As more and more passengers use cruise line apps to plan their daily activities and stay updated with everything onboard their ships, digital notifications and updates are very helpful for not missing out on anything.

Now, Carnival Cruise Line will be offer an exclusive invite as a digital reminder for top tier guests in the Very Important Fun Person (VIFP) loyalty program.

The invite will be to the popular Diamond and Platinum Party, an event offered for these top level guests on all cruises of five nights or longer.

Carnival Cruise Line’s Brand Ambassador, John Heald, announced the new digital reminder via his most recent live video stream, a regular feature he offers to connect with his more than 585,000 Facebook followers.

First of all, Heald does note that the paper invitation to the special event is not being discontinued and will still be delivered to guests’ staterooms.

“Currently you get a paper invitation that comes on your bed the night before, and that will continue,” Heald confirmed.

“But, as we do more and more with the App, which we are certainly going to be doing in the coming weeks and months, … you will receive an electronic reminder, a thing that goes in your planner on the App, you’ll get an e-reminder.”

Heald noted that the new e-reminders are beginning across the Carnival fleet as of this weekend, September 20, 2024. It is possible, however, that the rollout of the new feature will not be glitch-free, as few technology upgrades ever go off without a hitch.

Again, however, the paper invitations will still be delivered to Platinum and Diamond guests’ staterooms with the time and location of the event. At this time, there is no plan to discontinue the paper invitations, though that may happen in the future as the app update is refined.

The party is a “reunion” that brings together past Carnival guests who have enjoyed many cruises over the years. Free drinks, music, and a popular video of all the ships that have ever sailed for Carnival Cruise Line are part of the event.

Different recognition of the most loyal guests is often included in the party as well, such as which traveler has accrued the most cruise points, which guest is the youngest to reach the Diamond loyalty level, or which guests are celebrating milestone sailings.

Exactly how each party is organized varies for every sailing according to what the Cruise Director chooses to include in the event.

New Loyalty Gift Coming Soon

Heald also discussed the loyalty gift, which is currently a small tote bag in navy blue with red canvas handles and the VIFP Club logo on the side. The gift was first introduced in April, and is the third item in a matching set the cruise line first introduced in February 2023.

Supplies of the tote bag are winding down, and a new gift will be introduced in the coming weeks.

“We are running this down and there will be a new gift probably at the end of October across the whole fleet, if not before on some ships,” Heald announced. “I will tell you more about that as soon as the team let me know that it’s all in stock and ready to go.”

Exactly when the new gift is introduced will depend on when supplies are available on different ships and when the tote bag supplies are exhausted. This depends not only on how many Platinum and Diamond cruisers are on each sailing, but also on how many of those loyal guests claim their gift from the Pixels photo gallery.

While Heald gives no hint about what the new gift might be, Carnival Cruise Line’s loyalty gifts have varied widely over the years. Items such as journals, visors, drink koozies, beach bags, blankets, chess sets, hats, luggage tags, insulated tumblers, and more have all been offered as recognition to loyal guests.

Some gifts are naturally more popular than others, and how gifts change depends on manufacturing cost, overall supply chain concerns, and guest feedback.

Carnival cruise guests receive these gifts, as well as their invitation to the party, when they reach Platinum or Diamond loyalty status. Travelers earn one point in the VIFP program for every day they sail, and reach the Platinum level once they have accumulated 75 cruise points. To reach the Diamond level, travelers need a minimum of 200 cruise points.

Future Carnival passengers who are accustomed to the cruise line’s older ships may be surprised to find that their suite is missing a once standard amenity: a bathtub.

Indeed, this happened to one recent guest who stayed in a Havana Suite onboard Carnival Vista.

The frustrated passenger wrote to brand ambassador John Heald about the missing amenity and expressed that the suites aren’t worth the money without a tub. Carnival’s standard cabins are less expensive and only have room for a shower. 

“Can you explain why the suites on the newer Carnival ships do not have bathtubs? We are on the Vista now and in a Havana suite and there is not a bathtub,” the guest wrote to Heald on his public Facebook page.

“I know all older ships have bathtubs in the suites. One of the biggest reasons anyone would book a suite is for the bathtub. Why [has] Carnival stopped this luxury?,” continued the guest.

Likely to this guest’s dissatisfaction, Heald confirmed that the cruise line has stopped putting bathtubs in the suites in Carnival’s newest ships in order to make way for other desirable amenities, such as more luxurious walk-in showers.

“We have stopped putting bathtubs in the suites on the newer ships. This is mostly because we utilized the space with a large walk in shower,” Heald wrote in response.

Another reason for this change may be that showers are simply easier to clean quickly and efficiently, making things easier on the housekeepers. 

Even the smallest Carnival ship, Carnival Elation, has just over 1,000 staterooms and suites, while the biggest addition to the fleet, Carnival Jubilee, boasts over 2,600 staterooms. All of these cabins have to be serviced daily by the housekeeping staff and room stewards. 

Research Cruise Cabins Prior to Booking 

While the guest who wrote to Heald obviously missed the bathtub, most people in the comments section felt it was an amenity they could live without. 

Many actually said they would prefer to use their own tubs at home over sharing with everyone who had stayed in their suite before them – no matter how well the tubs are sanitized.

“I love a long, hot bubble bath… in my own bathtub. I don’t want to 1. Make it harder on stewards than it already is by having to clean the tub and 2. I just don’t trust the cleanliness of any bathtub besides my own to soak in it,” one Facebook user commented on Heald’s post.

“When we booked a suite once, we did not use the bathtub & wished we had only a shower,” someone else added.

That said, there are plenty of other opportunities for guests to be submerged in water – albeit in the proper swimwear – between the pools, jacuzzis, and some spa services. 

Read Also: 15 Mistakes to Avoid on a Carnival Cruise

If an amenity like a bathtub is super important to you, it’s always a good idea to do some extra research before booking your stateroom on your next cruise. 

As this guest figured out, even across the same brand there can be big differences between the accommodations based on the class of vessel and simply from ship to ship.

That said, the mainstream cruise lines post deck plans and cabin layouts online for guests to peruse prior to booking so they know exactly what to expect when they arrive at their home away from home on embarkation day. 

As another pro tip, guests with specific desires will also want to stay away from guaranteed cabins, or unassigned cabins. 

These can often be booked at a discount and guarantees guests will be put in a specific category of stateroom (or better), but does not allow the passenger to choose their own room. Instead, the cruise line assigns guests rooms based on availability closer to embarkation.