Carnival Cruise Line is one of the industry’s behemoths, operating more than two dozen ships that sail across the globe. But it also has a more dubious distinction of late, with three of its ships landing on the lowest end of the cleanliness spectrum,

"The 10 ugliest A-list movie stars" has a very different group of people than the "10 ugliest actors working in Hollywood." Both of those lists, by the way, are pretty mean, but they show that context matters,

The Echo has compiled a list of the 11 cruise liners that most frequently come to Southampton based on their CDC hygiene ranking.  All ships are given a rating out of 100 and receiving a score of 85 or less is considered a failure by the CDC.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released new data on the most and least sanitary cruise ships of 2024. Ten cruise ships received scores of 89 or lower; a score of 85 or below is considered “not satisfactory.

The CDC’s report listed health code violations, such as a grime-covered beer tap, both living and dead insects swarming the pool bar and a decaying bird covered in maggots near the grill outside. Meanwhile, food items that required refrigeration were not stored at low enough temperatures.

A CDC report exposed severe hygiene issues on cruise ships, including sludge and maggots, urging travellers to check health records before booking.