Cruise ships have sailed into a storm -- hit by claims they are snatching business from Hamilton night spots.

One nightclub boss said ships were flouting a policy curbing entertainment they can provide in port.

And Nelson Hunt called on Government to enforce the policy and stamp out unfair competition between ships and clubs.

"Not everybody is going to survive, unless something is done,'' said Mr.

Hunt, who runs Front Street's Pier Six.

He added Bermudians were already being laid off as night spots faced a cash squeeze.

Yesterday, Tourism Minister David Dodwell said Government was reviewing cruise ship policies. And this included entertainment.

Mr. Dodwell explained the current policy stipulated no casinos could be held on ships in port in Bermuda.

While ship bars could stay open, entertainment was restricted to a dance combo or small orchestra. Discos were allowed.

"The big problem is that cruise directors are dissatisfied with the local entertainment,'' said Mr. Dodwell.

"They feel the entertainment level is not sufficient in Bermuda to please their customers.

"And, therefore, in some cases the policy gets stretched a bit.'' For example, in St. George's recently, people were seen on the decks of cruise ships, listening to loud music.

"This should not have allowed because of the noise factor -- the style of music was stronger than the policy allowed,'' said Mr. Dodwell.

Mr. Dodwell stressed Government faced the difficulty of dealing with the sometimes competing needs of cruise ship customers and night spots.

"It is a big dilemma.'' Mr. Henry Hayward, president of Meyer Agencies, which represents the Zenith , Dreamward and Meridian , rejected allegations the ships were flouting the policy.

"We have reviewed the entertainment programmes on board every night, and there is no breach of any contracts.

"We have passed on the programmes to the department. There are no large-scale entertainments on board while in port.'' Mr. Hunt said Pier Six opened with a fanfare on March 8 this year, hoping to target cruise ship passengers.

The club was ideally sited off Hamilton harbour to tap this market.

But passengers were not coming ashore -- instead they stayed on board to listen to their ship's own heavily-advertised shows.

"As a result we are not getting any people from the ships. We are just not getting the numbers through our doors and our clientele is mostly local.

"You can hear the shows being advertised on board. Ships are clearly breaching the policy and this is happening in St. George's as well as Hamilton.

"I don't think the Department of Tourism is enforcing the policy. The question is: Is it a policy or a law? Is this policy legally enforceable?'' He added: "As I understand it some entertainment on ships has been put out to concession.'' Mr. Hunt said the Corporation of Hamilton or the Liquor Licensing Authority would come down hard on Pier Six if it broke any regulations.

"But we have no recourse when cruise ships break their policy with Government. Some of their practises have to stop.'' Mr. Hunt reckoned cruise ships brought some 5,000 passengers a week to Hamilton.

That amounted to a large number of potential customers for Front Street night spots.

"Obviously not all of them want to come to Pier Six, but if we got a hundred or a couple of hundred, it would make all the difference.'' Mr. Hunt said night spots, including Pier Six, were having to lay Bermudians off because revenues were not as high as expected.

Cruise ship policy making waves He added Pier Six was not alone in suffering -- although other club owners were not speaking out.

"I could have opened my club on December, 1995, but I deliberately delayed the opening so it would not take away business over Christmas from other local clubs.

"This club was built as an attempt to take up the slack in the entertainment field and to showcase local groups.

"The tourist exit polls always showed there was not a variety of entertainment locally, and our market was primarily tourists.

"We don't want to take any business away from other local clubs, but this is what is happening.'' Mr. Hunt said one cruise ship had offered to send passengers to Pier Six, for a hefty commission.

"They wanted 30 percent of the cover charge at the door, and there no way we would agree to that.

"We would accept to pay a reasonable commission, such as 15 percent.'' Despite the problems, Mr. Hunt said there was no danger of Pier Six closing.

"I am not going anywhere,'' he stressed.

Mr. Dodwell said he had sympathy for Mr. Hunt.

"Mr. Hunt has obviously put a lot of money in his club and needs a return.'' He added: "But the problem is nothing new. On the one side, the policy says entertainment on ships must be limited, but cruise ship directors say we are not providing their customers with the type and quantity of entertainment they want.

"They say when you go into Hamilton there is little live music. And it does seem, if you look at Front Street, you have mainly discos, except, perhaps, for Flanagan's, the Porch and Pier Six. You can't force people to go to clubs.

"Ships do all sorts of things to keep their passengers amused, including auctions and games. They also have films and TV.'' Mr. Dodwell said the policy between cruise ships and Government was a contract.

"I guess it's enforceable, but whether one goes to court to do so is another question.''