CDC Ranks Cruise Lines With The Cleanest Ships

Cruise ships can be hotbeds of infection and expose passengers to outbreaks of illnesses, which spread easily as they crowd together in confined spaces for days or weeks while they sail around on vacation. Fortunately, the CDC does annual health and hygiene inspections of these ships and a new study uses the results of that data to find out cruise lines had the cleanest fleets last year.

• Research from Squaremouth Travel Insurance analyzes the sanitation scores for each ship from the CDC’s most recent health and hygiene inspections to see which cruise lines are the cleanest to set sail on.
• As part of the CDC’s Vessel Sanitation Program, ships are inspected twice a year and scored on a 100-point scale, where a grade of 85 or below is considered failing.
• The hygiene rating is based on cleanliness in eight areas including galleys and dining rooms, medical centers, potable water systems, heating and ventilation systems, swimming pools and childcare and activity centers.
• The study finds that “cruise lines with larger fleets tend to rank slightly lower than those with smaller fleets,” and note that the age of the ship doesn’t seem to affect its cleanliness.
• In 2025, 13% of ships inspected received perfect sanitation scores and were the 21 cleanest, while only one ship got a failing score - the Villa Vie Odyssey.
• There was a three-way tie for the cleanest cruise line of 2025: Viking Expedition Operations, Viking Ocean Cruises II Ltd, & Crystal Cruises LTD, which all scored an average of 99.
• The cruise corporations operating the cleanest ships last year were Viking, Virgin and Norwegian.

Here's the list of all 120 cruise ships and their scores.

The Top 10 Cleanest Cruise Lines of 2025

1. Viking Ocean Cruises II Ltd
2. Viking Expedition Operations
3. Crystal Cruises LTD
4. Oceana Cruises
5. P&O cruises
6. Japan Grace
7. Virgin Voyages
8. Norwegian Cruise Lines
9. Celebrity Cruises
10. Royal Caribbean International