A sanitation report from America’s National Public Health Agency has revealed the cleanest and dirtiest cruise ships . The Centres for Disease Control and Prevention’s vessel sanitation programme “helps the cruise industry prevent and control the spread of GI illness” by holding random ship inspections, training ship supervisors, and responding to outbreaks. During inspections, cruise ships are evaluated and scored out of 100 for how well they minimise the risk of gastrointestinal infections.
Any score below 85 is “not satisfactory” according to the CDC. This year, the lowest-scoring vessel was Hapag-Lloyd’s Hanseatic Inspiration, given a 62. The report cited several violations including an outdoor grill area ‘soiled’ with a dead bird and maggots, a beer tap caked in old beer foam and an ‘excessive’ number of pest management violations.
The crew’s mishandling of food and lack of sanitisation processes were also called out..