Regulations and Compliance

Cruise lines meet or exceed federal codes and regulations and international requirements to protect passenger and crew health.

For example, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Vessel Sanitation Program (VSP) conducts regular and unannounced inspections to ensure cruise ships are in compliance with sanitation standards that are effective in mitigating illness aboard cruise ships. Our ships regularly exceed the CDC's minimum inspection score of 85. In fact, most CLIA cruise lines score about 95. Scores are available to the public through the CDC Web site.

As part of the Public Health Service Act, the VSP also manages a reporting system for gastrointestinal illnesses on board cruise ships. While we take every precaution to contain the spread of this illness, we proactively report communicable illnesses on board ships to the CDC. The cruise industry is the only travel industry required to submit gastrointestinal illness surveillance data to the CDC, making cruise data readily available for study and for validation of practices and procedures onboard.

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