Bermuda is the sixth most popular cruise destination for North Americans, a new survey shows.

The Island boasts 4.2 percent of bookings across the US and Canada, according to Cruise Holidays, the largest cruise specialty retailer in the continent. The Caribbean topped the table, with 46.7 percent, while Alaska, Mexican Riviera, the Mediterranean and Hawaii also finished ahead of Bermuda.

A breakdown of the figures shows Bermuda fared well among the short itinerary cruises. The Island accounted for 6.2 percent of bookings of cruises lasting one to five days, putting it in fifth place. Five-day Western Caribbean cruises came first in this category, with 26.4 percent, while short cruises to the Bahamas, and the Mexican Riviera also proved popular.

Figures released by Government last month showed how cruise ship visitors to Bermuda leapt by 36 percent to more than 330,000 in 2006.

Premier and Tourism Minister Ewart Brown also said overall arrivals were up 23 percent for the first quarter of this year. However, Shadow Tourism Minister David Dodwell warned against taking the statistics at face value, arguing that it takes eight cruise ship passengers to equal the on-shore spending of one regular visitor.

The new results are from the 2007 Cruise Holidays Travel Trends Survey, which analysed bookings from January 1 to March 31.