The Royal Caribbean Group recently rolled out a major update that fundamentally changes how rewards are earned and applied. For veteran cruisers with dozens of sailings under their belts, this represents a massive shift from the old rules. This new program, called Points Choice, has completely altered the strategy for leveling up your loyalty status.
The "Points Choice" Program Overview
Introduced in mid-January 2026 and officially effective for sailings departing on or after January 30, 2026, Points Choice allows guests to take the points they earn on a specific sailing and apply them to the loyalty program of their choice within the Royal Caribbean Group family.
This program connects all three sister brands:
- Royal Caribbean (Crown & Anchor Society)
- Celebrity Cruises (Captain's Club)
- Silversea (Venetian Society)
How It Works in Practice
Previously, points were strictly locked to the brand you sailed on. Now, if a cruiser takes a week-long vacation on a Celebrity ship, they are no longer forced to put those points into the Captain's Club. Instead, they can choose to credit those earned points directly into their Royal Caribbean Crown & Anchor Society account to help them reach their next milestone faster.
- The Window of Time: Cruisers can submit their request to redirect their points anytime before their sailing, or up to 14 days after they disembark.
- How to Request: The redirect can be easily done through the cruise line's app or website via a simple request form.
- Default Option: If no action is taken, the points will simply default to the brand the guest sailed on, exactly as they always have.
How the Brands Calculate Points
Because you can now move the value of a sailing between brands, it is vital to understand that the three lines calculate points differently. While they all base their foundation on the length of the sailing, the multipliers heavily diverge:
- Royal Caribbean: Awards 1 point per night for standard staterooms (interior, oceanview, and balcony) and 2 points per night for suites. Single guests sailing in double occupancy staterooms earn an extra point per night.
- Celebrity Cruises: Scales aggressively based on the stateroom category. Guests earn 2 points per night for Inside/Oceanview, 3 points for Veranda, 5 points for Concierge/AquaClass, and anywhere from 8 to 18 points per night for Retreat suites.
- Silversea: Awards a straightforward 1 "VS Day" per cruise day. Solo travelers paying a 200% single supplement fare earn an additional 1 VS Day per day sailed.
The Status Match Foundation
It is highly helpful to view Points Choice as the second half of a massive loyalty overhaul. It builds directly on the Status Match program introduced in May 2024. Status Match gave cruisers equivalent tier status across all three brands (for example, achieving Diamond on Royal Caribbean automatically grants equivalent Elite status on Celebrity).
While Status Match gave cruisers the perks of their highest tier on any ship, Points Choice now gives them the flexibility to pool their earned momentum into whichever program they prefer to build. Here is exactly how the tiers map across the ecosystem:
| Royal Caribbean (Crown & Anchor) |
Celebrity Cruises (Captain's Club) |
Silversea (Venetian Society) |
|---|---|---|
| Gold | Classic | 1 VS Day |
| Platinum | Select | 100 VS Days |
| Emerald | Select | 100 VS Days |
| Diamond | Elite | 250 VS Days |
| Diamond Plus | Elite Plus | 350 VS Days |
| Pinnacle Club | Zenith | 500 VS Days |
The Fast-Track Strategy
This creates a highly flexible ecosystem that encourages cruisers to try different brands—like venturing into a Silversea expedition or a Celebrity retreat—without feeling like they are sacrificing progress in their primary loyalty account.
But more importantly, because the point calculation methods (the currency) and the required tier thresholds (the targets) are so different, it creates a fantastic opportunity for savvy cruisers to maximize their progress.
If you prefer standard staterooms (interiors, oceanviews, or balconies) and your goal is to reach top-tier perks, applying your points to Royal Caribbean is statistically the fastest route.
For example, if you exclusively sail in Celebrity Veranda (balcony) staterooms, earning 3 points per night, it takes 100 nights at sea to reach Celebrity Elite status (300 points).
However, if you fill out the Points Choice form and credit those exact same Celebrity sailings to Royal Caribbean, you earn 1 point per night. It only takes 80 nights at sea to reach Royal Caribbean Diamond status (80 points).
Because Royal Caribbean Diamond automatically matches to Celebrity Elite, redirecting your points saves you a massive 20 nights of sailing to unlock the exact same premium benefits!