This year’s cruise ship schedule has been hit by poor weather conditions and a particularly busy hurricane season.

Of the 224 planned cruise visits to the island, 29 (13 per cent) have been cancelled so far. That compares with 14 cancellations for the whole of last year, and just nine in 2019.

The latest victim of the weather is regular visitor Liberty of the Seas, which was scheduled to arrive at Dockyard on Monday.

As the threat of Tropical Storm Philippe increased, operators switched destinations and she sailed north to Halifax.

With Philippe expected to make its closest point of approach on Friday, there are concerns of further cancellations this week. Disney Dream is scheduled to arrive tomorrow and Carnival Magic is scheduled to get here on Saturday.

Yesterday, a spokesman for Meyer Shipping confirmed that the number of cancellations this year had been high, and that 95 per cent of them had been because of weather.

The spokesman pointed out that cruise operators had to monitor weather systems closely and had the option of switching to a different destination if sea conditions on the original route were likely to be heavy.

The spokesman said: “It’s not just hurricanes that ship captains are worried about. You really don’t want to be on a cruise ship with thousands of passengers out in rough seas. It’s just not really feasible.

“That’s understandable, but it’s also very frustrating for Bermuda.”

The spokesman pointed out that there had been more cancellations proportionately in the first three months of the year compared with hurricane season.

Of 23 scheduled arrivals between January and March, ten — more than 43 per cent — were cancelled. By comparison, of 115 scheduled arrivals between April and August, there were just seven cancellations. A further seven cruises to the island were cancelled last month.

Despite the heavy attrition rate, it is expected that this year cruise ship arrival numbers will return to pre-pandemic levels. In 2019, 184 cruise ships called at Bermuda out of a projected 193. The industry was hit hard by the Covid pandemic in 2020 and 2021, but bounced back last year when 164 cruise calls were made.

Wayne Furbert, the Minister of Transport, did not respond to requests for comment last night.