Princess Cruises: Bermuda

Dept: Princess Cruises have dropped their Bermuda schedule from 10 visits in 2011, to two for next year. Caravan s gone from 15 to just one, according to The Star. Though Carnival gave no reason for its schedule change, Princess Cruises media relations manager Karen Candy told that its reduction of the Bermuda visits, which were part of its New York City-based departures, was the result of an increase in the number of Alaska cruises and the retirement of one of its ships. We just didn t have the capacity to have the New York run for the 2012 season, Candy said and as the result of a couple of cruise companies cutting Bermuda out of their 2012 schedules, you may have to as well. It s potentially devastating news for Bermuda, whose economy depends to a large extent on tourism. A single cruise ship can deliver 3,000 or more passengers to the island, so a cut of 22 of these ships in a single year means a drastic reduction in visits and, more importantly for the economy, tchachke and rum-drink sales. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.