Carnival Cruises says “hold my beer” to Hilton Honors and then proceeds to fully eliminate all sense of loyalty with Carnival Rewards.

Cruising loyalty is different from others

I think it’s important to first call out that the definition of loyalty is different for cruise lines than other travel programs. While other programs typically define elite status based on annual qualifications, cruise lines generally are lifetime qualification.

At first glance, that makes sense since how many cruises can a person truly take in a year? Sure, you might want to do them back-to-back, but it’s certainly not an every month activity. Even once a year is tough to find the time to do, especially with other types of vacations that simply are not possible when cruising. Meanwhile, flights and hotels truly can and do occur more often.

On top of that, while flights and hotels can have a business aspect to them, cruising is almost always for personal reasons. That means it’s coming out of their own pocket rather than having someone else pay for it. And those expenses add up if you’re cruising more often.

This is important context for the upcoming changes that Carnival Cruises just announced.

Carnival Rewards is a large departure from industry norms

Carnival Cruises will launch a new program in June 2026 called Carnival Rewards. The main theme of the changes is that elite qualification is moving from a lifetime basis to a biannual basis.

Gone is the relative simplicity of the number of nights onboard the cruise determining what your status level is. In its place is Carnival Rewards, a system that works based on how much money you spend with Carnival. Every dollar you spend with the cruise line is worth 3 stars. And once you hit 10,000, 50,000, or 100,000 stars, you’ll reach the next level of status.

Status earned by the end of the two year qualification period will be kept for the following two years. Stars, on the other hand, will reset at the end of the qualification period. It’s unclear if each star remains for two years or your entire account is reset after every two years. Based on how the terms are worded, it seems like the latter.

The supposed benefit of the new program is that members will be encouraged to spend more money to earn status. Not only will cruises themselves count, but all spending done onboard, excursions through the cruise line, spending on their credit card, and points earned at the casino. However, casino earn is only at a 1:1 ratio.

There is some exception to the rule for the highest tier Diamond members. Those who are currently Diamond will get to enjoy their status for six years under the new program without needing to requalify.

Carnival Cruises has an elite member problem

Like Hilton Honors, Carnival has an elite member problem. They even call this out in the FAQ describing the need for changes to their program:

On a typical ship, anywhere from a quarter to a third of our guests are Platinum and Diamond. On our popular Carnival Journeys cruises, for example, we can no longer offer priority boarding and early stateroom access because essentially the entire manifest is populated with top tier guests. As the adage goes, when everyone is special, no one feels special.

I’m glad that they at least identified this as a reason for the need for a change, but that really doesn’t seem to be it. They’re selling Faster to the Fun as an add-on that replicates the same priority boarding and early stateroom access. Couldn’t they just stop selling that feature to then deliver on promised benefits to elites? On our recent cruise on the Carnival Horizon, there was no issue with using the priority lane: it was almost completely empty.

Rather, it feels like they’re using this as a scapegoat to dramatically change the way loyalty is determined. I think everyone involved knows that this is a pure cash grab meant to squeeze more revenue out of people who care about their status.

Just remember that loyalty is a two-way street and if you’re dismayed by this change, it might be time to vote with your wallet and go to a different cruise line.

But Carnival Rewards is also tone-deaf

Carnival is seeing an incredible amount of backlash from this change. Understandably so, benefits were previously promised on a lifetime basis and so members took their time to reach higher levels of status. And then this announcement is essentially pulling the rug out from all their loyal guests. No other major cruise line is at this point following Carnival, including its sisters cruise lines like Princess.

With backlash so severe, will Carnival cave to immense pressure from its loyal guests? But there are two areas where I feel Carnival is the most tone-deaf in its announcement.

High requirements for status

First, check out the new calculator that Carnival has on its site to show how many stars you can earn from each cruise. If you only had interest in cruising, doing your own activities, and not spending extra, you can see how many 7-night cruises it will take in two years to earn status:

• Two 7-night cruises to earn Gold status
• Seven 7-night cruises to earn Platinum status
• 14(!) 7-night cruises to earn Diamond status

That’s an incredibly stupid expectation from guests to earn status that would only be valid for two years. It shows they simply do not understand loyalty and how to continue to earn dollars for loyalty. Yes, the highest elite tier should be difficult to obtain, but it can’t be completely out of reach. It should be positioned such that it encourages incremental spend they otherwise wouldn’t get.

Benefits are taken away

The other issue is that there is nothing offered as a bone to keep people engaged. You’d think with a change like this that they would make higher elite tiers more rewarding. New benefits could promote or encourage more spending to get better treatment.

Instead, they’re announcing the removal of benefits with nothing added in its place:

• VIFP Club party on cruises of at least five nights (replaced by two free drinks)
• $5 credit towards the arcade (for guests under 18)
• A welcome treat for cruises of at least five nights
• A VIFP Club logo gift on each sailing
• Diamonds no longer get a complimentary meal for two at specialty restaurants, a one-time cabin upgrade, or the luggage tags

Why on earth would Carnival decide to make status worth less at the same time they’re asking members to spend more? That just furthers belief that they’re purely asking guests to spend more money.

Unfortunately, I’m finding no value in being loyal to Carnival Cruises with the launch of Carnival Rewards.

If you’re dismayed by these changes, vote with your wallet and cruise elsewhere.

Suggested reading:

• Review: Carnival Horizon Western Caribbean Cruise – Part 1 – Booking and Room
• Review: Celebrity Solstice Alaska Cruise – Part 1 – Booking and Room
• Pro Tip: Celebrity Cruises Gives Free Parking at MGM Resorts