There’s been a lot of buzz about cruise ship health inspections going away because of job cuts. But is it really true? If you only read a few headlines, you might think that cruise lines were sailing without any guardrails for health and safety.
But those claims have largely been exaggerated and misleading.
These reports and social media posts have definitely made it sound like cruise ships were about to turn into the Wild West in terms of sanitation standards. And it hasn’t helped that several outbreaks have popped up just weeks before many of these claims began circulating.
But the reality is far less scary and doesn’t grab as many headlines. The truth? The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) Vessel Sanitation Program (VSP) remains fully operational, and inspections are continuing as they always have.
Just last week we broke down the 48 inspections that took place in 2025 already and the average scores for each cruise line that was tested.
The sticking point comes from the large number of layoffs at the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), where over 2,400 CDC employees, including some civilian VSP were let go.
This news quickly got picked up by the media and started buzzing in online groups, which led to a lot of worried talk about what would happen to the program. Some people online were even saying that ships would basically become breeding grounds for sickness.
“Goodbye inspectors, hello norovirus,” one user stated on Reddit.
Fortunately, we have some clearer information now. A CDC spokesperson clarified to USA TODAY: “This work has not stopped.”
The VSP relies primarily on 12 U.S. Public Health Service (USPHS) commissioned officers. The important bit is that they were unaffected by the layoffs.
An HHS person also confirmed that these officers will keep things going with the VSP. And it’s worth remembering that the cruise lines themselves pay for this program, not your tax dollars.
So, the VSP does a lot of checks – around 200 every year – and they also keep an eye on outbreaks. So far in 2025, there have been 12, mostly norovirus, compared to 18 last year.
Despite the shake-up with the layoffs, it’s just not true that inspections are stopping. Even with the HHS changes, the VSP is still making sure ships stick to the rules, giving them scores out of 100 and letting everyone know if there’s a bigger outbreak (when 3% or more get sick).
So, if you’re planning a cruise, the crew will still be very busy making sure the ship is clean and safe. And at any moment a surprise inspection can still happen while that ship is in a U.S. port.
The truth is less dramatic, but hopefully it will still get a bit of attention as well.