Carnival Pride A Surprise CDC Sanitation Failure

[makeup face]

September 13, 2004

Carnival Pride A Surprise CDC Sanitation Failure

Carnival Pride has found itself in an unwanted place -- on the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's "failure" list. The ship, inspected in August in Long Beach, scored an 83; 86 is considered passing. This is the first time the ship has scored anything less than a 90.

Specific problems? According to the CDC's inspection report, fairly significant deductions were taken for sanitizing problems in the crew galley, issues with onboard drinking water and "black moldy residue" in the Casino bar.

A Carnival spokesman told ++++++ that "we're told that, as per Carnival procedure, corrective action was immediately taken after the inspection and the paperwork was submitted ... The Pride is scheduled to be re-inspected next week."

Another well-known ship recently flunked the CDC's sanitation inspection in a more flamboyant way. Windjammer's Legacy, tested in Miami in July, received a score of 76. While the ship, a four-masted schooner launched in 1959, has flirted with passing and failing (oddly enough when it passes -- it nets really superb 90-plus scores), this is Legacy's most dismal showing since 2000.

The ship lost big points for failures in disease reporting (it was late in submitting the required gastrointestinal illness report for five straight cruises), was cited for hazardous food temperature storage (with examples of those in the temperature danger zone ranging from shrimp to cream cheese), and issues with galley dishwashing (food- and debris-soiled equipment and utensils stored in clean areas).

A Windjammer spokeswoman did not respond to a request for comment.

On a more positive note, three of cruising's newest vessels -- Holland America's Oosterdam, Royal Caribbean's Mariner of the Seas and Princess' Caribbean Princess -- all aced the CDC's notoriously difficult inspection on their first go-around.

Where do you go to find this kind of information???

[dalech]

I guess I'd better be careful on board, and not tell my wife. She would probably refuse to go if she found out.

[dalech]

The CDC website has it.

[dalech]

I found the information here: http://www.cdc.gov/nceh/vsp/scores/score100.htm

[makeup face]

dalech ........I'm sure the Pride will be a very clean ship when you board her. The key word here is SURPRISE. You can bet the Pride won't fail again!!!

[dalech]

I am sure that it will be clean as well. It's just that convincing my DW of that may be difficult if she finds out. She gets very concenred about cleanliness issues, and would probably refuse to go. In any case, they are getting reinspected and I'm sure they will do better.

[Jim Bragg]

It takes very little to 'fail' a CDC test. One ship was failed with a score of 75 simply because they were loading supplies and the freezer was left open while doing so and the inspector saw it and took the temp and it was below the minimum. As this was the summer the temp was probably at that temp for no more than a few minutes. When re-inspected the ship received a 98% the next week. One should only be concerned when the ship consistantly gets low grades.
Jim

[Californiacutie]

I think that the day I got off of the ship was when they did the inspection. I was on 8/8-8/15. The ship actually did have some sanitation problems wrong. A child had gone #2 all down the stairs in the kids lounge and it wasnt cleaned up for more than 30 minutes and the room service trays were scattered in the hall ways, some not were not even picked up the whole entire cruise!

[buffetfan2004]

For peace of mind:
It may be of help to pack some hand sanitzing lotion (Purel, Bath & Body) that you can carry with you. You could also bring sanitizing wipes and air sanitizer (Oust) with you for the cabin and wipe counters before you unpack. I work in a dental office and follow these procedures as most "germs" are picked up by hands. I also wash my hands in lavatories, then using the paper towel I dried hands with use this to open the restroom door, hold door with foot and throw towel away-- truly a dental hygienist trick most of us know.

[dalech]

Here's the report: http://www2.cdc.gov/nceh/vsp/VSP_In...tDate=8/15/2004