Carnival Cruise Line reveals revamped rewards, new cruise cards
As the summer cruise season gets underway, many Carnival cruisers are setting sail on a summer getaway with the goal of getting to the next level in Carnival's VIFP Club loyalty program before the program is replaced by Carnival Rewards come Sept. 1.
A new spending-based program, Carnival Rewards is a departure from the traditional cruise line loyalty program that rewards passengers primarily based on the number of days they spend at sea.
Those who reach the highest VIFP tier, Diamond, before the launch will retain lifetime Diamond status in the Carnival Rewards program. But everyone else who wants to keep their status will need to make sure they keep spending enough with Carnival to maintain it - or spend more to move up to a higher tier in the loyalty program.
But status and spending-based rewards points aren't the only ways that Carnival plans to reward cruisers for their loyalty. During a recent Carnival Rewards Q&A with Brand Ambassador John Heald, Carnival President Christine Duffy explained how the cruise line will recognize and reward passengers for cruising milestones under Carnival Rewards, beginning at 50 days sailed.
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Carnival Rewards launch to bring new milestone rewards for Carnival cruisers
In the Q&A video, Duffy explained that Carnival is changing the way it counts cruising milestones under the new Carnival Rewards program. Instead of counting milestones by the number of cruises a passenger has taken, Carnival will recognize milestones based on the number of days sailed.
For those who prefer longer cruises, reaching a milestone will get easier.
"For people who tend to take longer cruises, it used to take them just as long as someone who was taking shorter cruises to get to those milestones. With the new program, you'll be able to achieve milestones faster using days sailed rather than just counting individual cruises," Duffy explained.
Carnival cruisers who opt in to Carnival Rewards will have their past cruises converted into days sailed to count toward the new milestones.
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Under Carnival Rewards, milestone rewards will begin at 50 days sailed. During a milestone sailing, a passenger will receive Carnival Rewards points (which can be redeemed toward cruise fares, excursions, and onboard purchases), special recognition, and other perks.
At 50 days sailed, Carnival cruisers will receive:
- 5,000 Carnival Rewards Points
- special Sail & Sign card
At 100 days sailed (and every 100 days afterward), Carnival passengers will receive:
- 10,000 Carnival Rewards Points
- onboard recognition
- special Sail & Sign card
- commemorative coin
- milestone onboard credit
At 500 days sailed (and every 100 days afterward), Carnival cruisers will receive:
- 10,000 Carnival Rewards Points
- onboard recognition
- special Sail & Sign card
- commemorative coin
- milestone onboard credit
- commemorative keepsake
- commemorative gift
Redesigned Carnival Sail & Sign card will showcase days sailed
Along with the new way of counting and rewarding cruise milestones, Carnival is introducing a redesigned Sail & Sign card - the cruise card every passenger receives, which serves as stateroom key, passenger ID, and card for making purchases on board.
The shiny new Sail & Sign cards are not only color-coded to showcase a passenger's status in the loyalty program - Red, Gold, Platinum, or Diamond - they will feature the number of days a passenger has sailed. Although redesigned, the new cards will continue to have a hole in the top right corner and will fit existing Carnival lanyards, so passengers can continue to carry and display them easily around their necks.
"One of the things that we know is so important is that we continue to recognize our guests' loyalty in cruising with Carnival. And so now on your card, it will include the number of days that you have sailed with Carnival from your very first cruise," Duffy said.
Duffy also explained that passengers who have unused benefits from Carnival's current milestone program shouldn't worry that opting in to Carnival Rewards means that they'll lose any of those unused benefits.
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"Anybody that has unused benefits from the current program can use them until the end of 2030. They will still opt in to the new program and their number of total days will show on their card and then they can work towards their next milestone in the new program," Duffy added.
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This story was originally published June 9, 2026 at 1:49 PM.