Editor's note: This article is an opinion piece based on publicly available passenger reviews, cruise line policies and industry reporting we found online.
Every major cruise line runs a tiered loyalty program, and every one of them changed something in 2025 or 2026. This list goes perk by perk, names the tier that unlocks it on each line, and says whether repeat cruisers think it is worth steering a booking toward.
It covers Royal Caribbean, Carnival, Norwegian, Princess, Celebrity, Holland America and MSC, using each program’s published terms as read in October 2026. It does not rate credit cards, casino clubs or travel agent extras.
1. Royal Caribbean's four daily drink vouchers at Diamond
Diamond status in Royal Caribbean’s Crown & Anchor Society starts at 80 cruise points: 80 nights in a standard cabin, or 40 in a suite. A Diamond card carries four complimentary drinks a day, each up to $14, at any bar on the ship or at the line’s private destinations. Diamond Plus gets five, Pinnacle Club six. Benefit grid
The arithmetic is plain. Four $14 drinks across seven nights is up to $392 per person. The vouchers reset at 5:00 a.m., so a couple who would otherwise buy a beverage package can usually skip it.
Many longtime Royal Caribbean passengers name this perk first when asked why they stay. If one item here is worth chasing, it is this one, provided you already like the ships.
2. The Crown Lounge, and the clause about crowded sailings
Diamond, Diamond Plus and Pinnacle members can use the Crown Lounge, with bites through the day and a happy hour from 5:00 to 8:00 p.m. Drinks still come off the daily vouchers, apart from self-serve coffee, and friends without status cannot be brought in. Lounge terms
Read footnote 14 of the grid. Royal Caribbean says it may limit or remove lounge access on sailings with higher than usual member counts. On a repositioning cruise full of Diamonds, that sentence is not theoretical.
Longtime passengers describe the lounge as quiet at 3:00 and shoulder to shoulder at 5:30. Worth having once you are Diamond; not worth chasing on its own.
3. Carnival's two complimentary beverages that replaced the party
Carnival Rewards replaced the VIFP Club on September 1, 2026. Platinum and Diamond members now get two complimentary beverages per cruise, Gold members one on sailings of five days or more. Carnival’s transition notes say the drinks replace the old VIFP party, and that the former “Specialty Dining for 2” is now redeemed with points. Carnival benefits
Two drinks are two drinks. Platinum requires 50,000 Status Qualifying Stars inside a two-year window, earned at three Stars per dollar on eligible Carnival purchases. Launch release
Passengers who held Diamond under the old program say a pair of cocktails does not stand in for the dinner they used to get. Not worth chasing.
4. Celebrity's Elite cocktail hour from 5 to 7 p.m. daily
Celebrity’s Captain’s Club reaches Elite at 300 Club Points. Elite members get a cocktail hour from 5 to 7 p.m. every evening, a continental breakfast in a venue that varies by ship, 90 minutes of premium Wi-Fi, one free bag of laundry and two pressed items per sailing. Brochure, June 11, 2026
Why 300 arrives faster than it sounds: Club Points accrue by stateroom category, from 2 a night in an inside or ocean-view cabin to 24 in the top suite, and solo travelers paying full fare earn double. Points by category
Royal Caribbean Diamond members receive Elite automatically through the group match in item 16. On Celebrity itself, this is the tier worth chasing.
5. Free laundry, the perk longtime cruisers say they would miss most
On a two-week sailing, a bag of wash-and-fold is the difference between packing for seven days and packing for fourteen. Carnival Platinum now includes one to four complimentary bags per cruise, Diamond two to five. Celebrity gives Elite one bag, Elite Plus two, Zenith unlimited. Holland America includes laundry and pressing at 4-Star, 200 cruise day credits; Princess includes it at Elite. Mariner grid Captain’s Circle
Royal Caribbean is the outlier. Diamond gets $10 off a $39.99 bag; one free bag arrives at Diamond Plus, and only on Wash & Fold promotion day. Norwegian lists one free bag by Gold. Latitudes grid
Worth chasing where it lands mid-tier, on Carnival, Celebrity and Norwegian. Not a reason to push for Diamond Plus.
6. Internet minutes and discounts, which rarely change the purchase
Royal Caribbean gives Diamond one free day of Surf+Stream on one device, Diamond Plus two days and Pinnacle the whole sailing. Celebrity Elite has 90 minutes, Elite Plus 240 (480 at 1,500 points and 720 at 2,250 since June 2026), Zenith a premium package. Norwegian only discounts Wi-Fi: 15 percent at Platinum, 20 at Sapphire, 25 at Diamond. Captain’s Club update
Princess made the clearest trade. In July 2021 it swapped free minutes for 50 percent off MedallionNet at Platinum and Elite. Princess change
One free day in seven does not decide whether you buy the package. Not worth chasing below the unlimited tiers at 700 and 3,000 points.
7. A specialty dinner for two, with or without the bottle of wine
Norwegian’s Latitudes grid lists a dinner for two with a bottle of wine, per stateroom, from Platinum at 75 points on sailings of five nights or longer. Holland America’s 5-Star Mariners get two dinners at Pinnacle Grill, Tamarind or Canaletto. MSC Diamond includes a specialty dinner for two. Royal Caribbean’s Diamond Plus and Pinnacle get the second guest free on a specialty dinner booked for night one or two. Latitudes grid MSC tiers
This perk has a price tag you can check. Look up the cover charge on your ship and double it.
Worth chasing on Norwegian and Holland America if you would book the restaurant anyway. Carnival has moved its version to points, so it no longer counts as a tier perk.
8. Priority check-in and boarding, now that everyone has an arrival time
Carnival Platinum and Diamond members check in online 16 days out and get a priority check-in line, priority security where available, a Captain’s lounge at terminals that have one, priority boarding and early delivery of checked bags. Norwegian starts priority check-in at Platinum, Holland America at 4-Star. Carnival priority access
Royal Caribbean barely offers it. Its grid lists flexible arrival only for Pinnacle, who may turn up an hour either side of their slot. Celebrity’s priority embarkation lounge is Zenith-only.
Since the lines began staggering arrivals, repeat cruisers say the gap between priority and regular boarding has shrunk to minutes. Avoid the mistakes that spoil embarkation day and you lose almost nothing. Not worth chasing.
9. Priority tender tickets on routes that anchor offshore
When a port has no pier, the ship anchors and runs boats, and the first boats are the ones everyone wants. Norwegian gives priority tender tickets from Gold, Holland America at 4-Star. Carnival’s Platinum and Diamond priority covers the water shuttle from ship to shore only. MSC Gold gets priority disembarkation in tender ports; Royal Caribbean keeps priority digital tendering for Pinnacle, on select ships. Mariner Society
Check the port list first. On a Caribbean loop where every stop is a pier, this is worth nothing. With two or three anchorages, it can save an hour in a stairwell per port.
Worth having on the right itinerary; not worth chasing. Study the ports before paying for routes that do not always live up to the hype.
10. Priority disembarkation and the lounge with pastries
Princess Platinum members, at five cruises or 50 cruise days, wait for their group in a disembarkation lounge with pastries, tea and coffee. Royal Caribbean gives every member from Gold a private departure lounge. Carnival Platinum and Diamond debark from a designated meeting area. Norwegian’s starts at Gold, with a footnote that it applies to U.S. citizens and varies for international guests. Princess benefits
The chair is the real perk. Standing in a corridor with carry-on bags at 7:30 a.m. is the worst half hour of most cruises. A seat and a coffee fix that without getting you off the ship any faster.
Pack so the last morning is easy regardless; what experienced cruisers pack includes the overnight bag for self-assist disembarkation. Pleasant, not worth chasing.
11. Half-price specialty surcharges on Holland America at 4-Star
Holland America’s Mariner Society cuts specialty surcharges by 25 percent from 2-Star, at 30 cruise day credits, and by 50 percent at 4-Star, along with 50 percent off the mini-bar. Celebrity’s Elite Plus takes 15 percent off specialty cover charges, 20 at 1,500 points and 25 at 2,250; Zenith gets 25 to 35 percent. Mariner benefits
Discounts reward people who already spend. A couple who books the Pinnacle Grill twice on a 14-night cruise saves real money at 4-Star. A couple who never leaves the main dining room saves nothing.
If specialty restaurants are part of how you cruise, fold these in and learn the dining habits that separate regulars from first-timers. Worth chasing on Holland America for long-cruise regulars.
12. Balcony and suite discounts, and the member rates few people compare
Royal Caribbean gives Platinum and above a per-stateroom discount on balcony and suite categories, larger when booked more than six months out, and every member can see Crown & Anchor exclusive rates. MSC’s Classic tier, reached after one cruise, takes 5 percent off future sailings. Holland America offers up to $400 onboard credit for booking within 90 days of a new season launch. MSC Voyagers Club
These pay before you board. Price the member rate against the public promotion on the same sailing; the member discount does not always combine, and the public sale sometimes wins.
Worth using every time and not worth chasing, since most arrive at the first or second tier. Choosing one of the cabins experienced passengers ask for matters more than the percentage off it.
13. The lounges at the very top, and who actually gets in
Royal Caribbean’s Pinnacle Club, at 700 points, can use the Suite/Concierge Lounge and eat in Coastal Kitchen with daily reservations through the maître d’. When suite guests and Pinnacles exceed capacity, the grid says access goes to the top guests ranked by cruise points. Celebrity’s Zenith, at 3,000 points, gets The Retreat Lounge or Michael’s Club, though members who reached Zenith by status match are excluded. Status match terms
Capacity clauses tell you what the line expects. Both companies wrote rules for sailings on which loyal guests outnumber seats. That signals how many people now hold top status.
Passengers at these tiers describe the perks as genuinely good and the road there as a decade or more of cruising. For a 2027 booking, this is scenery, not strategy.
14. Guaranteed dining times and early reservation windows
Carnival Diamond members get a guaranteed main dining time, early or late; Platinum gets preferred times in the main and specialty restaurants. Norwegian’s Platinum and above pre-book dining 125 days out. Princess gave Platinum and Elite early Dine My Way access in 2021. Royal Caribbean’s Diamond and above get a priority waitlist request in the main dining room. Carnival benefits Latitudes grid
On a holiday sailing this outranks any drink voucher. Dining rooms book out early around Thanksgiving, November 26 in 2026, and grandparents with small children do not do well at an 8:30 p.m. table. Cruising over Thanksgiving, Christmas or New Year’s explains how crowded those weeks get.
Worth having at peak times. Worth chasing on Carnival only if you were close to Diamond before the September 2026 reset.
15. MSC's status match, the shortcut repeat cruisers pass along
MSC Voyagers Club matches status from other travel programs, including Royal Caribbean, Carnival, Norwegian, Disney and the major hotel chains, with a screenshot of your current tier. Guides from 2024 and 2026 count 55 to 60 eligible programs, the match comes before your first MSC cruise, and MSC allows only one, so submit your highest status. Blue Diamond, added in November 2024 at 25,000 points, cannot be matched into. Status match guide Blue Diamond
What a Diamond match buys: priority boarding and disembarkation, a specialty dinner for two, late checkout. Gold brings a thermal area session and priority disembarkation at tender ports, and membership now lasts five years.
When Carnival announced spend-based status in June 2025, Cruise Hive reported Carnival loyalists applying to MSC in large numbers. Report The one shortcut longtime passengers broadly agree is worth doing, and it costs nothing.
16. One-for-one status across Royal Caribbean, Celebrity and Silversea
Since May 30, 2024, Royal Caribbean Group has matched tiers one for one across its brands: Crown & Anchor Gold is Captain’s Club Classic, Platinum is Select, Diamond is Elite, Diamond Plus is Elite Plus and Pinnacle is Zenith, with Silversea’s Venetian Society alongside. The matrix was realigned on July 1, 2026, and matched members miss some perks, including Zenith’s complimentary cruises. Status match rules
Points Choice goes a step further. For sailings from January 30, 2026, members can send points earned on any of the three brands into the program they prefer by filing a request within 14 days of disembarking. Points Choice
Worth using from the day you enroll, which belongs on the list of things to do before you get the most out of a first cruise. It ends the old penalty for switching between the two lines.
17. Norwegian's status honoring with Oceania and Regent, trimmed within months
Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings began taking status honoring requests on September 29, 2025, with the first honored sailings on October 15, 2025. A Latitudes tier is recognized at the closest tier on Oceania Cruises and Regent Seven Seas, and the reverse. NCL FAQ
The terms moved quickly. For requests submitted on or after March 16, 2026, NCL applies a 2026 Tier Recognition Structure that maps the top Latitudes tiers lower on the sister brands; the FAQ says the revision aligns the programs’ different earning structures. The Ambassador complimentary cruise is excluded.
Worth claiming if you already hold Platinum or above and are considering a smaller ship. Not worth chasing, because the mapping was cut once within five months.
18. Double points in suites and solo cabins, the official fast lane
Royal Caribbean adds a cruise point per night for suites or for paying a single-occupancy rate in a double cabin, so a solo traveler in a suite earns three a night. Norwegian adds a point per night for suites and The Haven, and another for a Latitudes Insider Offer. Princess doubles cruise credits for single occupancy or a full suite; Holland America doubles them for suites at published fares. Latitudes FAQ
None of this is a bargain unless you wanted the cabin anyway. A suite that costs $3,000 more and earns 14 extra points has priced each point at $214.
Chase status in the cabin you would have booked regardless, and let the tips that make cruise money go further govern the rest. Worth knowing, not worth paying for.
19. Carnival's new math: three Stars per dollar, requalify every two years
Carnival Rewards went live on September 1, 2026, after a June 2025 announcement that had targeted June 2026. Members earn three Status Qualifying Stars per dollar on eligible Carnival purchases, gratuities included. Gold needs 10,000 Stars, roughly $3,334 of spending; Platinum 50,000, about $16,667; Diamond 100,000, about $33,334. Status is earned in a two-year window and kept for the rest of it plus the next two years; the first window closes December 31, 2028. Launch release
Lifetime status is over. VIFP tiers carried across, Platinum members as of August 31, 2026 get a 10,000-Star boost each period, and Diamond members were promised protection through May 2032 at announcement. Announcement
Spending $16,667 in two years to secure two drinks and some laundry is a vacation budget, not a loyalty decision. Not worth chasing.
20. When your tier should not pick the ship
Price the perks before you book. Royal Caribbean’s Diamond vouchers top out around $392 per person on a seven-night cruise. Carnival Platinum’s two drinks and a few laundry bags are worth well under $100. A Norwegian Platinum dinner for two is worth whatever the cover charge says. If the line you are loyal to costs $600 more for a comparable cabin and date, the pin has already lost.
The people who sail most say the same thing. Many longtime cruisers tell newcomers to choose the itinerary first, the ship second, the cabin third, and to treat status as the tiebreaker.
That is doubly true for a group. Grandparents taking the family tend to find that the ship that suits the grandkids matters more than their own tier.
21. The passengers who chased status and regret the fare
In June 2025, Carnival’s announcement that status would be earned on spending and requalified every two years drew more than 4,000 Facebook comments, most saying they would sail elsewhere, and a Change.org petition passed 1,000 signatures within days. Carnival’s president, Christine Duffy, said the next month that lifetime status “is not feasible given the number of people and the growth.” Backlash Duffy remarks
The lesson is not about Carnival. Norwegian trimmed its cross-brand honoring within five months. Royal Caribbean’s grid reserves the right to limit Crown Lounge access when member counts run high. Every program’s terms allow changes without notice, and in 2025 and 2026 several made them.
The passengers with the fewest regrets booked the sailings they wanted and let status accumulate as a byproduct. The ones with the most regrets paid more, or sailed a ship they did not love, to protect a tier the line later redefined. If a perk here would change your week, chase it. If it would change your cabin, route or budget, it has already cost more than it gives.
Loyalty perks reward the cruising you already do, and they make a weak case for a sailing you otherwise would not book. Take the free matches, enjoy the drinks and the laundry when your tier includes them, and let the itinerary, the ship and the price make the 2027 decision.