Loyalty Changes, Canceled Calls, Australia Cruising

Carnival Cruise Line has retired the VIFP Club in favor of Carnival Rewards, a spending-based program that launched September 1, 2026 and grants three redeemable points and three qualifying stars for every eligible dollar across Red, Gold, Platinum and Diamond tiers, with members who reached Diamond by August 31, 2026 keeping that status for life and the first earning window running through December 31, 2028. In Washington state, the Port of Anacortes is canceling 17 American Cruise Lines calls beginning September 7 amid a dispute with ILWU Local 25 over who handles mooring lines at Curtis Wharf, a cutoff that touches roughly 50 day calls per season on a service that began in 2013. And in Sydney, Crown Princess opens Australia's 2026-27 cruise season at the Overseas Passenger Terminal after wrapping a 114-night world cruise, ahead of a 35-night roundtrip taking in Brisbane, Fiji, Samoa, Hawaii, French Polynesia and Auckland, in a market that generated $7.32 billion in economic output in 2024-25.