---
title: "Aircraft carrier vs cruise ship — size, weight and speed compa"
description: "Aircraft carrier and cruise ship are near enough identical on weight. Compared on 5 measured properties, with the full range and a source for each."
url: https://atoneplace.net/vs/aircraft-carrier-vs-cruise-ship/
site: "At One Place"
---

# Aircraft carrier vs Cruise ship

**Aircraft carrier vs cruise ship: Near enough equal on weight**

Aircraft carrier and cruise ship are near enough identical on weight.

An aircraft carrier and a cruise ship can be compared on 5 measures. The figures below are typical adult or full-size values, with the larger of the two in bold.

## Side by side

*Larger value in bold. Ranges reflect genuine variation, not uncertainty.*

|  | Aircraft carrier | Cruise ship |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Weight | 101,600–106,300 t | 90,000–120,000 t |
| Height | 74 m | 73 m |
| Length | 332.8 m | 250–364.8 m |
| Width | 76.8 m | 48.5 m |
| Typical cost | 8,500,000,000 $ | 2,000,000,000 $ |

## What the numbers say

- Aircraft carrier and cruise ship are near enough identical on weight.
- Aircraft carrier and cruise ship are near enough identical on height.
- Cruise ship is somewhat greater than aircraft carrier on length — about 1.1×.
- Aircraft carrier is 1.6× cruise ship on width.
- Aircraft carrier is 4.3× cruise ship on typical cost.

*Weight compared.*

- Cruise ship: 90,000–120,000 t
- Aircraft carrier: 101,600–106,300 t

## Aircraft carrier

A US Navy Nimitz-class supercarrier, the standard against which "the size of an aircraft carrier" is measured.

## Cruise ship

The largest class of cruise ship in service; figures are for Royal Caribbean's Icon of the Seas, the biggest afloat.

> This is a comparison of published measurements, nothing more. It describes how two things differ on measures that have been recorded; it does not predict how they would fare against each other in any situation.

## Common questions

### Which is bigger, aircraft carrier or cruise ship?

Aircraft carrier and cruise ship are near enough identical on weight. Both figures are typical values; the full range for each is in the table above.

### How do aircraft carriers and cruise ships compare on height?

Aircraft carrier: 74 m. Cruise ship: 73 m. Aircraft carrier and cruise ship are near enough identical on height.

### How do aircraft carriers and cruise ships compare on length?

Aircraft carrier: 332.8 m. Cruise ship: 250–364.8 m. Cruise ship is somewhat greater than aircraft carrier on length — about 1.1×.

## Related pages

- [Aircraft carrier vs container ship](https://atoneplace.net/vs/aircraft-carrier-vs-container-ship/)
- [Aircraft carrier vs RMS Titanic](https://atoneplace.net/vs/aircraft-carrier-vs-titanic/)
- [Container ship vs cruise ship](https://atoneplace.net/vs/container-ship-vs-cruise-ship/)
- [Cruise ship vs RMS Titanic](https://atoneplace.net/vs/cruise-ship-vs-titanic/)
- [Aircraft carrier vs nuclear submarine](https://atoneplace.net/vs/aircraft-carrier-vs-nuclear-submarine/)

## Sources

- Wikidata — Wikimedia Foundation (https://www.wikidata.org/) [CC0 1.0]
- Typical range compiled from manufacturer specifications — At One Place (/about/)