Cruise ships are regularly inspected by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to make sure they're offering paying passengers and crew members a healthy and safe environment. And this year, four Royal Caribbean ships earned a perfect score.
These inspections aren't limited to Royal Caribbean, either. All cruise lines, ranging from Carnival to MSC, Norwegian, Virgin, Celebrity, and more, are subject to the CDC's Vessel Sanitation Program (VSP) inspections.
The purpose of the random evaluations is to ensure that the cruise lines are meeting the expected standards of cleanliness and to mitigate the chances of illness spreading on board. They focus on everything from food preparation to basic safety and disease prevention protocols.
Whenever a ship is inspected by the VSP, it's given a rating on a scale of 0-100. Anything 86 or above is considered satisfactory, while anything below 85 is deemed unsatisfactory. The best, of course, is a perfect 100, which reflects the crew members' exemplary standards and meticulous attention to detail.
As the year begins to wind down, the CDC has revealed that 20 ships, including four Royal Caribbean vessels, received perfect scores. Comparatively, five Royal Caribbean ships earned perfect scores in 2024.
These were the cleanest Royal Caribbean cruise ships in 2025:
- Adventure of the Seas (inspected on June 3, 2025)
- Icon of the Seas (inspected on June 4, 2025)
- Ovation of the Seas (inspected on July 1, 2025)
- Utopia of the Seas (inspected on July 21, 2025)
Other honorable mentions
Last year, the lowest-scoring Royal Caribbean ship was Adventure of the Seas, receiving an 89 out of 100. Thankfully, while no Royal vessels had failing scores this year, one was just barely above the unsatisfactory threshold.
When inspected on February 9, 2025, Symphony of the Seas scored a shocking 86 out of 100. The then-6-year-old Oasis Class ship was just one point from failing its inspection.
Afterward, Royal Caribbean implemented over 50 changes to remedy the violations that were found on board, including crew members handling ice with open wounds on their forearms, improper food storage, and failing to properly report children in the youth programs with present gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms.
Read more: After ‘absolutely horrifying’ inspection, Royal Caribbean makes 57 fixes to its cruise ship
The changes were beneficial, and when inspected again on July 22, Symphony of the Seas' score increased from an 86 to a 97.
17 other Royal Caribbean scored above a 90 in 2025, including:
- Anthem of the Seas, 99 (inspected on May 16, 2025)
- Brilliance of the Seas, 95 (inspected on February 1, 2025)
- Enchantment of the Seas, 95 (inspected on June 18, 2025)
- Freedom of the Seas, 98 (inspected on September 6, 2025)
- Grandeur of the Seas, 97 (inspected on June 14, 2025)
- Harmony of the Seas, 98 (inspected on May 18, 2025)
- Jewel of the Seas, 97 (inspected on April 29, 2025)
- Liberty of the Seas, 99 (inspected on January 17, 2025)
- Mariner of the Seas, 93 (inspected on April 14, 2025)
- Navigator of the Seas, 95 (inspected on June 30, 2025)
- Oasis of the Seas, 93 (inspected on June 5, 2025)
- Quantum of the Seas, 98 (inspected on May 19, 2025)
- Radiance of the Seas, 99 (inspected on July 13, 2025)
- Rhapsody of the Seas, 99 (inspected on March 30, 2025)
- Serenade of the Seas, 96 (inspected on June 25, 2025)
- Vision of the Seas, 95 (inspected on March 13, 2025)
- Wonder of the Seas, 98 (inspected on September 5, 2025)
The cleanliness of Royal Caribbean's ships is reflected in the low number of GI outbreaks reported in 2025
Although cruise ships are more susceptible to the rapid spread of illnesses, the CDC's VSP inspections and sanitation standards play an important role in minimizing these outbreaks.
While GI cases across the cruise industry are higher than in 2024, which saw a total of 18 outbreaks for the entire year, Royal Caribbean has managed to limit its reported outbreaks.
Comparatively, 2025 has already seen 20 GI outbreaks reported industry-wide. The most recent was onboard Oceania Insignia, with over 11% of passengers falling ill.
That said, only 3 Royal Caribbean ships have reported GI outbreaks to the CDC, including Serenade of the Seas, Navigator of the Seas, and Radiance of the Seas.
