Carnival Rewards cruise loyalty program: The ultimate guide

Even before Carnival announced plans for a complete overhaul of its loyalty program to take effect later this year, it was criticized for having one of the weakest big-ship cruise line programs.

Unlike rival Royal Caribbean, Carnival’s loyalty program (currently called the VIFP Club and soon to be renamed Carnival Rewards) has never offered its members a free cruise or similar high-value perks after they reach the top tier. There have never been lucrative discounts of up to 20% on some sailings for members, as Windstar Cruises offers as part of its loyalty program.

But the overhaul, now scheduled to take effect Sept. 1, has taken criticism of the line’s loyalty program to a new level, with large numbers of Carnival’s most loyal fans revolting at the changes in forums across the internet.

The outcry is not without reason. Based on what the line has announced about the new program so far, it significantly reduces the value of chasing status with the line.

Among the biggest changes, the new Carnival Rewards program:

• Will no longer offer status for life, as is the norm in the cruise world. You’ll now only earn status for a two-year increment and then lose it unless you requalify.
• Will no longer offer status based on the number of cruises you take. It’s now all about how much you spend — something that has become common with airline loyalty programs but is still rare in the world of cruise loyalty programs.
• Will have points earning requirements for higher status tiers that will be very difficult for most Carnival cruisers to reach.
• Will have status levels with fewer valuable perks than what was offered before.

In addition to all of that, the new Carnival Rewards program is more complicated to understand than the old VIFP Club program.

In the old program, you just earned one type of points and at a simple ratio of 1 point earned for every day of cruising. It was about as simple as could be.

In the new program, there are two tracks for earning — the “points” track and the “stars” track — and each of these tracks comes with different rewards.

All that said, there are some good things hidden in the new program that might not be obvious upon first glance, mostly around the added earnings track, now called the points track. It can get you some valuable freebies you wouldn’t have received before.

For details of those freebies and other specifics on the new Carnival Rewards program, read on. Just keep in mind that this new program doesn’t take effect until Sept. 1. Until then, you will continue to earn points and status based on Carnival’s current VIFP Club loyalty program.

The VIFP Club loyalty program will sunset at the end of August, with the caveat that your status in that program will carry over to the new Carnival Rewards program for the next two years (unless you’re at the Diamond level, which will carry over for life; more on that below).

Note that to transfer your current status level in the VIFP Club loyalty program to the new Carnival Rewards loyalty program, you will need to log into your profile on the Carnival website and manually opt-in and accept the terms and conditions of the new program. You don’t need to wait until Sept. 1 to do this. In fact, you should do it now so there is no lapse in your status during upcoming sailings.

Ways to earn status and points

Earning points in the new Carnival Rewards program will be as complicated as earning points in the line’s current VIFP Club program is simple.

For starters, as mentioned above, there will be two tracks to earnings.

Status Qualifying Stars

To earn loyalty status — that is, to rise through the ranks of the program’s loyalty tiers — you will earn what are called Status Qualifying Stars. This is the track that will be most similar to the current VIFP Club program’s earning track.

In the current program, you earn 1 point for every night you cruise. Cruise a lot, and you move up through the status tiers.

In the new program, by contrast, you will earn loyalty tier points — as noted, now called Status Qualifying Stars — not based on how much you cruise but how much money you spend with Carnival. But the earning levels will vary depending on the type of spending, and it’s a bit complicated.

You will get:

• 3 stars for every dollar you spend on cruise fares and onboard spending, including spa treatments, shore excursions, dining and drinks.
• Additional stars for gambling in onboard casinos that vary by the games you play. For playing slot machines, for instance, you will initially get 1 “casino point,” as they’re called, which then convert into Status Qualifying Stars at a ratio of 1 star for every $2 played.
• Additional stars for making charges to a Carnival® World Mastercard®. The number of stars you will get for various types of spending on this card has yet to be announced but will be soon, according to Carnival.

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.

Making things just a bit more complicated, there are some exceptions to the spend-to-get-stars formula that comes with this track:

• You will not get stars for the portion of your cruise fare that represents taxes and fees.
• You will not get stars for spending on air travel booked through Carnival as part of its Fly2Fun program.
• You will not get stars for spending on certain fare types.
• You will not get stars for purchases made using your Carnival Rewards points (more on what these are in a moment) or with onboard credits or future cruise credits that were not originally funded by your own spending.

All of the above explains how you will get Status Qualifying Stars, which will help you qualify for status in the new program.

Carnival Rewards points

The second, new track to the Carnival Rewards program will give you what will be called Carnival Rewards points. The way you earn these points will essentially be the same as how you earn Status Qualifying Stars.

You will get 3 Carnival Rewards points for every dollar spent on Carnival cruises, for instance (with the same exceptions as noted above for Status Qualifying Stars). Additionally, you’ll get 5,000 bonus Carnival Rewards points after your first 50 days of sailing on a Carnival ship and another 10,000 bonus Carnival Rewards points after every 100 days you sail.

The big difference with Carnival Rewards points is that they will have nothing to do with your loyalty status — that is, how quickly you rise through the program’s loyalty tiers.

So, what can you do with Carnival Rewards points? For starters, these points will have nothing to do with earning status. Instead, they will let you get free things when you cruise or even a discount on a cruise. If you really rack up a lot of them, you can even use them to fully cover the cost of a cruise.

You’ll be able to use Carnival Rewards points to pay for:

• Cruise fares (including deposits required when you first book)
• Extra-charge onboard activities
• Onboard shopping
• Gambling in ship casinos
• Extra-charge onboard dining
• Onboard drinks
• Shore excursions booked through the line

Carnival has yet to post a full list of the things you can pay for with Carnival Rewards points and how much they will cost in points, but it has listed a few examples 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 dinner at The Chef’s Table experience or steakhouse restaurants found on Carnival ships will be available for 5,500 points. And a single frozen pina colada is listed as costing 1,357 points.

These are all great rewards, of course, but you’ll have to spend quite a bit of money on Carnival ships to rack up enough Carnival Rewards points to get them.

For instance, to get the 1,357 points needed for a free pina colada, you’d need to spend about $452 with Carnival. To get that Swedish massage for 13,499 points, you’d need to spend about $4,500.

Related: A beginners guide to picking a cruise line

Program tiers and benefits

There will be four loyalty tiers in the Carnival Rewards program (one fewer than the old VIFP Club program):

• Red (upon signing up)
• Gold (from 10,000 stars)
• Platinum (from 50,000 stars)
• Diamond (from 100,000 stars)

One of the welcome little surprises of the new Carnival Rewards loyalty program is that you can get the initial tier of status, Red, even before you walk on board your first cruise with the brand. Unlike with many lines, you don’t have to complete a cruise to get to this first level. All you have to do is sign up for the program in advance.

That said, the Red tier of the program brings almost no perks. There are only three:

• You can earn and redeem points.
• You are eligible for members-only cruise offers.
• You get a complimentary 1.5-liter bottle of water during sailings.

Related: Cruise line loyalty program guide: How to earn perks with the biggest brands

The next tier in the program (Gold) is almost as stingy when it comes to perks. In addition to the meager Red level benefits, it brings just two new, relatively modest perks: a dedicated Gold member support line to call for assistance and a single complimentary beverage on sailings of five days or longer.

As a Gold-level member, you’ll also get a special Gold-colored Sail & Sign card that will let you not-so-subtly show off your higher-level status when you plunk it down for a drink at the bar.

It isn’t until the third tier of the program, Platinum, that things start to get interesting (more on that in a moment).

Related: Carnival cruise ships by size: Here are the largest Carnival cruise ships, biggest to smallest, by tonnage

As noted, you don’t need to spend any money with Carnival to get the initial Red tier of status. You just sign up for the program. But to get the 10,000 stars that are necessary to reach the Gold tier of the program, you’ll need to spend $3,333 on Carnival purchases (for a nongambler without the Carnival Mastercard; the threshold will be different if you play in a Carnival casino or make purchases with the Carnival Mastercard). And, as part of the new program, the window for you to rack up that level of spending will be just two years — a period that will be known as the Status Qualifying Period.

Given that Carnival sailings start at just $184 per person (as of the date of this guide’s publishing), that means you might have to sail quite a few times over a two-year period to reach the Gold level, even if you add up all your onboard spending on such things as spa treatments, dining and drinks.

That said, if you gamble a lot on board, spend a lot with the Carnival Mastercard or just rack up a big onboard bill with all sorts of extra spending, you could reach the Gold tier much faster.

The new two-year earnings window is the big change to the program. Under the old VIFP Club loyalty program, every cruise you took over your lifetime added to your progress toward status, and each tier of status that you reached was yours for life. There was no earnings window or limit to the time you kept your status. You just kept moving up the ranks.

Under the new program, you will rack up stars through the two-year Status Qualifying Period, and then whatever status you earn during that period will last for the subsequent two years. After that, you lose it unless you requalify during the next two-year Status Qualifying Period.

The initial two-year Status Qualifying Period for the new program officially will begin on Jan. 1, 2027, and end on Dec. 31, 2028. The Status Qualifying Stars you earn during this period will then determine your status from Jan. 1, 2029, through Dec. 31, 2030.

In case you’re wondering, your status between now and Jan. 1, 2029, will be your final status in the old VIFP Club program as of Sept. 1 of this year, when that program sunsets.

For instance, I am personally at the Platinum level in the VIFP Club program and have been for quite a few years. When the new program officially kicks off in September, I will retain that Platinum status in the new program until the end of 2028. Starting Jan. 1, 2029, my status will be reset based on the amount of stars I rack up in 2027 and 2028.

The elite level that makes a difference

As was the case with the old VIFP Club program, the Platinum level of the Carnival Rewards program is where your loyalty to Carnival finally starts paying off.

Many of the perks that kick in at this level include priority access of some kind, including:

• Early access to online check-in (16 days in advance)
• Priority check-in and boarding
• Priority access on board for things like spa reservations and the guest services line
• Priority debarkation
• Access to preferred restaurant times

In short, once you’re at the Platinum level, you’ll suddenly find yourself bumped to the front of the line from the moment you arrive at a ship until the moment you leave. This is no small thing. Priority boarding means that you’ll get on board the ship faster than other passengers, giving you more time on your first day to enjoy its offerings. Preferred access to restaurant reservations means you’ll get the best table times.

Related: The ultimate guide to Carnival Cruise Line ships and itineraries

Other perks that come with the Platinum level include:

• A second free drink that you can order at any venue
• Complimentary wash-and-fold laundry service (one to four bags, depending on the length of the cruise)
• A Platinum-colored Sail & Sign card
• A Platinum pin

Sadly, getting to the Platinum tier requires such an enormous amount of spending that it will be out of reach for most Carnival cruisers. To hit 50,000 stars, nongamblers will need to make $16,667 in Carnival purchases over a two-year period (as at the Gold tier, the threshold will differ for gamblers depending on their casino play and Carnival Mastercard holders depending on their card spending).

Related: The best destinations you can visit on a Carnival Cruise Line ship

Best elite perk

The highest tier of the Carnival Rewards program, Diamond, is unfortunately being downgraded in value as part of the overhaul of Carnival’s program. Gone are such perks as a free cabin upgrade upon first reaching Diamond status and a complimentary meal for two at a specialty restaurant of your choice.

As in the past, Carnival also doesn’t offer any of the truly wonderful perks that some of its biggest competitors (think: Royal Caribbean) give you, such as a free cruise upon reaching top-tier status.

Indeed, the added perks for reaching Diamond status are surprisingly minor and, in our opinion, at least, not worth the extra effort to reach this level.

Related: Everything you want to know about cabins and suites on Carnival Cruise Line ships

The best of the extra perks that come with Diamond status is the guaranteed main dining time of your choice (early or late seating only).

At the Diamond level, you also get slightly more free wash-and-fold laundry service (one more bag per cruise). But that, too, is a downgrade, as the old program gave Diamond members unlimited wash-and-fold laundry service.

Other than that, the Diamond level brings mostly the same perks as the Platinum level. The only other additions are:

• You get a Diamond pin.
• Your Sign & Sail card color becomes Diamond-themed.
• You get an invitation to a special event with the captain on each sailing.

To reach the Diamond level, you would have to spend $33,333 with Carnival in a two-year period, assuming you are a nongambler or don’t hold the Carnival Mastercard. That is, of course, an enormous amount given that many Carnival cruisers pay a base fare (not including onboard spending) of just a few hundred dollars per cruise.

There is one big exception to that spending requirement for Diamond status that will apply only to Carnival’s current crop of most loyal customers. If you are such a frequent Carnival cruiser that you have already reached Diamond status in the current VIFP Club loyalty program by the time it sunsets on Sept. 1 of this year, you will retain that status for life.

This wasn’t the original plan when Carnival announced the new program last year. There was such an outcry from Carnival’s most loyal customers about the prospect of losing the Diamond status they thought they had reached for life, though, that the line changed its mind. They are now grandfathered into Diamond status for life in the new program.

Related: The classes of Carnival Cruise Line ships, explained

Bottom line

The new Carnival Rewards loyalty program that’s launching Sept. 1 isn’t as generous as Carnival’s current VIFP Club loyalty program in that it doesn’t offer status for life to frequent cruisers. In general, it’ll be harder for Carnival fans to both gain and maintain status with the line in the new program. Additionally, the rewards available at the various program tiers aren’t quite as good as before.

That said, the program includes a new earning track, Carnival Rewards points, that will let you occasionally get some nice perks, such as complimentary spa treatments and free dinners at the higher-end restaurants on Carnival ships, based on how much you’re spending with the line.

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