will go to the credit card of your choice that you may have used on your seapass account.

For instance , the charges from the casino do not show up as cash advances on our US Celebrity Visa credit card account but just as regular charges. So when you get home, you pay off the balance of your cruise charges on your credit card, and you get the points can be accumulated and then converted to obc or dollars off your next Celebrity cruise. The Celebrity Visa points are paid at two to one for any Celebrity Cruise charges.

Your husband might check with Celebrity UK about the availability of having the line of credit issued with a UK Bank. You are not required to play or pull from the line of credit any predetermined amount, just up to the limit they have authorized. It does require getting authorization to open an account with a $10,000 US dollar limit or higher, but that does not mean that the person actually has to pull any of that amount.

It is convenient to not have to bring cash with you, no five percent charge(again in our experience), no promo chips, and hopefully he wins as well as having a good time.

Silhouette Feb 2016 Penthouse Suite

No 5% fee charged to suite occupants, but given either the promo slot chips or table promo chips to play for charges to the seapass but not cash. One room occupant was a Blue Chip casino player, and one was not.

The promo chips can be swapped out for regular(cashable) chips on your winnings on either the slots or table play.

We had others on this sailing not in suites and not part of the Casino Blue Chip program, and they were charged the 5%. They received promo chips either for slots or tables for the amount charged to their seapass plus the 5% charge

For Blue Chip (casino players club) no matter what category of room booked

no 5% charge for withdrawal, but advances were given in promo chips unless you previously had a line of credit set up with the casino tied to your bank account . Then you could get cash from the cage up to your line of credit, and not promo chips.

Silhouette, Royal Suite June 2016

Same results as in February. We had both a royal suite and nonsuite cabins on this sailing and both Blue Chip members and non members.

We were also on Constellation in late November 2015 and December 2015 sailings, and the same casino rules on withdrawals applied on those sailings, and we and and our friends were in the higher suites.