Blue chip email? Is it a scam?

[sdnich]

I had already booked a concierge room for $10 more a few weeks ago but decided to call today to see about getting an aqua class room for ourselves and our friends who were cruising in another room. We were able to upgrade for another $10 pp per day. They would not let me change our friends room so they had to call .We were able to get 2 rooms next door to each other in aqua.I am glad I read that here and decided it was worth trying!! It was worth the hour on hold !!

[cruiserchuck]

Last month I was able to book an upgrade to Aqua for $10 pp per day.  I ended up needing to reschedule the cruise, and this week was told it is now $20 pp per day to do so.  I was told that the earlier lower rate was an error, and that the supervisor had advised the rep about the correct upcharge.  The good news was that I was able to book a date for which I had previously been told that an upgrade to Aqua was not available.  

[gold1953]

1 hour ago, cruiserchuck said:

Last month I was able to book an upgrade to Aqua for $10 pp per day.  I ended up needing to reschedule the cruise, and this week was told it is now $20 pp per day to do so.  I was told that the earlier lower rate was an error, and that the supervisor had advised the rep about the correct upcharge.  The good news was that I was able to book a date for which I had previously been told that an upgrade to Aqua was not available.  

that makes sense as I was told $10 a day for CC class and $20 for aqua

[Xyla]

On 8/24/2022 at 1:54 PM, NorthStarStateCruiser said:

Read my last post. Might give you some insight for your situation.

It took a while but this worked! The 3rd person was only $1 and if/when they don't sail, we should get refunded the port fees and taxes. I'm so happy we have two great cabins on the hump and our preferred 8 day sailing. 

[Retired888]

On 8/27/2022 at 8:03 PM, NorthStarStateCruiser said:

What's your biggest pull for aqua? It's not adding up for me.

A more personal and intimate dining experience in Blu and Persian Garden with the warm stone bench which is so relaxing on the back.  The noise in MDR drives us crazy, although we still go there for lunch since Blu is closed.  As usual, we will wait for final payment and see if we can pay for an upgrade to a Sky Suite.  We have only been in regular balcony once, Aqua twice and the rest of our cruises were in Sky Suite.

Edited September 1, 2022 by Retired888

[Fly and Sail]

If anyone here has Amethyst Level with BCC I'd like to ask a question regarding your experience with the Freeplay credits.

[mcrcruiser]

We got it on 2 cruises in March but not the Dec 11th cruise on Soltice   from San Pedro .LA county sailing  . Imo it is never consistent   . The Net 60 deal was the best  . 

[eas2225]

4 hours ago, Fly and Sail said:

If anyone here has Amethyst Level with BCC I'd like to ask a question regarding your experience with the Freeplay credits.

I'm Amethyst and was on the Summit this past June.  On the second day there was a message on the stateroom phone advising me of the $100 freeplay.

I went to the Casino cashier, gave her my info and they loaded it onto my account.

[Fly and Sail]

7 hours ago, eas2225 said:

I'm Amethyst and was on the Summit this past June.  On the second day there was a message on the stateroom phone advising me of the $100 freeplay.

I went to the Casino cashier, gave her my info and they loaded it onto my account.

 

This is the first time I ever paid attention. The flyer said it’s based on gaming ACTIVITY and it’s either 5% of the last cruise or $100. Host says it’s based on Win/Loss. The numbers they have for me also don’t match up with my May sailing on Solstice where I earned ~ 7k points on slots so $7k coin in. All I got was the minimum amount of $100 FP as he said my W/L was $11xx (impossible).

 

i talked to some gaming industry people today and they all said BCC’s Flyer is deceptive at least when it comes to the description of how to earn Freeplay.

 

Just wanted to hear someone elses opinion on this before I start to upset myself too much over it.

 

PS: Played for 2.5h on EDGE today and not once did someone come around for drinks. “Short staffed” and half the tables are dark too.

[spiritkat090909]

Amethyst experience here.  

Twice I received the minimum $100. Once over $500, and last time over $700. I don't know hours played but typically I play $25 minimum Ultimate Tx Hold 'em TABLE game, not the one against players, but players against dealer. As soon as the table opens in the day until early dinner, every day that they are open. Usually again after dinner/show until maybe midnight.   No rhyme or reason.  I think I lost more on the trips where I got the minimum?!

[kwokpot]

On 9/4/2022 at 12:00 AM, Fly and Sail said:

 

This is the first time I ever paid attention. The flyer said it’s based on gaming ACTIVITY and it’s either 5% of the last cruise or $100. Host says it’s based on Win/Loss. The numbers they have for me also don’t match up with my May sailing on Solstice where I earned ~ 7k points on slots so $7k coin in. All I got was the minimum amount of $100 FP as he said my W/L was $11xx (impossible).

 

i talked to some gaming industry people today and they all said BCC’s Flyer is deceptive at least when it comes to the description of how to earn Freeplay.

 

Just wanted to hear someone elses opinion on this before I start to upset myself too much over it.

 

PS: Played for 2.5h on EDGE today and not once did someone come around for drinks. “Short staffed” and half the tables are dark too.

What you should do in the future is on the last day speak to the casino host and ask what your play was for the cruise and what your accumulated points for slots and table games are. This way you know what you SHOULD be getting on the next cruise. 

[Fly and Sail]

10 hours ago, kwokpot said:

What you should do in the future is on the last day speak to the casino host and ask what your play was for the cruise and what your accumulated points for slots and table games are. This way you know what you SHOULD be getting on the next cruise. 

 

I have the exact amount of points and play and the host on this cruise sees it as well. That's not the issue. Problem is he says that BCC only values what you actually lost but that's not how you define activity. I played $6600 coin in before so 5% of that is $330. To argue "You only lost $1xx in total" is absurd, that's how gambling works. You win some you lose some and eventually you'll lose everything.

[kwokpot]

1 hour ago, Fly and Sail said:

 

I have the exact amount of points and play and the host on this cruise sees it as well. That's not the issue. Problem is he says that BCC only values what you actually lost but that's not how you define activity. I played $6600 coin in before so 5% of that is $330. To argue "You only lost $1xx in total" is absurd, that's how gambling works. You win some you lose some and eventually you'll lose everything.

BCC is a terrible program. Like much of what Celebrity does there's inconsistencies and non transparencies. My husband, who is the gambler in the family, always tells me the issues with BCC. 95% of the time it comes to who the onboard casino host is. Some of the are really very helpful, some are just terrible. For example, as you should know,one the last day of your cruise you should speak to the casino host to find out how much onboard comps you earned on the trip so you can offset folio charges  On one ship he had a casino host tell him she doesn't think that all casino gamblers should be entitled to onboard comps. Really?

On the other hand we were on a different ship and this casino host was so nice she gave him an estimate of the onboard comps earnings on the 2nd to last day so we kinda knew what to expect. 

[Fly and Sail]

6 hours ago, kwokpot said:

BCC is a terrible program. Like much of what Celebrity does there's inconsistencies and non transparencies. My husband, who is the gambler in the family, always tells me the issues with BCC. 95% of the time it comes to who the onboard casino host is. Some of the are really very helpful, some are just terrible. For example, as you should know,one the last day of your cruise you should speak to the casino host to find out how much onboard comps you earned on the trip so you can offset folio charges  On one ship he had a casino host tell him she doesn't think that all casino gamblers should be entitled to onboard comps. Really?

On the other hand we were on a different ship and this casino host was so nice she gave him an estimate of the onboard comps earnings on the 2nd to last day so we kinda knew what to expect. 

 

Yep. Honestly I've never seen people win so little as on this cruise (EDGE) especially compared to the Alaska sailings I've been on and the casino was wild. And with this situation brewing now I'll just stop playing. I can't get up to Sapphire without throwing another $5k or so their way and that ain't going to happen. Especially with Retreat access being revoked. Give me my measly $100 Freeplay per cruise and the photo package. Finish.

[92065Cruiser]

I just received an invite through this program. We don't gamble on board so I was a little leery of it's legitimicy but reading these posts I guess it is legit. That being said, mine says for a Caribbean criuse but I am on the west coast. Do they ever swap out selections to maybe Mexico or something in the West?

 

[mahdnc]

Just now, 92065Cruiser said:

I just received an invite through this program. We don't gamble on board so I was a little leery of it's legitimicy but reading these posts I guess it is legit. That being said, mine says for a Caribbean criuse but I am on the west coast. Do they ever swap out selections to maybe Mexico or something in the West?

 

 

If you look at older posts in this thread, you will see that the first batch of complimentary cruises were for 7 night sailings out of Los Angeles (Mexican Riviera) which is exactly what you are looking for.   Maybe you should call and ask if you can get one of those instead. 

[rucruisn2]

New offer came out an hour ago, out of Ft. Lauderdale!!!!  Don't know why we got it because we don't gamble, but we took it.

[westcoasttech]

I just received the Caribbean offer too - but it seems to just cover Caribbean routes between end of September to end of December, so doesn't go into next year's sailing.  Interesting that it does include Edge, Beyond and Apex sailings - which I would have been interested in as I've yet to sail on the E Class ships! 

 

I already booked the earlier Mexican route offer for 2023 and have run out of Va-cay days for 2022 ... I'm still working and my job is getting in the way of my cruising days 😁 ... It would have been my 3rd free cruise offer in a year, as I was also included in a RCCL "shakedown" cruise in the spring!  

[NorthStarStateCruiser]

3 minutes ago, rucruisn2 said:

New offer came out an hour ago, out of Ft. Lauderdale!!!!  Don't know why we got it because we don't gamble, but we took it.

What are the ships and itineraries available?

[westcoasttech]

Let's see if I can get a "quick and dirty" cut and paste to work... hope that's okay ...

 

[carolyn22]

Ugh, that email came to my email address but has my 93 year old mother’s name on it. She can no longer cruise. Sure wish it had been addressed to me. 

[wednesday]

Oh man, I'm not a big gambler either and got the offer.  Just booked a 9 night ABC island on the Equinox in a hump cabin for my birthday!  To say I'm excited would be an understatement!!!

[GonzoWCS]

We just got an offer and submitted.   We shall see what happens.

 

Cheers

[wikoffclan]

2 hours ago, westcoasttech said:

Let's see if I can get a "quick and dirty" cut and paste to work... hope that's okay ...

 

 

 

 

 

Dang... Never gambled on Celebrity but received the original offer for the Mexican Riviera cruises last month. Jumped on it to go with my (Florida resident) sister in December on the "free" cruise --- $294 taxes and fees... plus airfare. But... Deck 8 "hump" balcony!

Though we've never sailed from the West coast and it should be fun and different, the Florida itineraries would have been cheaper and easier. Have fun y'all!!

[Fly and Sail]

21 hours ago, carolyn22 said:

Ugh, that email came to my email address but has my 93 year old mother’s name on it. She can no longer cruise. Sure wish it had been addressed to me. 

 

Well book a trip for 2-3 pax and on sailing day mom can't go because she feels under the weather. 🙂