Carnival’s New Loyalty Program EXPLAINED! – What You NEED to Know

My husband and I are platinum but we will never cruise on Carnival again if these changes go through. I can't justify spending that outrageous amount of money in 2 years to keep Platinum when I was told that I would have that status for life. Carnival needs to keep everyone's status and adjust the program for the new people!!!😡😡😡

We’ve taken nearly 20 cruises with Carnival. We’ve been Platinum for a couple years. We’ve been pretty upset with the diminished service we’ve received the last several years. This new DISloyalty program will be the end of our relationship with Carnival. Too many other options - and if they adopt it too, well, just another reason to take other types of vacations.

B don't like it

So 1 point for every $2 you spend, so you also earn 3 stars for every dollar you spend also, correct?

B - Hate It

Let’s not forget, I’m certain there was some bean counter somewhere that predicted a certain percentage of cruisers will leave, however by doing this move they will increase profitability a certain amount. So as long as it’s in THEIR best interest they will do it. Just like southwest, they just want to increase their bottom line.

Right now both partners get status. I see a real issue with this. Especially if one or the other partner pays the bills? Improvement for single supplement but for couples?

C benefits and fun have been disappearing for a few years now.

Amazing job at clarifying the details on this change. Clearly, based on the comments, the change is not being received well and it appears Carnival may lose many "loyal" cruisers.

I have three cruises’s on Carnival booked, one in Nov 25, one in April 26, and a repositioning cruise in May 26. All have low or refundable deposits. I booked these so I would reach my next VIFP level platinum in the near future. It was imported to me. Since the loyalty program is going away, I am looking at other cruise lines and. Will be cancelling my Carnival trips. Carnival just became a commodity like every other cruise line now that I no longer have the goal to get to diamond as fast as I could.

So if you pay with points do you get stars?

Don't like the new program. I cruise quite a lot. We have 6 cruises booked in the next 20 months. We are happy that we are not booked with Carnival. We don't want to cruise to get points within a limited time like 2 years.

I cruise a few times a year. Have never cruised on Carnival. I dislike all these type programs which bottom line is financial. Their reason of not being able to make customers feel special reinforces separation of class categories. Why do people need to be more special than anyone else?

I’m platinum and only 25 days from Diamond only for it to be snatched away. Adios Carnival ✌🏾

I was originally fire breathing mad at first blush. We are almost to Diamond…finally . We love Carnival and felt that they did not value the long term customer. For me, let me on the ship early and give me the diamond card. The other perks are nice but I have a good collection of formable can coozies. After diving into the details I am actually OK with the new terms. I do use the Carnival card and will optimize its use once the terms have been publicized. I am willing to give it a try and not cancel all my future bookings.

I am platinum and it took a decade of exclusively sailing with carnival to earn that status.they can double talk all they want I but this is a terrible way to treat your most loyal customers and in effect makes no one feel special.

New rewards program sucks. They don't care.

How does a child earn said required stars if they can’t drink,gamble or go to the spa? What benefit is it for me or a new customer to stay traveling with carnival if the quota to maintain said status is not realistic for a family, since carnival prided itself as the fun family ship.

Carnival is putting out feelers to see if their is any reactions to having loyalty programs changed.

Sounds very complicated, its a no from me

I am a new carnival partner. I had my first carnival Cruz in 2024. I was planning to take 1 or 2 cruises from this point on to build my status with my wife, which is a gold member. But now, if this continues this direction, we are definitely looking at other cruise lines. So we can maintain growth in our status that we work so hard for😢

Seriously, they were a joke of a cruise line… now they’ve proven it!

So basically carnival wants me to stay loyal and travel with them regularly but bc my finances don’t allow me to earn points, so if I sailed with them for 10 plus years not meeting their quota I will be the same status 10 plus years later as I was on day one. How would work at a job for 10 years plus and be ok making the same pay you made on day one? To me there is not need to stay with one line if I can never meet the quota might as well just hop from cruise line to cruise line and even take other types of vacations. Seems strange to have to now pay top dollar for LOYALTY that is one sided now.

C - So far have never sailed on Carnival, and nothing currently planned. I have been on 5 cruises so far, on 5 different cruise lines. I know that does not build loyalty status, but we select our cruises based on destination and availability, not on which cruise line we are booked on. May not be the wisest plan, but we have always been happy with our cruise choices. 😅

After my next 3 booked cruises, I'm done with Carnival.

Milestones is quite comical. I sail 50, 100 nights I get 5000 points but still considered RED bc 5000/10000 is points not stars and I haven’t meet the quota to be platinum for a family of 4 (67,000 stars) and I don’t drink, gamble, so to spas. So I can take these little points and buy a cup of special coffee, a t shirt, or maybe take one photo…😏

They earned their status. They spent the money to get there!

I have been cruising since 2007 and Carnival has received the bulk of my business. After my family's most recent cruise we were already not super thrilled about taking another cruise with Carnival. This loyalty program is nothing but a money grab for Carnival. Due to the fact that they are making this change and taking away perks as well the fact that they have made cutbacks in other areas, my family will choose other cruise lines for our travel for the foreseeable future. Bye Bye Carnival, it's been fun. BTW also a shareholder, will probably invest elsewhere this is rubbish.

Every two years to renew is way too much pressure and who wants to spend their vacation with a tally sheet always checking to see how many stars you and each of your family members have and if you are behind what you need to buy to get more stars. Let’s not even talk about the pressure you will be under if you can’t cruise during said time period due to life happening, now the pressure is really on

The new Loyalty program is to complicated

I am Diamond, a casino rat that gets LOTS of offers daily for Elite and Premier free casino cruises AND owe no on anything so can use and pay my credit cards off monthly and I THINK THIS NEW PROGRAM SUCKS!!!!! Can you imagine how someone that is not old, retired, financially secure and able to travel at will feels? HUGE MISTAKE that will cost them $$$$$$$$$$$$$. We have sold all our CCL stock. Held it through COVID, but this will prove to be much more damaging

Well, we're taking our first cruise coming this September and it's not with Carnival and I think that now we won't be looking at Carnival in the future for any long term cruising either. This program they're coming up with is so complicated you don't know if you get stars, points, food, cruise stuff, or a kick in the butt!! I think they are just trying to make it more difficult on people. It's time for them to go back to the drawing board and figure out a simple way to let people know they appreciate their business!! Stop trying to buy everyone!! Drop prices, give extras, let them honk the horn!! If you make everyone think they are privileged, then they expect it. People are people.

B....For Boooooo!!!

B - hate it. WAY overly complicated. I hope that other cruise lines will not follow this model.

I am currently diamond with Carnival, however I haven’t cruised with them for at least 15 years. I feel like everything from food to entertainment is far below other cruise lines and now their loyalty program is also. If Royal Caribbean took away my status of diamond plus after spending thousands and thousands of dollars I would be very angry. Rest assured I will not be going back to Carnival, ever.

Not sure why it has to be one way or the other. It would make more sense to offer some kind of lifetime benefit for people that have been cruising their whole lives, and the pepper that with renewable features to keep customers engaged.
Doing an about-face is only going to outrage loyal customers.
Whatever think tank conceptualized this new plan made it into an overt cash grab...

People should stop using them . They will go back.

This is terrible news. After cruising with Carnival since 1998 and being an exclusive Carnival cruiser I feel very disappointed with the prospect of my loyalty perks and Diamond status being removed. We have always appreciated the ports of call, service, and menu choices Carnival offers however getting the little extras really made us want to return. If it’s going to be just about how much money one spends in order to receive these perks I can cruise with any other cruise line and it’s come to the same thing a pay as you go. Nothing special anymore. As a non American traveller these prices to earn “stars” or points will be costing so much more once the currency exchange is calculated.
Sorry this is not exactly the Carnival family feel I’ve come to enjoy. It just might be time to set sail on another cruise line.

People who achieved a certain status should be grandfathered in for life. If someone doesn't an average of $1000 per person and got to diamond over 20 years, they likely will never be able to spend enough to see diamond status ever again

B.

B just because we don't sail every year with Carnival and we would lose our status. I have been sailing with Carnival since 1980's but I don't sail all the time. It was great because now I am gold and it would of been my prefer cruising company. Now knowing this, it gives me a chance to sail with other cruise lines and not give my loyaly to carnival. I can't use the credit card because I don't live in United States.

I'm curious CCL.....Do you think that after 24 cruises with you that once you take away WHAT I ALREADY EARNED and make me pay to get it back, and keep it, that I am going to stay with you? I mean that question had to have been asked at some point. I earned Platinum because we both agreed I am loyal. You have now broken that carnival fking promise. There is absolutely no way, NO WAY, I will set foot back on one of your ships. I will simply walk next door in Galveston and head out with RC. If I am starting over again I will do it with them. You all are ultra pathetic.

So very angry about this! As a Platinum, stock holder and 37 year cruiser, they have totally showed us they do not appreciate our loyalty so they will no longer have our loyalty.

B: We haven’t booked on Carnival in 16 years! No need to start back now! I have a feeling they will lose loyal and potentially loyal cruisers!🛳️🛟⚓️

Not even Disney, who were the first to put a date on the loyalty programs, had it that small and they got a fair bit out of outrage for it, there’s were at least 5 years and you only had to take a cruise every 5 years for you to keep your loyalty program.

They should at least made it 5 years. Or at the very least if they wanted to keep this stupid system, they should have made it that red and gold got to keep their status for 2 years and platinum for 4 years so at least platinum get some more recognition than those that haven’t cruised much (like me)

I am a platinum member Yes! and I worked hard to get there. I will not be spending 16 K to keep a status so I will be selling with other cruise line.

I have two cruises booked with carnival this year and will be 1 day away from platinum. I was considering booking another cruise to reach platinum status. What’s the point? I will see my status dwindle away unless I spend some 15k per person over two years to maintain platinum status!?? No thanks. I’ve sailed on 3 other lines and will direct my money towards them from now on.
What a waste of time and money.
I will be selling my carnival stock. It will go down with this program.

I am platinum that sails twice a year with a family of 4. I do not gamble and we don't book excursions through the cruise lines. I would need to take 4 (7 day) cruises or more a year to maintain my Platinum status. I will not and have decided to go back to NCL. Screw Carnival and their beards (as John calls them). I have also sold my 1200 shares of Carnival and bought NCL instead

My family and I have been very loyal to carnival for years the adults are platinum and the children are gold. But now we might become loyal to royal. They need to make this program right. Go back to the round table Duffy!

⭐𝗤𝗨𝗘𝗦𝗧𝗜𝗢𝗡: 𝗪𝗵𝗮𝘁 𝗮𝗿𝗲 𝘆𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝘁𝗵𝗼𝘂𝗴𝗵𝘁𝘀 𝗼𝗻 𝗖𝗮𝗿𝗻𝗶𝘃𝗮𝗹'𝘀 𝗻𝗲𝘄 𝗹𝗼𝘆𝗮𝗹𝘁𝘆 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗺?
𝗔 - Love it, 𝗕 - Hate it, 𝗖 - Neither