Casino Program

[Fun Loving]

Does Celebrity have any type of casino program? Thanks.

[cruiseorbust]

Yes, they do have one, but that manually track your play...not sure how well that works compared to the card system they have on RCCL.

[cruiseorbust]

Yes, they do have one, but that manually track your play...not sure how well that works compared to the card system they have on RCCL.

[kk99]

Yes, it is called the blue chip club. If you are going to be playing a fair amount of hours and wagering $5.00 slots, full coin in or at least $20 every hand on the card tables they will rate you. What you need to do is go to the casino cage before you play and tell them that you would like to rated over the course of the cruise. The only way they have a computer record is when you take cash out on your seapass account every day in the casino. Normally I take out the limit per day, and then repay the seapass account at the purser's desk before leaving the ship. You should never take out more than you are willing to put at risk otherwise you will be deep in the hole at the end of your trip. I've been fortunate to break even or win over the course of the past several Celebrity cruises. Once you get rated, they will notify you that you've qualified for the blue chip club, and give you sizable future credits to be used on future Celebrity cruises. We have probably taken extra cruises because the incentives were so good. RCCL, Carnival , and NCL have easier tracking systems and hopefully Celebrity and Azamara will institute similar systems in the future. It also helps to strike up conversations with the dealers and slot attendants while you are in the casino, because they also report back to the casino manager on the length of time you are playing. I have found that the worst loss I ever sustained was on a 100 line penny slot machine on the Quest where each pull was $10.00 a spin. The paybacks that give you more play is on the higher limit slot machines if that is what you like. I seem to do the best on the tables but I have certainly seen some very large slot wins by other passengers on past cruises. I hope you enjoy your future cruises.

k.k.

[cruiseorbust]

Yes, it is called the blue chip club. If you are going to be playing a fair amount of hours and wagering $5.00 slots, full coin in or at least $20 every hand on the card tables they will rate you. What you need to do is go to the casino cage before you play and tell them that you would like to rated over the course of the cruise. The only way they have a computer record is when you take cash out on your seapass account every day in the casino. Normally I take out the limit per day, and then repay the seapass account at the purser's desk before leaving the ship. You should never take out more than you are willing to put at risk otherwise you will be deep in the hole at the end of your trip. I've been fortunate to break even or win over the course of the past several Celebrity cruises. Once you get rated, they will notify you that you've qualified for the blue chip club, and give you sizable future credits to be used on future Celebrity cruises. We have probably taken extra cruises because the incentives were so good. RCCL, Carnival , and NCL have easier tracking systems and hopefully Celebrity and Azamara will institute similar systems in the future. It also helps to strike up conversations with the dealers and slot attendants while you are in the casino, because they also report back to the casino manager on the length of time you are playing. I have found that the worst loss I ever sustained was on a 100 line penny slot machine on the Quest where each pull was $10.00 a spin. The paybacks that give you more play is on the higher limit slot machines if that is what you like. I seem to do the best on the tables but I have certainly seen some very large slot wins by other passengers on past cruises. I hope you enjoy your future cruises.

k.k.

 

KK...have you ever been offered a free cruise (you still pay port & tax) on RCCL? If so, have you heard they are now changing it so that if they are offering you to be on the slot tournament cruise, they pick balcony cabins out for you, enter you into the slot tournament, but you now have to pay for the balcony cabin, plus port and tax?? If not KK, has anyone else heard about the changes in RCCL regarding slot tournament cruise offers?

[kitty9]

We've been offered three free cruises via the Blue Chip Club on Celebrity and there's never been any strings attached. They know we like to play in the casino so that's the draw for them. We also get a cash rebate on the cruises we've been on. It's determined by how much you gamble on your previous cruise. There's no limit to the amount of the rebate, but I don't have a clue as to how they determine the amount of the rebate.

[Cote d'or]

There's no limit to the amount of the rebate, but I don't have a clue as to how they determine the amount of the rebate.

 

It's based on how long (they know exactly by the minute !) you played on which type of machines or tables.

[cruiseorbust]

We've been offered three free cruises via the Blue Chip Club on Celebrity and there's never been any strings attached. They know we like to play in the casino so that's the draw for them. We also get a cash rebate on the cruises we've been on. It's determined by how much you gamble on your previous cruise. There's no limit to the amount of the rebate, but I don't have a clue as to how they determine the amount of the rebate.

 

Curious about the cruises, since we have been offered them too in the past. Have you done one in the year 2008 yet? if so, are they still free with your on board credit except paying port and tax, because they told us that it was no longer going to be that way...just wondering if you heard this?

[kk99]

Hi everyone,

We were on the Century last week, and I confirmed some of the changes with the casino manager and one of the executives of the Blue Chip program, Andy Murphy. My experience on this last cruise was they were having a hard time keeping up with the play of the blue chip members as there were quite a few onboard, and the casino was extremely full during the hours it was open. Unless Celebrity casino employees know which machine you were playing on for a period of time , it is extremely difficult for them to asses the play especially if you move around the casino and try out different machines. It now takes an average of 50 dollars a hand with a minimum of four hours of play to be rated on the tables. For slots, they want to see four hours of play a day with a minimum wager average of 10 dollars.With the debut of the Solstice I was told that the slot machines will be card readers like they have on RCCL which is a much better way to track the accuracy of slot play. After this last cruise, I was offered the option to use my rebate money to apply to the payment on either of my next two cruises this year, one with RCCL and the other with Celebrity. RCCL has a separate player program however, they share information on players with Celebrity. I was told that the free cabins were going to be more restricted as there is a large number of midlevel players who were being rated. You always have the option to use your cash rebate money towards the purchase price of your cruise, or use it like cash in the casino. I do know for a fact that when someone takes a cash advance at the casino, the attendants go look to see if you are actually playing that money in the casino as opposed to those individuals who get the advance for their next day's shore excursion expenses. I guess we will have to wait to see what other changes they make to the program, but I am not counting on receiving a basically free future cruise and the rebate cash based on the player's program. I like playing, but that is not a reason to book the cruise and your potential losses could easily exceed the cost of the vacation if you are not careful. I did ask about a players invited tournament this year, but they did not have anything definite to tell me.

If you are a rated player at Harrah's, they have given us free balcony staterooms on RCCL and Carnival but never in conjunction with Celebrity or any other cruise line.

For those of you who like to play the Texas Hold Em 1 dollar/ 2 dollar no limit table with a live dealer(as opposed to the video table), the house rake is 10% of the pot as opposed to 4% at a land based casino. There was always a large waiting list to get on that table during our cruise. I did see some pretty unusual hands that were bet on,it was definitely a lively table.

Enjoy your future cruises,

k.k.

[raudacruise]

KK, you pointed out something when you discussed the rakes in Holdem. In the "Super" tournament they had on a TA on Milli the rake was 20%!.

 

With single odds craps and no-surrender BJ have to kind of wonder if you really are getting comped or getting...

 

Guess there is really no such thing as a free drink ;).

[kitty9]

Curious about the cruises, since we have been offered them too in the past. Have you done one in the year 2008 yet? if so, are they still free with your on board credit except paying port and tax, because they told us that it was no longer going to be that way...just wondering if you heard this?

 

 

I'll let you know within a couple of days because I just received a call today from the manager of all the X casinos offering a free cruise. I wasn't home to take the call, but I'm expecting him to return my call, hopefully tomorrow and I'll know the particulars then.

[dkjretired]

Hi everyone,

 

If you are a rated player at Harrah's, they have given us free balcony staterooms on RCCL and Carnival but never in conjunction with Celebrity or any other cruise line.

 

k.k.

 

KK

 

Do you have any further info on who you would contact in reference to your comment on Harrah's.

[kk99]

As to the free cruises with Harrah's, the ones we have been offered and used in the past went out of New Orleans and Galveston, 7 night Western Caribbean trips. I was contacted by my casino hosts directly from Las Vegas and New Orleans because they knew that our family liked to cruise as much as vacation time would allow. I know that they still have the gambling cruises for the Harrah's players because we were asked about one that went in early spring 2008 but we had already made plans during the spring break timeframe. My best suggestion is to talk to your host, and then to the host's manager to tell them that your are interested in that type of future perk instead of a land based visit at the casino. On the prior cruises that we took, Harrahs had 3 or 4 casino hosts on the ship to ensure everyone was having a good time and showing up to the casino on the ship to play at least some of the time. As to an earlier comment, I can't believe that the house took a 20% rake on the super tournament for Texas Holdem. I'm sure I would have been in the red early on with the casino making the most money instead of the players. For that kind of a rake, they better have had a large bad beat prize. Again, I look on the casino as my entertainment and set a limit- otherwise it just isn't any fun to play.

k.k.

[kk99]

Hi Everyone,

I just returned a phone call from Celebrity casino management this afternoon.. They offered us a free balcony cabin on an upcoming 7 day cruise in 2 weeks. Unfortunately, I have other business commitments which will prevent us from taking it. I would have been responsible for the airfare and port taxes. Hopefully they will offer it again later in the year which we would certainly take them up on the offer. I hope someone else gets the same offer and has a wonderful cruise.

k.k.

[raudacruise]

Serious about the break down on the holdem tournement. 50% to the overall winner. 30% to 1st/2nd place in the 8 qualifying heats, 20% rake. They even printed it on the rules.

[cruiseorbust]

Ok, now I got offered a cruise on rccl...I thought they said they changed their program....does anyone have any new info on any of this...the details of the cabins vs the costs??

[dkjretired]

As to the free cruises with Harrah's, the ones we have been offered and used in the past went out of New Orleans and Galveston, 7 night Western Caribbean trips. I was contacted by my casino hosts directly from Las Vegas and New Orleans because they knew that our family liked to cruise as much as vacation time would allow. I know that they still have the gambling cruises for the Harrah's players because we were asked about one that went in early spring 2008 but we had already made plans during the spring break timeframe. My best suggestion is to talk to your host, and then to the host's manager to tell them that your are interested in that type of future perk instead of a land based visit at the casino. On the prior cruises that we took, Harrahs had 3 or 4 casino hosts on the ship to ensure everyone was having a good time and showing up to the casino on the ship to play at least some of the time. As to an earlier comment, I can't believe that the house took a 20% rake on the super tournament for Texas Holdem. I'm sure I would have been in the red early on with the casino making the most money instead of the players. For that kind of a rake, they better have had a large bad beat prize. Again, I look on the casino as my entertainment and set a limit- otherwise it just isn't any fun to play.

k.k.

 

Thanks KK, sorry didn't get back to you sooner. I'll see my host Sunday, maybe I'll ask her...

[kitty9]

We were offered two cruises, one two weeks from now and one in March on Millennium. The casino manager said they set aside a few cabins on a certain number of cruises each year to offer their Blue Chip Club members. Since we just returned from the Constellation, we won't go on the one in two weeks, but we'll see about the one in March. All we pay is for our airfare and port taxes.