Royal Caribbean and Carnival now measure loyalty in different units. Crown & Anchor Society counts the nights you sail, and its points never expire. Carnival Rewards took over from the VIFP Club on September 1, 2026. It counts the dollars you spend. That single design choice decides which program pays a given cruiser back faster.
Is Royal Caribbean or Carnival better for loyalty?
For most repeat cruisers, Royal Caribbean’s Crown & Anchor Society is the stronger program. Members earn one Cruise Point for each night sailed, and points never expire. Status you build over ten years stays built. Tiers also match one for one at Celebrity Cruises and Silversea. Royal Caribbean’s own guide reports that The Points Guy named it the best cruise line loyalty program in its 2026 awards.
Carnival Rewards wins for a different guest. It pays three Status Qualifying Stars for each $1 of eligible spend, and casino play counts too. A couple who spend heavily on one sailing can reach Gold in a single trip. The cost is time. Stars reset every two years, so status has to be earned again. For the wider field, see our ranking of seven cruise loyalty programs.
How do Crown & Anchor and Carnival Rewards compare?
Each row below comes from the line’s own program page or terms, as published in early October 2026.
| Feature | Crown & Anchor Society (Royal Caribbean) | Carnival Rewards (Carnival) |
|---|---|---|
| Cost to join | Free | Free account |
| What earns status | 1 Cruise Point per night; +1 a night in a suite; +1 a night on single pricing | 3 Status Qualifying Stars per $1 of eligible spend; 1 star per casino point |
| Spendable points | Cruise Points set the tier; rewards come as tier perks | 3 Carnival Rewards Points per $1, redeemable for cruise fare and onboard purchases |
| Tiers and thresholds | Gold 3, Platinum 30, Emerald 55, Diamond 80, Diamond Plus 175, Pinnacle Club 700 | Red at sign-up, Gold 10,000, Platinum 50,000, Diamond 100,000 stars |
| How long status lasts | Points never expire, so tiers build over a lifetime | Two-year earning windows; the first runs Sept. 1, 2026 to Dec. 31, 2028 |
| Expiry | Points never expire | Points forfeited after 3 years with no earning or redeeming |
| Top reward | Pinnacle Club cruise at 700 and 1,050 points: up to a balcony on a 7-night Caribbean sailing, or $2,400 | Diamond perks, including wash and fold laundry and dedicated member support |
| Sister brands | One-for-one tier match with Celebrity Cruises and Silversea | No cross-brand match listed on Carnival’s pages |
| Co-brand card | Royal ONE ($0) and Royal ONE Plus ($99) Visa Signature, Bank of America | Carnival Rewards Mastercard, $0 annual fee, Barclays |
How do you earn status with each line?
Royal Caribbean pays for time at sea. A member earns one Cruise Point for each completed night. A suite adds a point a night, and so does paying single pricing for a double stateroom. A solo traveler in a suite earns three points a night, so a seven-night trip yields 21. What the fare cost does not change the count.
Carnival pays for money spent. Members earn three stars for each $1 they spend on eligible buys. Carnival’s help center lists what counts: the cruise fare, gratuities, transfers and its trip protection plan, plus eligible buys before and during the trip. Taxes, required fees and flights booked through Carnival do not count. Each casino point earned on board adds one star.
One rule matters for families. Stars earned on a cruise fare are split evenly among everyone in the stateroom, minors included. Four people in one cabin each take a quarter of the fare stars. At Royal Caribbean, each member earns the same point per night whoever shares the room.
What do the points actually buy?
Crown & Anchor pays out in perks. Cruise Points set the tier, and the tier sets the benefits. The largest reward sits at the top. Pinnacle Club members get a free cruise at 700 and 1,050 points, up to a balcony on a Caribbean trip of up to seven nights, or $2,400 toward a cruise. Taxes and fees stay with the guest.
Royal Caribbean puts its spendable points on a card. The Royal ONE Visa cards earn points that redeem for cruise discounts and onboard credit at Royal Caribbean, Celebrity and Silversea. The online welcome offer is 30,000 points, worth $300, after $1,500 of purchases in the first 90 days on Royal ONE. Royal ONE Plus offers 60,000 points, worth $600, after $2,500. That is one cent a point.
Carnival keeps a second balance inside the program. Members redeem points toward cruise fare when they book, or on board for shore trips, specialty dining, spa visits, drink packages and Wi-Fi. There is never a minimum to redeem. The terms say points have no cash value, and Carnival does not post a cents-per-point rate on its program pages.
What do the elite tiers include?
Royal Caribbean’s perks change most at Diamond, at 80 points. Diamond members get four drink vouchers a day, Crown Lounge access and a free day of Wi-Fi. Each voucher covers a drink up to $14 on most sailings. Diamond Plus adds a fifth voucher, two Wi-Fi days and 30% off beverage packages. Pinnacle Club brings six vouchers, Wi-Fi for one device all trip and free laundry.
Carnival’s ladder is shorter. Gold members get a Gold Sail & Sign card, a free bottle of water and one free drink on cruises of five days or more. Platinum raises that to two free drinks and adds wash and fold laundry and online check-in 16 days out. Diamond adds dedicated sales and service support and more laundry bags. Diamond takes 100,000 stars inside a two-year window.
What happened to Carnival’s VIFP Club?
Carnival moved from the VIFP Club to Carnival Rewards on September 1, 2026. The VIFP Club paid for days at sea. The new program pays for eligible spending with Carnival. Carnival first planned a June 2026 launch, then moved it to September 1. Five tiers became four: Blue, Red, Gold, Platinum and Diamond are now Red, Gold, Platinum and Diamond.
The carryover rules protect the most loyal guests. Members who reached VIFP Diamond by August 31, 2026, keep Diamond for life once they enroll. VIFP Platinum members keep Platinum through December 31, 2028. They also get a 10,000-star boost at the start of each new two-year window, which is enough for Gold. Former Platinum and Diamond members must enroll before the end of 2028 to get that treatment. The old VIFP number became each guest’s Carnival Guest Number.
Nights still count for something. Milestone Rewards run beside the stars and pay 5,000 points at 50 days sailed and 10,000 points at 100 days.
Which cards and partners add value?
The Royal ONE card has no annual fee, and Royal ONE Plus costs $99. Royal ONE earns 3x points on Royal Caribbean, Celebrity and Silversea purchases, and Royal ONE Plus earns 4x. Both earn 2x on grocery, gas and EV charging purchases. Royal Caribbean’s bigger partner lever is its own group. Status matches across three brands, and the match applies only to Royal Caribbean Group brands.
Carnival’s card does more for status. The Carnival Rewards Mastercard has no annual fee and earns up to 6x points on Carnival purchases, 3x from the card plus 3x from the program. It also earns one Status Qualifying Star for each $1 of everyday spending. A cardholder climbs tiers between cruises.
How do the ships and fares differ?
Royal Caribbean runs 29 ships, according to its 2025 annual report. Its Icon class includes Legend of the Seas, now sailing weeklong trips from Europe. Its private island, Perfect Day at CocoCay, has a full water park and a zip line course. Carnival’s next ship, Carnival Festivale, joins its Excel class and sails from Port Canaveral in 2027. Carnival Tropicale follows from Galveston in 2028.
The fare matters to loyalty in only one of the two programs. At Carnival, a higher fare earns more stars, and the daily gratuity of $17 per person in a standard stateroom earns stars too. At Royal Caribbean, an inside cabin and a balcony on the same sailing earn the same point per night. Only a suite or single pricing changes the rate.
How fast can a couple climb in each program?
For illustration, take a couple on a seven-night balcony cruise with no suite or solo bonus. Assume a $2,400 cabin fare and $800 of eligible onboard spend each, before taxes and fees.
| Measure | Crown & Anchor Society | Carnival Rewards |
|---|---|---|
| Credit per guest for the cruise | 7 Cruise Points | 6,000 stars (3,600 from the shared fare, 2,400 from onboard spend) |
| Spendable points per guest | None | 6,000 Carnival Rewards Points |
| Cruises to the first tier above entry | 5 to Platinum (30) | 2 to Gold (10,000), inside one window |
| Cruises to Diamond | 12 (80) | 17 (100,000), inside one window |
| What happens after the window | Nothing; points stay | Stars reset at the end of each two-year window |
Carnival gets this couple above its entry tier sooner, while Royal Caribbean reaches Diamond sooner and keeps them there for good. A family that sails once a year gains more from the Royal Caribbean ladder. A couple that cruises twice a year and spends freely on board takes its first step up faster at Carnival.
Which should you choose?
- Families sharing one cabin: Royal Caribbean. Each member earns a full point per night, while Carnival splits fare stars across everyone in the room.
- Solo travelers: Royal Caribbean adds a point a night for single pricing. At Carnival a solo guest keeps every fare star, so heavy solo spenders do well on both.
- Casino players: Carnival. Each casino point you earn adds a star. Casino points left at the end of a cruise turn into points you can spend.
- Guests who sail every few years: Royal Caribbean. Carnival forfeits points after three idle years, and stars reset each window.
- Guests who also sail Celebrity: Royal Caribbean, since status matches one for one across the group.
- Former VIFP Diamonds: stay with Carnival. Lifetime Diamond is a benefit no new member can earn the same way.
What can loyalty teams learn from the two designs?
The two lines run the same business on different time frames. Royal Caribbean’s ladder never resets, which rewards tenure and makes leaving costly for a guest with 80 nights banked. Carnival’s two-year windows reward recent spend. The choice follows from what the line wants more of: years of loyalty or dollars this year.
Carnival also split its currency in two. Stars decide status and points pay for things, so the team can tune each without touching the other. Its card earns stars on everyday spending, which keeps a member climbing between sailings. And its migration set a floor. VIFP Diamonds kept Diamond for life, and VIFP Platinum members kept Platinum through 2028.
A change of that size is a platform event. On GRAVTY, Loyalty Juggernaut’s platform, business teams change program logic in Visual Rules, a patented no-code rules engine. WestJet moved WestJet Rewards off Siebel onto GRAVTY with a new currency and new partners, and its year-end rollover now takes 28 hours, down from 10 days. Our guides to tier strategy and loyalty platform migration cover both moves in depth.
Frequently asked questions
Is Royal Caribbean or Carnival better for loyalty?
Royal Caribbean is better for most repeat cruisers, because Crown & Anchor points never expire and status matches at Celebrity and Silversea. Carnival Rewards suits guests who spend heavily on board or in the casino, since it pays three stars per $1. Its status resets every two years.
What happened to the Carnival VIFP Club?
Carnival replaced the VIFP Club with Carnival Rewards on September 1, 2026. Status now comes from spend, at three stars per $1. VIFP Diamonds as of August 31, 2026, keep Diamond for life after they enroll, and VIFP Platinum members keep Platinum through 2028.
How much do you have to spend for Carnival Rewards Gold?
Gold takes 10,000 Status Qualifying Stars, which is about $3,334 of eligible spend at three stars per $1. Fare stars are split across everyone in the cabin, so a couple needs about $6,667 of shared fare to reach Gold on fare alone.
How many nights does Royal Caribbean Diamond take?
Diamond takes 80 Cruise Points, which is 80 nights at one point a night. A suite or single pricing doubles the rate, so Diamond takes 40 nights. A solo traveler in a suite earns three a night and gets there in 27 nights.
Does Royal Caribbean match Carnival status?
No, Royal Caribbean’s status match covers only Royal Caribbean Group brands. Its FAQ says the match does not extend to status from other cruise lines. Carnival’s program pages list no status match from other lines either.
Do Carnival Rewards points expire?
Yes, Carnival Rewards points are forfeited after three straight years with no earning or redeeming. Stars work differently. They count toward status inside each two-year window and then reset. Royal Caribbean Cruise Points never expire.