Blue Chip Club Offers

[JamieLogical]

I have gotten a few postcards in the mail lately from the Blue Chip Club offering me a "free" inside stateroom for two. I have completed the form a couple of times now after scanning the QR codes, but have never received a call back. Am I better off just calling the number on the card?

 

Also, for anyone who has accepted one of these offers, are you able to pay extra to upgrade stateroom categories or to add on the Always Included perks? Do you receive normal Captain's Club points for accepting one of these offers or do you not get points for booking this way?

[CaroleSS]

A little while ago (month or so) there was a very long thread about the Blue Chip offers. You might do a search and read the (very long) thread. It has a lot of very good information which might answer your questions, and then some!

[kwokpot]

Yes, definitely Call, we had the same issues with the automated requests, didn't used to be an issue(I'm speaking about last year). 

 

Yes, you will receive the regular CC points for complementary cruises. You will not receive RCCL shareholder benefits.

 

There's been a lot of changes with BCC, so TBH I don't know what the upgrade fees currently are. Previously there were all different upgrade programs depending on what BCC received from the Revenue department. You will see past postings about $20/day upgrades to Aquaclass from balcony which I was Never able to get despite taking at least 4 BCC comped cruises a year. What we found is they will reprice whatever cabin you're looking for at the current BCC rate and deduct the internal value of your complementary cabin, which is not the same value as the retail prices but much, much, much less . What the results were it would cost over thousands to upgrade from Veranda to Aquaclass when the retail differential was only several hundred dollars. 

 

Edited August 28, 2023 by kwokpot

[Georgia_Peaches]

Definitely give them a call.  Also, if you are receiving any free cruise offers from other lines you can upload them to URComped and possibly get a higher level cabin without having to pay to upgrade.  We received a free veranda stateroom from Carnival and used it to swap to Celebrity.  We were given a very nice veranda on deck 9, mid-ship on Equinox.  It was one of our best cruises!!

[NutsAboutGolf]

Call and you can upgrade yet I believe you pay difference between room types which varies by sailings, not a fixed price

[NutsAboutGolf]

1 hour ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

Definitely give them a call.  Also, if you are receiving any free cruise offers from other lines you can upload them to URComped and possibly get a higher level cabin without having to pay to upgrade.  We received a free veranda stateroom from Carnival and used it to swap to Celebrity.  We were given a very nice veranda on deck 9, mid-ship on Equinox.  It was one of our best cruises!!

 

Just because I've never used URComped, they pick the room for you?  Can you change it if you don't like it?

[Georgia_Peaches]

20 minutes ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

 

Just because I've never used URComped, they pick the room for you?  Can you change it if you don't like it?

URComped didn't pick the room, Celebrity did the picking.  It was treated as a Guarantee booking and maybe I just got lucky?  I also had to provide my Captain's Club number so maybe they took a look at my Elite status?  I really don't know and since I didn't have a problem with the room assignment, I didn't see about changing it.  Honestly though, I don't think I could have picked a better room.  Wish I knew more about how it was assigned.

[NutsAboutGolf]

6 minutes ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

URComped didn't pick the room, Celebrity did the picking.  It was treated as a Guarantee booking and maybe I just got lucky?  I also had to provide my Captain's Club number so maybe they took a look at my Elite status?  I really don't know and since I didn't have a problem with the room assignment, I didn't see about changing it.  Honestly though, I don't think I could have picked a better room.  Wish I knew more about how it was assigned.

 

Thanks.  One more question, they give you playing requirements, right?  Is it a fixed per night amount?

[kwokpot]

10 minutes ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

 

Thanks.  One more question, they give you playing requirements, right?  Is it a fixed per night amount?

When you request a particular sailing, you tell them your gambling budget and average play per hand. We've had great success with them, and probably have done about 20 sailings with them on Celebrity, MSC, Virgin. They recently added some limited sailings on NCL 

[Georgia_Peaches]

20 minutes ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

 

Thanks.  One more question, they give you playing requirements, right?  Is it a fixed per night amount?

Not at all.  I didn't have to enter the casino at all if I didn't want to.  Nothing was ever mentioned about play.  I read @kwokpot's response but this didn't apply to me as I never played any table games.  I was slots only and was never told that I had to play a certain amount per day.

Edited August 28, 2023 by Georgia_Peaches

[kwokpot]

11 minutes ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

Not at all.  I didn't have to enter the casino at all if I didn't want to.  Nothing was ever mentioned about play.  I read @kwokpot's response but this didn't apply to me as I never played any table games.  I was slots only and was never told that I had to play a certain amount per day.

You misunderstood what I posted. As a regular URcomped customer, when you request a cruise they have on their website, you must give them what your gambling budget is and whether you're bringing cash or going to ask for a line of credit (Room charging would count as cash-I was incorrect about the bet per hand).  There is never a requirement to play on their offers.

[Georgia_Peaches]

3 minutes ago, kwokpot said:

You misunderstood what I posted. As a regular URcomped customer, when you request a cruise they have on their website, you must give them what your gambling budget is and whether you're bringing cash or going to ask for a line of credit (Room charging would count as cash-I was incorrect about the bet per hand).  There is never a requirement to play on their offers.

Ahh gotcha...so sorry.  Thank you for clarifying.  And yes, I did have to input a gambling estimate when I uploaded to URcomped..Nobody held me to it on Celebrity's end...as you have said.  I really do look to you as the resident expert on this..I've only done it once ☺️...much to DH's delight!  (He's no gambler).

[ChuckF]

Got a similar post card and called. Upgraded to Verandah by paying difference, and we selected the room. We did do the email thing as well, but after a couple of days with no response we called. 

[Fly and Sail]

2 hours ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

Definitely give them a call.  Also, if you are receiving any free cruise offers from other lines you can upload them to URComped and possibly get a higher level cabin without having to pay to upgrade.  We received a free veranda stateroom from Carnival and used it to swap to Celebrity.  We were given a very nice veranda on deck 9, mid-ship on Equinox.  It was one of our best cruises!!

There are some conditions when it comes to URcomped. Usually having a play history or current status with Celebrity/BCC would render you ineligible. Most definitely if you have a cruise booked for the future (no matter if comped or revenue).

[Georgia_Peaches]

4 minutes ago, Fly and Sail said:

Usually having a play history or current status with Celebrity/BCC would render you ineligible.

I don't understand this part.  So I definitely had play history when I booked using URC and at the time of booking, I had 2 other cruises with Celebrity on the books (not BCC).  My understanding is that the limitation is only one BCC per year.  What am I misunderstanding?  (Genuinely asking.)

Edited August 28, 2023 by Georgia_Peaches

[kwokpot]

14 minutes ago, Fly and Sail said:

There are some conditions when it comes to URcomped. Usually having a play history or current status with Celebrity/BCC would render you ineligible. Most definitely if you have a cruise booked for the future (no matter if comped or revenue).

That's seems to be true for their Royal Caribbean sailings but not for Celebrity (at least it isn't for us, since we've had Celebrity bookings simultaneously through BCC and URComped). 

[JamieLogical]

Well, I called and after about 20 minutes on hold, I found out the sailing I wanted is "sold out." I assume they mean sold our for BCC bookings, as I can definitely still book that sailing directly through the Celebrity web site.

 

Note: I got the first postcard listing this sailing in the mail today, so it clearly "sold out" quickly!

 

Edited August 28, 2023 by JamieLogical

[micruiser2002]

2 hours ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

Definitely give them a call.  Also, if you are receiving any free cruise offers from other lines you can upload them to URComped and possibly get a higher level cabin without having to pay to upgrade.  We received a free veranda stateroom from Carnival and used it to swap to Celebrity.  We were given a very nice veranda on deck 9, mid-ship on Equinox.  It was one of our best cruises!!

I thought with URComped you cannot have booked a cruise directly with BCC in the past year to get any offer from them on Celebrity?

[kwokpot]

18 minutes ago, ChuckF said:

Got a similar post card and called. Upgraded to Verandah by paying difference, and we selected the room. We did do the email thing as well, but after a couple of days with no response we called. 

What was the extra fee from inside to Veranda?

 

[kwokpot]

1 minute ago, micruiser2002 said:

I thought with URComped you cannot have booked a cruise directly with BCC in the past year to get any offer from them on Celebrity

Incorrect

[micruiser2002]

3 minutes ago, kwokpot said:

Incorrect

Here is what it says on URComped website - 

[kwokpot]

14 minutes ago, micruiser2002 said:

Here is what it says on URComped website - 

All I can say is we just finished an URComped cruise on the Apex last month and just booked a BCC cruise on the Ascent for February. Here's proof:

 

[micruiser2002]

38 minutes ago, kwokpot said:

All I can say is we just finished an URComped cruise on the Apex last month and just booked a BCC cruise on the Ascent for February. Here's proof:

 

Had you sailed on Celebrity in the past year before the Apex?  I submit a lot of offers to them and have not gotten any from Celebrity.  But I also do not remember if they asked me if I had sailed in the past 12 months on them.

[kwokpot]

30 minutes ago, micruiser2002 said:

Had you sailed on Celebrity in the past year before the Apex?  I submit a lot of offers to them and have not gotten any from Celebrity.  But I also do not remember if they asked me if I had sailed in the past 12 months on them.

Yes we did. Whatsmore last year we also had simultaneous comped bookings with on Celebrity with URcomped and BCC.

 

Royal Caribbean was a whole other story. There are qualifications that you have to attest to and we confirmed that with our Host at URComped. On Royal they are enforcing the no crossovers offers if you have a booking directly with Royal and/or Casino Royale. 

 

MSC also had issues. Our last MSC, which was our second MSC cruise but first comped cruise from any channel was booked through URComped. The onboard casino host was basically dismissive of my husband (he's the gambler) since we booked through URComped. He didn't quite make the threshold for a free comped cruise but should have received a certificate for % off a booked cruise. Casino host stated that since we booked through URComped you'll have to go through them for any future offers.My husband never receives anything directly from MSC's casino department. But URcomped offers for MSC cruises are available. 

 

Our experience with Virgin booked through URcomped is a mixed bag. We booked our two cruises through URComped and continues to get offers through URComped for Virgin. But on our last cruise he gambled enough for a free cruise directly from Virgin (an XL Terrace, best cabin besides suites) and we were able to book a comped cruise directly with Virgin even though the free cruise certificate with them technically had expired became we didn't book it within the certificate timeframe. But we called and they checked with their supervisors and we're booked for a 8 nights Caribbean on the Valiant Lady for February. 

Edited August 29, 2023 by kwokpot

[micruiser2002]

9 minutes ago, kwokpot said:

Yes we did. Whatsmore last year we also had simultaneous comped bookings with on Celebrity with URcomped and BCC.

 

Royal Caribbean was a whole other story. There are qualifications that you have to attest to and we confirmed that with our Host at URComped. On Royal they are enforcing the no crossovers offers if you have a booking directly with Royal and/or Casino Royale. 

 

MSC also had issues. Our last MSC, which was our second MSC cruise but first comped cruise from any channel was booked through URComped. The onboard casino host was basically dismissive of my husband (he's the gambler) since we booked through URComped. He didn't quite make the threshold for a free comped cruise but should have received a certificate for % off a booked cruise. Casino host stated that since we booked through URComped you'll have to go through them for any future offers.My husband never receives anything directly from MSC's casino department. 

 

Our experience with Virgin booked through URcomped is a mixed bag. We booked our two cruises through URComped and continues to get offers through URComped for Virgin. But on our last cruise he gambled enough for a free cruise directly from Virgin (an XL Terrace, best cabin besides suites) and we were able to book a comped cruise directly with Virgin even though the free cruise certificate with them technically had expired became we didn't book it within the certificate timeframe. But we called and they checked with their supervisors and we're booked for a 8 nights Caribbean on the Valiant Lady for February. 

So I just checked my offers again and now I am seeing Celebrity comps.  Do you know if they offer any discounts for a 2nd cabin?