If you’ve been following recent reports of norovirus outbreaks on cruise ships and have been worried about cruising, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has news for you.
CDC has released its Vessel Sanitation List for 2024, and while it lists 9 ships that failed inspections, it also reports that over 151 inspections the average score was 95.9 where any score above 90 is good and 85 is acceptable.
The inspections cover a wide variety of areas, including condition and practices around pools, hot tubs, and play areas. A big part of the inspection covers food and food handling, including the number of handwashing stations and food storage conditions. Some issues have more impact on ratings than others; findings of vermin and roaches means bigger deductions than having fewer handwashing stations than it should.
Ships that score low are usually reinspected within a month to see if they have corrected the situation; last year’s lowest scoring ship got a 62, but improved to 89 on re-inspection.
The ships that scored low, listed below, are from across the spectrum of mass-market ships, a well-known expedition ship operator and even the super-high-end Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection.
- Hanseatic Inspiration by Hapag-Lloyd Cruises (originally scored 62 in September before it scored 89 in October)
- Carnival Elation by Carnival Cruise Line (scored 89 in March)
- Adventure of the Seas by Royal Caribbean International (scored 89 in January)
- National Geographic Sea Bird by Lindblad Expeditions (scored 88 in July)
- Carnival Miracle by Carnival Cruise Line (scored 88 in April)
- MSC Magnifica by MSC Cruises (scored 86 in May)
- Evrima by Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection (scored 86 in February)
- Carnival Breeze by Carnival Cruise Line (scored 86 in March)
- Caribbean Princess by Princess Cruises (scored 86 in March)
