Cruise passengers spent an average of $567 on shopping alone during seven-night cruises in the Caribbean, according to a recent survey.

During cruises, which ranged in duration from three to ten-nights long, passengers spent an average of $517 on shopping at destinations during their cruise.

This was one of the findings of a survey, which does not take into account cruises to Bermuda, conducted by a US market research firm Market Facts for the Florida-Caribbean Cruise Association.

The study, which could have implications for Bermuda stores, claimed that cruise passengers are extremely active consumers whose spending habits on luxury goods set them above the average American.

Approximately 2.4 million cruise passengers in 1993 are estimated to spend $1.24 billion on shopping in the Caribbean region, which includes the Bahamas, Eastern and Western Caribbean and Mexico East.

Almost 80 percent of cruise passengers purchased items during port calls, according to the survey.

More than half of all shoppers do not plan purchases beforehand. And 65.9 percent believe that products, in general, are less expensive in the Caribbean, than in the US.

Twenty-two percent said they would have purchased more if service in the port stores was better. And 53 percent would have purchased more liquor if it were "easier to get back to the ship''.