There’s a little-known way to get free onboard credit every time you cruise with P&O – and it has nothing to do with loyalty status or booking a suite.
If you own shares in Carnival Corporation, the company behind P&O Cruises, you could qualify for onboard credit on eligible sailings. Better still, the benefit isn’t just available on P&O. It also applies to many other cruise lines in the Carnival family.
I’ve claimed this perk on multiple cruises, and it’s one of my favourite cruise hacks. But there are a few important rules that catch people out, and not every shareholder qualifies.
Here’s how it works, how much you can get, and what you need to do to make sure you don’t miss out.
Benefit of Owning Shares – Free Onboard Credit
The Carnival shareholder benefit is available to anyone sailing with a Carnival Corporation cruise line, provided they own at least 100 eligible Carnival shares.
You can’t buy shares in P&O Cruises itself, only its parent company, Carnival Corporation.
If you qualify, you’ll receive the following onboard spending money on eligible P&O Cruises sailings:
- £150 per cabin on cruises of 13 nights or longer
- £60 per cabin on cruises of 6 to 12 nights
- £30 per cabin on cruises of 5 nights or fewer
The benefit can only be claimed once per cabin. So, if you and your partner each own 100 Carnival shares but are staying in the same cabin, you’ll still only receive one shareholder benefit.
There are a few restrictions to be aware of. Employees, travel agents sailing on discounted industry rates, tour conductors and guests travelling on certain complimentary or heavily discounted fares aren’t eligible.
For most passengers, though, the shareholder benefit can be claimed alongside other onboard spending money offers, including promotional credit or credit received through a travel agent or discount scheme.
The best part is that this isn’t a one-off perk. As long as you continue to own at least 100 eligible shares, you can claim the benefit every time you book an eligible cruise. Just bear in mind that the scheme is currently confirmed for sailings departing up to 31 December 2026, after which Carnival may review or change it.
There are a couple of exceptions. If you book a world cruise under a single booking reference, the maximum shareholder benefit is £150, regardless of the voyage length. However, if you’re sailing back-to-back under separate booking references, you can claim the benefit for each individual cruise.
There are also a few restrictions on what you can spend your onboard credit on. It can’t be used in the casino, for bingo, artwork, medical services, currency exchange or gratuities charged to your onboard account. It also can’t be used to pay for purchases made before your cruise through My P&O Cruises or the contact centre.
That said, you’ll still be able to spend it on drinks, speciality dining, spa treatments, shore excursions, shopping and plenty of other onboard purchases, so most people won’t have any trouble using it all before the end of their cruise.
The shareholder benefit isn’t limited to P&O Cruises either. You can also claim it on eligible sailings with other Carnival-owned brands, including Cunard, Princess Cruises and Carnival Cruise Line, although the amount you receive depends on the onboard currency.
For cruises that use US dollars, including Carnival Cruise Line, Holland America Line, Princess Cruises, Costa and Seabourn, you’ll receive US$250, US$100 or US$50, depending on the length of the sailing.
Eligible Australian-dollar cruises offer A$250, A$100 or A$50, while euro-denominated sailings on Costa and AIDA provide €200, €75 or €40.
| Cruise Region | 14+ Days | 7-13 Days | Up to 6 Days |
|---|---|---|---|
| North America | US$250 | $100 | $50 |
| United Kingdom | £150 | £60 | £30 |
| Australia | AUS$250 | $100 | $50 |
| Continental Europe | €200 | €75 | €40 |
Since I mentioned the benefits of buying Carnival shares in my weekly email, I’ve had lots of people email me to say that they’ve also bought shares and are happy to receive the free onboard credit. Like this one…
“We took your advice and bought 100 Carnival shares which cost £550. Two Cunard trips gave us £250 each extra onboard spend and another gave us $200 (£175) total £675, also the shares have gone up £175. Best investment I’ve ever made, thankyou, keep up the good work.”
Robert and Veronica Dennehy
Buying Your Shares
To buy shares in any company, you’ll typically need to use a stockbroker. This can be either a human being or an online platform. There are various fees involved with this, but an online platform is usually the cheapest and easiest way.
I can’t advise you which is the best, but I personally chose to buy my Carnival shares through an investing platform called etoro. I chose this one because it is one of the most popular platforms with 40 million registered users and has great reviews and low fees.
I’ve been very happy with my share-buying experience and found it really easy to do.
(eToro is a multi-asset investment platform. The value of your investments may go up or down. Your capital is at risk.)
Read more: Should You Invest In Carnival Corp?
Claiming Benefits Is Easy
It’s important to know that the P&O shareholder benefits you receive for owning stocks in Carnival aren’t applied automatically. You’ll need to apply using the Stockperks app.
Carnival advises submitting your claim at least 3 weeks before departure, but the sooner the better.
You won’t be able to claim if you miss your deadline, so try to be organised to provide this information as early as possible. And you have to go through this process every time you book a cruise with P&O or any other cruise line in the group – so don’t forget on each new sailing.
Important – Whereas P&O Cruises used to let you claim the credit via fax and then later email, now it’s all handled via an app called Stockperks.
You’ll need to download the app to your smartphone, then verify the stock you own by taking a photo of the key details.
Here’s a video showing you how the Stockperks app works:
In short:
- Download Stockperks and create a profile.
- Search for Carnival.
- Select P&O Cruises.
- Choose Validate your portfolio and provide proof of ownership.
- Once your shares are verified, submit a claim using the details of your eligible booking.
You can get all the details you need from the shareholder platform you use – so eToro for me.
I received my On Board Account Statement at the end of the sailing and I could see that the credit had been applied. It was seven nights, so I received £60 of onboard credit.
Here’s what that looked like…
To Conclude
Buying Carnival shares isn’t the right choice for everyone. Like any investment, the value of your shares can go down as well as up, and there’s no guarantee the shareholder benefit will continue forever.
But if you already cruise with P&O or other Carnival-owned cruise lines on a regular basis, it can be a fantastic perk. The onboard spending money soon adds up, and many shareholders recover a significant chunk of their investment over time through the credit alone.
Just remember that the benefit isn’t applied automatically. You’ll need to submit a claim through Stockperks before every eligible cruise. Once you’ve done that, you can enjoy a little extra spending money for drinks, speciality dining, excursions or whatever makes your holiday even better.
NEW DEALS JUST RELEASED!
Don’t miss the latest P&O Cruises offers…
Wow Jenni
You have a lot of questions here, and I’m adding to it!
We often book late cruise, sometimes down to a week before, would we still be able to organise the onboard shares spend in time?
Also I know you say immediate family, we book a friends and family fare through a friend, would we be able to use them?
Many thanks for all your wonderful work
Hi Sarah. No, you would need to submit your claim at least 3 weeks before. I’d missed the deadline myself before too. As far as I know the fare type doesn’t affect whether you can get the credit. I hope that helps. Jenni
Hi,
How did you get your eToro stocks registered with Stockperks I’ve tried and have been told they do not recognise etoro shares? Any help would be great.
Hi Shaun. I had no issue myself so sorry to hear you’ve been struggling with it. I just downloaded the statement with proof of purchase from etoro and sent it to Stockperks. Worth asking them again I think. Jenni
Hi Jenni,
I’ve tried agin with same results now in email contact where they seem to confirm it won’t work with eToro on the app? (Obviously not the case for all) Now trying via my email contact with them to get it sorted, I’ll post an update in case anyone else is having difficulties.
Hi,
Does the cruise have to be booked direct with the cruise line i.e. P&O Cruises to get the benefit, or can you book the cruise through a travel agent and still claim the benefit through Carnival?
Thank you
Hi. You can book either direct or with a travel agent, it makes no difference. Jenni
Hi Jenni, if I book a P&O cruise and pay for 3 staterooms do I get shareholder benefits for each stateroom?
No, you can only get it once per shareholder. Someone in each stateroom would need to hold shares to be able to put in three claims. Jenni
Hi, my question is if you already have onboard spend included in your cruise as an offer, will the shareholders benefit still be applied? I saw a note in the terms which state can’t claim in conjunction with any other offer.
So for example, I recently booked a cruise in November with an offer of £550 on board spend, can I still claim the £150? Is the on board spend of £550 classed as an offer?
I haven’t bought any shares yet, but considering it as this will be our 2nd P&O cruise this year and only found out about it from someone I was talking to on our last cruise.
Thanks, Chris
Hi Jenni
I am interested in buying the 100 CCL shares through e toro. I don’t want to buy any other shares and have a portfolio. What fees are applied for buying just one set of shares or do you need to be buying and selling shares on a regular basis to use this platform.
Thanks Judy
Hi Judy. I didn’t have to pay any fees when I bought mine and I don’t use it regularly, I just bought the shares and they sit in there. I check on them time to time with the app to see the value but that’s all I do. Jenni
hi, never bought shares before, so looking a etoro and seeing the ccl shares, how do I know what price a share is – uk
Hi Jenni,
Am planning my first cruise with P&O this June. Still waiting for some last minute offers but I did purchase 100 Carnival shares based on your advice.
I know you mentioned it but is it mandatory to send the details before 4 weeks?
I might need to purchase the tickets and sort it early next week which gives me about 4 weeks before the cruise.
Thank you for your advice.
Hi Paul. It takes a few weeks for them to process it so I would try to do it as soon as possible. 4 weeks should be fine, sometimes it’s a little quicker. Jenni
Hi Jenni
We are looking at buying shares from Carnival so we can claim the on board credit with P&O but if we pay the Select price they give you on board spend would we still be able to use the £150.00 as a shareholder? alongside this
Yes, you will get both lots of onboard credit on your account. Jenni
Hi Jenny, we are considering purchasing carnival shares, currently we get onboard spend as my husband is a forces veteran. Will this any onboard spend we would receive as shareholders
Many thanks
Hi Susan. You should get both lots of onboard credit. Jenni
Hi could you tell me do you get share holders OBC if you book early saver price?
Regards
Aaron
Yes you do.
Hi Jenni I’m trying to buy 100 shares from etoro, I’ve deposited funds but can’t work out how to buy the shares, can you help please
Pauline
Hi Pauline. The ones you want are Carnival – CCL. In the etoro app or on the website, search for CCL and then click ‘Invest’ to buy the shares. I hope this helps. They also have a Live Chat if you’re stuck. Jenni
Hi Jenni, my question is carnival showing a CCL and CCL.L and confused about which one to use to buy stock? Can you advise please?
Thank you
You can use either. One is US and one is UK but it doesn’t matter which you pick for the purposes of your onboard credit.
Hi
I’ve just purchased on etoro but having an issue with finding the evidence of ownership that I need to claim these benefits, could you point me in the right direction please
Hi Shaun. In Etoro, click on ‘Settings’, then ‘Account’ and then ‘Account Statement’. Click on ‘Account Activity’ and you’ll see your purchase. Save this as a PDF file and you can send it to Carnival. That’s what I did and it was accepted. I hope that helps. Jenni