Royal Caribbean is Adding Game-Changing Loyalty Flexibility Across Brands

Key Aspects:

Break out your points, cruisers! Royal Caribbean Group has announced an exciting change to its loyalty program.

Points Choice, launching in 2026, will allow members to apply the points they earn in new ways across the company’s three brands.

This new development builds upon the well-received Status Match program the group introduced in 2024, which gave cruisers equal status across the three brands.

Now, with Points Choice, members of Royal Caribbean’s Crown & Anchor Society, Celebrity’s Captain’s Club, or Silversea’s Venetian Society will be able to apply their points to any of the sister brands’ loyalty programs.

Additionally, points earned during voyages on sister lines will continue to contribute to your existing loyalty status.

That means a Royal Caribbean Crown and Anchor Society member will be able to apply the points they earned on Royal Caribbean sailings directly towards a voyage on one of Silversea Cruises’ vessels, even if they’ve never taken a Silversea cruise before.

Worth Reading: Royal Caribbean Shifts Timing of a Popular Loyalty Benefit

The change gives loyal cruisers additional flexibility in how they apply their points, and makes it easier than ever to explore other cruise lines’ ships and itineraries for the first time.

Points Choice will launch in early 2026, and more details will be revealed leading up to the debut.  

This latest move reinforces Royal Caribbean Group’s commitment to guest experience and excellence in customer service.

Will This Lead to More Carnival Cruisers Jumping Ship?

While Royal Caribbean Group’s loyalty program changes have been widely well-received by cruisers, Carnival is still in damage control mode over its own loyalty program.

Announced in June, the new Carnival Rewards program, which will replace the current VIFP (Very Important Fun Person) program in 2026, was met with severe backlash from loyal guests.

The program gives loyalty status an expiration date of two years, doing away with lifetime status and requiring many long-time cruisers to start from scratch.

Also ruffling Carnival cruisers’ sails was the change in how points are earned. Rather than points being accrued based on the number of days sailing, the new program would allot points based on money spent onboard. 

These pay-to-play changes, along with the removal of VIFP Club Parties, logo gifts, and VIFP pins for Gold tier members, left many feeling used and abandoned.

While Carnival has since made some tweaks to this plan in an attempt to address guest concerns, many feel it’s too little, too late and have expressed plans to jump ship to other cruise lines.

Royal Caribbean seems to be a popular choice for those leaving Carnival on the horizon, and one can’t help but wonder if all these loyalty boosts from Royal Caribbean Group are in response.

Whether it’s the group’s intentions or not, the new Points Choice program is bound to make Royal Caribbean, Celebrity Cruises, and Silversea much more tempting for former Carnival loyalists as well as brand new cruisers.