Carnival Credit Card Reviews: Is It Worth It? (2024)Reviews, rates, fees, and rewards details for The Carnival Credit Card. Compare to other cards and apply online in secondsJohn KiernanWalletHubNo membership fees0% intro APR on purchases0% intro APR on balance transfersHigh rewards rateBalance transfer feeHigh regular APRRequires good/excellent credit
This card has been scored using WalletHub’s proprietary credit card rating system. We evaluated this card for various cardholder needs and picked the rating for the need with the highest score, which is "Lower Cost of Existing Debt." A score of 5 is the best a card can receive, and the rating for the card may vary on different pages where it is compared to other cards for different needs.
Carnival Credit Card has a rating of 3.1/5 according to our proprietary credit card rating system. This rating reflects how appealing Carnival Credit Card's terms are compared to a pool of more than 1,500 credit card offers tracked by WalletHub. We evaluated this card for various cardholder needs and picked the rating for the need with the highest score, which is 'Lower Cost of Existing Debt'. To break it down further, Carnival Credit Card earned a score of 5.0/5 for Fees, 2.5/5 for Cost, 3.5/5 for APR, and 3.0/5 for User Reviews. Info about the Carnival Credit Card has been collected by WalletHub to help consumers better compare cards. The financial institution did not provide the details.
WalletHub Rating Breakdown
User Reviews
3.0/5
237 reviewsRead and write reviews
Editor’s Review
3.0/5
John Kiernan, Credit Card EditorRead full review
Market Comparison
Market Comparison
3.1
The Market Comparison is a key component of the WalletHub Rating, as it measures how appealing the terms of a card are compared to a pool of over 1,500 credit card offers monitored by WalletHub. To ensure cards are evaluated for their most relevant purpose, we score each card across various cardholder needs and select the rating for the need with the highest score, which is “Lower Cost of Existing Debt” for this card.
Fees
5.0
Cost
2.5
APR
3.5
3.1/5
Compared against 1,500+ credit cards
KEY TERMS
Accepted Credit Scores
Accepted Credit Scores
Excellent Credit, Good Credit
Annual Fee
$0
APR on Purchases
0% intro APR for 6 months, 20.24% - 29.99% (V) APR after that
Balance Transfer
0% intro APR for 15 months, 20.24% - 29.99% (V) APR after that
Balance Transfer Fee:5% (min $5)
Rewards
Earn 25,000 points (valued at $250 in statement credits) after spending $500 on purchases within the first 90 days of account opening.
Earn 2 points per $1 spent on Carnival Cruise Lines and World's Leading Cruise Lines purchases, and 1 point per $1 spent everywhere else
Redeem for statement credits toward any Carnival purchase, onboard experiences, and more.
Get 10% back as a statement credit when you book a Carnival shore excursion on carnival.com prior to your cruise.
Redemptions start at 5,000 FunPoints for $50 in onboard credit or an eligible Carnival Cruise Line purchase in the last 180 days.
Carnival Credit Card's Additional Info
0% APR for 6 months applies on all Qualifying Carnival Cruise Booking Purchases.
0% Introductory APR on balance transfers that post to your account within 45 days of account opening.
Small, easy-to-earn bonus. The Carnival Mastercard Credit Card gives you 25,000 points (valued at $250) after spending $500 within the first 90 days. That’s obviously nowhere near the $400+ offered by the best travel credit cards. But those cards require you to spend $3,000+ within the first three months or so to qualify for their bonuses. So if you’re a relatively light spender who’s planning a Carnival cruise, this part of the offer could be helpful. But if you generally spend $1,000+ per month, getting the Carnival Card would mean leaving money on the table.
Underwhelming regular rewards. The Carnival Card 2 points per $1 spent on all Carnival purchases, which includes certain on-ship spending. You also get 1 point per $1 spent on all other purchases. This only amounts to 1% to 2% "cash" back, however which isn't all that great. After all, the average cash rewards card offers 1.15% back on all purchases, according to WalletHub research, and the best rewards cards offer 2%+ back across the board.
Balance transfers shouldn’t be bothered with. The Carnival Credit Card promises smooth sailing as far as interest on balance transfers is concerned, offering a 0% for 15 months intro rate. You might get seasick if you take Carnival up on the offer, though, because a 5% (min $5) balance-transfer fee is lurking like a rogue wave.
Must have good credit or better. The Carnival Mastercard isn’t for all cruisers, as roughly 40% of people won’t be able to meet its minimum credit requirement. If you’re unsure whether you have what it takes to climb aboard, you can check your credit score for free on WalletHub.
Above-average APR. The Carnival Credit Card’s regular APR is higher than both the average APRs charged by credit cards that require excellent and good credit. So you can expect a rate at the low end of the range if you have excellent credit and a high-end rate if you have good credit. Either way, you’ll overpay on interest if you carry a balance from month to month. After all, the average credit cards for people with good and excellent charge 24.12% and 18.04%, respectively, according to WalletHub’s latest Credit Card Landscape Report.
No annual fee. The average credit charge charges about $22.29 per year, so in that sense, the Carnival Credit Card figures to save you money. With that being said, paying an annual fee for better rewards can be the best way to maximize your savings when you have good or excellent credit.
Note: This review is not provided, commissioned or endorsed by any issuer. Opinions and ratings are our own.
This card has been scored using WalletHub’s proprietary credit card rating system. We evaluated this card for various cardholder needs and picked the rating for the need with the highest score, which is "Lower Cost of Existing Debt." A score of 5 is the best a card can receive, and the rating for the card may vary on different pages where it is compared to other cards for different needs.
Editor’s Rating
3.0
User Reviews
3.0
Market Comparison
3.1
fees: 5.0
cost: 2.5
APR: 3.5
4.6WalletHub Rating
WalletHub Rating
4.6
This card has been scored using WalletHub’s proprietary credit card rating system. We evaluated this card for various cardholder needs and picked the rating for the need with the highest score, which is "Earn Rewards." A score of 5 is the best a card can receive, and the rating for the card may vary on different pages where it is compared to other cards for different needs.
Editor’s Rating
5.0
User Reviews
3.9
Market Comparison
4.6
fees: 2.9
rewards: 4.8
cost: 5.0
Other Features: 5.0
4.5WalletHub Rating
WalletHub Rating
4.5
This card has been scored using WalletHub’s proprietary credit card rating system. We evaluated this card for various cardholder needs and picked the rating for the need with the highest score, which is "Earn Hotel Rewards." A score of 5 is the best a card can receive, and the rating for the card may vary on different pages where it is compared to other cards for different needs.
Editor’s Rating
4.8
Market Comparison
4.4
fees: 3.3
rewards: 4.5
cost: 5.0
Other Features: 0.0
(237)
(3,514)
(9)
annual fee$0
annual fee$95
annual fee$95
Purchase Intro APR0% for 6 months
Purchase Intro APRNot Offered
Purchase Intro APRNot Offered
transfer intro apr0% for 15 months|Transfer Fee:5% (min $5)
Can't find what you are looking for? Submit your question about Carnival Credit Card to our community. Editorial and user-generated content is not provided, reviewed or endorsed by the issuer of this offer. Please keep in mind that it is not a financial institution’s responsibility to ensure all posts and questions are answered. In addition, WalletHub independently collected information for some of the cards on this page.
You can earn Carnival Credit Card rewards by making purchases with this card. More specifically, you can earn 2 points per $1 spent with Carnival Cruise Lines and World’s Leading Cruise Lines, and 1 point per $1 spent on all other purchases. The card also offers 25,000 points (valued at $250) after spending $500 within the first 90 days.
How to Earn Carnival Credit Card Rewards:
Earn 25,000 points (valued at $250 in statement credits) after spending $500 on purchases within the first 90 days of account opening.
Earn 2 points per $1 spent on Carnival Cruise Lines and World's Leading Cruise Lines purchases, and 1 point per $1 spent everywhere else
Redeem for statement credits toward any Carnival purchase, onboard experiences, and more.
Get 10% back as a statement credit when you book a Carnival shore excursion on carnival.com prior to your cruise.
Redemptions start at 5,000 FunPoints for $50 in onboard credit or an eligible Carnival Cruise Line purchase in the last 180 days.
Overall, the Carnival Credit Card is a good option if you are a fan of Carnival Cruise Lines and World's Leading Cruise Lines. Apart from some pretty generous rewards, the card also comes with a $0 annual fee and a 0% foreign transaction fee.
You can check your Carnival Credit Card application status online or over the phone at (866) 408-4064. You'll need to provide your last name, the last 4 digits of your Social Security number (SSN), your ZIP Code, and e-mail address. It should only take a few minutes to find out your application status.
How to Check Your Carnival Credit Card Application Status Online
Once you've submitted your application, you should get an answer instantly. However, it can sometimes take up to 14 days for the issuer to reach a decision. If you're approved, you'll have your new card in the mail within 7-10 business days.
The Carnival Credit Card credit score requirement is 700 or better. That means people with good credit or better have a shot at getting approved for the Carnival Credit Card.
You should note that while your credit score is an important factor, there are plenty of other things that will impact your chances of being approved for the Carnival Credit Card, too. Some other key criteria include your income, existing debt load, recent credit inquiries, number of open accounts, housing...
Yes, the Carnival Credit Card does have travel insurance benefits, the best of which are trip interruption insurance and emergency evacuation. To be eligible to file a travel insurance claim, you'll need to pay for your travel using your Carnival Credit Card.
Types of Carnival Credit Card Travel Insurance
Trip delay insurance: This benefit reimburses you for necessary expenses, such as a hotel room, if your trip is delayed for 3 hours or more.
The Carnival Credit Card reward points will be credited to your account at the close of the billing statement in which you make your qualifying purchase.
So, you won't have access to your bonus right away – you will have to wait for the current billing cycle to end.
You can use this card to book a cruise with Carnival Cruise Lines and you'll get 2 FunPoints per $1 spent. The points can be redeemed on cruises with the following lines: Carnival Cruise Lines, Princess Cruises, Holland America Line, Costa Cruises and the Yachts of Seabourn.
Share your insights and review for the Carnival Credit Card
5
8%
4
12%
3
61%
2
13%
1
6%
3.0
237 reviews
237 reviews
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TAJ1155 @TAJ1155
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1 Star Rating
It is so rediculous to deal with the credit dept !!! They give very lame excuses as to why they cannot help you over and over again. They are very hard to reach by phone to begin with. I have been trying to work with them to get my husband of 30 years a credit card so we can cruise in our retirement and get points. They approved me instantly for 19K credit and we file our taxes jointly so we have the same income but for some reason, they want documentation on him. So I sent it , no problem. I even sent extra just to be sure they get what they need. Its really rediculous but they have denied usage of the documentation twice because of stupid issues like "didnt send the back of his social security card" and they "couldnt read the date on the water bill" (which was very clear!) and "there was no bank logo on my bank statement" because they don't put logos on an E-Statement but the Bank name was clearly typed all over the statement. All these things could have been verified and done. They are just rediculous, lazy and full of excuses. I just don't get it !! I believe I will cancel my credit card with them because I do not want to do business with a company that doesn't really care to help you as a customer when you have issues.
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tgene61a @tgene61a
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1 Star Rating
I consider myself to be financially astute. However, trying to read, let alone make sense, out of this particular card statement is a nightmare. One benefit of the card is that if you pay for a Carnival cruise ticket a 0% promotional interest rate is applied for six months. However, when the statement comes in, nowhere in the promotional interest rate section is there an amount that equals the purchase. What makes it worse is that when I called customer service about the discrepancy I was told "wait until you get your next statement to see if you are charged interest." What? If the customer service representative cannot read and explain the statement then the statement is deliberately obtrusive. Additional efforts to find someone at Barclays to answer my questions were wasted. Everyone I either talked to or wrote to gave me canned answers that did not come close to answering my questions. Why is this statement written in a way to be so confusing unless it a deliberate act to trick the customer in paying the balance that is supposed to be six months at 0%?
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collinsr72 @collinsr72
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1 Star Rating
This card is no good the customer service is so bad I will not be using my card again. If you have a problem they will not help you at all. Not a good card to have.
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tanjizs36 @tanjizs36
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1 Star Rating
I GOT THIS CARD IN APRIL AND WAS PROMISED$200 CREDIT. NEVER GOT IT. IN MAY I WAS TOLD I HAD TO WAIT TO GET TWO STATEMENTS. NOW IS JULY AND I'M TOLD THAT THEY HAVE TO SUBMIT A CASE AND ALLOW 30 MORE DAYS. THE TRIP THAT THIS CARD WAS USED FOR WILL NOT INCLUDE THE CREDIT. THIS IS TRASH AND CARNIVAL SAYS THEY HAVE NOTHING TO DO WITH THIS CARD. I HAVE TO CONTACT BARCLAYS. I DID NOT NEED ANOTHER CARD. THIS CARD IS GARBAGE!!!!
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Scott McDairmant @smcdairmant
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1 Star Rating
I redeemed my Fun Points for 4 gifts cards, however only 3 gift cards showed up in the mail. Called Barclay's Customer Service 3 times with no satisfaction to get a replacement card. Seems like their call center is in China, with morons taking the calls. I asked for a Supervisor and was denied. This card is only good to purchase Carnival Shore Excursions at 10% off. I will continue to use my Chase Credit Card as my primary card because customer service is their top priority.
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kevin @kevinc_320
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4 Star Rating
Verified Customer
not a bad card we have had it for several years, just wish you got points for something other than cruise stuff, it would be ok but after 5 or 6 cruises, we still might take another, as for now health issues are holding us back.
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dcarpenter2002 @dcarpenter2002
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1 Star Rating
They closed my card because I hadn’t used it in several months and didn’t notify me before they did it. Then I moved and covid happened. Didn’t even think about traveling. Called today and they delete your points after 60 days. Lost almost 20K, customer service doesn’t care.
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timtex19 @timtex19
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1 Star Rating
Verified Customer
This card took me months to get my Carnival refund from. Now they claim to have sent me a check in the mail over 3 weeks ago. I called to inform them I don't have a check from them. I'm being told they will send another check that could take another 14 days to arrive. I asked for them to deposit it directly into my checking account that is tied to the account. According to Barclayscard This is impossible due to safety concerns. They will only Issue a check. As soon as I receive my check I will be Cancelling this card because they do anything in their power to hold on to your money for as long as possible.
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cajunplayer59 @cajunplayer59
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1 Star Rating
Do not get this card. Unfair credit practices and unauthorized charges made by them on my "closed account" . My saga started several years ago while the wife and I were on cruise. They encouraged us both to apply for a credit card. We both did and both got approved. My credit card had a small initial charge from the cruise and was never used again. Barclay's sent a letter indicating that they were closing my card. My wife used her credit card and built up a balance for which she was making timely payments. They begin to post the payments to this closed account and it took many phone calls to get it posted to the correct account every month. This occurred for well over a year. One day a check is received from them on my "closed account" indicating a refund. The next month there was a charge on the "closed account" place on it by Barclays. They wanted interest on the account and payment on this "closed account". They have attempted to negatively impact my credit because I refused to pay them. Despite numerous hours on the phone, several phone calls and several discussion with "Bob"??? from India, no resolution was made. We paid off my wife's card and made sure both were closed accounts. So far no new charges have been made but credit bureau reports 120 days late for not paying this unauthorized charge on the closed account.
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Litha A @litha_ba1
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1 Star Rating
With what’s going on with this pandemic and people needing some assistance. This Carnival credit card is only offering 2 months no payments with interest still being applied. How is that helping the consumer it will only keep them behind. Couldn’t even offer a lower interest rate for a period of time. This is a card that will hurry up and pay off and close
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