Royal Suite Upgrade Offer

[Gonzo70]

OK I have to disagree w/ everyone b/c I'm that kind of gal.

I've had several comped (by the casino) cruises in everything from inside to AQ and I've gotten CC points for the cabin in which I sailed. All I paid was port/taxes. Arguably the casino PAID but I know I didn't and reasonably certain the Blue Chip Club didn't pay what anyone else would pay.

 

Not the same situation as someone paying for a cruise and receiving a free or discounted upgrade.

[phoenix_dream]

May I ask what tier of Captains Club you are? Do you think that made a difference in getting the offer?

Elite plus here, 41 Celebrity cruises, never received any kind of upgrade offer, ever. I don't know what the criteria is, but it definitely isn't Captains Club status

[Maven3]

Off topic for this thread but I am very interested in just how much one has to gamble to get comped cruises. My mother gets offers all the time from Carnnival to sail again for free before she even gets off the ship, and free drinks, perks etc while on board. When I’ve looked at the point system for blue Chip previously it looks like an outrageous amount of play to get any meaningful comps - so how do you get so many?

 

 

 

IMO, the casino comps are screwy. My experience has mostly been with RCCL, not Celebrity, but I think they work similarly. It doesn’t appear to be about the amount of money you “donate” to the casino, but rather the amount of time you spend in there. This especially applies to people who play table games. I have spent a couple grand in a few days and received nothing while my friend spent $500, won and gave it back, but spent hours on end in the casino and she received multiple offers for free cruises. Slots have a different point system.

 

On my last RCCL (Feb 2018), I literally walked off the ship with $3500 of the casinos money & was offered a 5 day cruise on the Indy in November in a balcony room & a 4 night on the Enchantment in a Jr. Suite. All I had to pay was port taxes (& tips).

 

On my last cruise I was lucky, 3-Card Poker, right off the bat & the streak continued. I played 3 out of 5 evenings. On the previous cruise I lost at everything, I didn’t spend much time in the casino because I lost, lost, lost and wasn’t willing to put any more money in.

 

When you get a “free” room on the casino, you get free drinks when you’re in the casino. You just have to see the casino host for your sticker. Quite often they will give one to your roommate too.

 

Call the casino number and ask if you have any offers available. Sometimes there are discounts or specials you don’t even know about.

 

 

Vickie

Edited May 8, 2018 by Maven3

[K12Guy]

I can say with 100% certainty that this statement is untrue. Captain Club points are based on the level of stateroom PAID for. When one receives a free upgrade, they are not entitled to the points of the higher category and with guarantees one only receives the captain club points associated with the lowest level room one could be assigned based on the guarantee - not the room actually assigned (i.e. if one books a Concierge Class guarantee and is assigned a Sky Suite, one receives the Captain Club points based on Concierge Class). With paid upgrades it depends; sometimes Celebrity deems the paid upgrade price sufficient for receiving Captain Club points of the higher category room, but if the paid upgrade is at a reduced price (i.e. below current for-sale rate), it may not qualify for the extra points.

 

Historically here is our experience:

 

We booked a Sky Suite on a 12 night New Zealand cruise for January 2017. Some time later we upgraded to a Celebrity suite guarantee. Then we waited until Royal suites were sold out and we got on the wait list. Two weeks before we sailed we got a call from Celebrity (we booked direct on-line) and were offered an upgrade to a Royal 1239) and we jumped on it. Since it was inside two weeks they had to rush us new baggage tags with the correct suite number.

 

 

I just checked and confirmed that we were awarded 144 points for a 12 night cruise.

 

 

It appears policy may have changed in the last seventeen months or so.

 

 

It may be that any 'free' upgrades don't gain the points for the stateroom at time of sailing. But, I think sales people may have some leeway in that regard. :D

[Duanerice1]

Congrats! Thanks for sharing

[Traveling-the-World]

Congrats - Maybe we are neighbors - My wife and I are in RS 1239 on the same cruise!!

 

 

 

Crazy yes we are neighbors! Derick and Arpan here from Atlanta! Looking forward to saying hello!

 

 

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[Traveling-the-World]

Thanks for all of the replies everyone!

 

 

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[jagoffee]

OP, congratulations. You will be very pleased. Here is a tip, but do not tell anybody. When you get a call make some speciality restaurants reservation for at least half the time. When you get on board ask for a printed list of the Luminae menus for the total cruise. Study the menu and make any adjustments. Although we can dine in a Speciality Restaurant every day without an additional cost as a RS benefit, we still dine in Luminae around half the time.

 

Enjoy the experience.

 

As far as the CC points, it must be somewhat inconsistent. I also paid a reduced price for an upgrade to a RS in 1/17 from a Sky Suite (on the Eclipse) I only received the CC points for the original SS. I thought the policy was changed in the last 3 or 4 years, so I did not push the issue. We are already Elite Plus and we will never reach Zenith.

 

I would take The OP’s deal every time even without the extra points.

[wrk2cruise]

I had a similar experience in 2014 where I had booked a GTY Veranda for $999 pp and was assigned a 1A which I thought was a great assignment. A few weeks before sailing we were offered upgrades to RS or PH at reduced rates (total fare about 1/2 of the published rate). We took the RS for $1500 pp upgrade. When we returned we were only given points for Veranda. I think this was just as the rules had changes regarding reduced price upgrades and CC points. I called to report the "mistake". I was told that the upgrade "was the perk" and it was policy to award points for category booked. I asked where the policy was published and they couldn't produce it. I pushed the issue with a supervisor saying it wasn't a cheap upgrade and the upgrade price was 1.5 times what I originally booked. They conceded and awarded RS points. Now I'm aware that this is the policy so I wouldn't expect it now.

[Maven3]

Here is a tip, but do not tell anybody.

 

When you get on board ask for a printed list of the Luminae menus for the total cruise.

 

I would take The OP’s deal every time even without the extra points.

 

 

Who do you ask for the printed list of Luminae menus? I’d like that every time I am in a suite. [emoji3]

 

 

 

Vickie

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

Who do you ask for the printed list of Luminae menus? I’d like that every time I am in a suite. [emoji3]

Vickie

 

Your butler or the Michael's Club concierge or the Luminae maitre d' can get these for you.

[Toronto Guy]

IMO, the casino comps are screwy. My experience has mostly been with RCCL, not Celebrity, but I think they work similarly. It doesn’t appear to be about the amount of money you “donate” to the casino, but rather the amount of time you spend in there. This especially applies to people who play table games. I have spent a couple grand in a few days and received nothing while my friend spent $500, won and gave it back, but spent hours on end in the casino and she received multiple offers for free cruises. Slots have a different point system.

 

On my last RCCL (Feb 2018), I literally walked off the ship with $3500 of the casinos money & was offered a 5 day cruise on the Indy in November in a balcony room & a 4 night on the Enchantment in a Jr. Suite. All I had to pay was port taxes (& tips).

 

On my last cruise I was lucky, 3-Card Poker, right off the bat & the streak continued. I played 3 out of 5 evenings. On the previous cruise I lost at everything, I didn’t spend much time in the casino because I lost, lost, lost and wasn’t willing to put any more money in.

 

When you get a “free” room on the casino, you get free drinks when you’re in the casino. You just have to see the casino host for your sticker. Quite often they will give one to your roommate too.

 

Call the casino number and ask if you have any offers available. Sometimes there are discounts or specials you don’t even know about.

 

 

Vickie

 

 

 

Thanks - that’s very helpful. I used to play on the ships a lot years ago on the tables but haven’t on Celebrity in recent years. I’ll give it a try this time.

[jagoffee]

Who do you ask for the printed list of Luminae menus? I’d like that every time I am in a suite. [emoji3]

 

 

 

Vickie

 

I always ask the MC Conceirge. Sometimes there are slight changes on the days, but not often.

[Relaxinginthesun]

Crazy yes we are neighbors! Derick and Arpan here from Atlanta! Looking forward to saying hello!

 

 

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Dan and Jeri here. Looking forward to meeting you neighbor

 

 

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[kdegenaro]

I believe I am on the same sailing Solstice leaving this Friday and just received an upgrade offer from AQ to Sky Suite for $200. Unfortunately it had sold within the 15 minutes I had called them back.

 

I have never sailed celebrity before so my guess is that receiving these emails does not have to do with your status, since i'm still at preview level. Probably more to do with the exact sailing than anything else.

[Gonzo70]

Historically here is our experience:

 

We booked a Sky Suite on a 12 night New Zealand cruise for January 2017. Some time later we upgraded to a Celebrity suite guarantee. Then we waited until Royal suites were sold out and we got on the wait list. Two weeks before we sailed we got a call from Celebrity (we booked direct on-line) and were offered an upgrade to a Royal 1239) and we jumped on it. Since it was inside two weeks they had to rush us new baggage tags with the correct suite number.

 

 

I just checked and confirmed that we were awarded 144 points for a 12 night cruise.

 

 

It appears policy may have changed in the last seventeen months or so.

 

 

It may be that any 'free' upgrades don't gain the points for the stateroom at time of sailing. But, I think sales people may have some leeway in that regard. :D

 

So (unless I am misunderstanding your post) you are saying you PAID to upgrade to the Royal Suite, not that Celebrity assigned you to a Royal Suite after booking a Celebrity Suite guarantee - that is why you received Royal Suite Captain Club points. As I said, if it is a FREE upgrade you receive Captain's Club points based on the category of room you paid for (not the higher level of room that you received a free upgrade for). With PAID upgrades, if you are paying the current going rate for the higher category room (even if that number is only a tiny bit more than the amount you paid for your original room) you receive Captain's Club points based on the room you upgraded to. However with PAID upgrades granted at a reduced price (i.e. you originally paid $1000 per/person for Concierge Class, Sky Suites are currently selling for $2,000 per/person and Celebrity offers you the upgrade for $500 per/person - then you may only receive Captain Club points based on the Concierge Class room as you did not pay the going rate for the Sky Suite when upgrading). This has been the policy for about a few years now. I am sure some exceptions have occurred, but this is what is supposed to happen.

[BEAV]

I believe I am on the same sailing Solstice leaving this Friday and just received an upgrade offer from AQ to Sky Suite for $200. Unfortunately it had sold within the 15 minutes I had called them back.

 

I have never sailed celebrity before so my guess is that receiving these emails does not have to do with your status, since i'm still at preview level. Probably more to do with the exact sailing than anything else.

 

Did you book through a Travel Agent or directly with Celebrity?

[K12Guy]

So (unless I am misunderstanding your post) you are saying you PAID to upgrade to the Royal Suite, not that Celebrity assigned you to a Royal Suite after booking a Celebrity Suite guarantee - that is why you received Royal Suite Captain Club points. As I said, if it is a FREE upgrade you receive Captain's Club points based on the category of room you paid for (not the higher level of room that you received a free upgrade for). With PAID upgrades, if you are paying the current going rate for the higher category room (even if that number is only a tiny bit more than the amount you paid for your original room) you receive Captain's Club points based on the room you upgraded to. However with PAID upgrades granted at a reduced price (i.e. you originally paid $1000 per/person for Concierge Class, Sky Suites are currently selling for $2,000 per/person and Celebrity offers you the upgrade for $500 per/person - then you may only receive Captain Club points based on the Concierge Class room as you did not pay the going rate for the Sky Suite when upgrading). This has been the policy for about a few years now. I am sure some exceptions have occurred, but this is what is supposed to happen.

 

I think you are absolutely correct. When they called and made us the offer we asked if any perks would be lost with the change and we specified we would like the Captain's Club points for Royal, which she agreed to.

 

 

I was wrong about points with a 'free' upgrade, however. Nice chatting.:(

[kdegenaro]

Did you book through a Travel Agent or directly with Celebrity?

 

I booked directly through celebrity. I previously also did a smaller pay upgrade from a regular veranda to AQ. So Im not sure if that had anything to do with me receiving the email either.

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

So (unless I am misunderstanding your post) you are saying you PAID to upgrade to the Royal Suite, not that Celebrity assigned you to a Royal Suite after booking a Celebrity Suite guarantee - that is why you received Royal Suite Captain Club points. As I said, if it is a FREE upgrade you receive Captain's Club points based on the category of room you paid for (not the higher level of room that you received a free upgrade for). With PAID upgrades, if you are paying the current going rate for the higher category room (even if that number is only a tiny bit more than the amount you paid for your original room) you receive Captain's Club points based on the room you upgraded to. However with PAID upgrades granted at a reduced price (i.e. you originally paid $1000 per/person for Concierge Class, Sky Suites are currently selling for $2,000 per/person and Celebrity offers you the upgrade for $500 per/person - then you may only receive Captain Club points based on the Concierge Class room as you did not pay the going rate for the Sky Suite when upgrading). This has been the policy for about a few years now. I am sure some exceptions have occurred, but this is what is supposed to happen.

 

And we all know how consistent Celebrity is. ;)

[Yvie]

We were emailed an upgrade offer on a cruise we took in February 2018. The way it worked was someone from Celebrity's pre-cruise concierge desk chose the people to offer the upgrade to. We are elite, and the way the process worked was the first person responding to the email got the first pick of available upgrades. Our choices were Celebrity suite, Royal suite, or Penthouse suite. We were originally booked in a sky suite, and chose to upgrade to the Penthouse suite for $1500 total for a one week cruise. We asked and were told we would receive points based on what we had originally booked, a sky suite, We were also told that only people who booked directly through Celebrity, not through a travel agent were offered upgrades.

 

Now that they have switched to the Move-up program, there probably will be no need to spend time sending emails or phone calls to selected guests trying to up sell empty cabins. Probably a more efficient move on their part, and the bidding process will give them valuable information on what people are willing to pay for the various categories.

[steve ch]

Captain's Club points are earned based on the level of stateroom on the day of embarkation. They will gain Royal points, whether money was involved or not.

The Captains Club points are awarded according to the original booking category, not the upgrade in cases like this. I found out the hard way when I took an upgrade earlier this year. They don't tell you when they make the offer, but apparently it's in the terms and conditions.

[miched]

The Captains Club points are awarded according to the original booking category, not the upgrade in cases like this. I found out the hard way when I took an upgrade earlier this year. They don't tell you when they make the offer, but apparently it's in the terms and conditions.

 

I called and was told that you will also only get the perks that you had with the original booking. If you had the Classic package that is all you will have even though you are moving into a suite. You also don’t get any more SBC if you are using a future cruise certificate. If you didn’t have any perks you won’t receive any.

 

Gratuities are more in the suites so you will have to pay the extra if you prepaid them but I think if it was a perk you chose then it should be covered.

 

I was also told that you will get the cabin amenities such as the unlimited specialty restaurants that comes with the Royal and above if you upgraded to that thru the move up process because it is a amenity of those cabins and not a perk.

 

This info came directly from a Celebrity phone rep after asking someone that would know so it may not be reliable. 🙄

 

The terms and conditions are at the bottom of the page that you would use when submitting your offer. Like most of the terms and conditions they can be confusing or not easy to understand.

 

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅

[oneputt18]

From the website:

 

"** Reduced rate upgrades, pre-cruise and onboard, will earn Club Points at the original stateroom category purchased, and NOT the category of the upgraded stateroom"

[Sam.Seattle]

I see a prior comment stating only people who book directly with Celebrity are selected for the move up offers. Can anyone dispute this? I always book with a TA and this would be a minor consideration if true.