Just days after an irate guest scathingly chastised Carnival Cruise Line and the official brand ambassador, John Heald, over a simple bottle of water, the cruise line has adjusted how guests can claim that thirst-quencher.

Guests in the cruise line’s current Very Important Fun Person (VIFP) loyalty program can now choose to use one of their in-stateroom bottles of water as their complimentary bottle.

“If you are entitled to a complimentary bottle of water, you may take that from the cabin,” Heald confirmed. “You do not have to go to a bar to get that.”

The free water has been a benefit of the program for years for all returning loyalty levels – Red, Gold, Platinum, and Diamond.

Years ago, the bottle of water was waiting in guests’ staterooms on embarkation day with a welcome note, a nice personal touch that many travelers appreciated.

After the pandemic, however, the policy changed and guests were required to claim their free bottle of water from one of the bars or restaurants onboard.

At first, this helped reduce the number of crew members going in and out of staterooms when it was necessary to minimize contact and reduce any potential interactions in case of disease transmission.

Having guests pick up the bottles themselves has also helped to minimize waste and reduce the workload on cabin attendants, and most guests don’t mind the process.

Recently, however, one decidedly frustrated Platinum-level guest raised a ruckus over a charge for the in-cabin bottle, even threatening to remove all crew members’ gratuities over the misunderstanding.

Heald did try to explain that the housekeeping and bar inventories are separate, though both departments use the bottles of water. Because the free bottle is part of the bar inventory, removing it from the stateroom would create a discrepancy in which department would bear the cost.

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What has frustrated many guests, however, is the apparent lack of consistency in which bottle is which – free or charged.

Many guests shared their own experiences that they had, in fact, drunk the in-stateroom bottles without being charged. Some travelers suggested it was a simple matter just to let their steward know they were using the bottle as their freebie.

Others note that in suites, the complimentary bottles of water (a perk of booking that type of exclusive stateroom) are often provided in the room, which can even more confusion if guests try different cabin types.

Of course, guests can also purchase bottled water before setting sail, and it will be delivered to their stateroom.

The exact same 1.5-liter bottle (50.72 fluid ounces) is $5.31, including taxes and delivery charges, or guests can buy multi-packs of smaller bottles, larger bottle multi-packs, or gallons of distilled water for CPAP machines.

It should be noted that the complimentary bottle of water will remain one of the benefits of the new Carnival Rewards program launching from June 1, 2026, with all guests receiving the perk.

Currently undergoing dry dock refreshment in Europe, Carnival Liberty will not be returning to service as planned due to labor shortages and a shipyard change.

This means the ship’s first return sailing from New Orleans, originally scheduled to depart July 6, 2026, is now cancelled. Guests are being notified of the change just two weeks before they would have set sail.

The notification was emailed to guests on June 23, 2025, just 13 days before embarkation for the now-cancelled cruise. While the abrupt change is not the cruise line’s fault, it will certainly be a bummer for what would have been fantastic summer vacation plans.

“This past weekend, we were forced to move the vessel to a new shipyard to complete our work because of a labor work stoppage at the prior facility,” the email explained. “Regrettably, this situation will delay the ship’s departure from Europe by a few days, impacting its scheduled return to service.”

Carnival Liberty was originally in dry dock in Cadiz, Spain, but satellite tracking data shows the vessel en route to Marseille, France, where another shipyard facility will be able to complete the refurbishment work.

This means the July 6, 2025 cruise is now cancelled. That voyage was to have been a 7-night Bahamas itinerary from New Orleans, with stops at Key West, Freeport, and Nassau.

All booked guests will automatically receive full refunds for the cruise fare, port taxes, and any pre-paid add-ons, such as gratuities, internet connectivity, drink packages, and shore tours. Refunds will be processed back to the original form of payment.

The 110,400-gross ton, Conquest class Carnival Liberty was last refreshed in October 2021, when she received the now-iconic red, white, and blue hull livery and other general maintenance.

While the updates the ship is currently undergoing have not been revealed, it is common for hotel and public area upgrades and new venues to be added during extensive dry dock operations. Carnival Liberty may be slightly delayed to welcome guests again, but she will be fresh and looking like new when she does.

At this time, the ship’s July 13, 2025 departure – a 7-night Western Caribbean itinerary visiting Jamaica, Grand Cayman, and Cozumel – is on schedule and planned to move forward without changes.

Extra Compensation Offered

Because of the last-minute nature of the cancellation, Carnival Cruise Line is also providing guests with a 100% future cruise credit (FCC) in addition to the full refund. The credit is just for the cruise fare, but is a way to entice guests to rebook on another Carnival cruise vacation.

The FCC must be redeemed no later than June 30, 2026 but can be used on any departure open for sale. This means guests can rebook on any ship, not just Carnival Liberty, for any homeport, itinerary length, or sailing date.

The credit cannot, however, be used for a deposit or any onboard charges. If guests choose a new cruise with a higher price than the FCC, they must still pay the difference – as is standard with these types of offers.

Read Also: Carnival Ships by Size – Biggest to Smallest

In addition to the refund and the future cruise credit, Carnival Cruise Line will also reimburse guests up to $200 per person for non-refundable airfare or air change fees.

Supporting documentation must be provided for reimbursement consideration, which is not guaranteed depending on airline policies or travel insurance coverage.

While it is not commonplace for dry docks to be shifted and overrun planned schedules, it does happen. This can be a risk travelers take when they want to be on the first sailing after an update.

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.

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.

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.