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“One way potentially builds loyal cruisers for life. One way chases money for now, yet probably won’t make people spend more.”
That one sentence pretty much sums up the fork in the road Carnival Cruise Line has chosen.
Come June 2026, Carnival will officially sunset its long-standing VIFP (Very Important Fun Person) Club and launch an all-new system called Carnival Rewards. On the surface, it’s a loyalty refresh. But make no mistake; this is a strategic shift. And the decisions behind it say a lot about what kind of brand Carnival wants to be.
Let’s be clear: this isn’t about whether you get a free drink or some priority boarding. It’s about priorities. And how one choice builds emotional loyalty for decades while the other chases short-term dollars that might never come.
I know that company spokesperson John Heald has said that their corporate heads had been working on this revamp for a long time. I think that somewhere along the way they may have lost sight of their cruisers.
The old Carnival system rewarded how many cruises you took based upon the total number of nights. Ten cruises? Great. Twenty-five? You hit Diamond. It didn’t matter whether you sailed the cheapest inside cabin or splurged on a suite, loyalty was about time and commitment.
That’s ending. Under the new Carnival Rewards program:
In short: they’re no longer measuring how long you’ve been loyal. They’re measuring how much you’re worth right now.
We love cruises and we do cruise on Carnival, and I admit that the new program has me a bit confused after reading what they’ve released … other than the fact that we like balconies but we don’t upgrade to the more expensive suites so there go some points; we don’t really drink alcohol other than maybe one fruity umbrella drink while on board, so there go some more; we don’t really gamble in the casino so can’t count any of that; we may buy one souvenir on board but rarely spend money in the stores, so nothing there; and we do grab an excursion or two and often though the cruise line but we never get one in every port, so we can’t count on that either.
I feel like I’m no longer their “right” customer.
Revenue-based loyalty programs sound smart. They reward “high-value” customers, they encourage more spending (although in this case I don’t see how, the rewards for spending more aren’t really that great), and they open up more opportunities for co-branded credit card partnerships. And you can bet Carnival’s looking at the Delta SkyMiles and Hilton Honors playbooks here.
But here’s the thing: those programs already have churn problems. And cruising isn’t a flight or hotel stay. It’s different. You have literally everything wrapped up in that one package; room, travel, food, activities, shopping. Often with entire families. Cruising has emotional equity. It’s not transactional—it’s tradition.
We rarely choose which airline to book or which hotel to stay at based upon whatever loyalty program we have signed up with, especially when so many of them share those programs across their entire portfolio. Carnival does not do this. We choose flights based upon the dates we need and often the one with the best pricing. We choose hotels based upon what’s near where we need to be, and we do tend to go with a brand that we’ve stayed at before and know what to expect, but not always because there are so many options.
By shifting focus to spend-only, Carnival is gambling that emotional loyalty doesn’t matter. That people will pay more to “earn more.”
They’re wrong.
There’s a whole generation of parents who’ve been bringing their kids on Carnival cruises for years. Those kids grow up with towel animals and Guy’s Burger Joint and the thrill of getting their own VIFP card in the mail. They start building their own loyalty status—earning it, slowly, over time—and that status becomes a point of pride.
Carnival had something magical in that: families creating cruising legacies.
Now? That sense of belonging, of being a “Carnival family,” disappears unless you’re spending big, fast, and often. Kids won’t accumulate status over years anymore. Parents can’t count on passing those perks down as a rite of passage. It’s just… gone.
And when that emotional bond breaks? So does loyalty.
This isn’t just a sentimental issue. It’s strategic.
People don’t necessarily spend more because you promise a reward tier, especially when the perks just aren’t that enticing which is the case here. They spend more because they feel seen, valued, and part of something. Loyalty programs that focus too hard on points and not enough on people fail to actually create meaningful behavior change.
You can’t spreadsheet your way to customer obsession.
What Carnival had was deep-rooted emotional buy-in. Now they’re swapping that for a short-term spend chase that risks:
And if the actual perks aren’t compelling enough? People will walk. Some already are.
This isn’t a “case study” yet because the new Carnival Rewards program doesn’t go live until June 2026. That’s a full year of opportunity to test, adjust, and (hopefully) listen to what loyal guests are saying.
Here’s what Carnival could do:
Loyalty programs aren’t just about freebies. They are brand statements. They communicate your values as clearly as your advertising does.
If you’re thinking of rewriting your loyalty program (or rewards, or client tiers, or membership benefits), ask yourself:
Because when people feel invisible, they leave. And no amount of points can buy that trust back.
If your loyalty program turns into a calculator, you may find your most loyal customers start to calculate too.
And if you’re a brand with the kind of emotional imprint Carnival had? Think very carefully before you trade a legacy for a ledger.
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