Vacationers go on cruises to enjoy some rest and relaxation, but many ships that travel the world hide dirty secrets.
The Center for Disease Control (CDC) has revealed the top 10 dirtiest cruise ships of 2024 after health officials randomly inspected 114 different ships.
Inspectors assessed the medical center, drinking water systems, kitchens and dining rooms, pools and hot tubs, household pest and insect control, children’s activity centers, and the ships’ heating, ventilation and air conditioning.
Three of the dirtiest ships are Hapag-Lloyd’s ‘Hanseatic Inspiration’, Princess Cruises’ ‘Caribbean Princess’ and Carnival’s ‘Carnival Breeze’.
Cruise ships carry travelers from around the world in a crowded, semi-enclosed vessel, which can facilitate the spread of person-to-person, food-borne and water-borne illnesses, the CDC said.
When ships are unsanitary, it can further increase the risk of illness among passengers and even lead to deadly outbreaks.
The CDC’s Vessel Sanitation Program (VSP) gave each ship a sanitation score on a 100-point scale, with 100 being a perfect score.
The ship with the lowest score was the Hanseatic Inspiration, operated by Hapag-Lloyd Cruises, which received a score of 62.
This VSP report is intended to address and prevent cases of acute gastroenteritis (or stomach flu) on board.
There have been 10 outbreaks of acute gastroenteritis on cruise ships so far this year, according to a separate VSP report.
Ten ships received a score of 89 or lower, with the lowest being a score of 62. The VSP notes that any score of 85 or lower is considered “unsatisfactory.”
The CDC conducts two surprise inspections of cruise ships each year, assessing the cleanliness of eight different areas on each ship.
The ship with the lowest score was the Hanseatic Inspiration, operated by Hapag-Lloyd Cruises, which received a score of 62.
The report noted numerous hygiene violations, including a beer tap covered in thick brown residue, live and dead flying insects at the pool bar, and a dead, rotting, maggot-filled bird at the outdoor grill.
In addition, several food products, such as milk, crayfish, and raw eggs, were not kept at a sufficiently cool temperature.
Cruise ships transport travelers from around the world in crowded, semi-enclosed vessels, which can facilitate the spread of illness from person to person, through food and water
“Regulators failed to adequately oversee critical and high-risk food processes, allowing unsafe practices in food preparation areas to persist,” the report said.
The next dirtiest ships on the list were Princess Cruises’ Caribbean Princess, Carnival’s Carnival Breeze, the Ritz-Carlton Yacht Collection’s Evrima and MSC Cruises’ MSC Magnifica, all of which received a score of 86.
This score is within the satisfactory range, but the reports still showed some notable violations.
The Caribbean Princess report noted flies and crawling insects in galleys and galleys, a passenger deck with buffet that was contaminated with food and debris, and a missing “wash hands” sign at hand-washing stations.
The Carnival Breeze was docked for violations including a rat catcher that failed to fully prevent external pests from entering the ship, and large amounts of food (including chili, lettuce, tomatoes and cheese) left uncovered in the rain and cold.
“In the crew toilet opposite the dairy refrigerator, waste was overflowing from the waste bin and was collected on deck,” the report said.
The inspection of Envirma found fruit flies flying around the commercial juicer when it was moved, that the filter sand for three whirlpools had not been replaced since 2022 and that a rat catcher was missing.
The MSC Magnifica was fined for violations including clean, sanitized plates being stored in a dirty serving station and heavily soiled kitchen equipment, including a bread slicer.
When the inspector asked the housekeeping manager and crew about the plan for preventing the outbreak of the disease, they were unsure of the procedures. The crew was also unsure whether the room of a passenger who had contracted a gastrointestinal illness had been cleaned and sanitized.
Each cruise line operating the five lowest-scoring ships submitted correction reports detailing how they had resolved or were working to resolve the issues that deducted points from their score.
DailyMail.com contacted these companies for comment, but only MSC Cruises responded immediately.
It said: ‘We are strictly adhering to health and sanitation protocols and while this is a satisfactory score, we have since implemented further improvements on board.’
‘Following the inspection, an improvement program was implemented that fully addressed all of the changes suggested by the inspector. Many of these changes required only minor actions and were implemented immediately.’
“As a result, we believe this current score does not accurately reflect the ship as it currently stands, and we would welcome any future inspections.”
“Ships in our fleet regularly score in the 90s, with both MSC Meraviglia and MSC Seashore both achieving a perfect score of 100 when they were inspected earlier this year.”
Cruising is the only travel industry that regularly reports illnesses to the CDC, because it presents a “unique combination of health problems,” the agency said.
Indeed, cruise ships have a grim history of outbreaks of gastrointestinal illnesses such as salmonella and norovirus, as well as other diseases such as hepatitis A, measles and meningococcal disease.
The majority (82 percent) of these outbreaks occur among crew members, the CDC said.
The most recent outbreak occurred in September, when more than 180 people contracted salmonella on a Royal Caribbean International cruise.
To reduce your risk of getting sick on your next cruise, check the ship’s most recent sanitation guidelines using the CDC’s inspection search tool. Make sure the ship has a score of 86 or higher.
Wash your hands frequently while on board and maintain distance from passengers or crew members who are showing symptoms such as vomiting, diarrhea, or coughing.