Maggots, trash, grime: CDC names and shames dirtiest cruise ships

The US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has come down heavily on some cruise ships, releasing a list of the top 10 dirtiest vessels after it conducted health inspections on 114 ships.

In the latest edition of the agency's Vessel Sanitation Program that scores cruise ships on a scale of 0-100 based on cleanliness, 10 ships received scores less than 89.

As per the CDC, scores of 86 or higher are deemed 'satisfactory' and anything lower than that amounts to an unacceptable score.

The dirtiest vessel identified by the CDC in this year's survey was the Hanseatic Inspiration, operated by Hapag-Lloyd Cruises, which had a lowly score of 62.

With a score of 69, second-dirtiest cruise ship identified by the CDC was Bahama Mama, operated by Balearia Caribbean, while Safari Endeavour operated by Un-Cruise Adventures took the ignominious third spot with a score of 79.

While the other seven vessels in the CDC's list of dirtiest cruise ships had scores above the 'satisfactory' level, they nonetheless performed poorly compared to others.

The AIDAaura, Caribbean Princess, Carnival Breeze, Evrima, Kydon, MSC Magnifica, and the National Geographic Sea Lion, made up the remaining seven, all with scores of 86.

Scores, however, tell only part of the story.

According to a report by New York Post, the CDC report listed several alarming violations on board some of these ships, including grime-covered beer taps, insects (both dead and alive) being found in kitchens and pool bars, a decaying bird covered in maggots, overflowing trash in washrooms, and food items not being stored at adequately low temperatures.

Following the release of the report, several cruise line operators said that they would investigate the lapses mentioned.

It should be noted that the CDC report also identified over two dozen ships that had perfect scores of 100.