The ships of the Prinz Adalbert class were 124.9 meters (410 ft) long at the waterline and 126.5 m (415 ft) overall, and had a beam of 19.6 m (64 ft).
The ships were designed to displace 9,087 metric tons (8,943 long tons; 10,017 short tons), but at full load displaced up to 9,875 t (9,719 long tons; 10,885 short tons); they had a draft of 7.43 m (24.4 ft) forward and 7.9 m (26 ft) aft.
The ships' hulls were constructed from transverse and longitudinal steel frames, over which the steel hull plates were riveted.
The vessels contained fourteen watertight compartments and a double bottom that extended for 60 percent of the length of the hull.
The designers reverted to the use of two heavy military masts that had been discarded in Prinz Heinrich's design.

The German navy regarded the vessels as good sea boats, with gentle motion when the ships' lower fuel bunkers were full.
The ships were responsive to commands from the helm, and steering was controlled with a single rudder.
They lost up to 60 percent speed with the rudder hard over, but suffered only minimal speed loss in heavy seas.
The ships' casemate guns were placed too low, which rendered them exceedingly wet even in a slight swell.
They had a transverse metacentric height of 0.734 m (2 ft 4.9 in).
The ships had a standard crew of 35 officers and 551 enlisted men, though when serving as a squadron flagship this could be augmented by another 9 officers and 44 enlisted men.
The ships were equipped with several boats, including a pair of picket boats, a launch, a pinnace, two cutters, two yawls, and two dinghies.

Prinz Adalbert and Friedrich Carl were powered by three vertical 3-cylinder triple expansion engines; the center shaft drove a three-bladed screw 4.5 m (15 ft) in diameter, while the two outboard shafts powered four-bladed screws 4.8 m (16 ft) in diameter.
The engines were supplied with steam by fourteen coal-fired Dürr water-tube boilers produced by Düsseldorf-Ratinger Röhrenkesselfabrik, which were ducted into three funnels.
Compared to those on earlier German cruisers, the propeller shafts were shortened and better faired into the hull lines to reduce the amount of drag they induced, and they were made self-supporting; these changes were incorporated into all future cruisers and battleships built by the Kaiserliche Marine.

The propulsion system was rated at 16,200 metric horsepower (16,000 ihp) for Prinz Adalbert and 17,000 PS (17,000 ihp) for Friedrich Carl and top speeds of 20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph) and 20.5 knots (38.0 km/h; 23.6 mph), respectively.
Both ships reached higher horsepower figures on trials, though their speeds were not significantly improved.
The ships were designed to carry 750 t (740 long tons; 830 short tons) of coal, though storage could be increased to 1,630 t (1,600 long tons).
This enabled a maximum range of up to 5,080 nautical miles (9,410 km; 5,850 mi) at a cruising speed of 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph).
Electrical power was supplied by four generators with a total output of 246 kilowatts (330 hp) at 110 volts.
The ships of the Prinz Adalbert class were 124.9 meters (410 ft) long at the waterline and 126.5 m (415 ft) overall, and had a beam of 19.6 m (64 ft). The ships were designed to displace 9,087 metric tons (8,943 long tons; 10,017 short tons), but at full load displaced up to 9,875 t (9,719 long tons; 10,885 short tons); they had a draft of 7.43 m (24.4 ft) forward and 7.9 m (26 ft) aft. The ships' hulls were constructed from transverse and longitudinal steel frames, over which the steel hull plates were riveted. The vessels contained fourteen watertight compartments and a double bottom that extended for 60 percent of the length of the hull. The designers reverted to the use of two heavy military masts that had been discarded in Prinz Heinrich's design. 
The German navy regarded the vessels as good sea boats, with gentle motion when the ships' lower fuel bunkers were full. The ships were responsive to commands from the helm, and steering was controlled with a single rudder. They lost up to 60 percent speed with the rudder hard over, but suffered only minimal speed loss in heavy seas. The ships' casemate guns were placed too low, which rendered them exceedingly wet even in a slight swell. They had a transverse metacentric height of 0.734 m (2 ft 4.9 in). The ships had a standard crew of 35 officers and 551 enlisted men, though when serving as a squadron flagship this could be augmented by another 9 officers and 44 enlisted men. The ships were equipped with several boats, including a pair of picket boats, a launch, a pinnace, two cutters, two yawls, and two dinghies.
Prinz Adalbert and Friedrich Carl were powered by three vertical 3-cylinder triple expansion engines; the center shaft drove a three-bladed screw 4.5 m (15 ft) in diameter, while the two outboard shafts powered four-bladed screws 4.8 m (16 ft) in diameter. The engines were supplied with steam by fourteen coal-fired Dürr water-tube boilers produced by Düsseldorf-Ratinger Röhrenkesselfabrik, which were ducted into three funnels. Compared to those on earlier German cruisers, the propeller shafts were shortened and better faired into the hull lines to reduce the amount of drag they induced, and they were made self-supporting; these changes were incorporated into all future cruisers and battleships built by the Kaiserliche Marine.
The propulsion system was rated at 16,200 metric horsepower (16,000 ihp) for Prinz Adalbert and 17,000 PS (17,000 ihp) for Friedrich Carl and top speeds of 20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph) and 20.5 knots (38.0 km/h; 23.6 mph), respectively. Both ships reached higher horsepower figures on trials, though their speeds were not significantly improved. The ships were designed to carry 750 t (740 long tons; 830 short tons) of coal, though storage could be increased to 1,630 t (1,600 long tons). This enabled a maximum range of up to 5,080 nautical miles (9,410 km; 5,850 mi) at a cruising speed of 12 knots (22 km/h; 14 mph). Electrical power was supplied by four generators with a total output of 246 kilowatts (330 hp) at 110 volts.
Prinz Adalbert-class cruiser