A lot of people in Bermuda, including this newspaper, have been reluctant to see Carnival Cruise Line, or the so-called megaships, come to the Island.

There have been sound reasons for the reluctance. Carnival passengers do not generally represent the demographic (a polite word for wealthy) that Bermuda needs to attract to the Island and passengers on the "fun ships" have a reputation for dropping in on islands for a day, buying, in the words of backbencher Wayne Perinchief, a hamburger and a T-shirt, and taking off again.

Megaships bring their own challenges. These giant ships can strain the Island's infrastructure for a short period of time and then they disappear over the horizon. And their size means that the Island's primary ports cannot accommodate them.

They also pose environmental risks, both in terms of what they might dump overboard and in terms of what might happen should they run aground or be hit by a fire.

Given that, the visits by the Carnival Triumph to Dockyard have been a pleasant surprise. Certainly, shopkeepers and other small businesses have benefited enormously, and the Carnival passengers may have spent more freely than their counterparts on more upmarket ships.

Mr. Perinchief and others are correct when they say that, managed and regulated correctly, Carnival and ships like the Triumph can help Bermuda, especially at a time when the tourism industry is continuing to struggle.

They should be limited to the weekends, in part because injecting another 3,000 to 4,000 cruise passengers onto the streets during the week would cause gridlock. And the ships, of necessity, must use Dockyard, which could certainly use the business.

At the same time, Dockyard needs to do more on the weekend nights to make the passengers welcome. Staging open air concerts, putting up stalls like Harbour Nights on Front Street and opening the stores in the Clock Tower on Saturday evenings would give the passengers — and hotel guests — a memorable and enjoyable visit.

This does not mean Bermuda should welcome megaships to the Island in huge numbers. The key to the recovery of the tourism industry remains the hotel industry, which must return to financial stability by offering high quality vacations at an affordable price.

In the meantime, scheduling visiting ships like the Carnival Triumph, or some of its more upmarket sister ships, such as the Holland America vessels, could help Bermuda tourism.