A ship with bad sneeze guards almost failed CDC inspection. A Princess Cruises ship did
A cruise ship failed a Centers for Disease Control inspection in February, and did so by tying the lowest inspection score for any ship since December 2017.
No ship has scored as low as Princess Cruises’ Regal Princess’ 77 on the CDC’s Vessel Sanitation Program’s cruise ship inspections since Carnival Fantasy’s 77 last July. To go lower, you’ve got to go back to Ferries Del Caribe’s Kydon, a 61 out of 100, Dec. 27, 2017. A score of 85 or lower is failing.
No warning is given before a VSP inspection, which are done while the ship docked at a U.S. port. Scoring peaks at 100, but even a score of 100 doesn’t mean there aren’t violations.
Norwegian Cruise Line
Ship: Norwegian Breakaway. Inspected: Feb. 8. Score: 99. Inspection link: Click here.
Standout violations: Two non-food employees worked while having acute gastroenteritis symptoms. One worked a full eight-hour shift and a sales assistant didn’t report to the medical center for 18 hours. Two other employees, an engineer and a musician, didn’t go to the medical center as they should have.
“As a crew member was stirring marinated raw chicken in a large plastic bin, liquid from the raw chicken mixture splashed onto the counter and onto a bag of lima beans on the counter next to the bin. Staff stated lima beans would be mixed with the chicken.”
“Black debris was on the food-contact surface of the far left water tap at the restaurant pantry water station.”
Princess Cruises
Ship: Regal Princess. Inspected: Feb. 5. Score: 77. Inspection link: Click here.
Standout violations: “The underlying illness column on the (acute gastroenteritis) log for the crew member that reported on 24 January was left blank. No underlying illness information was recorded on medical records either.”
Fruit flies fluttered in the Portside-Seaview area, the Portside-Dishwashing area and the Horizon Court Buffet.
“No immediate action was taken when low level alarms in the engine control room indicated that the chlorine residual level was low in the Terrace Pool and the bromine level was low in the Beach Resort Portside Whirlpool Spa.”
Passengers were using the Terrace Pool when it got closed for having too little chlorine. A kid in a diaper was in the Plunge Pool. “This facility was not designed for children in diapers.”
In the bakery, “A food employee was observed with fingernails extending approximately 10mm (about four-tenths of an inch) from the ends of his fingers. Dark debris was observed on the underside of several fingernails. This employee was not observed handling food items at the time of the finding.”
“Chilled water lines to three ice cream machines and a blast freezer were not uniquely identified as non-potable water.”
Four warewash machines weren’t working. “Staff explained that they were diverting the cleaning of utensils to other deck pantries. It was also explained that staff have been waiting on parts for a few weeks.”
Regent Seven Seas
Ship: Seven Seas Mariner. Inspected: Feb. 1. Score: 88. Inspection link: Click here. Standout violations: “The soap at the handwash station was visibly runny. Crew retrieved the source soap which was much more viscous when compared to the soap supply at the handwash station.”
At the Pool Grill, “A dead fly was on the ice used to keep the cold buffet items cold.”
On the La Veranda buffet, “The sneeze shields at the buffet did not protect the food closest to the counter edge from contamination. When there were two lines of food, the front line was unprotected. This was throughout the buffet.
“Additionally, passengers were observed with their faces pressed almost against the glass in order to serve themselves from the back of the buffet line.”
A live fruit fly landed on cut fruit that was out for breakfast.
“At least five previously cleaned decorative bowls with round indentations stored in the under counter storage area were soiled with green and brown debris on the food-contact side.”
“There was excessive black debris on the white plastic inside the ice bin. The black debris came off when the surface was rubbed with an alcohol wipe. This was noted in both machines.”
Here’s all the food tossed for being in the “temperature danger zone:” 19 1 and 1.5-pound cottage cheese containers; 25 3-pound containers of cottage cheese; 12 5-pound containers of mascarpone cheese; seven cases of yogurt, each with 48 4-ounce containers; 20 cases of yogurt, each with 12 5.3-ounce containers; approximately 200 7-ounce containers of yogurt; another seven cases, each with 48 4-ounce containers of yogurt; and 30 fresh eggs.
This story was originally published March 4, 2020 at 2:54 PM.
