Sometimes when the cruise ships are in, we don’t even know they are here, Dockyard business owners say.

Heidi Cowen, administrator of the Dockyard Arts Centre, believes Bermuda needs to re-evaluate its cruise ship tourism industry.

“It is a very quiet in Dockyard,” she said. “The types of ships that are coming in need to be looked at again.”

Last month, Wayne Furbert, the Minister of Transport, said 120 cruise ship calls took place in the first three quarters of 2024 with another 57 listed to take place before the end of the year, bringing an estimated 548,064 passengers to the island.

Ms Cowen called these numbers “a great illusion”.

“Our cruise ship picture is not really the best,” she said.

Boyd Vallis, owner of the Fair Trade store in the Clocktower Mall in Dockyard, said Celebrity passengers bought lots of souvenirs from his store.

The MSC Merviglia, one of the world’s largest cruise ships, made its first visit to Bermuda in August 2023. Other MSC ships such as the Poesia also visit Bermuda. MSC ships comes in regularly and stay for several days, but that does not turn into money for local business owners.

Mr Vallis called MSC passengers “$5 magnet people”.

However, he said for five months out of the year Dockyard is dead.

“So I will take the worst MSC day over that,” he said. “Bermuda really cannot choose which cruise ships come here.”

Dockyard restaurateur Maz Shabdeen can see cruise ships from his front step, but has found that does not always translate into revenue. The owner of Anchor Restaurant, Bar & Lounge at 1 Freeport Road has faced a number of challenges with Bermuda’s cruise tourism.

One problem is the demographic of passengers on the various cruise lines that visit.

“Carnival passengers tend to be middle-aged,” he said. “They come off the ship and want to explore things. I know that Carnival encourages its passengers to get off, because my wife and I take a Carnival cruise every year.”

Ms Cowen agreed, saying the Celebrity ships were great.

Mr Shabdeen called the MSC “a flop”.

According to the cruising website Cruiseable, the average passenger is 50 or older.

Mr Shabdeen said few MSC passengers get off the ship. He felt they were older and less likely to disembark, because the ship provides everything they need on board.

“Even the crew don’t get off,” he said.

Ms Cowen said Bermuda needs to be more selective with its ships.

Mr Shabdeen said many tourists have also been pinching pennies since the pandemic began and are on tight budgets. They have allocated a certain amount for a holiday and meals, and that is it.

“Covid-19 had a big impact on everybody,” he said. “People are still recovering. People are still looking for jobs. People are still trying to survive. The pandemic was a lot.”

However, he was optimistic that things will be back to normal next year.

“People are interacting more, and getting out and having parties,” he said. “Even the cruise ships are looking better.“