Twice a year, each cruise ship that sails to or from a U.S. cruise port goes through an unannounced public health inspection. This inspection, which applies to all cruise lines, is done by the Vessel Sanitation Program (VSP) to determine how well the ships are operating and to the check the sanitation standards on board.
During the inspections, all major areas of the ship are inspected including medical facilities, portable water systems, swimming pools and hot tubs, galleys and dining rooms, child activity centers, hotel accommodations, ventilation systems, and common areas of the ship.
To receive a perfect 100, the ship must receive perfect marks on all 44 items on the USPH’s Vessel Sanitation Program checklist. A score of 85 or below is considered a failing score.
So far in 2018, 11 cruise ships have received a perfect 100 score. Which cruise lines have fared the best?
We took last health score from each cruise ship and averaged them together to see which cruise lines averaged the highest scores from their last health inspection. Here are the results:
- 99 – Disney Cruise Line
- 98.7 – Celebrity Cruises
- 97 – Bahamas Paradise Cruise Line
- 96.8 – Seabourn Curises
- 96.5 – Princess Cruises
- 96.2 Oceania Cruises
- 95.9 – Holland America Line
- 95.5 – Azamara Club Cruises
- 95 – Royal Caribbean
- 95 – MSC Cruises
- 95 – Crystal Cruises
- 94.8 – Norwegian Cruise Line
- 94.48 – Carnival Cruise Line
- 93.5 – Viking Ocean Cruises
- 93.5 – Regent Seven Seas Cruises
- 92.7 – Silversea Cruises
- 90.7 – Cunard Line
It is worth nothing that cruise lines that have cruise ships which do not visit a U.S. cruise port are not included in the results since the VSP does not inspect them.
Only one cruise ship (Silver Wind) failed their last health inspection.
To see how a particular cruise ship has fared during recent inspections, visit the Vessel Sanitation Program over at CDC.gov.
