Carnival Encounter vs Royal Caribbean Utopia of the Seas

The Carnival Encounter was built in 2002. It was renovated in 2025. 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 22 years older than the Utopia of the Seas, which was built in 2024. The Utopia of the Seas is the first Oasis-class ship to run on LNG, a cleaner burning fuel.

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

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 Utopia of the Seas, the Encounter is 54% smaller in terms of overall tons.

Number of Passengers

Carnival Encounter holds 53% fewer passengers than the Utopia of the Seas based on double occupancy (two people per room). When you look at the "Space Ratio," or tons of ship compared to number of passengers, the Encounter has the same amount of space per person as the Utopia of the Seas.

The Utopia 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 Utopia of the Seas
Class	Adventure	Oasis
Gross Tonnage	108,865	236,860
Length	951	1,188
Beam/Width	118	211
Passenger Decks	14	16
Passengers (double occupancy)	2,636	5,668
Crew	1,100	2,290
Passenger to Crew Ratio	2.4	2.5
Space Ratio (tons of ship per passenger)	41	41

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 ten different dining options like Angelo's, Waterfront Restaurant, and Dragon Lady. Of those options, six are complementary, or included with your cruise fare. The other five options have an additional fee.

The Utopia of the Seas has fourteen more dining venues. Some of its popular venues are Solarium Bistro, Royal Railway - Utopia Station, and Hooked Seafood. fifteen of these restaurants are complementary and the other fifteen have an additional fee.

If you like having a variety of places to eat, the Utopia of the Seas might be a better choice. It has 140% more dining options than the Encounter.

If you're looking to avoid extra money while on board, the Encounter might be a better choice then the Utopia of the Seas. More of the dining options are included in the base cruise fare, potentially saving you money.

	Carnival Encounter	Royal Caribbean Utopia of the Seas
Total Dining Options	10	24
Complimentary Dining Options:	6	15
Additional Fee Dining Options:	5	15
% of Included Options	50%	38%
	See the options	See the options

In terms of drinks and cocktails, you have a variety of choices. The Encounter serves the Pepsi family of products. That means Pepsi, Diet Pepsi, Starry, Mug Root Beer, and Mountain Dew, although the selection can vary by ship. The Utopia of the Seas serves Coca Cola branded products. That includes drinks like 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 Utopia 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 Utopia of the Seas has more pools than the Encounter and fewer hot tubs.

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

	Carnival Encounter	Royal Caribbean Utopia of the Seas
Total Pools	4	5
Pools - General Access	2	3
Pools - Adults Only	1	1
Pools - Exclusive	1	1
Total Hot Tubs	8	7
Hot Tubs - General Access	6	2
Hot Tubs - Adults Only		3
Hot Tubs - Exclusive	2	2

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 60% of the activities below are included in your cruise fare. On the Utopia of the Seas, 84% of the activities are included at no additional cost.

	Carnival Encounter	Royal Caribbean Utopia of the Seas
Adult Only Relaxation Area	✓	✓
Aquatheater	✗	✓
Arcade	✓	✓
Basketball	✓	✓
Carousel	✗	✓
Casino	✓	✓
Climbing Wall	✗	✓
Comedy Club	✓	✓
Dr Seuss Breakfast	✓	✗
Edge Adventure Park	✓	✗
Escape Room	✗	✓
Fitness Center	✓	✓
FlowRider	✗	✓
Ice Skating	✗	✓
Kid's Play Area	✗	✓
Laser Tag	✗	✓
Mini golf	✗	✓
Pool-side Movies	✓	✓
Shows - musical review	✗	✓
Spa	✗	✓
Splash park	✗	✓
Thrill Slide	✗	✓
Water slides	✓	✓
Zip Line	✗	✓
	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 Utopia 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 Utopia of the Seas
Base Daily Gratuities* (Per Person Per Day)	$16.00	$18.50
Tip added to drinks & services	18%	18%
Soda Price	$3.00	$3.50
Domestic Beer Price	$8.75 See drink menus	$8.25 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.

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