⏱️ 4 min read
You know what’s surprisingly hard to find on the internet? Straightforward, unsponsored information about whether your cruise ship is actually clean.
Sure, you can dig through the CDC’s Vessel Sanitation Program website. It’s about as user-friendly as navigating a cruise ship buffet during a norovirus outbreak. Or you can read cruise line marketing that assures you everything is sparkly and perfect. (Narrator: It is not always sparkly and perfect.)
That’s why we built the Ship Tea Cruise Ship Database.
What’s in the Database
We track 62 cruise ships across every major cruise line. For each one, you get:
- Latest CDC inspection score — color-coded so you can spot the clean ships (and the… less clean ones) at a glance
- Score history and trends — is this ship getting better or sliding downhill?
- Outbreak records — every CDC-reported gastrointestinal illness outbreak, with passenger and crew numbers
- Ship specs — tonnage, passenger capacity, year built, home ports
- ShipTea Rating — our editorial assessment based on the full data picture
How to Use It
Head to the Browse All Ships page. You’ll see every ship in a filterable grid with their latest scores front and center.
Search for a Specific Ship
Type any ship name into the search bar. The autocomplete will find it instantly. Booking a Celebrity Beyond cruise? Type “Beyond” and you’ll have its full sanitation profile in seconds.
Filter by What Matters to You
Use the dropdown filters to narrow things down:
- Cruise Line — compare all Royal Caribbean ships, all Carnival ships, etc.
- Ship Size — mega-ships vs boutique vessels
- Score Range — only show ships scoring 96+ (excellent), 86-95 (passing), or below 85 (yikes)
- ShipTea Rating — filter by our editorial ratings
Dive Into Any Ship’s Profile
Click any ship and you’ll get its full profile page — complete with score history charts, inspection details broken down by violation area, outbreak timelines, and how it stacks up against its fleet and the industry.
Where the Data Comes From
Everything comes from the CDC Vessel Sanitation Program. These are real, unannounced inspections conducted by CDC environmental health officers. Ships score out of 100, and anything below 86 is a failing grade.
We scrape, normalize, and update this data regularly so you don’t have to wade through government PDFs. You’re welcome.
What Else Can You Do?
The database is just the starting point. From here you can:
- See which ships rank highest (and lowest)
- Look up any ship’s full inspection history
- Track outbreaks as they happen
- Compare two ships head-to-head
No cruise line sponsorships. No affiliate bias on the data. Just the real scores and the stories behind them.
While you're here, try our free cruise tools:
Explore real CDC inspection scores and outbreak data for every cruise ship.