Carnival Rewards Explained – Your Full Guide To Carnival’s New Loyalty Program

I can’t remember the last time a cruise line launched something with such a huge backlash. It’s fair to say that, from the moment Carnival Rewards was first announced as the cruise line’s new loyalty program, people got mad.

Thing is, there are actually some good parts to the changes – which a lot of loyal Carnival fans might be overlooking.

Of course there are some losses too, and once you understand everything that’s changed, you might be feeling pretty annoyed too if you’re a Carnival fan…

Before I Start…

I’ve mentioned the backlash already but I’m not going to go into that in any more detail in this guide. I’ve got other articles about the launch and the feedback that Carnival received.

This is my neutral guide to Carnival Rewards. It’ll cover what’s changed from VIFP, but purely from a factual, here’s-what-you-need-to-know basis.

Carnival Rewards Summarised

There are several big changes from the older VIFP system to Carnival Rewards, but there are three main headlines:

This last point is really crucial and having expiring points is a first for a major cruise line – but it does bring Carnival’s loyalty program in line with many rewards programs offered by hotel chains and airlines.

Carnival Rewards – Important Dates

Carnival Rewards is the new loyalty program from Carnival that’s been rumoured for some time now. We knew it was coming, and it was teased even senior figures at Carnival.

On 18th June 2025, the announcement was made on the launch and what the new program would entail.

However, one of the most important details to note is that Carnival Rewards only comes into effect from 1st June 2026.

So, there’s nearly a year between the announcement and the launch – giving people plenty of time to learn the new system (and to complain about it – with hints from Carnival’s Brand Ambassador John Heald that things could change if feedback is strong enough, but only ‘could’ – he makes no promises).

Whereas with all other cruise lines, your tiers last for life, under Carnival Rewards you’ll only benefit from the stars earned in the current or previous cycle.

I’ll explain earning cycles in more detail below.

Points and Stars Explained

Next, it’s important to understand that the new Carnival Rewards program is a combination of two different systems – you’ll earn ‘points’ and ‘stars’. Let’s delve into those in a little more detail, starting with the points.

Reward Points

The points you can earn with Carnival Rewards are completely new. They’re points that you’ll earn whenever you cruise with Carnival or spend money on Carnival-related purchases. And they’re expendable – you can spend points to buy rewards for your cruise.

How to Earn Points

There are many different ways you can earn points towards your Carnival Rewards.The main method will be through the money you spend on Carnival-related purchases.

For every $1 you spend with Carnival, you’ll get 3 Rewards points.

Most of the things you buy with Carnival will earn you points, such as:

• Your cruise fare
• Spa treatments
• Shore excursions
• Speciality dining
• Drinks
• Shopping purchases
• Onboard activities such as BOLT or IMAX

But there are some things that won’t earn points, such as:

• Port fees and taxes
• Airfare, including anything booked through Fly2Fun
• Certain cruise fare types such as charters and packaged rates

One thing that’s not clear yet is whether gratuities will earn you points. As soon as Carnival clears that up, I’ll let you know.

Carnival has a calculator to help you estimate how many Points you’ll earn.

Any time you’re spending actual money on the eligible purchases, you’ll earn points, and so will everyone in your cabin.

But if you aren’t spending money on the purchases, you don’t get the points. So that means if you have onboard credit, or a Future Cruise Credit, any purchases made using those won’t earn rewards points.

Casino Points

Another way you can earn rewards points is by gaming at the casino.

Carnival Rewards doesn’t replace the Carnival Players Club, which is the existing casino rewards program. That’s still continuning.

For every 1 casino point you earn in the Carnival Players Club, you’ll also earn 1 Rewards point.

The way you earn casino points varies for table games, but for slot machines it’s 1 casino point (and therefore 1 rewards point) for every $2 played.

So, if you’re someone who likes to gamble while you cruise, you could rack up quite the number of rewards points.

Carnival Mastercard

A third way you can earn rewards points is by using the Carnival Mastercard. New cardmembers get a bonus number of points, and then you’ll earn points for every purchase you make using the card.

If you’re already earning Carnival Fun Points using the Carnival Mastercard then those will convert to Rewards Points once the new program kicks in. It sounds like it’ll be a direct conversion (so 1 Fun Point = 1 Rewards Point) but if that changes I’ll let you know.

For every 1 Fun Poiny you earn in with a Carnival Mastercard, you’ll also earn 1 Rewards point.

It’s worth noting that the Carnival Mastercard is only available to US residents. So if you live in Canada, the UK, Australia or anywhere else, you’ll find it much harder to rack up Rewards points than US residents will.

What to Spend Points On

There are lots of different options for how to spend your Rewards Points, including:

• Cruise deposits
• Cruise fare
• Onboard activities
• Shopping onboard
• Gaming at the casino
• Speciality dining
• Drinks
• Shore excursions

And more.

The cost of experiences hasn’t been revealed yet, but as a guideline you’ll be able to get the following:

Under 2,000 points:

• 6-pack of soda
• A frozen Pina Colada
• A Banana Boat Ride at Princess Cays
• Rental or snorkel equipment at Princess Cays
• Internet plans (per day)

2,000 to 4,999 points:

• Dinner at Cucina del Capitano
• A manicure at the spa
• A Thermal Suite day pass
• A Stingray Beach Encounter experience at Princess Cays

5,000 to 9,999 points:

• Steakhouse dinner
• A Charm of Grand Turk excursion
• A Multi-Mask Facial at the spa
• A Pixels photo package

10,000+ points

• A 3-day cruise of the Bahamas in an Interior Cabin (doesn’t include taxes and fees)
• A Dolphin Swim excursion at Ocho Rios
• A Swedish massage in the spa
• A private beach club pass

You can spend your points when booking your cruise, or to pre-book activities before you sail, or while you’re onboard.

But remember, once they’re gone, they’re gone!

Status Qualifying Stars

Status Qualifying Stars are the other thing you’ll earn when you cruise with Carnival. And these are closer to what you’d normally expect from a loyalty program.

They aren’t permanent, but they do last for two years once the qualifying period ends, and you don’t “spend” them on rewards. Instead, you’ll just enjoy the perks of your status tier for every cruise you take in the rewards period.

How to Earn Stars

You can earn stars in the same way as you earn points, with a couple of exceptions. You earn both at the same time – it’s not an either/or situation.

Just like with Rewards Points, you earn 3 Stars for every $1 you spend on eligible purchases.

Carnival has a calculator you can use to see how many stars you’ll earn. Be careful though – this one shows you the stars you’ll earn every 2 years, even though it’s asking how many cruises you take each year.

Casino play still earns you stars too – 1 Casino Point = 1 Star.

But, it’s important to note that Carnival Mastercard purchases won’t earn you status stars. They only earn points.

There are some milestone rewards you can earn to help boost your totals.

• After your first 50 nights cruising with Carnival, you earn 5,000 bonus points and get a special milestone Sail & Sign card
• After every 100 nights sailed, you’ll get another bonus 10,000 points, a different milestone Sail & Sign card, and a commemorative gift.

You only earn stars during the earnings period (more on that below) and then they reset back to zero – you need to start earning again for the following two-year period.

Status Levels & Rewards

Here’s a look at the different tiers, and the perks you’ll get.

Red

There’s no minimum star number needed for Red status. It’s the entry-level status for anyone signed up to Carnival Rewards.

Red perks include:

• A members-only newsletter
• Access to members-only deals
• A Red Sail & Sign card
• A complimentary 1.5 litre bottle of water whenever you sail

Gold

To reach Gold tier, you need 10,000 stars – the equivalent of spending $3,334 on Carnival purchases within the 2-year earning period.

Gold perks include all Red-status perks, as well as:

• A Gold Sail & Sign card
• Dedicated customer support for Gold members
• One complimentary drink on cruises of 5+ nights

Platinum

Platinum status is given to anyone with 50,000 stars – the equivalent of spending $16,667 on Carnival purchases within the 2-year earning period.

As well as all previous perks, Platinum will get:

• A Platinum Sail & Sign card
• A collectible pin badge
• Dedicated customer support for Platinum members
• Two complimentary drinks when you cruise
• Priority dining reservations (Main Dining Room and Speciality Dining)
• Complimentary wash & fold laundry service – 1 to 4 bags depending on the cruise length
• Early online check-in up to 16 days before you cruise
• Priority check in at the terminal
• Priority security queue at the terminal (where available)
• Access to the Captain’s Lounge in the terminal
• Priority boarding and luggage delivery
• Early bag drop-off in your stateroom
• Dedicated queues at Guest Services and the Casino
• Priority spa reservations onboard
• Priority tender/water shuttle where needed
• Priority debarkation

Diamond

To reach Diamond status, you need 100,000 stars. That’s the equivalent of spending $33,334 within the two-year earnings period.

Diamodn guests receive all previous perks, as well as:

• A Diamond Sail & Sign card
• Dedicated sales and customer support for Diamond members
• A Guaranteed Main Dining Time (early or late dinner)
• 2 to 5 complimentary wash & fold laundry bags, depending on cruise length
• Priority retail concierge services
• A dedicated casino host on request
• A special event invitation from the Captain

How Earning Periods Work

One of the biggest (and most contentious) changes to Carnival Rewards is the fact that your status is no longer earned for life. Now, you need to keep spending money in order to maintain your status, otherwise it can drop or completely reset.

It works using set earning periods, or earning windows. These last for two years and have a fixed date. The first begins on 1st June 2026 and will last until 31st May 2028.

So whatever guests spend during that two years will help them reach a certain number of stars, and then that tier is the tier they will cruise at for the following two years – from 1st June 2028 until 31st May 2030.

But your earned stars then reset. You don’t keep them and build on them.

Here’s an example of how it’s supposed to work:

At least, that’s the theory – but in reality it does work slightly differently, and to your favour. Because as soon as you’ve earned enough stars to move up a tier, you will start enjoying that status tier immediately.

So using that example above – say you actually reach 50,000 stars on 12th March 2028. You don’t have to wait until 1st June to become Platnium.

Instead, you would be Platinum from 12th March 2028 until 31st May 2030. However, from 1st June 2028, your star number drops to zero again as you begin earning for the 2030-2032 rewards period.

Why VIFP is Changing

It’s also worth adding in a brief explanation of why Carnival is changing its loyalty program, and to be fair to the cruise line, they are very honest about this on their new website.

Simply, there were too many people reaching the higher tiers of VIFP – Platinum and Diamond – and as a result, the cruise line was frequently unable to deliver on the onboard perks to those members.

You can’t offer priority boarding, for example, if a large percentage of guests on the ship are entitled to it. Priority boarding then just becomes ‘boarding’.

So the cruise line instead decided to revamp their program, and instead of just adding some new tiers to spread out the rewards, they’ve completely overhauled how it works.

VIFP Status Match

While many people are annoyed that their years of VIFP points are going to be wiped out when the new system comes into effect, there is some good news for Carnival fans. Their current VIFP status will be matched for the initial period of the Carnival Rewards program.

For Red, Gold and Platinum VIFP members, this means that they will remain a Red, Gold or Platinum tier member under Carnival Rewards for the first two years from 1st June 2026 until 31st May 2028, and enjoy the new perks of that tier.

It’s even better for Diamond guests, as their status will be preserved for the first three reward cycles – in other words, for six years.

They won’t be able to earn more status qualifying stars for the first four years, but they will remain Diamond until 31st May 2032, and then from 1st June 2032 will revert to the tier that matches their stars earned in the earning period 1st June 2030 to 31st May 2032.

Final Word

It’s a lot to remember, isn’t it?!

Regardless of whether you hate the new system or you’re non-plussed by it, if you’re planning on sailing with Carnival then it’s worth getting your head around the way Carnival Rewards will work.

It might not be your ideal loyalty program, but you can earn some good rewards via both the Rewards Points and your Status Qualifying Stars. And yes, you’ll lose the stars every two years, but if you’re cruising frequently then you’ll earn them back quickly enough.

Just remember:

• For every $1 you spend, you get 3 points and 3 stars
• Points must be spent on rewards, such as drinks, meals and even cruise fare
• Stars give you status, which comes with perks every time you sail

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