How do 2024 cruise ships fare on health inspections so far? We examined every CDC inspection report (as of October) to get an average score for each cruise line, as well as reveal how each test ship scored.
*Updated 10/14/24
Cruise ships can be tested twice a year to ensure safety and hygiene. CDC’s Vessel Sanitation Program (VSP) helps prevent and control gastrointestinal (GI) disease on ships.
Areas on board the ship inspected include restaurants, galleys, swimming pools, spas, water systems, waste management, medical facilities and cabins.
Below are details of the latest VSP inspections, including the average score for all ships inspected by each cruise line since January 1, 2024.
Cruise lines are ranked in order of highest average score. Cruise lines that have inspected fewer than 5 ships this year are listed at the bottom of the article.
Summary of results:
- Disney Cruise Line consistently scores above 95 points.
- Holland America Line and Norwegian Cruise Line both have multiple ships with perfect scores of 100 points
- Royal Caribbean has several lower-scoring ships, but also has several older ships with perfect 100-point scores.
- Carnival Cruise Line has been the most tested ship so far this year, but several have scored below 90 points. The Carnival Spirit, which was inspected just last month, received 100 points.
- Celebrities’ scores are generally high, but this year’s Celebrity Horoscope score of 91 lowered the average score.
- MSC only tested 5 ships and the MSC Magnifica scored 86 points, lowering the average score even though 2 ships on Meraviglia and Seashore scored 100 points.
Other cruise lines
The cruise lines listed below had fewer than five inspections this year, so we’ve listed their average scores individually.
- Viking Ocean: Average score: 100, ship inspection: 1
- Viking Expedition: Average score: 100, ship inspection: 1
- Seabourn Cruise Line: Average score: 98.5, ship inspection: 2
- Oceania Cruises: Average score: 98, ship inspection: 2
- Silversea: Average score: 98, ship inspection: 3
- Regent Seven Seas Hotel: Average score: 95.5, ship inspection: 2
- Virgin Voyages: Average score: 95, ship inspection: 2
- Cunard route: Average score: 91, ship inspection: 2
- Crystal Cruises Ltd: Average score: 89, ship inspection: 1
- Lindblad Expedition: Average score: 88, ship inspection: 1
- Margaritaville on the Sea: Average score: 87.5, ship inspection: 2
- Ritz-Carlton Yacht Series: Average score: 86, ship inspection: 1
- Hapag-Lloyd Cruises: Average score: 62, ship inspection: 1
This article will be updated occasionally to keep up with this year’s latest health inspection scores.
Also note that if the cruise ship is sailing away from the United States for an extended period of time, you may not see any health inspection reports. But the ship may be subject to inspection when it returns to a U.S. port.
You can view a more detailed inspection report, including the reasons why the ship failed the inspection CDC test results.
