Timeshare members who holiday in St. George?s rarely decide to swap their Bermuda weeks for a vacation elsewhere in the world, according to management of The St. George?s Club.

But now they won?t have to give up their holiday on the Island in order to take advantage of a link-up with a US-based cruise and excursions company offering vacations around the world following an announcement by the club this week.

The club is the newest affiliate of the Phoenix-based International Cruise & Excursions (ICE), a partnership which it is claimed will bring highly discounted cruise and tour holidays to the club?s timeshare owners.

But while holiday time can be swapped, it is also possible for the timesharers to keep their Bermuda holiday time and simply pay to take advantage of the discounted tours and cruises from ICE. The initiative between the two will be launched this Saturday at the club, when Bermudians will also be encouraged to sign up for the remaining off-season timeshares available to gain access to the discounted holidays available through ICE.

?We have found that 90 to 95 percent of the membership do not use their holiday weeks for exchange because they want to come to Bermuda,? said Lori Eddy, of The St. George?s Club.

?But ICE allows them to keep their holiday weeks in Bermuda and take extra vacations with the lowest cruise prices, and full travel concierge service.?

The St. George?s Club, set up in 1985, consists of 71 cottages overlooking the town. Most of the summer season timeshare weeks from May to September are sold-out, but some of the off-season memberships remain available to Islanders to use and gain access to the discounts through the ICE link-up.