Carnival Cruise Line’s President Christine Duffy further detailed the company’s decision to move to a new loyalty program.
Replacing the current Very Important Fun People (VIFP) program, the new Carnival Rewards program was met with mixed reactions.
“While we recognize that we knew this change and announcement was going to be difficult, the lifetime status benefits just can’t be delivered in the right way,” she said during a question and answer session onboard the Carnival Vista earlier this month.
The new Carnival Rewards program will take effect in June 2026.
“We decided to announce it a year in advance so that we would have the time for everybody to know what changes were coming and how it’s going to work,” she explained.
Duffy added that Carnival wanted to be transparent and make sure that guests understand the new program.
The new loyalty policy will introduce a spending-based system that will see status levels expiring every two years.
“Carnival was founded in 1972, and between that year and 2012, when the VIFP program was started, we sailed 40 million guests,” she said.
“Between 2012 and 2025, we sailed 65 million guests. Today we have 29 ships, and by the end of this year, we’ll have sailed a total of 110 million people,” she continued.
Duffy highlighted Carnival’s investment in new ships, noting that two additional Excel-class vessels are set to enter service through 2028 while three larger, Ace-class ships are scheduled to debut starting in 2029.
She added that, for the company, the current VIFP program is “just not sustainable” in the future scenario.
Additional details about Carnival Rewards will be announced soon, she continued, noting that the new program is linked to a new credit card.
In addition to purchases with Carnival, any spending with the card will give guests points towards the new program, she added.
“Status will be something that will be different (on the new program),” Duffy added, saying that Carnival was “very sensitive” to its Diamond level guests.
“We know the hurdle and the milestone that it is to become Diamond, so we’ll give everybody six years to maintain that status irrespective of how much they spend or sail after the change.”
