The Cleanest Cruise Lines, Ranked by CDC Inspection Scores
Norwegian leads all major cruise lines with 7 perfect CDC scores in 2024. See how Royal Caribbean, Carnival, Disney, MSC, and Princess rank by VSP sanitation data.
Norwegian Cruise Line consistently ranks as one of the cleanest major cruise lines by CDC inspection scores, with 7 ships earning a perfect 100 in 2024 — more than any other line. Royal Caribbean and Disney Cruise Line follow closely, while Carnival’s large fleet pulls its average down despite several standout ships scoring 100. The industry-wide average across all inspected vessels sits at 96 out of 100, and any ship scoring 85 or below is considered a failing grade.
If you’ve ever wondered whether your cruise ship is actually clean — or if you’re just hoping for the best as you head to the buffet — the CDC Vessel Sanitation Program (VSP) has the answer. The program conducts unannounced inspections of every cruise ship that calls on a U.S. port, rating each on a 100-point scale. We’ve pulled the full 2024 and 2025 VSP data to rank every major cruise line by cleanliness — here’s what the numbers actually show.
What Is the CDC Vessel Sanitation Program?
The CDC’s Vessel Sanitation Program was established in the early 1970s after a series of gastrointestinal illness outbreaks aboard cruise ships raised serious public health concerns. Today it operates as a mandatory, unannounced inspection program for all cruise ships carrying 13 or more passengers that call on U.S. ports.
Inspectors evaluate eight areas on every vessel:
- Potable water systems — chlorine and pH levels, cross-connection controls
- Food storage and preparation — galley equipment, employee hygiene, cold-chain compliance
- Recreational water facilities — pools, hot tubs, spray parks; halogen and pH levels
- Housekeeping — outbreak prevention and response procedures
- Ventilation systems — filtration and air quality
- Integrated pest management
- Medical facilities — outbreak reporting protocols
- Childcare facilities (where applicable)
Ships are scored out of 100 points. A score of 86 or above is considered satisfactory; a score of 85 or below is a failing grade. Failing ships are re-inspected within a short timeframe. All results are published publicly on the CDC VSP inspection query tool.
When we reviewed the 2024 and 2025 data sets, the industry-wide average hovered around 95–96 out of 100 — an impressively high baseline. But the variation between lines is significant, and it matters when you’re choosing where to spend a week at sea.
The Full Rankings: Major Cruise Lines by CDC Score
Here’s how the major lines stack up based on VSP inspection data for 2024 and through mid-2025.
| Cruise Line | 2024 Perfect 100s | 2025 Fleet Avg | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Norwegian Cruise Line | 7 | ~97 | Most perfect scores of any major line in 2024 |
| Royal Caribbean | 5 | ~96–97 | 5 perfect scores in H1 2025; strong overall |
| Disney Cruise Line | 3+ | ~98.7 | Consistently among top performers |
| Celebrity Cruises | 3 | 97.13 | Tied with NCL for 5th in 2025 rankings |
| MSC Cruises | 3 | ~96 | Meraviglia, Seashore, Explora I scored 100 |
| Viking Ocean Cruises | Multiple | ~99 | Top average across all cruise corporations in 2025 |
| Holland America | Multiple | ~96 | Solid performer, smaller fleet inspected |
| Princess Cruises | — | 94.43 | 13th cleanest in 2025; Caribbean Princess scored 86 |
| Carnival Cruise Line | 3 | 95.38 | 11th in 2025; large fleet creates variance |
Data: CDC Vessel Sanitation Program inspections 2024–2025. Averages based on all inspected vessels per line.
Norwegian Cruise Line: Cleanest Major Mainstream Line
Norwegian Cruise Line leads among mainstream cruise brands by raw inspection performance. In 2024, seven Norwegian ships earned a perfect CDC score of 100 — the most of any single cruise company that year. The ships on that list included Norwegian Jade, Norwegian Jewel, Norwegian Bliss, Norwegian Sky, Norwegian Breakaway, Norwegian Escape, and Norwegian Gem.
We’ve tracked Norwegian across multiple years of VSP data, and their performance is consistent rather than lucky. Their fleet average sits around 97, well above the industry mean.
If cleanliness is a priority and you’re considering a mainstream Caribbean or Alaska itinerary, Norwegian’s track record here is genuinely differentiated. You can track Norwegian ships in real time on the Norwegian line tracker.
Royal Caribbean: High Volume, High Scores
Royal Caribbean operates one of the world’s largest fleets — which makes their consistently strong CDC scores even more impressive. In 2024, five Royal Caribbean ships received perfect 100 scores. In the first half of 2025, they led all cruise lines again with five more perfect-score vessels, tied only by Viking (which operates a much smaller fleet).
Royal Caribbean’s sheer scale means a few ships will always be in the middle of the pack, but their aggregate performance is strong. As a parent company (which also includes Celebrity and Silversea), Royal Caribbean Group’s overall average trends slightly lower due to fleet size, but the Royal Caribbean International brand itself performs well independently.
Track Royal Caribbean ships on CruiseKick: Royal Caribbean tracker.
Disney Cruise Line: Quietly One of the Best
Disney doesn’t have the largest fleet — just five ships as of 2025 — but their CDC scores are consistently exceptional. Disney averaged approximately 98.7 out of 100 in Q1 2025, ranking fourth among all cruise parent companies in cleanliness. In 2025, three Disney ships earned perfect 100 scores, including their newest vessel.
Disney’s strong showing makes sense operationally: they build their brand on family-friendly environments, and a contamination incident would be catastrophic for their reputation. The result is a fleet that takes VSP compliance extremely seriously.
If you’re sailing with kids and cleanliness is a top concern — Disney’s numbers back up the premium.
Celebrity Cruises: Premium Line, Premium Scores
Celebrity, part of Royal Caribbean Group, earned an average VSP score of 97.13 in 2025, ranking 5th cleanest and tied with Norwegian. Three Celebrity ships earned perfect 100s in 2024. Celebrity’s smaller, newer-generation fleet (Edge, Beyond, Apex, Ascent) appears to help — newer ships are built with more modern food safety and water treatment infrastructure.
MSC Cruises: Solid, With Notable Outliers
MSC earned three perfect scores in 2024 (MSC Meraviglia, MSC Seashore, and Explora I — the latter being MSC’s luxury brand). The line’s overall average sits around 96, in line with the industry mean.
The one notable outlier: MSC Magnifica scored an 86 in 2024 — the minimum passing grade, and one of the lowest scores among major lines that year. That score came from a single inspection; ships can and do improve on re-inspection.
Track MSC ships: MSC tracker.
Princess Cruises: Room to Improve
Princess Cruises averaged 94.43 in 2025, ranking 13th cleanest among cruise lines — below the industry average of ~96. The Caribbean Princess scored an 86 in 2024, tying MSC Magnifica for the lowest score among major mainstream ships that year.
For context: a score of 86 is technically passing but represents a significant number of deductions across multiple inspection categories. It’s not a permanent mark — ships improve — but it’s worth noting before booking on older Princess vessels.
Track Princess ships: Princess tracker.
Carnival Cruise Line: Biggest Fleet, Mixed Results
Carnival runs the most inspections of any cruise company — in 2025, CDC inspectors checked 12 Carnival ships, more than any other brand. With 26+ active ships calling on U.S. ports, that volume inevitably reveals variance.
Carnival’s 2025 average was 95.38, ranking 11th among cruise lines. Three ships earned perfect 100s in 2024, but the fleet-wide drag is real. In 2025, Carnival remained the 11th-ranked line overall — middle of the pack for a brand that is, by passenger volume, the largest in the world.
To be fair: a 95.38 average still represents a highly functional sanitation program. But if you’re cross-shopping Carnival vs. Norwegian on a budget itinerary, Norwegian’s VSP record is a legitimate point in its favor.
Track Carnival ships: Carnival tracker.
What a Score Actually Tells You — and What It Doesn’t
A CDC VSP score is a snapshot, not a guarantee. A few important caveats:
Inspections are unannounced but infrequent. Most ships are inspected once or twice per year. The score reflects conditions on a single day — not every sailing.
Scores degrade and recover quickly. A 94 one month can become a 100 six months later, or vice versa. The data is directionally useful across a fleet, but individual ship scores fluctuate.
VSP only covers U.S.-port ships. If your cruise never calls on a U.S. port (some European river cruises, for instance), VSP data won’t exist for that vessel.
High VSP scores ≠ no illness risk. VSP inspects sanitation infrastructure and processes, not epidemiology. Ships can still experience norovirus outbreaks regardless of their inspection score — we break down that data separately in our norovirus rankings guide.
How We Used This Data
For this article, we pulled inspection records directly from the CDC’s public VSP query tool and cross-referenced aggregated analyses from Cruise Fever and cruise.blog, both of which have tracked every 2024 and 2025 inspection systematically. Where only ranges were available (due to ongoing 2025 inspections), we note them clearly in the table.
The rankings above cover Royal Caribbean, Carnival, Norwegian, MSC, Disney, and Princess — the six lines called out in our Cruise Health & Safety hub as the most-tracked by CruiseKick users.
Bottom Line: Which Line Is Cleanest?
Norwegian Cruise Line holds the best record among major mainstream cruise lines by CDC VSP data — most perfect scores in 2024, consistently high fleet averages, and a multi-year track record of leading the field.
Disney leads on average score per ship inspected, but its tiny fleet limits the statistical significance.
Royal Caribbean and Celebrity are close behind, with strong absolute performance and high inspection volumes.
Carnival and Princess trail the mainstream pack — not dangerously, but measurably. If cleanliness is a deciding factor between two otherwise comparable itineraries, the VSP data gives Norwegian and Royal Caribbean the edge.
For real-time ship positions and full cruise news, explore the CruiseKick ship tracker — and check the Cruise Safety & Health hub for more data-driven guides like this one.