It’s been over a decade since Carnival Triumph set sail on the infamous “poop cruise” in 2013, but a new documentary on Netflix has put the “crappy” event back in the public eye.

The eight episode documentary anthology, called “Trainweck,” releases a new episode every Tuesday about crazy events that have caused media frenzies in the past.

On Tuesday, June 24, 2025, “The Poop Cruise” episode dropped – reminding the cruise community of an event both Carnival’s PR team and the guests onboard would probably like to forget.

If you weren’t aware of the event, the “poop cruise” refers to a 4-night sailing to Cozumel, Mexico, in which an engine fire caused a ship-wide power outage.

Over 4,000 people were stranded at sea in the warm Gulf of Mexico for several days without working toilets, which is how the notorious voyage got its name.

But as consumers flock to Netflix to watch the 55-minute documentary about the incident, Carnival wants to make sure their voice is heard, too.

With this in mind, Carnival issued a statement to explain how the cruise line has learned from the disaster and has taken measures to make sure it never happens again.

“The Carnival Triumph incident over 12 years ago was a teachable moment for the entire cruise industry,” the statement began, which Brand Ambassador John Heald read in a video on his Facebook page.

“A thorough investigation following the incident revealed a design vulnerability which was corrected and led Carnival Cruise Line to invest more than $500 million across our entire fleet in comprehensive fire prevention and suppression, improved redundancy, and enhanced management systems, all in support of our commitment to robust safety standards,” the statement continued.

Carnival then went on to express their pride at the fact that over 53 million guests have sailed on their ships and “enjoyed safe and memorable vacations” since 2013.

Today, Carnival Triumph is still cruising, but under a new name. In 2019, she was renamed Carnival Sunrise after undergoing a massive $200 million refurbishment.

Directly after the incident in February of 2013, the ship remained out of service for approximately four months. During this time, the cruise line spent over $100 million to make her seaworthy again.

Should You Watch The Documentary?

The “Poop Cruise” documentary is likely to be viewed by millions of people and I will admit that I was among the first wave of watchers.

For context, the first “Trainwreck” episode in this series, which was released on June 10, 2025, and covered the Astroworld Tragedy, has been streamed more than 7.3 million times.

If you are debating if you should watch the documentary, let me just say that it had me laughing, crying, and cringing over the course of the hour. However, it is also not for the faint of heart.

At the end of the day, the passengers and crew members who lived this nightmare went through something that was extremely challenging, and often disgusting, with overflowing toilets, flooding sewage, and no air conditioning.

There is some use of foul language, and for lack of better terms, gross visuals that may not be suitable for all viewers. That said, I still found it really interesting to see the events unfold through the people who lived it.

I was particularly intrigued by how resourceful the guests were throughout the situation, such as by pouring soda on their life jackets to activate the flashing light when they needed to go inside while the power was out.

I also liked that the documentary delivers a balanced approach, featuring interviews from multiple cruise guests, the cruise director at the time (Jen Baxter), other crew members, lawyers, members of the media, and Carnival’s PR team.

Read Also: 10 Worst Cruise Fails You Can Prepare For

One key theme that surprised me as I watched was how the 1,090 crew members onboard were really the unsung heroes during the situation, which is not something I saw come through much in the media coverage at the time.

Throughout the documentary, I could see how the crew members were trying to keep guests at ease and make them as comfortable as possible despite their own worries and discomfort.

And when the ship finally made it to Mobile, Alabama, after being stranded for around four days, the guests were still thanking the crew members for going above and beyond their line of duty.

Despite some grumbling over a loyalty program overhaul at Carnival Cruise Line, the brand’s parent company, Carnival Corporation, is cruising full steam ahead.

On June 24, 2025, the cruise giant announced that more people are booking trips, and even locking them in further ahead, than ever before.

In fact, Carnival Corporation had achieved record-setting second quarter results, including the highest customer deposits in its history and the strongest net yields in nearly two decades.

It also revealed a record $8.5 billion in customer deposits and said its booking pace is now the furthest out on record, with 2026 tracking at historically high pricing.

That demand helped Carnival Corporation outperform its own projections, with adjusted net income more than tripling compared to the same period in 2024.

Read Also: What Cruise Lines Does Carnival Own? List of Carnival Corporation Brands

Revenue hit a record $6.3 billion, thanks to strong last-minute bookings and passengers spending more money once onboard.

“Our amazing team delivered yet another phenomenal quarter, more than tripling adjusted net income driven by record net yields and strong close-in demand,” said Carnival Corporation CEO Josh Weinstein.

He added that despite inflation and global uncertainty, “We also remain on track for a strong 4 percent net yield growth in the second half.”

Occupancy across company’s global fleet stayed high, with ships sailing above 100 percent full.

And the success wasn’t limited to one cruise line. Carnival Corporation, parent to eight brands operating around the world, says strong bookings are being seen across the board.

Cruise Lines Drive Momentum

Carnival Cruise Line, which has made news recently for revamping its loyalty program and angering its most loyal passengers, continues to be Carnival Corporation’s most recognizable name, especially among US cruisers.

The cruise line is preparing to debut Celebration Key, a new private Bahamian destination opening in July 2025 with multiple areas designed for beach days, family play zones, and exclusive experiences.

The company is also growing its fleet with two new Excel-class ships, Carnival Festivale and Carnival Tropicale, set to debut in 2027 and 2028, respectively.

Looking further ahead, the line is working on an all-new platform, Project Ace, with the first ship scheduled for delivery in 2029. It is expected to hold up to 8,000 passengers.

Princess Cruises, which introduced the new Sphere class when it debuted Sun Princess in 2024, will be bringing her sister ship, Star Princess to the seas in late 2025.

It’s set to sail the Mediterranean in the fall before heading to the Caribbean for winter 2025, with standout offerings like a glass-enclosed Dome and a multi-level dining room with views of the wake.

Meanwhile, Carnival Corporation’s ultra-luxury line Seabourn, which sadly lost one of its esteemed captains recently, has leaned into small-ship expedition cruising.

Newer ships like Seabourn Venture and Seabourn Pursuit are offering high-end sailings to destinations like Antarctica and the South Pacific.

Its high-end sister cruise line, Cunard, is also enjoying the spoils of increased bookings, spurred by the introduction of the Queen Anne in 2024, its first new ship in over a decade.

More changes are on the horizon, as well. AIDA Cruises has ordered two midsize ships, set to launch in 2030 and 2031, marking the start of a new class for German cruisers.

Carnival Corporation is also the parent to P&O Cruises, which recently dismantled its Australia division, moving two of its ships into Carnival Cruise Line; Holland America Line; and Costa Cruises.

A week after its initial announcement, the backlash continues against the new Carnival Rewards program, a spend-based system due to replace the current loyalty program from June 1, 2026.

Many flabbergasted cruise guests have wondered just how much thought was put into the design of the new program. It has been almost universally maligned by top tier travelers – the very guests who have shown the most loyalty to Carnival Cruise Line.

A small piece of intrigue has been found that may shed some light on the program’s development, though not the wisdom or popularity of the change.

Carnival Cruise Line’s brand ambassador, John Heald, has run a very popular and helpful Facebook page for many years. Today, he has more than 620,000 followers and answers hundreds of guest questions, concerns, and comments every week.

Nearly six years ago, his page wasn’t quite as massive, but he still interacted with thousands of guests. One way he did so was via polls, asking sometimes silly and sometimes informative questions to gauge feedback and responses.

On September 1, 2019, he asked what has become a crucial question today:

“Moving forward do you think that the loyalty program should be based on the amount of money you spend on a cabin and the amount of money you spend on board?”

More than 23,300 votes were cast, with an overwhelming majority – 87%, or at least 20,200 – firmly voting NO.

The comments on the old poll were equally insightful and echo many of the sentiments similar to the recent Carnival Rewards program backlash.

“Someone that has cruised three times in a suite is NOT more loyal then someone who has cruised 20 times in an inside room,” one guest noted.

“Just because one person can afford to spend more on a cruise does not make them more loyal. Loyalty is coming back again and again, not spending more,” another explained.

Some guests even quickly noted the difference between “rewards” and “loyalty” as it applies to customer spending and their vacation choices.

“You can have a rewards program for the dollar amounts spent, to earn perks. But LOYALTY has nothing to do with what cabin one chooses. Loyalty is the fact that they chose Carnival, period,” one guest described, with more than 50 positive reactions.

The differences in personal budgets, family sizes, permitted time off work, accessibility to travel, and other factors were all discussed in various comments and reactions to Heald’s poll. Ultimately, the idea that spending should equal loyalty was not a popular one.

Does the Old Poll Mean Anything?

Heald often asks questions and posts polls to his followers that could be interpreted as market research or simply gauging reactions to different ideas.

Read Also: What We Don’t Know (Yet!) About the New Carnival Rewards Program

While this does not mean that Carnival Cruise Line has officially been developing the new spend-based program since 2019, it was at least a glimmer in someone’s eye that many years ago.

But let’s not forget that from March 2020 through June 2021, global events dramatically shifted the travel industry as well as cruise line profits. Loyal cruisers who kept coming back after the pandemic helped the cruise line recover, but that also meant fast growth in the loyalty program.

Heald has been hinting that the VIFP program needed overhauling for years, which is not a surprise to anyone who has lost benefits on popular sailings or missed out on a gift or pin because supplies have run low.

Time will tell just how the new program will officially be implemented or how it may impact Carnival Cruise Line and cruise travelers’ choices over the next few years.

Will Carnival still be a popular cruise line? Of course. But maybe just not with the same loyal cruisers.

Since announcing a revamped loyalty program on June 18, 2025, Carnival Cruise Line has been feeling the heat from angered and hurt cruisers.

The new program, which is supposed to go into effect on June 1, 2026, will transition to a points-based system that rewards guests for onboard spending as well as sailing.

While this may sound okay in theory, it eliminates the lifetime status for VIFP club members and sees loyalty tiers resetting every two years. Especially among long-time Carnival cruisers, the rage about losing their permanent status has been intense.

After a letter issued by Carnival President Christine Duffy on June 21, 2025, did little to assuage the negativity online, the cruise line has issued another letter to guests through Brand Ambassador John Heald.

The letter, which came from the “Beards,” began by emphasizing that the cruise line is listening to the feedback from the cruising community.

“We made the decision to share our plans well in advance of the launch to give everyone plenty of time to understand the benefits of the new program which will provide more flexibility and ways for you to earn greater rewards and recognition when you sail with us,” the letter begins.

“Please know we are reading your comments and taking in your feedback. To be clear, no changes will be implemented until June 1, 2026, nearly 12 months from now. We will be answering all your questions well in advance of the program launch,” it continues.

Somewhat curiously, the statement about no changes being made for the next year is a bit ambiguous.

It could confirm that the new program will not be implemented until that date, as has previously been announced, or that no changes to the new program will occur until the cruise line sees how it functions once implemented.

If the latter is the case, the statement contradicts a post from John Heald following the announcement, in which he wrote that the cruise line has “a year to look at it, possibly, maybe, fine tune it and change some things around.”

Clarifying Confusion Isn’t Helping

As with any new program or major change, there is a lot that is still unknown and rumors are running wild. But clarifying and reminding cruisers of the benefits of the revamped loyalty program seems to only be adding fuel to the fire right now.

For example, the family friendly brand clarified that all VIFP members retain their membership status until June of 2028 to help ease them through the transition, while elite Diamond members will maintain their status until June of 2032.

They also clarified that the co-branded Carnival Rewards Mastercard, which was also recently announced, is not required to earn points onboard.

However, signing up for the Mastercard does mean that cruisers can earn points through everyday spending ,even when they aren’t on vacation.

Read Also: Carnival Cruise Gift Cards: What You Need to Know

“We believe these changes will allow us to reduce the growth challenges of the current program, which today often result in us being unable to fulfill the current benefits on sailings with large numbers of VIFP Club top tier guests,” Carnival stated.

This references one of the previously announced reasons behind the change, which was that there are now too many elite VIFP members to reward them properly.

“Thank you for your continued loyalty as we work through this transition together. We recognize that this is a big change but believe that this new program will unlock greater opportunities and benefits to you, our valued guests,” the cruise line continued.

But judging by the comments section on Heald’s Facebook page, the letter has done little to soften the negative response. Of the over 4,000 people who responded to the post, the majority expressed that Carnival had lost their business.

The widespread talk of switching to other cruise lines using loyalty status matching programs has also persisted.

Additionally, there is now also a petition on Change.org to stop the new rewards program from coming to fruition. In just a few days, the petition has received more than 1,000 signatures.

Given the continued frustration, it will be interesting to see how Carnival responds next.