4 Best Credit Cards for Cruises (Hint: They’re Not What You Expect)

There are cruise people, and there those who aren’t cruise people — yet. Gone are most of the old cliches about cruises being cheesy, stuffy, and only for seniors. Today’s ships can suit any style, any budget, and any age.

And the good news — especially if you want to cruise the high seas in high luxury — is that credit card rewards can help make cruises of any caliber much more affordable. But the best travel credit cards for cruises aren’t necessarily the ones you’d expect.

The best credit cards for cruises:

• Chase Sapphire Reserve^®
• Citi Premier^® Card
• Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card
• The Platinum Card^® from American Express

The 4 best credit cards for cruises

If you’re looking for the best credit card for cruises, a flexible rewards credit card might be a better choice than a cruise-line specific card. Plain and simple, flexible rewards give you more options, rather than locking you into cruises with one specific cruise company. Our top choices for flexible cards offer heftier bonuses for new cardholders, which can go a lot further towards the cruise of your dreams.

Not only that, but in many categories, you’ll earn more points when you use the card. That means you’ll be able to rack up the points more quickly and get closer to that ‘bon voyage’.

For example, if you used your Disney card to pay for your flights and your cruise, you’d earn 1% back in the form of Disney Reward Dollars. But if you used your Chase Sapphire Reserve^®, you’d earn 3X on those purchases, and the first $300 would be erased with your annual travel credit.

The Reserve card would also give you trip protection to help cover your costs if a hurricane blows through the day you were supposed to be cruising the Caribbean, or if your flight is delayed and you miss the ship.

Here’s our list of the best credit cards for cruises:

Card	Welcome bonus	Rewards rate	Annual fee
Chase Sapphire Reserve®	Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening	5X points on flights and 10X points on hotels and car rentals when you purchase travel through Chase Ultimate Rewards® immediately after the first $300 is spent on travel purchases annually; 3X points on other travel and dining & 1X points per dollar on all other purchases	$550
Citi Premier® Card	Earn 60,000 bonus ThankYou® Points after you spend $4,000 in purchases within the first 3 months of account opening; Plus, for a limited time, earn a total of 10 ThankYou® Points per $1 spent on hotel, car rentals, and attractions (excluding air travel) booked on the Citi Travel℠ portal through June 30, 2024	3X points at restaurants, supermarkets, gas stations, air travel and hotels; and 1X points on all other purchases	$95
Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card	Earn a one-time bonus of 75,000 miles once you spend $4,000 on purchases within 3 months from account opening	2 miles per dollar on every purchase, every day and 5 miles per dollar on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel	$95
The Platinum Card® from American Express	Earn 80,000 Membership Rewards points after spending $6,000 on purchases in the first 6 months	5X points per dollar spent on eligible airfare (on up to $500,000 per calendar year, after that 1X) and eligible hotel purchases, and 1X points per dollar on all other eligible purchases	$695 (terms apply)

Chase Sapphire Reserve^®

Welcome bonus: Earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening

Rewards rate: 5X points on flights and 10X points on hotels and car rentals when you purchase travel through Chase Ultimate Rewards® immediately after the first $300 is spent on travel purchases annually; 3X points on other travel and dining & 1X points per dollar on all other purchases

Annual fee: $550

Despite its high annual fee that can be intimidating at first blush, this card consistently ranks as a favorite year after year. For starters, it boasts a generous sign-up bonus. You can earn 60,000 bonus points after you spend $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening — that’s worth $900 of travel if you book through the Chase portal!

An annual fee of $550 can be hard to swallow. But when you realize that the Sapphire Reserve card includes a $300 annual credit, it lowers the impact of the fee quite a bit immediately. The $300 travel credit is incredibly easy to use — you don’t have to jump through any hoops or cut through any red tape. Just use your card for travel, including flights, hotels, rideshares, subway passes, or even cruises, and the charges will automatically be erased from your statement to the tune of $300 per year.

One of the reasons that the Chase Sapphire Reserve is such a crowd favorite is because Chase Ultimate Rewards points are straightforward and easy to redeem. Just use them to book your travel directly in the Chase portal for a solid value of 1.5 cents each for hotels, airfare, rental cars, cruises, and experiences. Or, you can choose to transfer directly to many large travel partners like Marriott, United, and Southwest.

Though it can’t be done online, you can use your Chase Ultimate Rewards points to book a cruise. Just search the Cruises tab when you’re logged into the Chase portal. A few cruise options will display for you there. But rather than clicking to book online, you’ll have to call their specialized cruises and tours department to book. Even if you don’t see an appealing cruise listed when you search, you should be able to book most any cruise you find on a cruise operator’s website by calling Chase.

Since you’ll be earning plenty of rewards when you use this card — 5X points on flights and 10X points on hotels and car rentals when you purchase travel through Chase Ultimate Rewards® immediately after the first $300 is spent on travel purchases annually; 3X points on other travel and dining & 1X points per dollar on all other purchases — there’s a good chance you’ll be able to rack up points more quickly by using this card as compared to a Disney or Norwegian credit card. If you want a nice welcome bonus and flexible points that are easy to earn and redeem, the Chase Sapphire Reserve deserves a spot in your wallet.

Learn more with our full Chase Sapphire Reserve review.

Citi Premier^® Card

Welcome bonus: Earn 60,000 bonus ThankYou® Points after you spend $4,000 in purchases within the first 3 months of account opening; Plus, for a limited time, earn a total of 10 ThankYou® Points per $1 spent on hotel, car rentals, and attractions (excluding air travel) booked on the Citi Travel℠ portal through June 30, 2024

Rewards rate: 3X points at restaurants, supermarkets, gas stations, air travel and hotels; and 1X points on all other purchases

Annual fee: $95

Another rewarding flexible point “currency” program is Citi ThankYou Points. ThankYou Points earned from the mid-tier Citi Premier card can add up quickly, For starters, you can earn 60,000 bonus thankyou® points after you spend $4,000 in purchases within the first 3 months of account opening; plus, for a limited time, earn a total of 10 thankyou® points per $1 spent on hotel, car rentals, and attractions (excluding air travel) booked on the citi travel℠ portal through june 30, 2024 — that’s equal to $600 in gift cards or travel rewards when redeemed at thankyou.com. This card also earns an impressive 3X on top categories like restaurants, supermarkets, gas stations, air travel, and hotels, and 1X on all other purchases.

Over the past couple of years, the ThankYou Points program has become more valuable with the addition of many new transfer partners. Some of these transfer partners are a bit more obscure, like Turkish Airlines and Qantas, but frequent transfer bonuses can unlock superb value from ThankYou Points.

Similar to the Chase Ultimate Rewards Travel Portal, Citi’s ThankYou program has a designated website where you can shop for cruises. You can use your points to book, and you’ll get a value of 1 cent per ThankYou point from your Premier card. One important note: you’ll be able to search for cruises on the ThankYou portal, but you’ll need to call to book them.

For all the details, check out our Citi Premier Card review.

Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card

Welcome bonus: Earn a one-time bonus of 75,000 miles once you spend $4,000 on purchases within 3 months from account opening

Rewards rate: 2 miles per dollar on every purchase, every day and 5 miles per dollar on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel

Annual fee: $95

Another great flexible credit card rewards option with a hefty bonus for new cardholders. With the Capital One Venture card, you can earn a one-time bonus of 75,000 miles once you spend $4,000 on purchases within 3 months from account opening. Plus, you’ll earn 2 miles per dollar on every purchase, every day and 5 miles per dollar on hotels and rental cars booked through Capital One Travel.

It’s just as easy to redeem your Venture miles as it is to earn them. You can redeem miles for statement credits toward past travel purchases, book new travel directly through Capital One, or cash out miles for gift cards. All of these redemption options give you the ability to lock in a fixed value of one cent per mile.

Using your Venture Rewards for cruises is easy and straightforward. Once you’ve found the cruise that works best for you, you can book it on any website. Just pay with your Venture card, and use your miles to erase some or all of the charges. Or, you could opt to cash out your Capital One miles for gift cards for Carnival, Princess, Disney, Royal Caribbean cruises, to name a few. Alternatively, you could book your cruise directly through the Capital One travel portal using your miles.

For more info, go to our Capital One Venture Rewards Credit Card review.

The Platinum Card^® from American Express

Welcome bonus: Earn 80,000 Membership Rewards points after spending $6,000 on purchases in the first 6 months

Rewards rate: 5X points per dollar spent on eligible airfare (on up to $500,000 per calendar year, after that 1X) and eligible hotel purchases, and 1X points per dollar on all other eligible purchases

Annual fee: $695 (Terms apply)

Even though it’s not a great option for redeeming points for cruises, the American Express Platinum Card is a great travel rewards card to look into when you’re thinking about a cruise.

That’s because as a Platinum cardholder, when you book a cruise of at least five nights you’re entitled to the benefits of American Express’ Cruise Privileges Program. This program gives you fantastic benefits like a stateroom credit between $100-$300 redeemable towards dining and spa services onboard, as well as unique amenities like canapés and premium wine.

The Cruise Privileges Program works with 14 major cruise lines, like Norweigan, Royal Caribbean, and Crystal. When you call this special department at American Express and book with cash, you’ll earn 2X points on the price of your cruise. (While you can use your American Express Membership Rewards to pay for your cruise, you won’t get great value for your points.)

The Platinum Card has an annual fee of $695, but comes loaded with benefits. New cardmembers are eligible for this welcome offer: Earn 80,000 Membership Rewards points after spending $6,000 on purchases in the first 6 months. The card also comes with $200 in Uber credit and free airport lounge access. Plus, you can earn 5X points per dollar spent on eligible airfare (on up to $500,000 per calendar year, after that 1X) and eligible hotel purchases, and 1X points per dollar on all other eligible purchases. Enrollment is required for select benefits.

Learn more with our full Amex Platinum card review.

The more cards, the merrier?

When it comes to credit card rewards, it can pay to consider a multiple card strategy to cover all your bases. Instead of putting all your proverbial eggs in one basket, you could enjoy the benefits of several programs and “stack” them to create the perfect cruise.

For example, say you’re certain you want to take a Disney cruise. And on that cruise, you plan on spending a lot of time in the spa. The kids will be entertained in the Kids Oceaneer Club, so why not!?

You could consider opening a Chase Sapphire Reserve card to earn the generous welcome bonus, use the $300 annual travel credit, and protect your trip. Use that card to earn 3X on other travel and dining purchases and rack up Ultimate Rewards points quickly. You could use your Ultimate Rewards points to pay for your family’s flights to the cruise port, and the cruise itself.

You could also open a Disney Premier Credit Card and earn a $300 statement credit after you spend $1,000 in the first 3 months. You could use your Disney card to earn 5% in Disney Rewards Dollars on DisneyPlus.com, Hulu.com, and ESPNPlus.com; 2% at gas stations, grocery stores, restaurants, and most U.S. Disney locations; and 1% on all other purchases.

As a Disney cardholder, you would be entitled to a 20% discount on all spa services on port days. You’d also get a 10% discount on various merchandise, photo packages, and Castaway Cay packages at Disney’s private island. And you could pay for these discounted services and merchandise with the Disney Dollars you racked up.

Cruise-line specific cards: Are they your best bet?

There are many cruise line-specific credit cards out there, like the Carnival World Mastercard, the Royal Caribbean Visa Signature and the Norweigan Cruise Line World Mastercard, to name a few.

There’s also a Disney^® Premier Visa^® Card from Chase. Since Disney cruises are among the most popular (and on the pricier side), the Disney credit card may seem like a natural choice.

But the truth is, most of these cruise-specific credit cards are not your best option for cruises. There’s nothing wrong with the cards, but when compared to other “flexible currency” cards their value pales in comparison.

The Disney card, for example, carries a hefty 3% fee for foreign transactions. The Princess Cruises Rewards Visa Card earns only the equivalent of a $100 ship credit as a bonus to new cardholders. And any co-branded credit card will lock you into that cruise line.

That means if you think you want to take a Disney cruise, but end up finding a fantastic deal on a Carnival Dr. Seuss-themed cruise instead, you’d be out of luck if all you had were Disney Rewards.

How we chose these cards (methodology)

We chose the flexible cards above as the best credit cards for cruises because of their stellar welcome bonuses, generous earning potential and a wide range of choices.

When you’re planning your perfect cruise, consider pairing one of these flexible travel cards with a co-branded card like Disney, or with a straight cashback credit card. This way you’re leaving your options wide open, and you’re maximizing your rewards.

Bottom line on the best credit cards for cruises

You should always consider your priorities when choosing the best credit card for you. Would you rather get 2X miles on every purchase and not have to think about categories? Do you highly value the perks from the American Express Cruise Privileges Program and the exceptional Platinum Concierge help? Would the 20% off of spa services on a Disney cruise equal huge savings for you?

No matter how you’re looking to cruise, there’s a perfect card — or cards! — for you to help subsidize much of the cost. Happy cruising!