Holland America Line’s Veendam earned its second consecutive perfect score of 100 on a recent routine United States Public Health inspection conducted by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The ship also earned a perfect score of 100 on an inspection conducted by Health Canada.
Veendam’s unannounced U.S.P.H. inspection was held May 21, 2016, during a turnaround call at Boston, Massachusetts, at the start of a seven-day Bermuda cruise. The ship also received a score of 100 on a Health Canada inspection held May 12 at Halifax, Nova Scotia, in the middle of a Canada/New England voyage. Prior to those inspections, Veendam received a perfect U.S.P.H. score in August 2015 during a call at Boston.
In March 2016, Eurodam earned its 10th consecutive score of 100, making it the first ship in company history to receive as many consecutive perfect scores. In 2015, seven Holland America Line ships received a total of 10 perfect scores: Eurodam, Nieuw Amsterdam, Noordam, Ryndam, Statendam and Veendam.
CDC inspections are part of the Vessel Sanitation Program, which was introduced in the early 1970s and is required for all passenger ships that call at a U.S. port. The inspections are unannounced and are carried out by officials from the United States Public Health Service twice a year for every cruise ship. Health Canada's Cruise Ship Inspection Program harmonizes with the United States’ CDC Vessel Sanitation Program, and inspections are conducted once a year when cruise ships visit Canadian ports.
The score, on a scale from one to 100, is assigned on the basis of a checklist involving dozens of areas of assessment, encompassing hygiene and sanitation of food (from storage to preparation), overall galley cleanliness, water, shipboard personnel and the ship as a whole.
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