Blue Chip Club Changes

[PaulnAnnette1628]

I am a long time Celebrity fan having cruised and gambled my way over 38 cruises with Celebrity enjoying the benefits of Sapphire and spending the kids inheritance 😃

I live in the UK and rarely get any information emailed from Blue chip so have to phone and ask nicely.

So it seems now that if you login to the website "www.bluechipcluboffers.com" enter your name and number your cruise offers will appear

or you can ask for casino rate discount on a specific cruise..and at the end of that cruise you get given a voucher for discount off the next one.

I wonder why no one told us this by email perhaps the staff were too shy to tell us of the big reduction in benefits,they certainly seem that way in responding to emails.

Time will tell on what this will all mean🤑

[sixpackeddie]

2 hours ago, PaulnAnnette1628 said:

I am a long time Celebrity fan having cruised and gambled my way over 38 cruises with Celebrity enjoying the benefits of Sapphire and spending the kids inheritance 😃

I live in the UK and rarely get any information emailed from Blue chip so have to phone and ask nicely.

So it seems now that if you login to the website "www.bluechipcluboffers.com" enter your name and number your cruise offers will appear

or you can ask for casino rate discount on a specific cruise..and at the end of that cruise you get given a voucher for discount off the next one.

I wonder why no one told us this by email perhaps the staff were too shy to tell us of the big reduction in benefits,they certainly seem that way in responding to emails.

Time will tell on what this will all mean🤑

Yes I agree. I am also Sapphire and have noticed a huge reduction in perks/benefits. My play over the past 4-5 years have not changed  and have really noticed a decline in the Blue Chip Club Benefits. 
Prior to September 2023 I used to get Aqua Class, Concierge and sometimes Sky Suites with all the perks.
I have done 4 cruises in the past 4 months and only have received a complimentary inside, 2 ocean view and a veranda with no perks.

Since Blue Chip has been amalgamated with RCL Casino Royal’s casino program the benefit’s have diminished. We are doing another cruise on the Ascent in an inside cabin this Sunday and honestly will just take my $500 in free play chips and once that’s gone I am done. I doubt I will dig into my pockets as it’s not worth the diminished perks.

[miched]

We were on the Beyond in Feb. This was posted in the casino.  It is the qualifications for a comped cruise. 
 

We had a lot of SBC so my wife and I both ran it thru the VP machines once to “cash’ it out.    I did about $500 or $600 and my wife did about the same.  At the end I had 54 points.  Bonus was 50 points also gave $1 free play.   My wife ended up with 47.   It wasn’t worth playing more to get the extra 3 points for a $1 free play.   We ended up losing about 8% of our SBC.     It looks like we got around  100 points/ $1000 played.     At that rate I would have to play $4000 thru the machines losing $320 to get $100 off  

 

I think regular slots earn more.   Don’t know what table game earn.  
 

Good luck gaming 💰💸🎰

 

 

Edited April 4 by miched

[kathynorth]

9 minutes ago, miched said:

We were on the Beyond in Feb. This was posted in the casino.  It is the qualifications for a comped cruise. 
 

We had a lot of SBC so my wife and I both ran it thru the VP machines once to “cash’ it out.    I did about $500 or $600 and my wife did about the same.  At the end I had 54 points.  Bonus was 50 points also gave $1 free play.   My wife ended up with 47.   It wasn’t worth playing more to get the extra 3 points for a $1 free play.   We ended up losing about 8% of our SBC.     It looks like we got around  100 points/ $1000 played.     At that rate I would have to play $4000 thru the machines losing $320 to get $100 off  

 

I think regular slots earn more.   Don’t know what table game earn.  
 

Good luck gaming 💰💸🎰

 

 

 

If you use one of these cruise rewards certificates on a future cruise does this need to be booked onboard? Do you have to book the future cruise via Blue Chip or can you gain the $off booking through any TA like you can when you book onboard and transfer to a TA for additional OBC?

[miched]

Try this link for offers and etc about the Blue Chip Club

 

http://www.bluechipcluboffers.com

 

Also look in the menu tab at the top left for interesting info 

 

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅

Edited April 4 by miched

[Cruisegirl6]

My other half gets mostly aqua class and concierge offers, I get inside lol.  If a sailing gives him a concierge stateroom am I allowed to take my inside and upgrade to aqua class?

[poffles]

12 minutes ago, Cruisegirl6 said:

My other half gets mostly aqua class and concierge offers, I get inside lol.  If a sailing gives him a concierge stateroom am I allowed to take my inside and upgrade to aqua class?

 

The offers have some value which is known on 'their' end so this could be done based on that value and of course other things like availability.

 

I recently booked (subsequently canceled) an offer which somewhat mimics what you are asking.  My offer was concierge, my friends was ocean view (for same cruise/sailing) and I inquired with the BCC agent  who looked and said sure we can do that ... we got an aqua room.  The value of my friends ocean view must have been sufficient to bridge the 'current' difference in stateroom cost.

 

Similarly, I've inquired another time a bit further back when we both had lower class staterooms and it was not the same experience, an upgrade of any sort still resulted in difference in cost that would have been applied.

 

Definitely inquire if booking.  Even if you don't fully get a 'free' upgrade, the cost might be reduced enough to make it worth it to you.  Alternatively it might be better to utilize the other half's offer to do a B2B 😉  Happy sailing!

 

Edited April 5 by poffles

[jmdlv1]

I used to get 50% off suites and free balcony cabins.

Now they offer free inside cabins.

So I stopped booking through the casino .Last couple cruises I booked through a regular TA and have been happy.

No pressure to put the hours in playing in the casino.

After sailing on the Apex two weeks ago ,they sent a voucher to my room for a free inside cabin.

No thanks!  

I'll pay and gamble when I feel like it.

 

Edited April 5 by jmdlv1

[poffles]

12 minutes ago, jmdlv1 said:

I used to get 50% off suites and free balcony cabins.

Now they offer free inside cabins.

So I stopped booking through the casino .Last couple cruises I booked through a regular TA and have been happy.

No pressure to put the hours in playing in the casino.

After sailing on the Apex two weeks ago ,they sent a voucher to my room for a free inside cabin.

No thanks!  

I'll pay and gamble when I feel like it.

 

 

When I've booked an offer through BCC, free or otherwise, I have never felt any pressure to spend any amount of time playing in the casino, they would not make me pay it back if didn't gamble on that cruise.  I've done so if i wanted to and the only gain aside from just wanting to play is perhaps getting future offers.  Is there something I'm missing?

 

That said, an inside or similar cabin with no perks becomes extremely unappealing on short cruises that (not Celebrity's fault) cost a fortune to fly to so that is my reason for not being so quick to jump on offers.

[PTC DAWG]

2 minutes ago, poffles said:

 

 

That said, an inside or similar cabin with no perks becomes extremely unappealing on short cruises that (not Celebrity's fault) cost a fortune to fly to so that is my reason for not being so quick to jump on offers.

Agree, they can clearly see that I have never booked less than a Balcony cabin or higher on any Celebrity cruise..not sure why they think an inside is what I would desire.  

[jmdlv1]

I've talked to the BCC club several times and they expressed an expectation that I play x hours /day on the cruise.

I never met that especially on port intensive itineraries.

[kwokpot]

4 hours ago, jmdlv1 said:

I've talked to the BCC club several times and they expressed an expectation that I play x hours /day on the cruise.

I never met that especially on port intensive itineraries.

I'm not sure what you or the BCC rep told you but on ANY BCC offer there isn't ANY obligation to gamble a specific amount or level on THAT sailing. That's not how it works. What you gamble or DON'T gamble WILL determine what your FUTURE offers are. 

https://www.celebritycruises.com/terms-and-conditions/casino-promotions

[jmdlv1]

1 hour ago, kwokpot said:

I'm not sure what you or the BCC rep told you but on ANY BCC offer there isn't ANY obligation to gamble a specific amount or level on THAT sailing. That's not how it works. What you gamble or DON'T gamble WILL determine what your FUTURE offers are. 

https://www.celebritycruises.com/terms-and-conditions/casino-promotions

I understand that.

However ,when in a free or discounted cabin,there is an implied expectation of play.

i have been told by independent reps working through the BCC that 3-4 hours a day is expected.

Almost impossible on most cruises.

 

The discounts have become insignificant in my opinion.

My average bet on Bj and craps has been over $300 and the return in comps is laughable.

 

 

 

 

[kwokpot]

27 minutes ago, jmdlv1 said:

I understand that.

However ,when in a free or discounted cabin,there is an implied expectation of play.

i have been told by independent reps working through the BCC that 3-4 hours a day is expected.

Almost impossible on most cruises.

 

The discounts have become insignificant in my opinion.

My average bet on Bj and craps has been over $300 and the return in comps is laughable.

 

 

 

 

You mean Urcomped reps? Yes, when booking through them you are asked about your gambling budget. I guess it depends on how you're reading into implied. It's really no different than when a land based casino gives you a free room. It's implied that you'll be gambling but failure to do so won't mean they will charge you full room rate at checkout. Same with comped cruises. If you don't play at all they aren't going to suddenly charge you the full cruise rate on the last day of the cruise. Again, that's not how it works. At worst on a land based casino they will lock you out of your accumulated comps and not offer you any other complementaries but they won't retroactively charge you for the room. BTW, since I'm not the primary gambler in the family that's precisely what happened to me on a land based casino. Rather than sending me emails warning that I haven't gambled enough they just locked me out of my accumulated comp dollars. But I never had to retroactively 'pay' for any free room, gifts, or Freeplay that I had already used.

 

Lastly, on almost every cruise you most certainly can play 3-4 hours daily. It would be at night. In any case that's the 'standard' quoted requirements for gambling complementaries even on land based casinos. That's like saying everyone should get 7-8 hours of sleep every night or you should tip US restaurant workers 16-20%. Doesn't mean that one Has to do that in order to get gambling complementaries.

 

We have been traveling on casino comped cruises for over 10 years, averaging 6-12 cruises every year, all comped. My spouse just turned into our accountant W2-Gs over $140,000 for 2023. 

 

 

Edited April 5 by kwokpot

[jmdlv1]

Have not used UR Comped but a similar company.

Since most of my play is tables ,I don't get W2 Gs .

$140000 is a strong return.

I honestly have not been able to play 3-4 hours a day on cruises. When the casino opens at 6pm on port days ,that goes into dinner ,shows  and anything else. 

Playing in AC or Vegas is completely different when play can be spread out over 24 hours.

[kwokpot]

My husband's most recent BCC offers,which have been for a fully comped Concierge Class cabin and now including longer European itineraries into the fourth quarter. 

Edited April 5 by kwokpot