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Our site may earn compensation when a customer clicks on a link, when an application is approved, or when an account is opened with our partners, and this may impact how or where these products appear. While we don't cover all available credit cards, our editorial team creates and maintains all of the analysis of these cards, and our content is not influenced nor subject to review by any credit card company, bank or partner prior to (or after) publication. Please view our advertising policy and product review methodology for more information.
Ben Smithson is a senior writer for TPG and is based in London. Originally from Australia and a qualified lawyer with a financial services background, he has almost a decade of experience writing about a broad range of travel and loyalty topics.
April 16, 2026 • 12 min read
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Quick summary
You can use various points and miles to book or offset the cost of a cruise, but redemption values are often lower than for flights or hotels.
Redemption options include using flexible rewards through travel portals, exchanging points for cruise line gift cards or credits, and leveraging hotel loyalty programs for select luxury cruises.
Some programs allow you to book directly with cruise lines or travel agents, offering more flexibility and access to additional deals.
Hotel loyalty programs occasionally offer cruise redemptions, though these typically yield less value per point than using them for hotel stays.
What to consider
Redemption values for cruises are generally below TPG's valuations for most points and miles as of April 2026.
Booking through travel portals or with flexible rewards may limit access to promotional cruise rates or extra perks available through agents.
Some cruise and hotel loyalty program redemptions have specific minimums, denominations or blackout dates, and not all cruise lines participate.
What you'll miss from the article
A detailed comparison of redemption methods, including step-by-step booking tips and advice on maximizing value when using points or miles for cruises.
Generated by AI with support from our editorial team.
Comments
By commenting, you agree to our Community Guidelines to help create a positive space for conversation. The responses below are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser, our partners, or The Points Guy (“TPG”). They have not been reviewed, approved, or otherwise endorsed by any of these parties. All responses are submitted by individual contributors, and neither the bank advertiser, our partners, nor TPG are responsible for ensuring that all posts and/or questions are answered.
If you’re eager to embark on a cruise and have accumulated points or miles over time, you might not have to pay for your next trip.
While various options are available for redeeming your points and miles toward a cruise, it is important to note that the value you receive may not always be optimal (i.e., below TPG’s monthly valuations). In the realm of travel rewards, there are often more lucrative opportunities to leverage your points and miles for flights or hotel stays, with higher value and more flexibility.
If you have American Express Membership Rewards points, Capital One miles or Chase Ultimate Rewards points, you'll often receive a redemption value of 1 per point or mile for cruises. In this case, you’d get $100 off your cruise fare by redeeming 10,000 points or miles. While this might seem high, it falls short compared to the value some travelers get when redeeming points and miles for luxury hotels or business-class flights.
Some cruise lines offer their own credit cards, while others have formed partnerships with established brands. For example, Marriott Bonvoy members can redeem 180,000 points for a Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection cruise, resulting in $1,000 in savings. However, these partner options are often limited and might require loyalty to a specific travel brand.
You can always use points or miles to reduce travel expenses for any cruise vacation. For example, you can use Amex Membership Rewards points, Bilt Points, Capital One miles, Chase Ultimate Rewards points, Citi ThankYou Rewards points and Wells Fargo Rewards points to cover costs associated with airfare or hotels you may need to book in conjunction with your cruise. This often proves to be a better use of your rewards.
However, if you want to use your accumulated points or miles to reduce your cruise costs, here are several ways to book a cruise with them.
Book a cruise with credit card points and miles
You can use certain credit card points and miles to book a cruise. Typically, you're required to make the reservation through the portal provided by your credit card issuer; however, some issuers may require you to call a booking center. You might also be able to charge the cruise to your card and then redeem your rewards for a statement credit against some (or all) of that purchase.
Here’s how to book a cruise on points and miles with several major credit card companies.
American Express Membership Rewards
Norwegian Cruise Line’s Norwegian Viva. NORWEGIAN CRUISE LINE
If you have an eligible American Express card that earns Membership Rewards points, you can use those points to cover the cost of your cruise through the Pay with Points program. With this program, you can redeem Membership Rewards points at a value of 0.5 to 0.7 cents per point for most travel purchases.
However, TPG values Membership Rewards points at 2 cents each (per our April 2026 valuations) when you maximize the program’s transfer partners. So, you would use them at a lower value if you use Pay with Points.
The American Express Travel portal has a user-friendly search feature that allows you to explore different cruises based on specific filters such as date, destination, cruise line and trip duration, even before you log in.
AMERICAN EXPRESS
To book a cruise using Pay with Points, log into the travel portal and do the following:
Select your preferred cruise itinerary and cabin.
Enter your passenger information.
When it’s time to check out, enter your Membership Rewards-enrolled American Express card information and select “Yes” to determine how many Membership Rewards points your account has.
Pay for the entire cruise using Pay with Points, or pay a portion of the cost with points and the rest with cash.
Alternatively, you can look up the cruise you want and call 800-297-5627 to book directly with the Amex Travel team over the phone.
The Chase Travel℠ portal is similar to Amex Travel, but the redemption value may be higher, depending on which card you earned the Ultimate Rewards points from:
Chase Sapphire Reserve® (see ) and Chase Sapphire Reserve for Business℠ (see ): For cardholders who applied before June 23, 2025, redeem for 1.5 cents on all non-Points-Boost Chase Travel purchases (on points earned prior to Oct. 26, 2025, and redeemed until Oct. 26, 2027, then 1 cent thereafter). For cardholders who applied on or after June 23, 2025, redeem for 1 cent apiece on all non-Points-Boost Chase Travel purchases.
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card (see ) and Ink Business Preferred® Credit Card (see ): For cardholders who applied before June 23, 2025, redeem for 1.25 cents on all non-Points-Boost Chase Travel purchases (on points earned prior to Oct. 26, 2025, and redeemed until Oct. 26, 2027, then 1 cent apiece thereafter). For cardholders who applied on or after June 23, 2025, redeem for 1 cent per point on all non-Points-Boost Chase Travel purchases.
Eligible cardmembers can now book cruises online through Chase Travel and apply their Ultimate Rewards points to pay for the cruise, usually at a rate of one cent per point, though this may be higher depending on when and through which card the points were earned, as noted above.
CHASE
If you have any difficulties doing this, or if you're looking for a more unusual itinerary than the search results initially show, you may wish to call a Chase cruise specialist directly at 866-331-0773. Cruise advisers are available Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. EST and Saturday from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. EST.
Your cruise adviser can set up an itinerary for you, and, upon checkout, they will ask you how many points you want to apply against your final balance.
Citi ThankYou Rewards
While you cannot redeem your Citi ThankYou Rewards points through the Citi Travel portal to book a cruise, you can redeem your points to purchase gift cards with select cruise lines such as Carnival, Holland America, Princess Cruises and Virgin Experiences. Note that redemption rates may vary by brand, but you can find up to 1 cent per point for some gift card redemptions, such as Carnival.
Capital One miles
Capital One offers more flexibility and a more straightforward redemption process than Amex and Chase. Unless you transfer your miles to an airline or hotel partner, each mile is worth a flat 1 cent toward travel.
Redeeming miles doesn’t require booking through a portal, which frees you up to book your cruise directly with the company or via a travel agent to get extra perks. This option also allows you to pursue promotional package rates or discounts that may not be available through the Amex or Chase portals.
The award redemption process is straightforward: Use the card when paying for your cruise package, then log into your account and select the “Cover your travel purchases” option to apply your mileage balance as a credit toward the total amount due on your credit card statement.
You can also book cruises using some airline loyalty programs, such as United MileagePlus and American Airlines AAdvantage. However, you're only likely to receive around 0.7 cents per mile or 1 cent per mile, respectively, in value this way — well below our valuation of these airline miles.
Use points from cruise line cobranded credit cards to book
With cruise line cobranded credit cards, you can earn points for purchases that you can then use to offset the cost of your cruise booking. However, this might not be your best option for earning and redeeming points.
Here, you’ll want to be sure you can use your points toward the cruise fare instead of only for onboard purchases. For instance, with the Royal Caribbean Visa Signature® Credit Card (no longer available), you can redeem 25,000 points toward your companion’s cruise fare on a three- or four-night Royal Caribbean cruise, subject to certain conditions (like, for example, that the value does not exceed $500). Learn more about how to redeem MyCruise rewards points here.
The information for the Royal Caribbean Visa Signature card has been collected independently by The Points Guy. The card details on this page have not been reviewed or provided by the card issuer.
Redeem Marriott Bonvoy points
CAMERON SPERANCE/THE POINTS GUY
The Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection participates in the Marriott Bonvoy loyalty program. Members can redeem points on Ritz-Carlton cruises and enjoy elite status perks on voyages.
You can redeem at least 180,000 points toward a flat $1,000 savings on the cruise fare. After that, you can redeem increments of 90,000 points toward $500 in savings, up to the entire cruise fare. This redemption rate is approximately 0.56 cents per Marriott point, which is below TPG’s April 2026 valuation of 0.75 cents per point.
Additionally, Marriott Bonvoy’s Cruise with Points program allows you to cash in Marriott points for credit toward any cruise that’s bookable on the Cruise with Points website.
You can redeem points in the following denominations, all valued at 0.4 cents per point:
63,000 points for $250 off your cruise fare
125,000 points for $500 off
250,000 points for $1,000 off
625,000 points for $2,500 off
1,250,000 points for $5,000 off
To redeem Marriott points for a cruise, call 800-596-0452.
Redeem Hilton Honors points
Hilton and Explora Journeys just unveiled a luxury ocean‑travel partnership with the launch of Hilton Honors Adventures. Travelers will have to wait until summer 2026 to start earning and redeeming their Hilton Honors points on Explora trips. But, effective immediately and through June 7, Hilton Honors loyalty program members get a limited‑time preview of the partnership with a curated set of 16 Explora Journeys itineraries. These include up to $400 in Journey Experience Credits (and $200 on other voyages), an in‑suite welcome gift and 100,000 Hilton Honors bonus points per suite.
By summer 2026, members will be able to earn and redeem Hilton points on Explora Journeys across regions, from the Mediterranean to Alaska, although the redemption rates have not yet been announced.
It isn’t always easy to get great value for your points and miles when you use them toward cruise redemptions — at least, not the way you can with premium cabin flights. However, redeeming your points and miles for free or discounted cruise travel is possible.
That said, if you want to redeem your rewards for maximum value, it is best to avoid using airline miles or hotel points for cruises. Those are better used on flights and overnight stays.
It’s a similar story for credit card currencies. Capital One offers the most flexibility of all the major issuers because you can book your cruise directly or through a travel agent. With multiple booking options, you can take advantage of additional perks and access promotional rates from travel agents and online retailers that aren’t available through credit card portals. You could even stack those deals for additional savings by booking via an airline portal to earn miles.
