Cruises.com Rewards and CruisesOnly Rewards Loyalty Programs [2025]

Cruises.com Rewards and CruisesOnly Rewards allow you to earn points on your cruise bookings or participate in promotions. You can redeem your points for free onboard credits (particularly useful on expensive trips), shore excursions, cash-back, Visa prepaid cards, and more. While both programs work similarly — they are nearly identical — you can have separate accounts with each program.

Here’s what you need to know about the Cruises.com Rewards and CruisesOnly Rewards loyalty programs.

Sign up for Cruises.com Rewards and CruisesOnly Rewards

You can sign up for a free Cruises.com Rewards account and/or a CruisesOnly Rewards account.

Once you’ve joined, you can receive member-only pricing and a whopping 10 points per $1 on every booking. You’ll earn double points when you stack savings with your respective cruise line loyalty elite status, such as Carnival Cruise Line’s VIFP Club or Princess Cruises Captain Circle.

Cruises.com and CruisesOnly Cruise Line Partners

Cruises.com and CruisesOnly are some of the best websites on which to book cruises. You’ll receive tailored offers, exclusive discounts, and more when you share your cruise line loyalty number from the following programs:

• Azamara Cruises — Azamara Circle
• Carnival Cruise Line — VIFP Club (Very Important Fun Person Club)
• Celebrity Cruises — Captain’s Club
• Disney Cruise Line — Castaway Club
• Holland America Line — Mariner Society
• MSC Cruises — Voyagers Club
• Norwegian Cruise Line — Latitudes Rewards
• Oceania Cruises — Oceania Club
• Princess Cruises — Captain’s Circle
• Regent Seven Seas Cruises — Seven Seas Society
• Royal Caribbean International — Crown & Anchor Society
• Seabourn — Seabourn Club
• Silversea Cruises — Venetian Society
• Viking Cruises – Viking Explorer Society

Earning Rewards Points

You’ll earn points in 2 ways: through what the program calls “participation points” and on reservations. What’s interesting is that you can earn points even if you aren’t cruising! Here’s a look at earning points on Cruises.com and CruisesOnly:

• Participation points: Earn points just for participating in surveys, completing your profile, and every year on your birthday
• Points on bookings: Earn 10 points for every dollar you spend on your cruise cost when booking through Cruises.com. Occasionally, you can earn bonus points for booking with a special offer. 

For instance, simply registering for an account will earn 1,000 points. Completing your profile will earn you a whopping 5,000 points in a one-time bonus.

For your birthday, you’ll receive 1,500 points as an annual bonus. When you complete surveys, you’ll earn variable points, which you’ll learn more about in the survey information.

Cruises.com and CruisesOnly also offer special promotions to earn bonus points, in addition to the 2 categories listed above. For example, the platform is running a promotion where you’ll earn 20x points on bookings of $10,000 or more, for 200,000 points earned. Cruises.com says the bonus is worth up to $600 in cash-back or onboard credits, which can be applied to the same booking. 

Redeeming Rewards Points

Cruises.com Rewards and CruisesOnly Rewards members can redeem points for complimentary onboard credits, shore excursions, Visa prepaid cards, cash-back, free merchandise, and more.

Your points will expire 24 months after they become active and are available for redemption.

Let’s take a look at what you can redeem your points for.

Onboard Credits

You can redeem points for credits during your cruise for onboard purchases, such as dining, drinks and drink packages, shopping (such as boutiques and duty-free goods), Wi-Fi, spa treatments, shore excursions, and photography services. You can redeem between 8,325 points (for $25) and 499,500 points (for $1,500).

However, you must redeem points at least 21 days before the cruise date. Here are some other terms to keep in mind:

• Onboard credit will be available in your onboard account on the first day of your cruise.
• Onboard credit has no cash value, cannot be redeemed for cash, is not transferable, and will expire if not used on or before the final night of the cruise.
• Onboard credit may not be used in the casino and can’t be applied to cruise fare, taxes, fees, or port expenses.
• Redemptions for Viking Ocean and Viking River must be made at least 30 days before the date of your cruise.

Carnival Cruise Line’s Australian itineraries, Celebrity Cruises’ Galapagos sailings, and MSC Cruises are not eligible for the onboard credit. Additionally, Carnival Cruise Line has a maximum onboard credit of $500 per cabin.

Cash-Back 

You can also receive cash-back as a statement credit or direct deposit. Similarly to the onboard credits, you can redeem between 8,325 and 499,500 points.

Once you’ve selected the number of points you want to redeem, you can choose to receive cash-back as an automatic credit to your original payment method (with an eligible booking) or as a digital Visa prepaid card (no booking required).

Merchandise

You can also use your points to purchase merchandise, such as branded clothing, electronics, and furniture. However, given the high price of these redemptions, we recommend redeeming points for travel instead. 

Booking Your Cruises.com or CruisesOnly Cruise

Booking through Cruises.com and CruisesOnly earns 10 points per $1 spent. 

To book, log in to your account (or sign up for a free membership) and navigate to the homepage. Select the departure port, cruise length, or cruise line to get started.

You’ll see a list of cruises and details about dates, pricing, and site-specific perks. For instance, a 4-night Baja Mexico cruise on the Carnival Radiance offers early-saver rates, up to $50 in instant savings on sailings through April 2027, plus a room upgrade.

On the next page, you’ll enter your loyalty number and indicate whether you’re over 55 or are an active or retired military member.

You’ll then select your room and check out. 

Final Thoughts

Cruises.com Rewards and CruisesOnly Rewards are niche programs that won’t make sense for everybody, but can provide solid perks if you’re into cruises. You’ll earn a ton of points simply by booking cruises through the platform (while having the ability to maintain benefits with your cruise line’s loyalty program) and have the ability to redeem points for onboard perks and cash-back.