Cruise Lines With the Cleanest Cruise Ships Based on Health Scores

Twice a year, cruise ships that sail from U.S. ports receive surprise inspections from the CDC’s Vessel Sanitation Program (VSP).

During these inspections, eight major areas of cruise ships are inspected including medical facilities, portable water systems, swimming pools and spas, galleys and dining rooms, child activity centers, hotel accommodations, ventilation systems, and common areas of the ship.

At the end of each inspection, VSP inspectors meet with ship management to discuss inspection violations and give them a draft inspection report. Within 2 weeks of the inspection, VSP sends a final copy of the inspection report to the ship’s cruise line.

The inspections are unannounced and cruise lines do not know when each ship will be inspected. Cruise ships are scored on a 100 point scale and must score at least an 86 to pass. Any score of 85 or lower fails the ship and requires a reinspection in the near future.

Here are 15 top cruise lines with the highest health scores from recent inspections.  We took the last score from each cruise ship and averaged them together to get the following rankings.

15. Regent Seven Seas Cruises: 93.2 – While Regent comes in 15th place, it is worth noting that only one of their ships has received an inspection since the cruising restart in 2021.  Seven Seas Splendor received a 97 in that inspection earlier this year.

14. MSC Cruises: 93.3 – MSC Seascape scored a perfect 100 while MSC Seaside failed it’s most recent inspection with a score of 67.

13. Carnival Cruise Line: 95.8 – Carnival Cruise Line had four cruise ships score perfect 100s during their most recent inspection: Carnival Celebration, Carnival Panorama, Carnival Valor, and Carnival Sunshine.

11. Oceania Cruises: 96 – Oceania Riviera received a perfect 100 a few months ago.

11. Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection: 96 – Since Ritz-Carlton only has one new ship in service, they scored a 96 on their only inspection so far.

9. Norwegian Cruise Line: 96.2 – NCL had two ships score perfect 100s during their last inspection, Norwegian Joy and Norwegian Pearl.

9. Holland America Line: 96.2 – Holland America Line’s newest ship, Rotterdam, scored a perfect 100 recently.

8. Silversea Cruises: 96.4 – Silver Moon scored a perfect 100.

7. Virgin Voyages: 96.5 – Virgin, the adults only cruise line that sails from Miami, has had two ships inspected with an average score of 96.5.

6. Princess Cruises: 96.6 – Princess has had one ship (Ruby Princess) score a perfect 100 in their most recent inspection.

5. Royal Caribbean: 96.7 – Royal Caribbean, the world’s largest cruise line, has had four ships score a perfect 100 including three Oasis class vessels. They ships were Rhapsody of the Seas, Symphony of the Seas, Wonder of the Seas, and Allure of the Seas.

4. Seabourn: 97.3 – Seabourn has had only one ship inspected since the restart and Seabourn Quest received a 97.

3. Celebrity Cruises: 98.1 – Celebrity Edge, Celebrity Millennium, and Celebrity Summit each scored a perfect 100 during their most recent inspection.

2. Viking: 99.3 – Three out of the four Viking ocean ships inspected received perfect health scores. They were Viking Star, Viking, Sea, and Viking Sky.

1. Disney Cruise Line: 99.8 – Four out the five of Disney cruise ships received a perfect 100 score on their most recent inspection. The only ship that did not was Disney Dream and it just missed that mark with a 99. Disney Dream has scored a perfect 100 in 14 of its 18 inspections.

All scores were verified on the CDC’s website as of June 23, 2023.