had a much worse 1992. The cruise ships did us a real favour this year and we should not forget that fact. Right now it is easy to say that tourism is down and the solution is more cruise ships.

The reality is not that simple.

With numbers of visitors there is a point of diminishing return for the destination and there is a point where facilities and services become stretched beyond their capacity to provide acceptable quality. There is a point at which numbers of visitors begin to defeat the aim of any resort. Just ask Nassau. You have to be very careful not to make Bermuda uncomfortable for a fast buck. The decision that Bermuda should seek the top of the visitor market was the correct one. That decision has been challenged by the recession and the decrease in visitors but the decision was right for Bermuda. Bermuda cannot and must not deal in numbers no matter how great the pressure because short term gain will lead only to long term pain.

There is confusion now over a fifth cruise ship in 1994. However, it should be clear that the confusion is caused not by the fifth ship itself but because of the increased capacity of two new ships coming into service. Like it or not, and some people do not like it, Bermuda has a contract with Chandris signed in 1990 to provide the Horizon for ten years and the Meridian for seven years. In return Chandris has a first option which can mean a fifth ship in 1994. It was hoped that that ship would be dedicated to St. George's. Now it appears that the extra capacity of the new ships, Song of America and the Dreamward , has forced Chandris to rethink its 1994 plan. Chandris appears to have been scared off by the capacity of the new ships. We think that if Bermuda had continued a level playing field and replaced ships now serving Bermuda with ships of like size, then St. George's would have had what this newspaper has advocated for so long, a dedicated cruise ship.

Royal Caribbean Cruise Line and Kloster Cruises are bringing the two new ships here to replace the Nordic Prince with the Song of America and the Westward with the Dreamward . That sounds good but it creates problems. The two bigger ships increase berth capacity from some 130,000 berths in 1992 to 150,000 berths in 1993. Chandris understands that the increased capacity is, in effect, the same as a new ship and that if it brings a ship on in 1994 Bermuda will then have a six ship capacity.

Thus a new Chandris ship for St. George's would mean a 1994 with huge berth increases, a flooded market and the kind of rate cutting which defeats Bermuda's aim to be at the top of the market.

It is, of course, now open for other lines to supply a ship and that will probably happen. A number of lines have made it clear that they want to come here.

But there must remain questions.

Another ship could damage the market and damage Bermuda's quality image. We believe that St. George's must have a dedicated ship docking at Ordnance Island to maximise the visitor and crew dollars.

Some people feel that passengers who arrive from Hamilton to spend the day in St. George's are more valuable to the town than those on a ship docked in St.

George's.

There is no simple answer to providing quality cruises.