Anyone else watching Carnival Rewards go live this week?

I was reading Carnival’s own loyalty-program update and a little forum chatter this morning, and the timing caught my eye: Carnival Rewards officially starts September 1, 2026, so this is really the last week of the old VIFP setup. What stood out to me is that casino play is supposed to earn points and stars in the new program, while casino offers themselves are still treated separately by the Players Club. To me, that makes this week feel worth paying attention to, especially for folks sailing right now or with late-August trips. Gene always says the fine print matters more than the headline, and for once I think he’s right. I’m curious how this lands in real life once people start coming home from September sailings. Do you all think this will make the program clearer, or just give us one more set of numbers to track?

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I’m watching it mostly to see where the seams show in month one. Seen this movie before: shiny new loyalty program on paper, then everybody spends a few sailings figuring out what posts where and when. Back in the old days they could barely explain casino rating and onboard perks in the same sentence, so at least now they’re trying to put labels on things. What I’d want from September reports is simple stuff: do the casino-earned points show up quickly, and do the stars track cleanly without folks having to chase missing activity? If anybody here is on a late-August/early-September back-to-back, that’ll be the real test case.

I’m curious whether the new setup helps the average cruiser understand what’s loyalty status versus what’s still just Players Club territory. A lot of people at the casino bar already mix those up, especially newer folks who hear “points” and assume everything connects the same way. If Carnival can make the app/account page readable, that alone would be progress. Also wondering if onboard hosts will explain it consistently ship to ship, because that’s where confusion usually starts. Anybody here booked right after Sept 1 and planning to check their account as soon as they get home?

What I’d flag this week is the cutoff language, not just the launch date. When a program flips on Sept. 1, the practical question is whether activity is assigned by sail date, play date, or posting date. Those are not always the same thing, especially on voyages that straddle month-end. If anyone is sailing Aug. 30-Sept. 3 or similar, save screenshots and your folio/casino printouts before you disembark. That gives you something concrete if the account history looks odd later. I’m less worried about the headline than about how Carnival defines the transition in the terms.