Blackjack conditions plus casino free play offer pre-cruise Questions.

[happy cruzer]

Hello,  Hopefully some of the blackjack players can provide some details for someone who has not been in a Celebrity casino in awhile.

Will be sailing on Apex in 2 months, and information appreciated.

 

Is there any 3-2 tables? 6-5?  How many? Limits? Rules about standing, splitting, doubling....

 

How busy has the casino been lately?  Masks required at tables?

 

Looked online and saw the offer for Casino Table Free Play.  Anyone know the details?  How do you redeem your purchase?  Do you get chips that are good only at the tables (can't use for Video Poker?)?  Also they say "Chip denominations are subject to availability."  Does that mean you could end up with $100 chips?  Any other specifics about the offer you care to share?  Is it worth the trouble?

 

Thanks in advance.

[cyncyn129]

5 minutes ago, happy cruzer said:

 

Looked online and saw the offer for Casino Table Free Play.  Anyone know the details?  How do you redeem your purchase?  Do you get chips that are good only at the tables (can't use for Video Poker?)?  Also they say "Chip denominations are subject to availability."  Does that mean you could end up with $100 chips?  Any other specifics about the offer you care to share?  Is it worth the trouble?

 

Thanks in advance.

If you are a member of Blue Chip, and want your play onboard to count towards free cruises, don’t buy the pre cruise free play. It will be tracked like promotional chips and not part of your rating/play. 

[mahdnc]

40 minutes ago, happy cruzer said:

Hello,  Hopefully some of the blackjack players can provide some details for someone who has not been in a Celebrity casino in awhile.

Will be sailing on Apex in 2 months, and information appreciated.

 

Is there any 3-2 tables? 6-5?  How many? Limits? Rules about standing, splitting, doubling....

 

How busy has the casino been lately?  Masks required at tables?

 

Looked online and saw the offer for Casino Table Free Play.  Anyone know the details?  How do you redeem your purchase?  Do you get chips that are good only at the tables (can't use for Video Poker?)?  Also they say "Chip denominations are subject to availability."  Does that mean you could end up with $100 chips?  Any other specifics about the offer you care to share?  Is it worth the trouble?

 

Thanks in advance.

 

 

Our last time on a Celebrity ship was Jan 2020 (Solstice) from which all the photos were taken.  While you wait for more current answers, here is what I recall:

 

The lower limit tables were 6:5 for a natural ($5-15 table).  You had to go to the $50 tables to see 3:2.

 

The rules have not changed for a while:

1. Dealer hits soft 17

2. Double down on any 2 cards.

3. Double down after splits.

4. Spit aces are dealt only one card each.  No re-splitting.

5. You can re-split any non-ace pair.  I cannot remember what the re-split limit was.

6. Insurance pays 2:1

7. No surrender

 

 

 

Edited January 16, 2022 by mahdnc

[Alakegirl]

As of today, masks are required at all indoor locations including the casino. By the time you cruise, who knows?

[TFree]

As far as the promo chips are concerned, they look different and cannot be cashed in.  So if you buy $200 worth of the chips before the cruise, you get $200 worth of $5 promo chips.  If you lose, the chips go away.  If you win, you are paid in real chips.  So you can cycle through your promo chips and see what you have left over in real chips.  Maybe you end up with $160 real dollars, maybe you end up with $240 of real dollars.  It is a way of converting OBC into cash, with the conversion rate depending on your luck at the table.

 

Tom & Judy

[mayleeman]

30 minutes ago, TFree said:

So if you buy $200 worth of the chips before the cruise, you get $200 worth of $5 promo chips.

 

I think you get an extra 10%, so $220, don't you?

 

So breaking even when you play (I like your term "convert"!) gets you a 10% return, but that is only on the first time through your promo chip stack. "Reinvesting" by keeping going still leaves the odds against you in the long run.

[TFree]

17 minutes ago, mayleeman said:

 

I think you get an extra 10%, so $220, don't you?

 

So breaking even when you play (I like your term "convert"!) gets you a 10% return, but that is only on the first time through your promo chip stack. "Reinvesting" by keeping going still leaves the odds against you in the long run.

Right, I think there is (or was, anyway) a 10% bonus for buying before the cruise.  We have used this especially when we have extra OBC we don't plan on using for excursions, etc.  Then rather than finding some overpriced trinket to use up the OBC, we just "convert" as much of it to cash as possible.  It takes some willpower, but the last few times we have done this, we just kept putting promo chips out there, setting aside any real chips, until we went through the promo chips.  

Tom & Judy

[r2h2]

You can retrieve all your OBC in cash at the casino by playing just one game at a slot machine. Very easy to do.

[happy cruzer]

So on Celebrity that conversion to  cash on a slot machine is possible?  I know that on Princess it is possible.  But let's be specific, we are talking non-refundable OBC?

 

Also if you go the promo chip route, how do you get them?  If we buy the Casino free play chips, how do you get chips to play at the tables?  Also the Celebrity webiste says the chips can only be played by the purchaser?  Do they really monitor that?

 

Thanks for all the discussion, very interesting.

 

 

[mayleeman]

5 hours ago, happy cruzer said:

Also if you go the promo chip route, how do you get them?  If we buy the Casino free play chips, how do you get chips to play at the tables?  Also the Celebrity webiste says the chips can only be played by the purchaser?  Do they really monitor that?

 

 

You can buy $55 in promo chips for $50 in Cruise Planner up to (I think) 48 hrs before your cruise (up to 10 purchases on ours, but they each had to be completed separately). You go to the cashier, and your card shows your precruise purchase.

 

They give you $55 in 11 special $5 red chips that you bet normally. If you lose, they are picked up. You get paid off in regular chips a (promo rides). 

 

Since you are betting with promo chips, they can monitor you to make sure two of you don't split the stack and bet at the same time: don'tknow if they do, though. But my wife got hers and gave them to me before we got to a table (mine were, ahem, gone). No one said anything so I don't know if they care who bets them.

 

I can't answer the slot machine question...

Edited January 17, 2022 by mayleeman
fixed value of promo

[r2h2]

18 hours ago, happy cruzer said:

So on Celebrity that conversion to  cash on a slot machine is possible?  I know that on Princess it is possible.  But let's be specific, we are talking non-refundable OBC?

 

Also if you go the promo chip route, how do you get them?  If we buy the Casino free play chips, how do you get chips to play at the tables?  Also the Celebrity webiste says the chips can only be played by the purchaser?  Do they really monitor that?

 

Thanks for all the discussion, very interesting.

 

 

All your OBC can be accessed through a slot machine. Enter your total you wish to gamble in the machine. Play 1 pull and then cash out. Its very simple.

[George C]

I love celebrity deal that allows you to get 55 in chips for 50, I had 600 in OBC so I got 660 in chips , they gave me them in 5 dollar chips.

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

18 hours ago, mayleeman said:

 

 

...

 

Since you are betting with promo chips, they can monitor you to make sure two of you don't split the stack and bet at the same time: don'tknow if they do, though. But my wife got hers and gave them to me before we got to a table (mine were, ahem, gone). No one said anything so I don't know if they care who bets them.

...

 

I read over the terms a few weeks ago, and it appears that the one whose name they were purchased in has to play them. I wondered if that was correct, sounds like it may not be enforced (which sounds about right).

 

$600 OBC here as well.

 

Tom

 

[happy cruzer]

Thanks for all the info.  So one of us thinks the 10 percent in extra chips sounds good and one of us thinks the "take one spin" and cash out sounds good.  So we may do both...

 

Any more experiences/opinions?

[mayleeman]

On 1/22/2022 at 6:23 PM, happy cruzer said:

Any more experiences/opinions?

 

It all comes down to whether you have more fun trying to beat the odds by continuing, so you are going forward with a little bit more than your own.

 

Or if you are happy with just playing once through because you don't have the gamblng bug, you can more likely break even by starting out with a 10% head start.

 

The real thing to remember is they wouldn't offer "free" chips unless it pays off for them in the long run! They want to get the nongamblers, and the hyper-cautious casual gamblers, to get into the casino. They actually hope you win on that first run through, because then you will be more likely to stay. And lose.

[happy cruzer]

On 1/17/2022 at 9:12 AM, r2h2 said:

All your OBC can be accessed through a slot machine. Enter your total you wish to gamble in the machine. Play 1 pull and then cash out. Its very simple.

Yes simple on Apex.