Great Card If
- You frequently take cruises with Carnival.
Don’t Get If
- You rarely take cruises or cruise with a company other than Carnival.
- You’d prefer a more flexible travel rewards credit card.
Carnival World Card: Is It Worth It?
If you frequently take cruises with Carnival, it may be worth adding the Carnival World card to your wallet so you can earn more points during your paid trips and redeem them for future trips.
That said, if you’re not loyal to Carnival or just go on cruises occasionally, you might be better off with a more general travel rewards credit card.
Carnival World Card Top Benefits and Perks
Here is a look at the benefits you can expect as a Carnival World cardholder:
- Promotional APR on Carnival cruise bookings: Get a 0% promotional APR for 6 months on all Carnival cruise bookings, allowing you to pay down the cost of your cruise over that window without accruing interest. After that, the APR will be 18.49% to 29.49%.
- No foreign transaction fees: Use your card during international travels to continue earning points without a fee.
- 10% statement credit on shore excursions: When you purchase a shore excursions vacation package through Carnival and pay with your card, you receive a 10% statement credit.
- Travel protections: You’re covered with various protections like travel accident insurance, trip cancellation and interruption coverage, baggage delay insurance, and a car rental collision damage waiver.
- No annual fee: Keep your card a regular part of your travel rewards strategy without needing to pay an annual fee each year.
Best Ways To Earn and Redeem Your Rewards
Using your card for purchases is the best way to earn as many points as you can, as it earns 2x points on Carnival and World’s Leading Cruise Line purchases and 1x points on all other purchases.
Once you’re ready to redeem your rewards, you can choose among Carnival purchases, an onboard credit, experiences, and more, with each point offering you 1 cent in value, and minimum redemptions starting at 3,500 Fun Points.
Alternative Cards to the Carnival World Card
If you’re not fully committed to the Carnival program, a more well-rounded travel credit card might suit you better.
The Capital One Venture card earns 5x Capital One miles on hotels, vacation rentals, and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel and an uncapped 2x miles on all other purchases. Plus, you get perks like an up to $120 Global Entry or TSA PreCheck application fee credit every 4 years, no foreign transaction fees, and access to the Capital One transfer partners.
Additionally, you can easily use your Capital One miles to book cruises with virtually any cruise company through the Capital One travel portal.
The Chase Sapphire Preferred card is great for a well-rounded travel rewards card with flexible redemption options.
It earns 5x Ultimate Rewards points on travel purchased through Chase Travel, 3x points on dining, and 2x points on all other travel purchases. It also has perks like no foreign transaction fees, access to Chase’s transfer partners, a $50 annual Chase Travel hotel credit, and great travel protections.
Although you can’t book cruises online using your Chase Ultimate Rewards points, you can perform a search for cruises on Chase Travel, and then call Chase’s cruises and tours department to book.
