11/21/2025
Great news. Carnival has extended the date for the rewards program The change now happens Sept 1, 2026
Dear Carnival VIFP Guest:
We’ve been listening to your feedback about our upcoming Carnival Rewards™ program, and we’re excited to share this update.
More Time to Earn Your Status
To give you extra time — and to let your Summer 2026 cruises count toward your final VIFP Club® status — we are moving the launch of Carnival Rewards to September 1, 2026. All your cruise activity through August 31, 2026 will count toward your final VIFP status, which will become your starting status in Carnival Rewards.
Here’s How Carnival Rewards Will Recognize Our Members
We are keeping the benefits we announced earlier:
Diamond guests keep lifetime status
Platinum guests receive a 10,000-star boost every two years
How the New Two-Year Cycle Will Work
We’re shifting to a simple, calendar-year schedule:
When Carnival Rewards begins on September 1, 2026, your new status will match your VIFP status on August 31, 2026, and will last through December 31, 2028. This gives everyone four extra months in the very first cycle to earn status.
After that, every earning period will run January 1 – December 31, every two years.
How You’ll Earn Stars (for Status)
Stars determine your status level. They reset every two years.
You earn:
3 stars per $1 spent on cruise fare and anything you buy onboard (+1 extra star per $1 if you use the Carnival Rewards™ Mastercard™)
1 star for every casino point
How You’ll Earn Points (for Spending on Rewards)
Points are what you use to “buy” rewards like drinks, excursions, photos — even cruise fare.
You earn:
3 points per $1 spent on cruise fare and onboard purchases
1 point per casino point
Extra points with the Carnival Rewards Mastercard
100 points ≈ $1 in value, depending on demand—similar to how cruise fares vary. Points never expire as long as you earn or redeem points at least once every 3 years.
New Carnival Rewards™ Mastercard® Benefits (coming in September 2026)
Use the card and you can earn points and status in Carnival Rewards even faster:
3 points + 1 star per $1 spent on Carnival (to a net total of 6 Points and 4 Stars per $1 spent on Carnival)
2 points + 1 star per $1 spent at eligible grocery stores and restaurants
1 point + 1 star per $1 spent on all other purchases
Upon launch of the Carnival Rewards program current cardmembers, as well as any new cardmembers, will have the balance of their Fun Points® converted to Carnival Rewards Points with no need to reapply.
Milestones Are Still Here and More Rewards on More Intervals
We’ll still celebrate your Milestone cruises.
The current milestone program ends August 31, 2026
All milestone awards earned by that date remain valid through August 31, 2030
The new Carnival Rewards Milestones will be tied to days sailed, with special recognition on the specific cruise where you hit those milestones
All your past cruising history will carry over
Thank you for being part of the Carnival family. We’ll continue sharing updates as we get closer to the launch of Carnival Rewards in 2026 — and we can’t wait to welcome you aboard again soon!
Sincerely,
Carnival Choose Fun
Christine Duffy
President, Carnival Cruise Line
