It is highly unlikely that Bermuda will see a regular scheduled weekend caller during the 1999 cruise ship season, a top tourism official said yesterday.

While Tourism Minister David Allen was not available for comment on the subject, which he passionately backed in his former role of Shadow Tourism Minister, Tourism Director Gary Phillips confirmed that this was the case.

"It would be a major challenge to affect such a service given the limited time frame we face,'' he told The Royal Gazette .

"For such a service to be successful, it needs to be marketed for a good year in advance.'' The idea of a regularly visiting weekend cruise ship during the season has been pushed by Mr. Allen for some time.

Shortly before the November General Election he revealed that the largest cruise line in the world, Carnival Cruises, was willing to fill that void.

Carnival Cruises representatives said this was a possibility when they visited the Island in March, 1997.

They made a direct appeal to the public offering 18 weekend visits a year out of the Port of Baltimore to a port of the Island's choice but did not apply to the then-Government.

The idea also received fervent support from retailers including Daina Ltd.'s John Casling although fellow retailer Peter Cooper of A.S. Cooper's has declined to back it.

When the former Government released its cruise ship policy in May, 1997, then-Tourism Minister David Dodwell shot down the idea of a weekend cruise ship saying it would tax the Island's infrastructure and put further pressure on struggling local hotels.

That call was picked up by the Bermuda Hotel Association's John Harvey who agreed that a sixth cruise ship calling during the season would hurt hotels.

The subject has not been brushed aside, Mr. Phillips stressed, as Mr. Allen has been reviewing the contracts with cruise lines which are already in place.

But since becoming the Minister of Tourism, his efforts have been focussed on other areas, explained Mr. Phillips.

Primary focus has been on getting the Department's agency review completed so a marketing and advertising scheme can be put in place in time for the Island's 1999 tourist season.

"There are a number of people who have responded to our requests for proposals,'' said Mr. Phillips.

"If it is going to be effective, the new agency and campaign must get into the market as soon as possible if it is going to impact upon arrivals next year.'' This scheme will concentrate on Mr. Allen's plan to put "the Bermudian identity back into Bermuda tourism''.

SEE PAGE 4 FOR EDITORIAL.

BE PATIENT FOR LATE MAIL GVT Be patient for late mail The public is being asked to be patient whilst the Post Office deals with a late flood of Christmas mail.

The service has been inundated with post which arrived on December 24, from the US and UK.

Some of the items date back to December 9 and are in addition to the normal daily service.

The Post Office has asked the public for their understanding as they try to clear the backlog over the next two weeks.

FALSE ALARM FIR False alarm Firefighters responded to an emergency in the Police operations nerve centre at Prospect -- and switched off a false fire alarm.

The automatic alarm sounded in the Comm Ops control and computer room just before 1 a.m. on Sunday.