Carnival Cruise Line is introducing a new, coordinated set of gifts for its most loyal guests – the Very Important Fun Persons, or VIFPs – and the first of the new items will be available beginning in early April. However, not all ships will have the new loyalty gifts due to delivery issues.
New VIFP Gift Ready to Debut
Carnival Cruise Line brand ambassador John Heald announced today that the first of the new VIFP Diamond and Platinum gifts is ready to be offered, but not quite on all ships.
“I am pleased to say that we will be changing the VIFP Diamond and Platinum gift over to Fanny Packs (Bum Bags) for voyages starting after 4/6 for all ships other than Carnival Luminosa and Carnival Splendor, which will continue to give the koozies until the new gifts arrive Down Under,” Heald said.
The new fanny pack is navy blue, with a red zipper, adjustable belt strap, and “Carnival VIFP Club” on a patch on the front pocket.
Additional gifts in the matching set will be brought aboard ships in the weeks to come. The two other items in the coordinated collection are a beach or poolside tote bag and a smaller toiletry or small items bag. Both share the same color scheme and the simple VIFP logo patch.
“Next up after this will be the Tote Bag with the same Logo,” Heald said. In time, loyalty guests may have the ability to choose which of the gifts they receive on each sailing, though this has not been confirmed.
For now, Carnival Cruise Line will be offering the new gifts more quickly than how gifts have been changed in the past. Many frequent cruisers, for example, have received the snap koozie gift several times, as it is has been available for some time.
“We’ll start off with one, then we’ll go move very quickly a couple of months later exchanging for something else, then exchanging for the third one,” Heald explained when the new gifts were first announced.
While Carnival Luminosa and Carnival Splendor will not be receiving the new loyalty gifts yet, the items should arrive soon for cruisers setting sail from Australia.
Receiving the Loyalty Gifts
Loyalty gifts are offered to Platinum- and Diamond-level returning guests. Cruisers earn points for every day they sail with Carnival Cruise Line, and reach Platinum status once they have 75 points. The Diamond loyalty level begins at 200 points, and is the highest level in Carnival’s loyalty program.
Read Also: Loyalty Programs – Should You Stay Loyal to One Cruise Line?
There is no difference in the gifts offered to either Platinum or Diamond guests, though each level does have other unique benefits.
Loyalty gifts must be picked up at the Pixels Photo Gallery onboard each ship, where guests’ names will be checked off a list to confirm that they received their item.
In previous years, gifts were hand-delivered to guests’ staterooms, either awaiting them on embarkation day or as a nice surprise during the sailing. The switch to having guests pick up gifts was made as part of health and safety protocols as cruising resumed after the industry shutdown, in order to minimize how many people entered different staterooms in case of illness.
Heald has reached out to the cruise line’s leadership team to request that stateroom delivery of the gifts resume, as many guests appreciate that extra touch. As yet, there is no confirmation of whether or not the delivery will return or if guests will need to continue picking up their rewards at Pixels.
In addition to the logo gifts, all Platinum and Diamond-level VIFP guests also receive collectible pins with the ship’s name and year on every cruise. Gold-level cruisers (25-74 points) receive Gold VIFP pins as well. All pins must also be collected at the Pixels Photo Gallery onboard.
