Shopkeepers in Hamilton have seen takings drop now that cruise ships are no longer based in the city, while those in Dockyard are seeing mixed results.

This summer marks the first time the majority of cruise ships are not based along Front Street in Hamilton. All contract cruise ships are now docking in St. George's or Dockyard while Hamilton will receive 11 occasional visits from smaller ships. Meanwhile Dockyard is in a transitional period as ships are moved there and a second pier is currently being built to accommodate mega cruise ships which will bring with them an additional 8,000 people approximately a week.

Somers Cooper, managing director of AS Cooper & Sons said he has noticed a drop in sales in Hamilton."Business has definitely been off compared to last year." he said.

"I feel that the lack of cruise ships is impacting our tourist business. There seem to be fewer tourists in the stores. Other Hamilton shop owners have noticed it as well. One of the issues has been the weather, we have had unseasonably wet weather for May. I don't think we have had good weather for a single Harbour Nights yet so we will have to wait and see. But I do think there are less tourists in the stores."

Mr. Cooper said his company advertises on all the cruise ships to try and attract customers to the city and has satellite stores in Dockyard and St. George's. He said he had not noticed a significant increase in sales in the Dockyard store.

Making Waves manager Kristan Frost estimated the Hamilton store had seen a drop in merchandise being sold valued at approximately $1,500. But she noted they were busier in the smaller Dockyard branch, they are now restocking the store twice a week.

"I've definitely noticed it," she said. "For us it would be a great thing if the cruise ships were back in Hamilton."

Jay Riihiluoma, of Riihiluoma's Flying Colours on Reid Street, said Hamilton shops now had less time to capture the attention of tourists.

"Hamilton has become a destination rather than a home port," he said. "The tourists will continue to come to Hamilton but it may be only for an afternoon or to transfer at the bus station. We used to be the home base so people would come in and out often. Now they may only be passing by once or twice."

He too said he had noticed fewer visitors at the beginning of the summer retail season.

Meanwhile in Dockyard, Tony Johns, of Dockyard Glassworks and the Bermuda Rum Cake Company, said: "Our sales and number of customers is slightly up but this is on par with previous years. My opinion is that there has been no impact to our business so far. We have always had cruise ships here in Dockyard. The only difference now is that there are none in Hamilton.

"We have been advised by Wedco that next year the second cruise ship terminal in Dockyard will be operational, if this is the case and there are two ships side by side, then we will of course see a huge rise in customers and hopefully sales. The issue then will be how do we effectively move this number of passengers around the Island so that the passengers are not unhappy with the Bermuda experience."

Christian Leduc of CL Wire-art Jewellery said: "So far as compared to last year, we in the 'Mall' haven't seen any difference in the number of people coming to Dockyard compared to last year.

"Cruise passengers get off the ship and get on the busses, ferries and taxis to go to Hamilton and various other activities. We are now required to have our shops open until 8 p.m., Monday to Friday. After 6 p.m., the Mall is deserted and we rarely get any business after 6 p.m.

"Also, we have only two ships during the week, one stays from Monday to Tuesday and the Norwegian Dawn stays from Wednesday to Friday, that means less ships per week than we had last year."

Many of the shopkeepers said they were interested to see how the season continued as cruise ships have only been arriving for approximately a month.