New Carnival Cruise Line loyalty program kicks off Tuesday
One of the largest and most controversial overhauls of a cruise line loyalty program in years is now in effect.
On Tuesday, cruise giant Carnival officially kicked off its new Carnival Rewards program, which replaces the line's 14-year-old Carnival VIFP Club program in its entirety and brings sweeping changes to the way Carnival fans earn and maintain status.
Originally scheduled to launch in June, the new four-tier program notably brings an end to "status for life" for most customers — a massive change that caused an uproar among Carnival fans when first announced in 2025.
You'll now have a two-year period to earn enough Stars to qualify for Carnival Rewards status. Once you hit an applicable status tier, it will be valid for the rest of that period plus the following two years — at which time you'll lose it unless you requalify.
The new program also shifts the way Carnival fans earn status to a spend-based system more commonly found with airline loyalty programs, but is still rare in the cruise world. This switch was not well received by many Carnival regulars, who were accustomed to earning status by taking lots of inexpensive sailings.
Related: The ultimate guide to Carnival Cruise Line ships and itineraries
The former Carnival VIFP Club program awarded status based solely on the number of days you cruised. The amount of money you spent with the line didn't matter.
While it takes away the ability to earn status for life, the new program notably offers customers a much quicker path to rewards with a new points system that lets them cash in points for a wide range of amenities as soon as they start cruising. It also brings a lot more choice in the rewards that they can get.
For the first time, it also introduces the ability to make progress towards earning elite status with the new Carnival Rewards™ Mastercard®.
The information for the Carnival Rewards Mastercard has been collected independently by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.
"We wanted to create a program where there is rewards and flexibility available from that first sailing onwards ... and [to give] the guests the choice of where they want to use their points," Sidharth Krishna, Carnival's vice president of loyalty, co-brand and partnerships, said during a call with media outlets in advance of the program going into effect.
At the heart of the new program are two new side-by-side earnings systems:
- Carnival Rewards points earned through spending with the line and on the co-branded credit card that are redeemable for Carnival cruises and eligible onboard experiences
- Status Qualifying Stars that unlock status and additional benefits are also earned through spending with the line and on the new co-branded credit card
For both tracks, there are multiple ways to earn.
Earn and redeem points with Carnival Rewards
Under the new Carnival Rewards points system, you'll earn 3 points for every dollar spent on eligible Carnival purchases. This includes your cruise fare, onboard drinks, specialty dining, spa treatments, shore excursions and gratuities.
You also will earn 1 point for every casino point remaining at the end of your cruise — so frequent gamers will soon be rewarded for their play.
Finally, you will earn Carnival Rewards points for spending on the new Barclays-issued Carnival Rewards Mastercard, which also debuted Tuesday.
The new Carnival Rewards Mastercard replaces the Carnival® World Mastercard® (no longer available) as the sole Carnival-branded credit card. (Existing Carnival World Mastercard holders have automatically been switched over to the new card.)
The information for the Carnival World Mastercard has been collected independently by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.
The new credit card awards an additional 3 points per dollar spent on eligible Carnival cruises (for a total of 6 points per dollar), 2 points per dollar spent at eligible restaurants and grocery stores and 1 point per dollar spent on all other eligible purchases charged to the card.
Once earned, Carnival Rewards points can be redeemed as soon as they hit your account for virtually anything that costs extra on a Carnival cruise — everything from a pina colada at a shipboard bar to a spa treatment.
You can even use the points to pay for all or part of a future cruise.
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The number of points that you'll need to cash in for various rewards will vary over time and from cruise to cruise — that is, it'll be a dynamic pricing system.
But Carnival has listed a few examples of the cost in points for various rewards on its website to give you an idea. For instance, Carnival says you'll be able to sign up for a Swedish massage at a ship spa for 13,499 Carnival Rewards points. A single frozen pina colada is listed as costing 1,357 points.
The value of points in the new Carnival Rewards varies based on your redemption choices but often lands between 1 and 2 cents based on the examples we have seen so far.
Earning Stars for status
The separate Status Qualifying Stars system is how you will rise through the ranks of the Carnival Rewards program's four status tiers. It has a similar earning rate to the points system. You will earn:
- 3 Stars for every dollar spent on eligible Carnival purchases
- 1 Star for every casino point left at the end of a cruise
- Additional Stars for purchases on the Carnival Rewards Mastercard at a rate of 1 Star per eligible dollar charged to the card
Under the new Status Qualifying Stars system, you'll rise through the ranks of status tiers based on the following Star totals:
- Red: Upon sign-up
- Gold: 10,000 Stars
- Platinum: 50,000 Stars
- Diamond: 100,000 Stars
As with the old Carnival VIFP Club program, each of the various status tiers will bring a modest number of perks, such as priority check-in at the Platinum level and a guaranteed main dining time at the Diamond level.
See a full breakdown of all the perks for each tier in our new Carnival Rewards guide.
Under this new system, you'll have a two-year period to earn enough Stars to qualify for each of the tiers. Once you hit an applicable status, it's valid for the rest of that period plus the following two years.
Here's how the Star thresholds for each tier translate to required Carnival spending (excluding casino and card activity):
- Gold: $3,333.33 over two years
- Platinum: $16,666.67 over two years
- Diamond: $33,333.33 over two years
As you can see, earning (or maintaining) status in the new Carnival Rewards program requires a lot of spending, especially if you do it only through cruise spending, which is one reason why many Carnival fans were up in arms when the changes were first announced.
For some Carnival status holders, the new program will result in a downgrade of status over the coming years as they fail to meet the required spending thresholds.
That said, if you gamble a lot on board, spend regularly with a Carnival Mastercard or just rack up a big onboard bill with all sorts of extra spending, you could reach these tiers much faster than if you're a modest spender.
For example, if you charge an average of $1,000 per month in everyday purchases to the new Carnival credit card and charge all of your Carnival cruise expenses to the card, then the $33,333 in Carnival spending needed over two years to earn top-tier Diamond status drops substantially to about $19,000 on Carnival cruises over that two-year period.
With this example, at $9,500 in Carnival cruise spending per year — assuming it's charged to the new Carnival credit card and supplemented with $1,000 in other everyday card spending per month on the card — Diamond status might feel more within reach for some who take advantage of the various ways to earn Stars under the new program. And, of course, the more everyday spending you put on the card, the less you'd need to spend on Carnival cruises to unlock status.
And the good news for all is that Carnival has offered previous status holders a transition period. They will retain whatever their status was in the old Carnival VIFP Club program as of Aug. 31, 2026, through Jan. 1, 2029.
In addition — and this is a biggie — Carnival has told Diamond-level members of the old Carnival VIFP Club loyalty program that they would retain that status for life under the new program.
That wasn't in the original plan when Carnival announced the new program last year. Diamond-level members were set to lose their status for life. But there was such an outcry from Carnival's most loyal customers about the prospect of losing their status for life that the line decided to allow them to keep their Diamond status for life under the new program, too.
Milestone awards
In addition to all of the above, the new Carnival Rewards program introduces a new set of special milestone awards for cruisers who reach certain milestones with Carnival.
Dubbed the "Milestone Recognition Program," it brings:
- 5,000 Carnival Rewards points and a special Sail & Sign card after 50 days of cruising
- 10,000 Carnival Rewards points, onboard recognition, a commemorative coin and onboard credit after 100 days of cruising and at every 100-day milestone after that through 500 days
- Elevated recognition and commemorative gifts celebrating the cruiser's long-term loyalty at the 500-day milestone and every 100-day milestone thereafter
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