Carnival World Mastercard review: Full details

Table Of Content

• Comparing cruise credit cards to general travel credit cards
• Best for Extra Card Benefits
• Is a card that offers rewards for cruises right for you?
• Other Credit Cards To Consider for Cruises
• Earn 25,000 FunPoints® after spending $500 in the first 90 days, redeem for $250 toward your next cruise purchase2

For more than 10 years, Jon Nickel-D'Andrea has been a sought-after expert on how to travel the world using rewards points and miles. Jon has been featured in local and national publications and as a speaker at various seminars across the world. Combining his deep knowledge of credit cards, rewards programs, airlines and hotels with his unique style and sense of humor, Jon makes the complex web of these programs more fun and easy to understand. He lives in Seattle with his husband Ben and their 4-year-old beagle pup. But if you want to purchase travel insurance, your best bet is to purchase a plan that comes with “cancel for any reason” coverage. Many cruise lines offer specific travel insurance plans you can add to your cruise booking, too.

Comparing cruise credit cards to general travel credit cards

They tend to offer subpar welcome offers and ongoing rewards, confusing redemption options, and, of course, the biggest drawback is that they lock you into using your credit card rewards solely on a cruise. When compared with other "flexible currency" cards, their value pales in comparison. Here are NerdWallet's best cards for cruises, why we like them and why many co-branded cruise credit cards may not be your best bet. Always dreaming about the next destination, credit cards specialist Barbara King is an avid traveler who optimizes her adventures through the use of points and miles. Barbara has earned and redeemed millions of credit cards points which has enabled her to explore over 50 countries on six continents, enjoying both budget and luxury travel.

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Best for Extra Card Benefits

If you’re in search of a credit card for cruises that comes with VIP benefits, you should consider the Capital One Venture X Rewards Credit Card. There are many cruise line-specific credit cards that can be appealing to brand loyalists. Some offer exclusive perks and discounts that you won’t find anywhere else, and most don't charge annual fees. Since many cruise lines have partnerships, the rewards earned on some cards are interchangeable among several cruise brands, too.

Is a card that offers rewards for cruises right for you?

Additionally, the Chase Sapphire Reserve provides 60,000 points — worth $900 through Chase Ultimate Rewards — after spending $4,000 within three months of account opening. The Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card offers a welcome bonus of 60,000 points — worth $750 in travel when redeemed through Chase Ultimate Rewards — after spending $4,000 within three months of account opening. With the card’s relatively low spending requirement, anyone can earn $750 toward their next cruise within a short amount of time.

Citi Custom Cash® Card

Use the card to pay your cell phone bill and you’ll get secondary cell phone insurance for a damaged or stolen phone. This may influence which products we review and write about (and where those products appear on the site), but it in no way affects our recommendations or advice, which are grounded in thousands of hours of research. Our partners cannot pay us to guarantee favorable reviews of their products or services.

Royal Caribbean Visa Signature Credit Card welcome offer

If you were to accumulate points over the course of five years, the maximum number of points you could earn and redeem would be 2.7 million MyCruise points. And, even though Bank of America issues the Royal Caribbean credit card, it is excluded from the Bank of America Preferred Rewards® program, so cardholders cannot earn extra points that way. The Royal Caribbean Visa Signature Credit Card falls short when it comes to earning rates.

Learn About Credit Cards

However, you can typically get a much better value from the welcome bonus on most general travel credit cards, especially if you're willing to pay an annual fee of around $100. The card lacks the travel and shopping protections that many other travel credit cards have, such as trip delay insurance, lost or delayed baggage protection, trip cancellation insurance, extended warranty or purchase protection. The protections can come in handy when you're facing travel troubles, although you can buy stand-alone insurance policies if you don't have a credit card that provides them. Before you apply for a cruise line's credit card, consider which benefits and perks it offers.

Our editorial team receives no direct compensation from advertisers, and our content is thoroughly fact-checked to ensure accuracy. So, whether you’re reading an article or a review, you can trust that you’re getting credible and dependable information. Bankrate follows a strict editorial policy, so you can trust that we’re putting your interests first. In order to redeem your points, you can sign in to your account at royalcaribbean.com/mycruiserewardsonline.

Frequent Carnival Cruise Line cruisers looking for ways to get a discount on their vacations might find some value in the Carnival World Mastercard, issued by Barclays. However, the card's earning rates aren't the best, and you might do better using a general travel card to rack up points or cash back. Though it can’t be done online, you can also use Chase Ultimate Rewards® points to book a cruise. Log in to your Chase account, navigate to the travel portal and search the "cruises" tab. A few cruise options will display there, but you’ll have to call Chase's Cruises and Tours department to book. And even if you don’t see a great cruise option in a search, you may be able to book cruises that aren't listed when you call Chase.

If you're chasing high-level elite status in a cruise line's loyalty program, know that owning and spending with a cruise credit card will not get you to certain tiers more quickly. When you choose to apply (and are approved) for a new credit card through our site, we may receive compensation from our partners, and this may impact how or where these products appear. Please view our advertising policy and product review methodology for more information.

Considering all of the costs that go into taking a cruise (cruise fare, airfare, hotels and so on), you’re also probably wondering about travel insurance. Many of the best travel cards offer travel insurance — such as trip cancellation and interruption insurance, baggage insurance and emergency travel services. If you have a quarter- or half-million dollars' worth of purchases to make each year, you can do a lot better than earning 1 or 2 points per dollar on the Royal Caribbean card. You'd get more value from a card with a big welcome bonus or one that offers more points per dollar on everyday spending. But the truth is, for most people, these cards aren't the best option for cruises.

And just as you have many cruise options to choose from, there are numerous credit cards you could choose to pay with. Cruise line-specific cards might seem like an obvious choice, but they aren't always the best. Flexible rewards credit cards have more redemption options, often provide heftier bonuses for new cardholders and usually earn more points in many categories. The major co-branded cruise credit cards are on the Mastercard or Visa networks, which means you can use them anywhere Mastercard and Visa are accepted. The cards earn rewards that can be redeemed on the cruise line, generally as credit towards a cruise purchase or onboard for your incidentals. The downside of co-branded cruise cards is that award redemptions generally are tied to a single cruise line.

Having no foreign transaction fees is useful if you frequently make purchases outside of the U.S. Many cards with this perk have an annual fee, so to get this perk with no annual fee is a win. The Royal Caribbean Visa Signature Credit Card is currently offering a sign-up bonus of 25,000 MyCruise bonus points after you make at least $1,000 in purchases within the first 90 days of account opening. After you’ve found the best option for you, book it on any website using your Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card.

Credit cards from cruise lines tend to have a flat redemption rate of 1 cent per point. Thus, it will require significant spending on your credit card to earn enough points for a free cruise this way. If you’re thinking of picking up a credit card for your next cruise, you should select one that gives you the most bang for your buck. This means picking a card with a generous welcome offer and plenty of rewards for your spending. If you get some extra travel perks along the way, that’s even better. With the right credit card, you’ll be cruising before you know it — and with fewer out-of-pocket expenses, too.

Forbes Advisor looked at dozens of offers to find and rank the best cards for cruises. Alternatively, use the card for an everyday high spend category, such as groceries and save your cash back for a future cruise purchase. The card’s flexible Ultimate Rewards points transfer to a bevy of air and hotel loyalty programs, which could be helpful in getting you to your cruise’s point of embarkation. The Platinum Card is destined for frequent travelers who intend to fully leverage the rich set of luxury travel benefits and Platinum Concierge service.

Book with your Bank of America® Premium Rewards® credit card and you’ll get trip delay reimbursement, trip cancellation coverage and other travel assistance services. Each cruise-goer has different desires and budget restrictions, so there’s no one size fits all card. That said, a travel card like the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card that earns flexible rewards on travel with a low annual fee and a strong combination of features is likely to appeal to many cruising for a new card. The Bilt card has no annual fee (rates & fees) making it a great value for the benefits it provides. However, without a welcome bonus your points will add up slower than with other cards. Plus, you’ve got flexible reward redemption options since Capital One partners with over 15 travel partners.