Carnival Encounter vs Royal Caribbean Star of the Seas

The Carnival Encounter was built in 2002. It was renovated in 2026. The Carnival Encounter is a rebranded ship, previously sailing as Star Princess with Princess Cruises and the Pacific Encounter for P&O Australia. It has been brought into the Carnival family and they added things like the HUB app and Camp Ocean, but it missing several key Carnival elements. For example, they charge for pizza outside of lunch hours and there is no complimentary soft serve ice cream or burgers. It's 23 years older than the Star of the Seas, which was built in 2025.

Comparison Overview

• Ship Size
• Number of Passengers
• Food and Restaurants
• Bars and Drinks
• Pools and Hot Tubs
• Ship Features and Activities
• Cruise Costs
• Onboard Costs
• See Our Detailed Cruise Blog

Ship Size

The Encounter is considered a medium size ship. Coming in at 951 feet long and 118 feet wide, it's roughly the length of 2.6 football fields, as wide as 2.2 tractor-trailers and the same height as a 14-story building. Compared to the Royal Caribbean Star of the Seas, the Encounter is 56% smaller in terms of overall tons.

Number of Passengers

Carnival Encounter holds 53% fewer passengers than the Star of the Seas based on double occupancy (two people per room). When you look at the "Space Ratio," or the total tonnage of a ship compared to the number of passengers, the Encounter has less space per person compared to the Star of the Seas.

The Star of the Seas uses a neighborhood layout to break up large crowds across the ship, often making it feel less crowded.

	Carnival Encounter	Royal Caribbean Star of the Seas
Class	Adventure	Icon
Gross Tonnage	108,865	248,663
Length	951	1,198
Beam/Width	118	216
Passenger Decks	14	18
Passengers (double occupancy)	2,636	5,610
Crew	1,100	2,350
Passenger to Crew Ratio	2.4	2.4
Space Ratio (tons of ship per passenger)	41	45

Food and Restaurants

Food is a big part of any cruise, and the ship you choose can make a huge difference in your food experience.

The Encounter has eleven different dining options like Dragon Lady, Angelo's, and Fahrenheit 555 Steakhouse. Of those options, six are complementary, or included with your cruise fare. The other six options have an additional fee.

The Star of the Seas has fifteen more dining venues. Some of its popular venues are Lincoln Park Supper Club, Surfside Eatery, and El Loco Fresh. Seventeen of these restaurants are complementary and the other fifteen have an additional fee.

If you like having a variety of places to eat, the Star of the Seas might be a better choice. It has 136% more dining options than the Encounter.

Both ships have a similar number of paid versus included dining options.

	Carnival Encounter	Royal Caribbean Star of the Seas
Total Dining Options	11	26
Complimentary Dining Options:	6	17
Additional Fee Dining Options:	6	15
% of Included Options	45%	42%
	See the options	See the options

In terms of drinks and cocktails, you have a variety of choices. Both ships serve the Coca-cola family of products. That means Coke, Diet Coke, Sprite and Barqs Root Beer, although the selection can vary by ship. Most Royal Caribbean ships also have Coke Freestyle machines where you can make 100 different flavor combinations.

There are also plenty of bars available on these ships. You can check out recent the bar menus for the Encounter and the Star of the Seas below.

Pools and Hot Tubs

Nothing beats relaxing by a pool with a nice drink in hand as you feel the fresh sea breeze pass by you. The Carnival Encounter has a total of 4 pools and 8 hot tubs. 1 of the pools and 2 of the hot tubs are exclusive access, which means there's either an extra charge to access them or you need to book a certain class of cabin to have access to them.

Royal Caribbean Star of the Seas has more pools than the Encounter and more hot tubs. There are fewer exclusive pools and hot tubs on the Star of the Seas. If you like ships without extra charges or exclusive areas, this might be a better choice since everyone will have access to these areas.

Tired of loud kids and splashing? One of the pools are adults only on Encounter.

	Carnival Encounter	Royal Caribbean Star of the Seas
Total Pools	4	7
Pools - General Access	2	4
Pools - Adults Only	1	2
Pools - Exclusive	1	1
Total Hot Tubs	8	10
Hot Tubs - General Access	6	8
Hot Tubs - Adults Only		1
Hot Tubs - Exclusive	2	1

Ship Features and Activities

Both ships have lots of activities to keep you busy throughout your cruise. Below you'll see a list of some of the major features on these ships. You might up paying more while on board the Encounter. Only 55% of the activities below are included in your cruise fare. On the Star of the Seas, 74% of the activities are included at no additional cost.

	Carnival Encounter	Royal Caribbean Star of the Seas
Adult Only Relaxation Area	✓	✓
Aquatheater	✗	✓
Arcade	✓	✓
Basketball	✓	✓
Carousel	✗	✓
Casino	✓	✓
Climbing Wall	✗	✓
Comedy Club	✓	✓
Crown's Edge	✗	✓
Dr Seuss Breakfast	✓	✗
Edge Adventure Park	✓	✗
Escape Room	✗	✓
Fitness Center	✓	✓
FlowRider	✗	✓
Ice Skating	✗	✓
Laser Tag	✗	✓
Mini golf	✗	✓
Pool-side Movies	✓	✗
Shows - musical review	✗	✓
Spa	✗	✓
Splash park	✗	✓
Thermal Suites	✓	✗
Water slides	✓	✗
Waterpark	✗	✓
	Learn more	Learn more

Carnival is also known for its energetic theme parties which vary per ship.

Cruise Costs

Carnival and Royal Caribbean are both considered "Mainstream" cruise lines. Mainstream cruise lines cater to a variety of guests, hoping to provide something for everyone. These typically cost about $100 - $350 per person per day.

Cruise pricing is dynamic and varies for each specific sailing based on factors such as departure point, ports of call, and time of year. Typically newer ships cost more, so a cruise on Carnival Encounter will likely be cheaper than on Royal Caribbean Star of the Seas.

Onboard Costs

Another way to gauge the cost of a cruise is to consider how much you'll spend on board. Even though a lot is included in the base cruise fare, you may still spend money on things like spa treatments, specialty dining, drinks, and excursions. In addition, guests can also have to pay for things like gratuities and tips.

Typically guests can expect to spend about 25 - 40% of the cost of the cruise on onboard expenses. In other words, if the cruise fare is $1,000 per person, you might spend between $250 and $400 on extra expenses.

The table below will help you compare onboard prices to see if you might spend more on a specific ship.

	Carnival Encounter	Royal Caribbean Star of the Seas
Base Daily Gratuities* (Per Person Per Day)	$17.00	$18.50
Tip added to drinks & services	20%	18%
Soda Price	$3.25	$3.50
Domestic Beer Price	$8.25 See drink menus	$7.49 See drink menus
Drink Package Price	$83 - $88 Learn more	$77 - $118 Learn more
Internet Plan	$18.70 to $23.80 per device per day	$19 to $30 per device per day
*Daily gratuities for a standard cabin. Suites or specialty rooms may have higher rates.

Royal Caribbean uses dynamic pricing, which means the pricing for many things will vary per sailing. The daily gratuities and tip are consistent across the fleet, but the pricing for the drink package, internet, and excursions will change. The only way to know your price is to consult the Royal Caribbean cruise planner once you're booked.

We sailed aboard the Royal Caribbean Star of the Seas

Follow along on our sailing on the Royal Caribbean Star of the Seas. We take you through every aspect of our sailing, from getting to the port to debarking the ship. See the schedule of events, menus, what excursions we did, and what we really thought about the ship.

Star of the Seas - Cruise Blog - Day 1 - Port Canaveral

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