St. George's Mayor Kenny Bascome last night welcomed news that Premier Ewart Brown has met with Carnival Cruises in a bid to bring more cruise ships to the town.

"On behalf of the entire community of St. George's we are very pleased to hear it," Mr Bascome said. "I have always said that St. George's is still a viable port."

Dr. Brown, along with Director of Marine and Ports Francis Richardson and Cruise Consultant Larry Jacobs, met with representatives from the Carnival Corporation on Wednesday, in Miami.

While bringing more ships to Hamilton and Dockyard was discussed, the Premier said that St. George's was the focus of the meeting.

The Premier said: "We believe St. George's has a pivotal role to play in Bermuda's tourism turnaround and with hard work and the help of our industry partners, the town is about to make a comeback in a big way.

"We understand the economic importance of consistent cruise service to St. George's and achieving that goal was the major thrust of our discussions."

The Premier said he was encouraged by the direction of the conversation with the company, the largest cruise operator in the world.

The decline of cruise ships visiting the East End has contributed to several businesses in the area closing as the number of customers plummeted.

This year only one ship was scheduled to make regular stops to the town, the Veendam, but the ship was discovered to be too large to safely pass through Town Cut.

While the ship was instead scheduled to tender at Murray's Anchorage, bad weather and medical emergencies have caused it to be repeatedly diverted to Hamilton.

Despite the lack of ships, Mr. Bascome has said he is optimistic about the town's future, saying that several new businesses are replacing the older ones.

While he was excited by the announced discussions, he said the Corporation of St. George was still looking at the concept of straightening or dredging Town Cut to allow larger ships into port.

If the St. George's community decides against it, however, he said the Corporation would look at other options.

"We still want to go to the residents of St. George's before we start anything," he said. "I have heard comments that the Corporation only cares about the businesses, but the residents are just as important for the town.

"There are many ways to skin a cat and we are looking at all of the options."

Kirby Brackstone, co-owner of the Bermuda Perfumery, said he was encouraged to hear of the talks and he hoped they would produce tangible results.

Mr. Brackstone said: "It's great to see the Government trying to get more ships to St. George's. If they can pull it off, it will be fantastic."