Live Maggots, Dead Birds And Strange Slimes: These Are The 10 Dirtiest Cruise Ships Sailing The Ocean

The massive cruise ships that roam the world's oceans are essentially year-round all-inclusive theme parks. They are also multi-story incubators for infectious diseases. It's not a reputation built on buffet anecdotes but a statistical fact featuring rats, maggots, and insects. Cruise ships operating in the United States are required to be inspected by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) twice per year.

The CDC states that its Vessel Sanitation Program inspections take about six to eight hours, depending on the ship's size and the number of inspectors on hand. The program is targeted at mitigating gastrointestinal outbreaks at sea. Every vessel is scored on a scale of 1-100, with any score of 85 or lower being not satisfactory. Here are the ten lowest-scoring ships inspected by the CDC:

The Crystal Serenity scored 89 after being inspected in February 2024. The Crystal Cruises-operated ship featured a galley full of leaks and wet surfaces. However, the worst issue was in the main ventilation intake room. The inspection report stated:

"The filter housing section was heavily soiled with debris. Staff stated that this area was due to be cleaned every three months and documents were provided. It was discussed that the cleaning schedule would need to be adjusted."

The Carnival Elation scored 89 following a March 2024 inspection. The Carnival Cruise Lines ship had filthy food service areas. A braising pan was being filled with a rusty faucet and ten flies were found on a buffet deck, with one spotted right next to an omelet station.

The Adventure of the Seas scored 89 after an inspection in January 2024. The Royal Caribbean ship featured strange black debris in an ice machine dispenser and a weird residue in a wash station meant to help keep the boat clean. The inspection report reads, "An apparent brown moldy residue was inside the dispensing hose of the antimicrobial wash station closest to the entrance door."

The National Geographic Sea Bird scored 88 after a July 2024 inspection. It's never a good thing when a residue can only be identified by color and the 300 deck galley seemed to be ground zero. The report's note about the galley's handwashing station reads, "Slimy black residue accumulated in areas of peeling and recessed caulk, located between the left handwashing sink splash guard and bulkhead."

The Carnival Miracle scored 88 after an April 2024 inspection. Yes, this is the second Carnival Cruise Lines ship on this list. Two different service lines at the buffet received the same nauseating note: "Excessive silicone between the hot plate bars and the countertop peeled away, and old food debris collected under the silicone."

The MSC Magnifica scored 86 after a May 2024 inspection. It's a surprisingly high score, considering a ship employee had a gastrointestinal illness during the inspection. The report reads:

"On 04 March 2024, a nonfood employee that was classified as a GI reportable case, had a cabin mate that was missing a record of close contact follow-up details. There were also no secondary notes indicating if follow-ups were made for this person."

The Evrima scored 86 after a February 2024 inspection. This ship doesn't feature a typical cruise line naming pattern because it's a yacht operated by Ritz-Carlton. The commercial juice onboard was covered in flies and the ship's whirlpool hot tubs were poorly maintained. The report reads:

"Records indicated that the whirlpools were shock-halogenated daily. The staff manually measured the halogen residual at the beginning of shock halogenation and the end of the hour with a test kit that did not measure above 10 ppm. While documenting that the halogen was above 10 ppm is acceptable, it was consistently recorded that the staff measured 11 or 12 ppm of chlorine with a test kit that is not capable of doing that."

"The filter sand for the three whirlpools has never been changed since the ship was delivered by the shipyard in 2022."

The Carnival Breeze scored 86 after a March 2024 inspection. This is the third and final Carnival Cruise Lines ship on this list. The report mentioned this ship's filthy omelet station, which was serving passengers during the inspection:

"The deckhead above the passenger side of the serving area was heavily solid with more than a day's worth of an oily material. The area was open for service at the time of the inspection. No food was impacted."

The Caribbean Princess scored 86 after a March 2024 inspection. The Princess Cruises ship went further than just having flies in food areas. This time, the flies were physically on the food. The report notes:

"One fly was resting on cheese slices and flying around other burger toppings. The cheese and other toppings were removed and discarded. There were at least 3 additional flies in this outside cooking area."

The Hanseatic Inspiration scored 62 during a September 2024 inspection. The 24-point gap is entirely deserved after reading this portion of the report:

"Pest management and monitoring was extremely insufficient and allowed excessive pest entry into food areas. Several live and dead insects, a dead bird, and live maggots were found in various food areas onboard the vessel. However, the pest management logs indicated there were no known pest issues on board the vessel."

Yes, an inspector found a dead bird and live maggots in a food area. I'm sure that not every cruise ship is as awful as these ten, but there are plenty of other vacations that I could take without stomach-turning gambles.