Welcome back to the Crossroads! This has been a busy week for Carnival Cruise Lines news concerning the upcoming VIFP (Very Important Fun Person) rewards program changes. When initially released, the changes were met with some hostility. The vitriol became so bad that Brand Ambassador John Heald received death threats. I will not rehash the new program here, but if you want to catch up on the program changes, click over to this article from me and read up.

This brings us to this week in the Carnival VIFP program change saga. Carnival sent out an email to members highlighting changes to the changes in an attempt to appease the anger and betrayal many cruisers felt. Many thought Carnival was throwing their earned brand loyalty overboard, making it impossible to reach new benefit levels. Here is the email Carnival sent out (the bullet point comments are mine and do not reflect Carnival):

Dear Brent:

In June, we announced our plans to transition the existing Carnival^® VIFP Club^® loyalty program to a new program in June 2026 — Carnival Rewards™. Carnival Rewards was designed to model other successful and popular travel loyalty programs that more closely align activity and spending to rewards and status. While we explained our rationale for the change and provided a year’s notice to give everyone time to learn about how Carnival Rewards will operate, we also provided an extended period of time to maintain or achieve higher status levels before implementation.

Unfortunately, the announcement left some of our most loyal guests with the impression that their loyalty was being overlooked. We spent the summer listening closely to the feedback we received. As a result, we are pleased to share some modifications that address the concerns expressed:

•  Diamond will also be losing benefits according to the Carnival Rewards website.	Diamond Status: As originally proposed, we were providing our Diamond guests with an additional six years of Diamond status once Carnival Rewards launches — through May 2032. Reflecting upon what it takes to achieve Diamond status, we are permanently extending Diamond level status to all guests who have earned it by May 31, 2026.
•  This will impact the number of people chasing this level to be granted Gold status when the 10k points are put in a member’s account.	Platinum Status: In our original announcement, we advised that Platinum guests as of May 31, 2026, would enter the new program with Platinum status recognition through May 31, 2028. Given the number of existing Platinum members, we are unable to extend Platinum status permanently due to all of the operational challenges we’ve previously explained. However, we want to do more to recognize their loyalty. Accordingly, for all guests who are Platinum level as of May 31, 2026, along with extending Platinum status through May 31, 2028, 10,000 Status Qualifying Stars will also be deposited into Platinum guests’ new Carnival Rewards account when the program launches next year. That provides a minimum of Gold status in the subsequent June 2028 to May 2030 cycle and provides a boost towards maintaining Platinum status or earning Diamond status. Furthermore, we’re pleased to advise that this 10,000 Status Qualifying Stars deposit will be gifted at the start of each new two-year earning cycle, providing Gold status and a nice head start each period towards Platinum and Diamond status. This deposit is limited to existing Platinum VIFP guests as of May 31, 2026.
•  I will be interested to see how this goes.	Guests Under Age 18: U.S. privacy laws restrict children under 18 from being enrolled in programs like Carnival Rewards, but we’re pleased to confirm that children will be able to enjoy the same status as their parent or adult that is designated as their responsible party on the booking for that sailing. Their cruise fare and spending will also contribute to the responsible party’s Carnival Rewards account. Furthermore, for our young cruisers who have achieved Diamond or Platinum status by May 31, 2026, their status will be kept on file and they’ll be invited to opt in to Carnival Rewards with their May 31, 2026, earned status once they turn 18. At that time, they will also be provided with the same Diamond permanent status or perpetual status boost offered to our Platinum guests as outlined above.
•  I thought rewards were based on nights cruised and not number of cruises anyway.	Recognizing Your Milestones: We truly value your past cruising achievements and will continue to honor them with Carnival Rewards. All existing VIFP Milestone awards earned through May 2026 will be fully honored through May 2030, giving us the honor of celebrating those special achievements with you. In addition, we are so excited that Carnival Rewards will include an enhanced Carnival Rewards Milestones recognition program that will be based on days sailed (rather than number of cruises taken), and offering more benefits and rewards for each milestone achieved. More details will be shared in the upcoming months through email and our microsite on this recognition program.
•  Go get that credit card!	For Our Australia and Canada Guests: We’re actively exploring options for our guests in Canada and Australia so we can offer residents of those countries enhanced earning and rewards opportunities similar to those provided to U.S. residents through the Carnival Rewards Mastercard®.

The passion and loyalty of our guests is something that motivates our team every day to deliver the best cruise experience at sea. We appreciate the support of our guests as we move forward with a new loyalty program that has been designed to create more rewards and recognition for our guests. Please look for updates via email and as posted to carnivalrewards.com, including more details later this year about the new credit card program. With the opening of Celebration Key™, our enhancements at RelaxAway, Half Moon Cay and Isla Tropicale, our expanded presence in Australia, exciting new itineraries and more new ships on order, there is much we look forward to, and many more reasons to sail Carnival.

Sincerely,

Christine Duffy
President, Carnival Cruise Line

The new changes will benefit the Diamond-level members, who will be granted permanent status on June 1, 2026. The proposed changes didn’t sit well with everyone at the Platinum level and below. The amount needed to keep my Platinum level didn’t justify staying loyal to Carnival any longer. So Carnival thought they’d throw those close to either Diamond or Platinum a bone.

Today, Carnival sent out a second update in the form of a 2x points special.

I made a follow-up video on the YouTube channel, discussing this offer and what it does. It’s limited, but it will help those close to either Diamond or Platinum reach that next tier before the May 31, 2026, cut-off date. The response for bookings has been high enough that the Carnival site crashed. If you’re close to that next level, take advantage quickly before the sailings get booked. After making a mock booking, I found that many cheaper rooms have already been taken.

The thing that caught my eye about this deal was that all guests in the cabin will get the 2x points. This has been a topic of discussion and hand-wringing since the rewards program redux was announced, and the topic is about the booking guest getting the points, but not everyone else in the cabin. So, if a wife books a cabin for her and her husband, she would get the points, and he wouldn’t get anything. I’m not sure who in the Carnival chain thought that was a good idea, but here we are…

There are details about the offer and how it can help bump some guests to the next reward level before the new program takes effect. Does it change what cruises you’re looking at between now and next year? It changed my mind to look at more NCL or MSC cruises, so I will expand my knowledge and experience base with those cruise lines. Drop a comment below about how this news may change your cruising plans.

Thanks for stopping by the Crossroads, and I’ll see out in the world,

Brent