Should you get a cruise line credit card? Here's a closer look
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Or you could opt to cash out Venture miles for gift cards for Carnival, Princess, Disney and Royal Caribbean cruises, to name a few. Alternatively, you could book a cruise directly through the Capital One travel portal using miles. Simple rewards and a well-rounded suite of travel protections make this an essential everyday card and handy travel companion. No annual fees or foreign transaction fees make it that much better. All of this means that it’s a great time to start earning rewards for your next cruise. You can redeem your FunPoints either by phone or by logging in to your card account online.
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Other factors, such as our own proprietary website rules and whether a product is offered in your area or at your self-selected credit score range, can also impact how and where products appear on this site. While we strive to provide a wide range of offers, Bankrate does not include information about every financial or credit product or service. Credit card points expire 60 months (approximately five years) after the transaction posting date, regardless of activity on your account. You are also limited to earning a maximum of 540,000 points each calendar year.
What credit score do I need to get a cruise credit card?
Plus, you can earn 2 points per dollar on all travel spending (not just one cruise line) and 5 points per dollar if you purchase travel through Chase's portal. Plus, you'll earn bonus points on additional spending categories, including dining, streaming services and online grocery purchases. The Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card keeps everything simple by offering 5X miles on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel and 2X miles on all other purchases.
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A score in the “good” range of 670 to 739 may be sufficient for a basic rewards card, but for the strongest rewards you can expect to need a score of 740 or higher to qualify. The Wells Fargo Active Cash offers an unlimited 2% cash rewards rate on purchases and charges no annual fee. This puts it in competition with the best flat-rate cash back cards on the market.
The Royal Caribbean card offers a decent number of benefits as a no-annual-fee credit card, thanks to its Visa Signature label. However, it comes up short on earning rates for spending, plus the points expire after five years. Redemptions are simple to understand, but unless you're a heavy spender, it will take a long time to earn enough points for a free cruise for two. You could earn more rewards using credit cards that earn bonus points on specific category spending, such as travel, dining, gas and groceries.
Hotels
Royal Caribbean may be known for its megaships and incredible onboard entertainment, but its credit card offering is much less flashy. If you're looking to get free cruises by signing up for the credit card, you might be disappointed to see how much you'd need to spend on the Royal Caribbean credit card to do so. The Carnival Cruise credit card earns FunPoints, which are different from the VIFP Club points you can earn from Carnival's cruise loyalty program.
Bank of America® Travel Rewards credit card for Students
Car Rental Loss or Damage Coverage is offered through American Express Travel Related Services Company, Inc.²Eligibility and Benefit level varies by Card. The Citi Custom Cash is a great option for people looking to maximize cash back rewards without having to worry about activating or selecting bonus categories. Compare the Chase Sapphire Preferred Card to the Royal Caribbean Visa Signature® card. Our experts have been helping you master your money for over four decades. We continually strive to provide consumers with the expert advice and tools needed to succeed throughout life’s financial journey. Many or all of the products featured here are from our partners who compensate us.
Comparing a common travel rewards card to a cruise line credit card
A cruise credit card earns points based on dollars spent that can be redeemed as credits to cover card purchases. A cruise line's loyalty program issues a separate type of point, based on days or cruises sailed, that leads to status levels that offer increasing cruise perks, discounts and freebies. Thus, having a cruise line's credit card can help you earn a free cruise but won't help you earn status with that cruise line. The innovative Bilt World Elite Mastercard® lets you earn rewards on your monthly rent with no additional fees for the transaction.
Royal Caribbean Visa Signature® Credit Card overview
The Wells Fargo Active Cash® Card offers a simple flat rate earning structure, no annual fee and a relatively long 0% introductory period for purchases and balance transfers. Assuming you have the credit line available, making your cruise purchase on this card gives you time to make payments with no interest. The easy-to-earn welcome bonus can help offset your cruise expenses.
Cardholders earn 2 MyCruise points for every dollar spent on qualifying purchases with Royal Caribbean and its sister brand, Celebrity Cruises, and just 1 MyCruise point for every dollar spent on all other purchases. If you book a cruise with the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card, you’ll enjoy travel protections if the trip is canceled, interrupted or delayed. Forbes Advisor uses data from multiple government agencies to determine how much a typical cardholder might spend. We use the same numbers for cards in the same category to make sure we are comparing cards the same way.
If you paid for at least part of the trip with your Sapphire Preferred, this could come in handy during travel disruptions. On the other hand, rewards that you can earn from other travel credit cards have higher values, according to our monthly point valuations. Paying for your cruise with a general travel credit card may earn more points in the long run, along with offering points that are more valuable and allow more options in how you redeem your points. Yes, you can use these points to pay for cruises, but you could also redeem them for other parts of your upcoming vacation.
Currently, a free cruise redemption begins at 50,000 points for a three- or four-night Royal Caribbean cruise in an ocean-view cabin. The value of the cruise vacation fare must not exceed $1,000, so this is better than the 1-cent-per-point offerings. The information for the American Express Green Card has been collected independently by The Points Guy. We believe everyone should be able to make financial decisions with confidence.
A co-branded cruise card is a good idea when you are a frequent traveler on a specific cruise line and you get value out of the perks offered by credit card. Some cruise cards offer special events onboard or discounts for cardholders, while others only offer a small bonus on your cruise purchases. That said, a more general travel rewards credit card will usually be a better fit than one tied to a specific cruise line. Also our pick for best mid-tier travel rewards card, the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card offers excellent perks for the price. Travel purchases, including cruises, earn elevated rewards when booked through the Chase Travel℠ portal. Alternatively, if you’ve saved up a stash of Chase Ultimate Rewards® points, you can use them to pay for all or part of your cruise.
Points earned with the Chase Sapphire Preferred card are worth 25% more when redeemed for travel through Chase so you’re effectively getting a 25% discount on your cruise. New cardholders are also eligible to earn 75,000 miles after spending $4,000 on purchases within three months of account opening. That’s on top of earning 10X miles on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel, 5X miles on flights booked through Capital One Travel and 2X miles on all other purchases.
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