Celebrity Summit's 01-19-13 CDC Vessel Sanitation Report A Dismal 81 Failure!

We were horrified to read the CDC's latest inspection report on the Celebrity Summit, as we are taking a B2B Bermuda cruise in early May. The Summit did not pass inspection, with many violations, (see link below).

http://wwwn.cdc.gov/InspectionQueryT...etrD%2fe0kI%3d

(In the first "cruse ship" listings drop-down box, click on Celebrity Summit to read the report).

As you can see, there were deliberate unreported crew Norovirus incidents aboard the ship, and many sanitation problems, which you will note when you read the report.

Any CDC score of 85 or lower is considered unsatisfactory, and The Summit only scored a dismal 81.

This is disgraceful, unacceptable, and we are very concerned... :(

I'll have to take your word on it, as the link would not open right..'Oops! This link appears to be broken..' Now that Celebrity is certainly made aware of the poor conditions, I only hope they take good care to prevent further problems...We also are on the Summit, but in June. Try this

http://www.cdc.gov/

Found this info....hope it opens up...Relating to the Summit. http://wwwn.cdc.gov/InspectionQueryTool/InspectionDetailReport.aspx?ColI=MTgwMDAyNjc%3d-X9etrD%2fe0kI%3d For all ships.... http://wwwn.cdc.gov/InspectionQueryTool/InspectionGreenSheetRpt.aspx

Try this link. You can also go to the CDC website and their is a link there for all inspections.

http://wwwn.cdc.gov/InspectionQueryTool/InspectionDetailReport.aspx?ColI=MTgwMDAyNjc%3d-X9etrD%2fe0kI%3d

Celebrity has not filed a Corrective Action Report yet.

We are also concerned since we have a cruise booked for June on Summit.

We hope this is resolved before our cruise next month. Very disappointed to hear this and also somewhat concerned.

I would not be extremely concerned at this point. If you look at the history of the Celebrity ships in general and the Summit in particular you will notice a number things. Except on this one occassion Celebrity and the Summit have scored in the high 90's with only one or two exceptions. I think that says that they will make every effort to immediately rectify the problem.

Next I would urge you to read through the documentation of complaints by the CDC. A good majority of complaints revolve around two themes, lack of proper documentation and signage concerns around the buffet. While the incident with a sick crew member is concerning it looks isolated and perhaps or perhaps not the crew member actually worked. CDC recommendation is below:

"Ensure the records for AGE case crew members is accurate and complete, without conflicting information or discrepancies".

Granted there were a few hygiene issues but I think they will be quickly corrected. The fact that Summit has not had a massive NORO outbreak tell me that they handled the problems effectively even if not documented completely.

That report is pretty shocking.

44 items overall weren't in compliance. Who's in charge of cleaning on that ship?

Fortunately the Equinox scored a 97, and that's the ship I'm boarding in 9 days!

It's interesting to note that three Carnival ships scored 100.

A pretty sorry day in Celebrityland.

I believe the principals involved broke the link as it was working fine when I posted it, tested it, and retested it. This wouldn't surprise me, as they wouldn't want this report made public, but it is public information. Thanks for re-posting a viable link! What a shame... :(

http://wwwn.cdc.gov/InspectionQueryTool/InspectionResults.aspx

You can check out all cruise lines and ships.

As a Quality Auditor by trade, my concern is the number of low scores since 2009. Looks like there was a bit of recovery from June of 2011. I wonder if there were any management changes in that time period. The auditors should be looking for trends from year to year, I don't see any of that in the report.

Also keep in mind that a lot has to do with the inspector. From personal experience, some inspectors have their 'hot spots', often looking for obscure things that are overlooked, but always good for a finding.

To pile on to another poster's comment -- logs are tedious and often overlooked or pencil whipped making them easy audit fodder.

One other point -- right before or after an inspection is probably the best time to cruise. They are either getting ready for it, or in case of a bad report - cleaning like crazy because they just got slammed. ;)

Should I worry about summer cruises?? Inlaws loved summitt in the fall. No issues reported.

I remember the uproar on the Cunard board when the Queen Mary 2 failed an inspection:eek:

Well that's a tad alarming....I'll be sailing her in May.

(How long does it usually take for a ship to submit a corrective action statement?)

Noooooooo.......

Some of it, though- an open bottle of water in a vegetable cooler? The standards these ships need to meet vs restaurants on land....

This is not good. I've never sailed on a failing ship before. MSC Lirica got 100 right before I sailed on her.

That is a horrible score and timing could not be worse... note to self, DO NOT ADVISE DW! :eek:

Next I would urge you to read through the documentation of complaints by the CDC. A good majority of complaints revolve around two themes, lack of proper documentation and signage concerns around the buffet. While the incident with a sick crew member is concerning it looks isolated and perhaps or perhaps not the crew member actually worked. CDC recommendation is below:

 

"Ensure the records for AGE case crew members is accurate and complete, without conflicting information or discrepancies".

 

Granted there were a few hygiene issues but I think they will be quickly corrected. The fact that Summit has not had a massive NORO outbreak tell me that they handled the problems effectively even if not documented completely.

I agree completely...there are qualitative trends surrounding a handful of issues. since i work in a quasi-governmental organization, one issue cited typically has a cascade effect...a parent/child type of relationship. if the parent item is out of compliance, all the children have issues as well. the trend of lower scores is something to think but nothing to jump ship over. ;)

lastly, the score was 90 in july and i sailed her in september...and lived to tell about it. I would cruise on the summit in a heartbeat!

happy sailing. :)

How often are these inspections mandated? Once a year, once every 6 months...(?) :confused:

Going the end of May. I read the post-inspection actions and it looked like they were very thorough in addressing the finds. I'm not worried.

We were on Summit for the two weeks prior to this inspection and (obviously) survived.

Random thoughts:

1. Some of the items were duplicate references to the same problem - I'm not sure how that affects scoring.

2. I have to attribute many of the issues, which seem to be result of insufficient training on procedures, documentation, or reporting of problems (either for corrective action or required record keeping) to the rapid increase in the number of ships and increase in venues per ship with no staffing increase. While passenger/staff ratios have been constant, those staff now have to be taking care of more facilities. Every time you add a new bar or restaurant or anything else with more equipment, you need more staff on TOP of the increased staff to maintain staff/passenger ratios and support that equipment.

3. We found (and noted in our review a year ago) that there were insufficient experienced staff mentoring new staff. Many low- and mid-level supervisors were themselves new hires, brought on at the same time as the workers. Personally, I think their seeming failure to invest in, develop, and implement an effective mentoring program when the new ships were ordered, with new staff working for a year or two in training positions has been the major cause of most of the complaints we've had and read.

j

I noted a lot of typos in the "Corrective Action" statements. Likely a language issue, but to me it is further indication of haphazard procedural implementation.

Where did you find the "corrective action statements", fishin'? Please provide a link! Thanks, Kity :)

Here is a link to the "corrective report":

http://wwwn.cdc.gov/InspectionQueryTool/InspectionCorrectiveActionReport.aspx

Also of note, there are only 11 ships that had failing scores (less than 85) since 2007. Of those only 2 were mainstream lines and both were in early 2013.

Here is a link to the "corrective report":

 

http://wwwn.cdc.gov/InspectionQueryTool/InspectionCorrectiveActionReport.aspx

 

 

Also of note' date=' there are only 11 ships that had failing scores (less than 85) since 2007. Of those only 2 were mainstream lines and both were in early 2013.[/quote']

I just did a search and not one Celebrity ship received 100.....

 

 

 

NCL Jewel, Pearl, Sun and Dawn all got 100........

I loved the one about finding E-Coli in the St. Kitts water supply aboard ship. Wonderful!

Does anyone know how often these inspections are performed aboard ship? :confused:

The Corrective Report has a disclaimer at the very beginning to the effect that they cannot verify any of the stated "corrections", until the next inspection is performed. Great stuff! :rolleyes:

Kity

There was a ship, not Celebrity, that received a 69!! Ack!