2017 was a tough year for the cruise industry regarding the sanitation inspections conducted by the United States Public Health Authorities. A record number of fifteen cruise ships fail to pass the inspection, however, on the other hand, many cruise ships passed with a perfect score of 100 points. Looking at the CDC inspection scores for 2017, we decided to do an analysis and find out what is the average score of each cruise line. In this analysis, we used official USPH scores of all cruise ships presented by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website.

#1 Disney Cruise Line 98,75 Points

Number one on our list is Disney Cruise Line which has by far one of the cleanest ships. In fact, Disney considers anything below 95 points a failure of their high standards. USPH Inspectors boarded 8 times on the Disney ships in 2017 and 5 times they received a perfect score of 100 points. Disney Magic has a perfect record of two inspections passed with 100 points. 

#2 Celebrity Cruises 96,81 Points

The premium cruise line Celebrity Cruises, known for their five-star dining experience and state of the art cruise ships maintains high standards when it comes to the USPH rules and regulations. Celebrity ships were inspected 16 times in 2017 by the USPH authorities. Six times their ships received a perfect score of 100 Points. Celebrity Equinox has a perfect USPH record, followed by Celebrity Eclipse with 100 and 98 USPH points in 2017. The lowest USPH score for Celebrity Cruises was 92 points by Celebrity Equinox, which is not that low.

#3 Holland America Line 96,75 Points

Holland America Line is recognized as a leader in the cruise industry's premium segment and their USPH track record for 2017 shows exactly that. Their cruise ships were inspected 24 times last year receiving five times 100 points and four  99 points. In fact, Holland America Line holds the record of the cleanest cruise ship in the history. Ms Eurodam was inspected 3 times last year and each time received 100 points by the USPH Inspector. This vessel has an impressive record of perfect 100’s, 13 times in a row since 2011.

#4 Aida Cruises96,6 Points

AIDA Cruises which is one of eleven brands operated by the Carnival Group catering to the German-speaking market operates a fleet of eleven cruise ships sailing in Europe, Asia, and the Caribbean. Last year five AIDA cruise ships were inspected by the USPH scoring an average of 96,6 points. Fleets highest score of 100 points was awarded to the ship AIDAdiva, while AIDAvita received the lowest score of 93 points.

#5 Royal Caribbean International 95,42 Points

Royal Caribbean has proven that with right people and organization you can follow the strict rules and regulations on the world’s biggest cruise ships. The second largest cruise line scores high 95,42 USPH average points, placing them in the fifth place. Nineteen RCI cruise ships were inspected 38 times by the United States Public Health Authorities in 2017. RCI fleet received six times perfect 100’s and eleven times scores above 97 points. Radiance of the Seas is considered the cleanest cruise ship in the fleet passing the inspection two times in 2017 with perfect marks. Two cruise ships, Allure of the Seas and Freedom of the Seas received the lowest score of 86 points last year.

#6 Cunard Line 95 Points

The Most Famous Ocean Liner in the World, Cunard has an average score of 95 points. Cunard Three Queens were inspected five times in 2017. Queen Mary 2 received 98 and 95 points, Queen Elizabeth 92 and 95 points, while Queen Victoria received 95 points. It needs to be mentioned that on the latest USPH inspection conducted on January 16, 2018, Queen Elizabeth scored low 86 points, which will affect this year’s Cunard rating. 

#7 Norwegian Cruise Line 94,86 Points

The cruise ships best known for the Freestyle Cruising were inspected 22 times in 2017. Out of 11 Norwegian Cruise Line vessels inspected, one fail to pass. Norwegian Sky received failing grade of 83 points in June during the unannounced inspection conducted by the USPH. NCL ships received 4 times perfect score of 100 points. Their cleanest ship is Norwegian Epic which was inspected three times last year, scoring two times 99 points and one perfect 100.

#8 P&O Cruises94,83 Points

Britain's favourite cruise line was inspected 6 times in 2017 by the USPH. All P&O cruise ship passed the inspection. Adonia which is the first cruise ship to take U.S. passengers to Cuba, received the highest fleet score of 98 points, while Oceana received the lowest score of 92 points.

#9 Princess Cruises 94,57 Points

One of the best-known names in cruising and the third largest cruise line in the world had 21 USPH inspections onboard their ships in 2017. One vessel, Crown Princess fail to pass the inspection August receiving 84 points. Only three cruise ships (Caribbean Princess, Coral Princess, Island Princess) out of 18 inspected received 100 points.

#10 Carnival Cruise Line 92,31 Points

The leader in contemporary cruising had a tough year when it comes to USPH inspections. USPH authorities conducted 42 inspections in 2017.  Four ships failed to pass the inspection including Carnival Vista 79 points, Carnival Triumph 78 points, Carnival Legend 83 points, and Carnival Breeze 77 points. Only 3 out of 22 Carnival ships, which were inspected by USPH received perfect 100 points. This year also started badly for Carnival, adding two more ships to the list of ships failing the inspection.