CDC reveals cruise ships with worst sanitation scores of 2026

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Vessel Sanitation Program conducts unannounced inspections of cruise ships to help the industry prevent and control public health issues, and the agency’s latest data show seven vessels landing at the bottom of this year’s rankings, according to a Fox News report. 

Ships are graded on a 100-point scale, and a score of 85 or below is considered unsatisfactory. Norwegian Dawn was the only vessel to fail outright this year, scoring an 84 during a March 29 inspection in Tampa, Florida. Carnival Breeze, Kydon and National Geographic Sea Lion each scored 86 — the minimum passing mark — while Sun Princess, MSC Meraviglia and Amadea each came in at 89.

The scores are not static. Carnival Breeze, for instance, had earned a perfect 100 in January before dropping to an 86 on a later visit, underscoring how conditions can shift between the Vessel Sanitation Program’s generally twice-yearly inspections.

Norwegian Cruise Line has since filed a corrective-action report with the CDC addressing the deficiencies found aboard the Dawn, according to the cruise industry outlet Cruise Fever, which reported the ship had never before failed an inspection in its 23-year history.

Gavin Macgregor-Skinner, an infection prevention expert and epidemiologist affiliated with Penn State College of Medicine, told Fox News Digital that the Vessel Sanitation Program “is critical for the health and safety of passengers, staff and the locations that cruise ships visit.” Mr. Macgregor-Skinner added that inspectors examine everything from medical facilities and water systems to galleys, cabins and ventilation during each visit.

Brian Sansoni, senior vice president of communications at the American Cleaning Institute, told Fox News Digital that “cruise ships are shared environments where thousands of people touch the same surfaces every day.” Mr. Sansoni said that without strong cleaning and hygiene practices, germs can spread quickly and raise the risk of illness among passengers and crew.

Fox News reported that 42 ships earned a perfect 100 in 2026, including Royal Caribbean’s Icon of the Seas, Carnival Celebration, Celebrity Apex, Disney Dream, Norwegian Viva and Cunard’s Queen Elizabeth — all of which also appear on the CDC’s own rolling perfect-score report. A lower score, health experts note, does not necessarily mean a ship poses a greater risk of an illness outbreak, since cruise lines report health data to federal officials more consistently than many other parts of the travel industry.