QE2 ‘Unsatisfactory’ in Sanitation Rating

San Pedro proved to be a fateful port call for two cruise ships this month when the Queen Elizabeth 2 was rated “unsatisfactory” by U.S. sanitation inspectors and Crystal Cruises’ Crystal Symphony earned a perfect score of 100.

The Crystal Symphony is the only ship to earn a perfect sanitation score twice (the first was in 1996) and only the seventh ship in the last 10 years to earn a 100, according to Dave Forney, chief of the vessel sanitation program at the federal Centers for Disease Control. The CDC regularly makes unannounced inspections of cruise ships, reviewing everything from food handling to linen maintenance. It assigns scores, with 100 being perfect and 85 or below being “unsatisfactory.” Its latest report listed 128 ships.

The Queen Elizabeth 2 received a 79 in its Jan. 19 inspection, said Bruce Good, a spokesman for Cunard Line Ltd. “Our people told us they have addressed the problems and are eager to be reinspected,” Good said. But Forney said a reinspection is unlikely for several months because the ship is abroad on a 106-day world cruise. Details of the inspection report were not available at press time last week.

The 30-year-old QE2, perhaps the world’s best-known cruise ship, had just completed an $18-million renovation in December that updated public rooms and restaurants and added two suites. In May 1997 it also received an unsatisfactory rating (80), and it was rated 87 in the most recent three inspections before Jan. 19. Good blamed some of the problems on the ship’s age, which prevents it from conforming to updated CDC standards on space and other construction issues. But Forney said such issues should cause no more than a four-point deduction.

The CDC has also expanded its sanitation information, known as the “Green Sheets,” on the Internet. Previously, it simply listed ships alphabetically, along with their most recent score. Now the ships’ entire inspection histories are available, along with detailed reports containing entries such as “One adult cockroach was crawling on the outside of the oven.” The site is https://www2.cdc.gov/nceh/vsp/vspmain.asp. Forney said the CDC hopes to phase out hard-copy mailings of the Green Sheet, which now goes to nearly 6,000 recipients.