taxi rides and foul weather wreaked havoc on holiday plans.

"I was prepared to come here and spend money in the shops but I haven't been able to because I've had to spend so much on taxi fares,'' said Mrs.

Constance Cameron of Chicago.

"I don't think I would not recommend Bermuda to friends but I will be a lot more cautious when it comes to making vacation plans,'' said the Sonesta Beach guest, on holiday with her son, Alex. "I don't think travel agents are very candid or knowledgeable when advising what's going on. They should've known about the weather, it's been raining for a month and they could have told us about the pending work stoppage.'' In the last week, dock and airport workers, followed by all Government transport-related workers, have walked off their jobs.

Most visitors said they had kept abreast of the situation and said signs had been erected at their hotels advising them to leave well in advance of flight-time. All expressed concern of hold-ups at the airport due to slow-moving picket lines.

"It's our second trip and we're not real sightseers but we couldn't see that much of the Island even if we wanted to,'' said Joseph and Joanna Flynn staying at Sonesta Beach.

"I really loved the buses last time,'' said Mrs. Flynn. "They're really cheap. This time we've had to rely on cabs. Yesterday we had to wait half an hour for one but the hotel paid for it.'' Guests of the Princess and the Southampton Princess are afforded slightly better treatment through a ferry system linking the two hotels.

Philadelphia residents Domenic and Rosemarie Disco and Joe and Joanne Romano said: "It's really a shame because it hurts the tourist industry. We can't take the ferry, can't take the bus and it's too dangerous for us to rent a moped so we'll have to take cabs I guess.'' Mike and Karen Sloan of New Jersey said: "We got in yesterday and the only place we've been so far is the Southampton Princess. It was the only place we could get to without taking taxis other than Hamilton. We were looking forward to getting on a bus and getting to other parts of the Island.'' Sonesta Beach visitors Eloise and Selwyn Blumberg said: "Transportation has a captive audience here because of the taxis. It costs $34 for a round trip into Hamilton and because there are no cars to rent we've had to put out a lot in taxi fares.

"Our grandson, Benjamin, is too young to drive a moped,'' said Mrs. Blumberg, "and I'm not sure I'm courageous enough to try. We got to use the bus once before the strike. It's affected how much we could do and what we've seen.'' "We met one guy who was furious and thought the hotel should provide transportation but it's not the hotel's fault,'' added Mr. Blumberg. "But we think by and large people are handling it well. We've travelled a great deal and I don't think we've been treated any better anywhere else. We're used to strikes as we're from Detroit. We wouldn't think twice about coming back.'' Ms Nancy Alvis from Virginia said she saw signs of the strike almost immediately when she arrived.

"I didn't know there was a strike going on before we came,'' she said. "When we arrived we noticed a lot of Police at the airport but they didn't seem to be doing too much. This would not affect my recommending the Island to others at all.''