After a Royal Caribbean ship nearly failed its health inspection, the cruise line has made big changes to remedy the problems.
Symphony of the Seas had its regular health inspection conducted by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), scoring just one point above "unsatisfactory."
The inspection took place in early February and yielded over 50 violations that raised serious concerns about the ship's hygiene and safety protocols.
These ranged from crew members handling ice with open wounds on their forearms to improper food storage and failing to properly report children in the youth programs with present GI symptoms.
Spencer Aronfeld, known on TikTok as @cruiseshiplawyer, said that it typically costs cruise lines around $65,000 to quickly correct all the violations of a nearly-failing report.
"The score was an 86, which is barely satisfactory. One point less, which is an 85, would have been an unsatisfactory evaluation, which probably would have caused them to have to cancel the cruise," he explained.
Roughly a month after the inspection, a corrective report for the deficiencies was released, which is required by the CDC's Vessel Sanitation Program. However, the VSP can't verify that the deficiencies have been corrected until after conducting the next vessel inspection or re-inspection.
The 8-page document details what Royal Caribbean did to correct the violations and ensure that Symphony of the Seas meets the necessary health and safety standards moving forward.
In other words, it serves as a crucial step to maintain trust with loyal passengers that Royal Caribbean strives to uphold the safety and well-being of everyone aboard their fleet of ships.
Read more: These were the 5 cleanest Royal Caribbean cruise ships this year, according to the CDC
The corrective report details what Royal Caribbean did to remedy 57 violations found by CDC inspectors
Some of the worst violations include improper food storage.
For example, at Johnny Rockets, a metal bin used for disposing of raw hamburger plastic and paper packing was on the front preparation counter and was in contact with the burger topping area.
Before leaving Johnny Rockets, the inspector noticed what appeared to be blood splatter on the preparation counter, too.
In the corrective report, Royal Caribbean claims the, "[standard operating procedure] has been modified and Burgers are unwrapped from plastic and paper packaging before placing them in [a] hotel pan to avoid any cross contamination. Team has been retrained with new SOP."
The initial report also revealed that 25 raw, shelled eggs were stored in a plastic bag in a crew cabinet next to a manager's desk. An unopened bag of potato chips and an open bottle of hot sauce were stored below the raw eggs in the same cabinet.
When the crew was asked about the eggs, the inspector discovered they had been brought into the upholstery office the day before. The eggs, chips, and hot sauce were all taken to the incinerator room and discarded.
According to the corrective report, "Inspections were conducted of Upholstery, Carpenter and Repair workshop areas. Management met with the Division using these areas, [and] reminded them regarding food safety and no food items to be brought to the workshops. Unannounced inspections to continue [on] a regular basis."
Another violation revealed that a crew member accessing an ice machine's technical department in the Solarium had open and scabbed sores on his forearm.
Like the inspector, Royal Caribbean also advised all crew members to protect wounds with bandages before working on any food-grade equipment and before entering food areas.
Still, perhaps one of the most shocking violations was the improper medical identification of acute gastroenteritis cases in the youth clubs.
In January 2025, five out of eleven vomiting and diarrhea incidents reported in the children's activity center weren't appropriately handed. As such, symptomatic children weren't isolated because they were not assessed or incorrectly assessed for meeting acute gastroenteritis.
For example, around 9:20pm on Jan. 9, Adventure Ocean reported that a 9-year-old child had vomited. Less than two hours later, housekeeping reported a vomiting incident on the bed for the same child.
The parents called the medical center around midnight to report multiple episodes of vomiting. They finally brought their child to the medical center around 3:10pm on Jan. 10 for abdominal cramps. The medical notes for the visit stated that the "child has had several episodes of vomiting, fever, and abdominal pain."
This case met the acute gastroenteritis reporting definition, but the child wasn't isolated, and the case wasn't included on the acute gastroenteritis log.
To remedy the violation, Royal Caribbean revised the standard operating procedure for reporting PVI/PFI incidents. Plus, they conducted training sessions with the medical team about acute gastroenteritis knowledge, so they can properly identify and report cases following the criteria as per the VSP manual.
Not only that but in the future, the medical team "will reach out to each PVI/PFI case by calling them twice. If they are unable to make contact, they will [hand the case] over to the security team and guest [relations] to get in touch with the person involved in the incident ASAP."
Speaking of illnesses, while onboard, the CDC inspection team noticed that the child activity crew didn't follow their illness exclusion policy, allowing known symptomatic children into the activity center.
Around noon on Jan. 21, Adventure Ocean reported a diarrhea incident for a 3-year-old child. The activity center reported another incident for the same kid around 8:00pm the same evening, though they indicated that it was "code brown," or non-GI related.
The medical team didn't follow up with the parents to assess for isolation because a non-medical crew member stated it wasn't related to acute gastroenteritis.
The corrective report states, "Every PVI and PFI in Adventure Ocean will be closely monitored. The team has been retrained and coached, and we will be following these steps: Once a PVI or PFI incident occurs in Adventure Ocean, the AO staff will report the incident to the dispatcher and the medical team will be advised of the incident with an additional call to the nurse on duty, providing information about the child."
"The staff will inform the AOM to monitor the incident, adding it to the PVI/PFI log and noting in the system that the child may not return until cleared by the medical team...The medical team will do the evaluation and diagnosis of the child, following up on the incident, and communicating further with AO once the child has been cleared to return to Adventure."
Other violations, including soiled food service items, broken soap dispensers, and areas without written symptom guidance posted were easily remedied by the ship's team.
For example, at the child activity center, an open play area for parents to play with their young children did not have written symptom guidance posted. As such, a sign was printed, laminated, and placed in the area.
Additionally, the soap dispenser in one of the men's restrooms wasn't mounted to the bulkhead, making it difficult to operate.
Corrective action began immediately by the plumping team. Plus, crew members were coached about the importance of hand washing stations always being properly equipped and available.
A pool/hot tub net had also been stored in one of the showers, making it inaccessible for guests during the 1.5 hours the main pool had been open.
Consequently, crew members received training on net storage, ensuring that the shower remains always accessible to guests.
Read more: 10 tips to make your next cruise healthier
