Carnival Encounter
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Carnival Encounter
The Carnival Encounter is a Carnival Cruise Line ship offering cruises in Australia and the South Pacific, providing a family-oriented vacation-at-sea experience aboard a large modern cruise ship. It features an all-inclusive style focused on onboard entertainment, family activities, international dining, and modern comfort. The vessel offers balcony cabins and sails to exotic ports and Pacific islands as part of tropical getaways and sea adventures. This cruise combines leisure, relaxation, and discovery in an environment designed for travelers of all ages. It is particularly suited to families, groups, and travelers seeking an active cruise experience with a wide range of onboard activities and tropical destinations.
Itineraries of the Carnival Encounter
Price and Availability Notice
Prices displayed are provided for informational purposes only. They reflect the rates in effect at the time of their most recent update and are shown in Canadian dollars, per person, based on double occupancy, unless otherwise specified.
Supplier rates, exchange rates, taxes and fees, room or cabin categories, and promotions are subject to change at any time. The applicable price is the one confirmed by a travel advisor at the time of booking, subject to availability. Only the confirmed price shall be considered valid.
It is the traveler's responsibility to confirm the price, inclusions, and applicable terms and conditions before making a reservation. While every effort is made to keep our content up to date, transmission, display, or pricing errors may occur. In such cases, the correct price will be communicated to the traveler before any booking is confirmed. Certain terms, restrictions, and exclusions may apply.
decks plans
Deck - 17
Altitude Nightclub
Deck - 16
sport
Deck - 15
Camp Ocean
Deck - 14
Pools
Deck - 12
Staterooms
Deck - 11
Staterooms
Deck - 10
Staterooms
Deck - 9
Staterooms
Deck - 8
Promenade
Deck - 7
Marquee Theatre
Deck - 6
Guest Service
Deck - 5
Waterfront Restaurant
Deck - 4
Crew
Deck - 3
Crew
Deck - 2
Crew
Deck - 1
Crew
Ship's attributes
Services And Amenities
- Elevators
- Self-service laundry room
- Casino
- Jacuzzi
- Pool
- Beauty salon
- Spa & body care
Specific needs
- Wheelchair accessible staterooms
Technical specifications
- Tonnage: 108865
- Passengers: 2600
- Decks: 17
- Length: 290 m
Frequently Asked Questions
Carnival Encounter began life as Star Princess, built by Fincantieri in Monfalcone and delivered to Princess Cruises on 10 March 2002. P&O Cruises Australia took it over in 2021 as Pacific Encounter, and Carnival Cruise Line renamed it on 29 March 2025 when the Australian brand closed. It shares a hull design with Carnival Adventure and runs one year younger.
Both ships came from the same Italian yard and look alike, but Carnival Encounter sails from Brisbane rather than Sydney. It also went through dry dock first, in Singapore from 16 February to 5 March 2026, which gave it new Cloud 9 thermal suites, five refreshed pools and seven replaced hot tubs. Carnival Adventure waits until February 2027.
Carnival Encounter measures just under 109,000 gross tons, 290 metres long and 36 metres wide, with 14 guest-accessible decks. Double-occupancy capacity sits near 2,596 to 2,600 guests, while every berth filled brings the ship to roughly 3,115. About 1,100 crew serve 1,298 staterooms across 34 categories, including 205 suites and 25 accessible rooms.
Brisbane is home port for Carnival Encounter year-round through 2026 and into the 2027/28 season, with no change announced. Itineraries run from three to fourteen nights toward Queensland, the Great Barrier Reef, Vanuatu, Papua New Guinea and Fiji. Carnival Luminosa joins the Brisbane program during the southern summer to widen the choice.
Carnival Encounter keeps most of its Australian identity: the Waterfront, Angelo's and Dragon Lady restaurants, The Pantry food hall, the Bonded Store, Byron Beach Club, the EDGE adventure park, the 142-metre Twin-Racer waterslide and the Black Circus Theatre. Below the public decks, staterooms still trace back to the Star Princess years and the 2018 refit.
The Singapore dry dock, 16 February to 5 March 2026, repainted the hull, installed Cloud 9 thermal suites with saunas, steam rooms and heated loungers, rebuilt five pools, replaced seven hot tubs and polished the waterslides. One Australian guest noted the irony of heated loungers in Queensland, where summer temperatures already reach 40 degrees on deck.
Carnival Encounter remains an Australian ship in Carnival paint. Guy's Burger Joint, BlueIguana Cantina, RedFrog Pub and the headline attractions of the Excel-class fleet do not appear. Free pizza runs only during an afternoon window rather than around the clock, and soft serve is sold at the New Zealand Natural counter instead of being complimentary.
Reviews split sharply, and honesty serves better than spin here. A Cruise Critic review posted after the March 2026 dry dock cited lingering odours, elevators out of service, poorly maintained public washrooms, a cabin leak and repetitive food. That same reviewer called the crew fantastic. Carnival Encounter rewards realistic expectations rather than assumptions of a like-new ship.
Cabins on Carnival Encounter have lagged behind the public areas. Journalist Tiana Templeman reported that beyond fresh carpet and bedding, her room remained essentially unchanged from the Princess era, without interactive televisions or modern outlets. The inventory covers 205 suites, 515 balconies, 212 oceanview, 366 interior and 25 wheelchair-accessible staterooms.
Carnival Encounter offers the 142-metre Twin-Racer waterslide, the EDGE adventure park with zipline and climbing wall, several pools, a sports court and the Camp Ocean, Circle C and Club O2 youth programs. Several of those, including EDGE, the arcade and the spa, carry surcharges. Cabins sleeping more than four remain scarce, which matters for larger families.
Onboard accounts on Carnival Encounter are billed in Australian dollars, and Carnival confirmed publicly that the currency would not switch to US dollars after the rebranding. The legal drinking age is 18, matching Australian law rather than the 21-year threshold on US departures. Check your card's foreign transaction fees before leaving Montreal.
Several ways. Carnival charges no separate daily gratuity on Australian departures, while US sailings post a fixed amount to the folio each day. Alcohol brought aboard at embarkation or purchased ashore is held until the final morning, which is stricter than the North American wine allowance. Entertainment, packages and onboard rhythm follow Australian expectations too.
Reaching Carnival Encounter takes more than 24 hours in transit. Montreal has no direct service, so the routing runs through a US West Coast gateway and sometimes through Sydney before Brisbane. The transpacific leg crosses the international date line and removes a full calendar day. Brisbane runs 14 or 15 hours ahead of Montreal and observes no daylight saving, so plan at least one pre-cruise hotel night.
Carnival Encounter operates in English throughout. Announcements, the safety drill, shows, menus and guest services all run in Australian English, with no French-language provision of any kind on Carnival's Oceania sailings. Quebec travellers who hesitate in English should factor that in before committing to two days of flying each way.
Yes, and soon. Carnival Rewards replaces the VIFP Club on 1 September 2026, and status does not migrate automatically — every member must enroll and accept the new terms before then, or lose their tier and accumulated days sailed. Earning under the old program ends 31 August 2026 at 11:59 p.m. Diamond status reached by then becomes permanent.
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