Bubbles or Bacteria? What’s Really Lurking in Cruise Ship Hot Tubs


Bubbles or Bacteria? What’s Really Lurking in Cruise Ship Hot Tubs



GreenOak/Shutterstock
https://www.fodors.com/news/cruises/are-cruise-ship-hot-tubs-safe
 Lauren Dana Ellman


Read our quick and dirty guide before you settle in for a relaxing soak.



New cruise rituals feel more indulgent than sinking into a steaming hot tub as the waves roll by. Endless ocean views, massaging jets, cocktail in hand—it’s the picture of seagoing relaxation. But while the bubbles invite you to unwind, experts warn that cruise ship hot tubs can harbor risks, from itchy rashes to severe respiratory illness.

Hot tubs are marketed as both relaxing and luxurious: you’ll find them on sunny pool decks, in adults-only retreats, and even in private balcony suites. Yet the same features that make them appealing—warm water, constant use, and shared space—also create prime conditions for harmful bacteria and fungi.
Skin Concerns You Might Not Expect

“Hot tubs can be safe if they are properly maintained and sanitized,” says Michele Green, M.D., a New York City-based board-certified dermatologist. “However, many skin conditions can arise from contamination.”

One of the most common is folliculitis, often referred to as “hot tub rash.” This inflammation of the hair follicles shows up as red, itchy bumps, and, as Dr. Green explains, “can be caused by bacterial infections, such as Pseudomonas aeruginosa, or fungal infections, including tinea versicolor or Malassezia.”

Other potential issues include:

– Dermatitis: High chlorine or bromine levels can trigger dry, itchy, or burning skin.
– Fungal flare-ups: Warm, damp environments can worsen yeast infections or athlete’s foot.
– Worsening chronic conditions: “Individuals with eczema or psoriasis may want to avoid cruise ship hot tubs,” Dr. Green cautions, since exposure can exacerbate flare-ups.
– Infection risks with cuts or wounds: Even the smallest of scrapes or scratches can provide an entry point for bacteria.

Here’s the real twist: The culprit wasn’t the public hot tubs on deck, but private whirlpools inside passenger cabins. Found in select suites on lines such as Royal Caribbean, Celebrity, Regent Seven Seas, Norwegian, and MSC, these private hot tubs are typically maintained by the ship’s crew — drained and disinfected periodically during the voyage. Unlike public tubs, they are subject to lighter regulatory oversight and have been tied to health concerns when protocols are insufficient. That gap, as the CDC found, allows Legionella to flourish.
What Is Legionnaires’ Disease?

According to the CDC, Legionnaires’ disease is a severe form of pneumonia caused by inhaling water droplets contaminated with Legionella bacteria. Hot tubs are a particular risk because bubbling jets aerosolize water into a fine mist.

Symptoms typically develop two to 10 days after exposure, and include cough, fever, muscle aches, and shortness of breath. Untreated, the illness can be life-threatening for older adults, smokers, and those with weakened immune systems.

While outbreaks are rare compared to the number of people who cruise each year, the CDC’s findings highlight how design and maintenance gaps in private tubs can turn luxury into liability.


Here’s the real twist: The culprit wasn’t the public hot tubs on deck, but private whirlpools inside passenger cabins. Found in select suites on lines such as Royal Caribbean, Celebrity, Regent Seven Seas, Norwegian, and MSC, these private hot tubs are typically maintained by the ship’s crew — drained and disinfected periodically during the voyage. Unlike public tubs, they are subject to lighter regulatory oversight and have been tied to health concerns when protocols are insufficient. That gap, as the CDC found, allows Legionella to flourish.
What Is Legionnaires’ Disease?

According to the CDC, Legionnaires’ disease is a severe form of pneumonia caused by inhaling water droplets contaminated with Legionella bacteria. Hot tubs are a particular risk because bubbling jets aerosolize water into a fine mist.

Symptoms typically develop two to 10 days after exposure, and include cough, fever, muscle aches, and shortness of breath. Untreated, the illness can be life-threatening for older adults, smokers, and those with weakened immune systems.

While outbreaks are rare compared to the number of people who cruise each year, the CDC’s findings highlight how design and maintenance gaps in private tubs can turn luxury into liability.


                               
Welcomia Stocks


How Cruise Lines handle Hot Tubs

Public hot tubs fall under the CDC’sVessel Sanitation Program, which inspects recreational water facilities, such as pools and whirlpools, during routine checks. Most ships sanitize these tubs daily—and sometimes multiple times a day—to control bacterial growth.

Private balcony tubs, however, don’t receive the same oversight. After the outbreaks, the CDC urged cruise lines to inventory all hot tub–style devices, review sanitation protocols, and even consider redesigning tubs to limit aerosolization and bacterial growth. Despite this, there has been no public confirmation that cruise lines are broadly removing private balcony tubs on new builds or restricting their use.
Who Should Skip the Soak

Hot tubs aren’t for everyone. While most healthy adults can enjoy them with minimal risk, certain groups should be cautious or avoid them altogether:

– Pregnant travelers: High water temperatures can raise core body temperature, which is unsafe in pregnancy.
– Elderly passengers: Age-related health conditions and weaker immune systems increase the risk of infection and overheating.
– Immunocompromised travelers: Cancer patients, transplant recipients, or anyone with a suppressed immune system are more vulnerable to infections.
– Those with asthma or chronic lung disease: Conditions like Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD) or severe asthma make it harder to fight off respiratory illnesses such as Legionnaires’ disease.
– Young children: Children, including infants and toddlers, are particularly susceptible to overheating and are generally discouraged from using hot tubs.
– Individuals with skin conditions or open wounds, such as eczema, psoriasis, or even minor cuts, can provide easy entry points for bacteria and fungi.




Smart Traveler Takeaways


With a few precautions, you can lower your risk while still enjoying a soak at sea:

– Favor public hot tubs: These are more likely to be regularly inspected, tested, and chlorinated.
– Avoid private balcony tubs: Unless the cruise line provides clear evidence of regular sanitation, it’s safer to stick to the main deck spas.
– Check the water: Green recommends avoiding tubs that look cloudy, murky, or neglected. Clear, odor-free water is a safer bet.
– Limit your soak: Dermatologists advise keeping sessions to 15–20 minutes to protect the skin’s natural barrier.
– Shower before and after: A quick rinse helps reduce exposure to both bacteria and chemicals.
– Don’t ignore symptoms: “If you develop a rash after a cruise ship hot tub, it is best to consult with a board-certified dermatologist for proper treatment,” says Dr. Green.

Cruise-ship hot tubs can be part of the fantasy of life at sea, but they’re not without risks. With a little awareness and the willingness to ask questions, you can enjoy that hot soak under the stars safely and return home with nothing but good memories.


Your Amex Gold and Platinum Are Not the Best Travel Cards. They’re Not Even the Best Amex Cards



Shutterstock/Kevin Brine
https://www.fodors.com/news/news/why-the-amex-green-card-is-better-a-travel-credit-card-than-gold-or-platinum
Greyson Ferguson


There's a way better American Express credit card than the ultra-pricey Gold or Platinum offerings.


If you didn’t know any better, you’d think most travel influencers were trying to push engagement rings or precious metal investments. But no, they’re highlighting the perks of American Express Gold and Platinum cards, while likely hoping you’ll sign up for either so they can nab the reward points commissions.

Both are fine travel cards and come with several perks. However, they also come with massive annual fees that, unless you’re a regular international traveler, might not make the cards worth such monetary investments.
Do the Perks Outweigh the Fees?

Amex Gold comes with a $325 yearly fee, while Platinum has been hit with a new “refresh” that pushes the cost to just under a grand. Once upon a time, Gold and Platinum cards were exclusive to high rollers and corporate executives. Now, American Express sells the cards out faster than a marijuana dealer at a Grateful Dead concert. These are big money-makers for American Express, which means annual fees will only continue to rise.

But what about points? Platinum is surprisingly blah, as you earn 5X miles when booking travel directly through the American Express Travel portal and when booking directly with an airline, while all other purchases net a single point per dollar spent. Gold performs slightly better, with 3X points through the travel portal and 4X through worldwide restaurants and U.S. supermarkets. Everything else is one point per dollar.

Most travel influencers will stop right there, as if those are the best point-earning cards from American Express. The funny thing is, neither card can touch the Green Card, which is the best point-earning card in the Amex portfolio. Why don’t travel influencers tell you about the card? Maybe they don’t know, or maybe they don’t like the minimal commission bonus. Whatever the reason, with the American Express Green Card, you can receive 13X points (or more) on travel purchases.


Why The Amex Green Card is a Better Option

The Green Card earns 3X points on all travel, transit, and restaurant purchases worldwide and 1X points everywhere else (with a $150 annual fee). Now, this doesn’t sound all that great out of the gate, but let’s break it down first. To start, unlike Gold and Platinum, you don’t have to purchase through the Amex travel portal or through airline websites. This means you get 3X points when buying your subway transit ticket, 3X when buying your Euro Rail pass, or 3X when paying to enter a national park. You even get 3X points when booking through Airbnb or TripAdvisor. It’s the ability to book through third-party travel sites that gives you the power to really generate some Amex points.

To cash in, you’ll want to create a free Rakuten account. This is a shopping portal that gives cash back when you start on the Rakuten website (basically, Rakuten receives a commission for sending you to the shopping sites, which it then shares with you). While there is a cash-back option, you can change it to receive Amex points instead (you will need to have an Amex card prior to doing this). Once you have this free account set up, you’ll want to create a free account on a travel booking website, such as Expedia.

The number of points you receive from making an Expedia purchase through Rakuten will change throughout the month. However, hotel and activity purchases usually increase to 10X points about once a week. At this time, if you book a hotel stay or activity (such as a tour of a museum or cooking class), you’ll receive 10X points through Rakuten, which is on top of the 3X points American Express will give you for making a travel purchase. That’s all you have to do. It is important to note that third-party platforms like Expedia and Priceline won’t give you these bonuses for airline travel, so you’re better off buying directly through the airline. At the time of writing, United Airlines gives 2X points, which nets you 5X with the Green Card. That’s on par with Platinum and two more points than Gold.

What’s really great is that if you make a purchase with Expedia, you can earn Expedia rewards on top of your 13X Amex points. This will give you added cash back on future Expedia purchases. If you travel enough, you’ll receive Expedia “Platinum Benefits,” which are pretty much on par with the American Express Platinum Card’s Fine Hotels & Resorts benefits (such as complimentary room upgrades, early/late checkouts, and added hotel discounts).

Other websites, like TripAdvisor, will occasionally boost rewards to upwards of 15X points, which will give you 18X total, though this isn’t as frequently done, so it’s not always possible to time out your TripAdvisor purchases (at the time of writing, TripAdvisor is offering 8X points, which is still great, because it gives you a combined 11X points, while both Gold and Platinum cards would give you a single point per dollar).

Now, it can take time for certain travel purchases to be credited to your account. While some websites like TripAdvisor will credit your points to Rakuten nearly immediately, other sites, like Expedia, will wait until three months after your travel has been completed. Coupled with Rakuten transferring the points to your American Express account quarterly, and it can take anywhere from three to six months to receive your point benefits.

Still, if you’re looking for ways to begin pocketing massive amounts of travel points without the bloated annual fees, you may want to sidestep Gold and Platinum in favor of the American Express Green Card

.


Chris Nassetta chooses to drown out the "noise" and predicts a stonger 2026 and even stronger 2027

Hilton’s Nassetta ignores noise, bets better years ahead

https://www.hotelinvestmenttoday.com/Financials/C-Corps/Hiltons-Nassetta-ignores-noise-bets-better-years-ahead?
By Jeffrey Weinstein


McLEAN, Virginia – Geopolitical and economic turmoil “noise” be damned. Hilton President and CEO Chris Nassetta is willing to bet 2026 hotel performance will be better than 2025, and 2027 will be even stronger than 2026.

“I don’t have my head in the sand, but I like to try and lift up above noise,” Nassetta said on Hilton’s third quarter earnings call. “That’s sort of what I do my personal and professional life, and when I do that, it makes me feel pretty good about the next few years. So, I would bet a lot of money that 2026 is going to be better than 2025 and I bet a lot of money 2027 is going to be better than 2026.”

Nassetta had a lot to say on the call about the next few years as Hilton beat Street estimates with $976 million in adjusted EBITDA based on what analysts said were better than expected SG&A expenses, down 6% year-over-year.

Even better news from Hilton came from its pipeline report, up 5% year-over-year and better than 4% in the second quarter. Hilton raised its net unit growth slightly to 6.5 to 7.0% year-over-year. Nassetta added that he is confident about net unit growth between 6.0% and 7.0% over the next several years.

“I remain optimistic about the next few years. We continue to believe that in the U.S. lower interest rates, a more favorable regulatory environment, certainty on tax policy and a significant investment cycle will result in accelerated economic growth and meaningful increases in travel demand,” Nassetta said. “This, when paired with limited industry supply growth, should drive stronger RevPAR growth over the next several years.”

Nassetta based his optimism on multiple factors, especially in the U.S., which he said accounts for 75% of Hilton’s business. He suggested:

  • Inflation is coming down, as are interest rates, which he believes will continue to drop.
  • Certainty on tax policy, which he said will probably last for at least three to five years. Nassetta said tax policy will have meaningful benefits such as bonus depreciation and things that stimulate investment.
  • A regulatory environment that is going to be much more friendly.
  • An investment cycle that is coming but takes time to get embedded in the economy. Nassetta referenced the roughly $1.6 trillion infrastructure bill that is less than 20% spent and the $800 billion chips act that is less than 5% spent.
  • AI investment and all the infrastructure that goes behind it, including energy, data centers.
  • Comps getting a lot easier and better fundamentals that will make the numbers look all that much better.
  • The midterm elections generally being good for business.
  • The energy surrounding the 250th birthday of the United States, which is a year-round celebration.
  • The World Cup, which is another extended event driving business for weeks.
  • A supercycle of underdevelopment with less than 1% capacity growth versus 2% to 2.5% average over a 30-year span.

The AI wave

Nassetta also referenced the potential upside of artificial intelligence (AI) driving efficiencies and redefining a lot of processes that can translate into higher margins by reducing incremental system costs.

Recognizing the gross operating profit challenges owners face, he also referenced Hilton’s announced plans to reduce system fees to operate in the Hilton. He added that the reductions do not include royalty or license fees.

“This has been a difficult time for the owner community in this air pocket where I think really good things are coming,” Nassetta said. “But, at the moment, in the U.S. you’re seeing modestly negative top line. And while inflation has come down, it’s still a little bit elevated. That’s not good for our owner community and why we put this program in place. But it’s also why we want to continue, as we’re in this transition period to faster growth, to utilize every weapon in our arsenal to drive efficiencies.”

Expanding on AI-related opportunities, Nassetta said there are 41 use cases being tested and utilized inside the company today, and he referenced three buckets of opportunities.

The first bucket is reinventing processes to garner efficiencies, which will benefit G&A and allow for repurposing of people to do “higher value things.”

The second bucket surrounds how Hilton goes to market and distributes its products. “We’re in the business of fulfillment,” Nassetta said. “We have a platform and a network, but in the end, we have 9,000 and growing hotels where we control rate, inventory and availability, and the only way you get it is through us. Okay, no other way. What I would argue is it is going to become a much more competitive environment for how consumers get information... It’s a bit of an arms race trying to figure out who the winners and losers are. Where it’s going is super good for us if we are intelligent about how we go to market and how we distribute our products, making sure we always deliver on the fulfillment side.”

The third bucket is the customer experience. Nassetta said Hilton is evolving its tech stack to create services and deliver a much better customer experience, meaning mass customization, understanding customers, being able to take all the data they’ve captured and enable teams on the property side to customize experiences, resolve problems in real time in a way that they never been able to do. “This isn’t a pipe dream... We’re doing it, testing and learning. And we think there’s a huge opportunity,” Nassetta said.

Third quarter numbers

Turning to development, during the third quarter, Hilton opened 199 hotels (24,000 rooms) and achieved net unit growth of 6.5%. Openings increased more than 35% year-over-year on an organic basis with luxury and lifestyle brands comprising approximately 20% of openings in the third quarter.

In Asia Pacific, Hilton announced plans to exceed 250 luxury and lifestyle hotels in the coming years, representing portfolio growth of more than 50%.

Conversions remain integral to Hilton’s growth story and Nassetta said they expect nearly 40% of openings in 2025 to be conversions across 12 of brands sourced from a mix of independent hotels and competitor brands.

Earlier this month, Hilton launched a lifestyle-focused soft brand called Outset Collection by Hilton. To date, Nassetta said they have more than 60 hotels in development with long-term growth potential of more than 500 hotels across North America alone. They will open the first several hotels in the collection in the fourth quarter.

In addition to strong openings, Hilton signed 33,000 rooms in the quarter, up over 25% year-over-year on an organic basis and increased its development pipeline to more than 515,000 rooms.

Hilton expects global new development starts to finish up nearly 20% and up over 25% in the U.S. year-over-year. Nonetheless, construction starts remain below 2019 levels.

On the performance side, U.S. RevPAR decreased 2.3% in the third quarter, largely driven by pressure across business transient and group. Holiday shifts, declines in government spend, portfolio renovations and international inbound demand also weighed on performance.

For full year 2025, Hilton expects U.S. RevPAR to be roughly flat versus 2024.

Outside the U.S., third quarter RevPAR increased 4.3% year-over-year, driven by strong demand in both leisure and group segments. For full year 2025, Hilton expects RevPAR growth to be in the mid-single digits in Europe, driven by rebounds in the U.K. and Ireland.

Third-quarter RevPAR growth in the Middle East and Africa region increased 9.9% year-over- year, driven by robust intra-regional travel growth for both business and leisure segments. For full year 2025, Hilton expects RevPAR growth in the high single-digit range.





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