Cruise Ship Illness Frequently Asked Questions

Norovirus is a very contagious virus. Close living quarters may increase the amount of group contact. People joining the ship may bring the virus to other passengers and crew. Additionally, health officials track illness on cruise ships. So outbreaks are found and reported more quickly on a cruise ship than on land.

Yes. Learn more about other common health concerns during cruise travel and what you can do to prevent illness.

We consider it an outbreak when 3% or more of a ship's passengers or crew report being sick with AGE symptoms. We investigate outbreaks on ships within our jurisdiction. Explore our outbreak information on specific ships.

There could be several reasons why an outbreak isn't posted on our site:

• The number of cases might not have met our threshold for what we can consider an outbreak (3% or more of a ship's passengers or crew report being sick with AGE symptoms).
• The ship might be outside our jurisdiction. Other organizations handle outbreaks outside our jurisdiction.
• People who were sick might not have reported it, so an outbreak could have gone undetected. This is why reporting illness is important.

Cruise ships under our jurisdiction are subject to two unannounced inspections each year. We inspect cruise ships to determine how well they are operating and maintaining public health standards (learn more about the eight areas we inspect). If a ship sails outside of the United States for an extended period, it may not be inspected twice a year, but it will be inspected again when it returns to the United States.

The ship might not be in the inspection database because it does not meet our criteria for inspection.

The ship could be sailing outside the United States for an extended period (in which case it will be inspected and added in the database when it returns).

Cruise ships are scored on a 100-point scale as outlined in our current Vessel Sanitation Program (VSP) Operations Manual.

• Points are deducted when there is a pattern of similar violations or when there is a single, significant violation.
• An 85 or below is a failing score.

We post all inspection scores.

Yes. Ships are responsible for correcting all violations. They must correct certain critical violations immediately.

In addition, some violations can be corrected during the inspection, while others may take longer to correct. Each ship submits a corrective action statement describing how violations were corrected.

A failing score indicates violations that the ship is responsible for correcting. Ships that fail inspections are reinspected within a reasonable period.

People sometimes assume that we will recommend a ship not sail if it fails an inspection. However, we have rarely issued such recommendations.

We may recommend a ship not sail if there are imminent public health risks. Examples of such risks are

• Inability to properly chlorinate potable (drinking) water.
• Inability to keep food within safe temperatures.
• Inadequate facilities for cleaning and sanitizing food equipment.
• Inability to properly dispose of solid or liquid waste.

We may also recommend a ship not sail during an infectious disease outbreak where continuing normal operations could subject newly arriving passengers to disease.

If a cruise line refuses to follow a VSP no-sail recommendation, it can become a no-sail order.

Children who wear any type of diaper, including swim diapers, are not allowed in pools. Swim diapers and swim pants might hold in some solid feces, but they are not leak proof.