Page Contents<\/p>
- New Excel-Class Ships Designed With Families in Mind<\/a><\/li>
- Even Larger Ships Are Coming With “Project Ace”<\/a><\/li>
- Exclusive Destinations: Private Ports Are Getting Bigger<\/a><\/li>
- Carnival Loyalty Program Changes Coming Soon<\/a>
- What could be coming?<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/li>
- Final Thoughts<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/div>\n\n
New Excel-Class Ships Designed With Families in Mind<\/span><\/h2>\n
Carnival confirmed two new Excel-class ships are on the way: Carnival Festivale (arriving 2027) and Carnival Tropicale (arriving 2028).<\/p>\n
These ships will follow the Excel-class blueprint (like Mardi Gras and Celebration) but with a few big changes. For starters, the roller coaster is out. In its place, a new top-deck water park called “Sunsation Point” will feature pools, splash zones, and night-time hours for added family fun.<\/p>\n
The move appears to be Carnival\u2019s answer to Royal Caribbean\u2019s Icon of the Seas, which also features a sprawling top-deck waterpark.<\/p>\n
Carnival is also expanding the number of connecting cabins by over 70% compared to previous Excel ships, making these vessels more family-friendly. Additional enhancements include refreshed kids\u2019 areas and expanded space for families on the upper decks.<\/p>\n
![\"Sunsation](\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP\/\/\/yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7\")
Mockup of new Sunsation Point design. Credit: Carnival<\/em><\/enter><\/figure>\n Even Larger Ships Are Coming With “Project Ace”<\/span><\/h2>\n
Carnival\u2019s next generation of ships is even more ambitious. The cruise line teased “Project Ace,” a forthcoming series of mega-ships capable of carrying up to 8,000 guests.<\/p>\n
These will be the largest ships ever built by Carnival, rivaling the biggest in the industry. However, cruisers will have to wait a while to experience these mega ships, as deliveries are planned for 2029, 2031 and 2033.<\/p>\n
Exclusive Destinations: Private Ports Are Getting Bigger<\/span><\/h2>\n
Private islands have been around the cruise industry for years, but the success of Royal Caribbean's Coco Cay has made an impact on the industry. And we've seen cruise lines invest more and more into their private island experiences.<\/p>\n
Carnival has several private islands in the Bahamas and Caribbean, and private ports in several more destinations. Carnival\u2019s newest destination, Celebration Key, is set to open in July 2025 and will feature the largest freshwater lagoon in the Caribbean, along with multiple beach zones and spaces designed for family fun and relaxation.<\/p>\n
Credit: Carnival<\/em><\/enter><\/figure>\n Carnival also announced that its private destination in Roatan, Mahogany Bay, would be renamed Isla Tropicale in 2026. The destination will add a new swim-up bar and expand its beach.<\/p>\n
With every cruise line focused on growing more revenue from its passengers, Carnival's emphasis on private ports and destinations to keep passenger spending at cruise line-owned experiences follows the industry trend.<\/p>\n
Carnival Loyalty Program Changes Coming Soon<\/span><\/h2>\n
Carnival\u2019s VIFP (Very Important Fun Person) loyalty program hasn\u2019t changed much since its launch in 2012 \u2014 but that's about to shift. President Christine Duffy revealed that major updates to the VIFP program will be announced this summer, with implementation set for 2026.<\/p>\n
What\u2019s driving the change? Between 2021 and 2024, Platinum membership doubled and Diamond membership tripled. Plus, more elite guests are sailing, making it harder to maintain exclusive perks like priority embarkation and reserved dining.<\/p>\n
Credit: Marco Tjokro\/Unsplash<\/em><\/enter><\/figure>\n What could be coming?<\/span><\/h3>\n
Duffy hinted that the changes will create \u201cgreater value and engagement\u201d for loyal guests. While no specifics were given, we expect Carnival to follow industry trends \u2014 possibly by:<\/p>\n
- \n
- Adding a spending-based status component, like MSC\u2019s or American Airlines\u2019 models<\/li>\n
- Placing time limits or activity requirements on elite status<\/li>\n
- Shifting perks away from crowd-sensitive benefits like lounges or early boarding<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
We've seen devaluations across the industry as cruising exponentially in popularity. Many cruise line loyalty programs focus on on-board perks, like private lounges and reserved access. With ships sailing full and many of their most loyal members expecting better service on board, perks have suffered.<\/p>\n
Royal Caribbean renamed its Diamond Lounges to “Crown Lounges” and limited Diamonds from accessing them during busy sailings. Some Carnival cruises needed to limit priority embarkation, debarkation, and main dining room seating guarantees for dinner on recent voyages.<\/p>\n
To date, only cruise line MSC has a revenue-based model among major brands. Plus, the status expires after five years of inactivity on MSC. Could we see a similar model put in place at Carnival?<\/p>\n
Final Thoughts<\/span><\/h2>\n
Carnival is making bold moves, from launching record-breaking ships to investing in more private destinations. And with more travelers reaching elite status, a refresh of the VIFP program is becoming a necessity. We\u2019ll share full details on the new VIFP structure as soon as Carnival announces them this summer.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Carnival is going big \u2014 literally! From two new Excel-class ships designed with families in mind to mega-ships capable of carrying 8,000 guests, Carnival Cruise Line just revealed major fleet and destination upgrades. Plus, changes are coming to the VIFP loyalty program for the first time in over a decade. Here\u2019s everything shared at Carnival\u2019s \u201cInnovation Itinerary\u201d media event \u2014 and what it means for travelers.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":97,"featured_media":204850,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_wpscppro_dont_share_socialmedia":null,"_wpscppro_custom_social_share_image":0,"_facebook_share_type":"default","_twitter_share_type":"default","_linkedin_share_type":"default","_pinterest_share_type":"default","_linkedin_share_type_page":"","_instagram_share_type":"default","_medium_share_type":"default","_threads_share_type":"","_google_business_share_type":"","_selected_social_profile":[],"_wpsp_enable_custom_social_template":false,"_wpsp_social_scheduling":{"enabled":false,"datetime":null,"platforms":[],"status":"template_only","dateOption":"today","timeOption":"now","customDays":"","customHours":"","customDate":"","customTime":"","schedulingType":"absolute"},"_wpsp_active_default_template":true},"categories":[12069],"tags":[36522],"coauthors":[36469],"class_list":["post-204796","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-carnival-rewards"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/204796","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/97"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=204796"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/204796\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":204881,"href":"https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/204796\/revisions\/204881"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/204850"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=204796"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=204796"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=204796"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=204796"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
- Final Thoughts<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/div>\n\n
- Even Larger Ships Are Coming With “Project Ace”<\/a><\/li>
![\"Sunsation](\"https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Sunsation-Point-Day-View-Aerial-Rendering-scaled.jpg\")
![\"christine](\"https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Christine-Duffy-unveils-Sunsation-Point-on-Carnival-Festivale.jpg\")
![\"Carnival](\"https:\/\/awardwallet.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/Carnival-Cruise-Featured-Marco-Tjokro-Unsplash.png\")