Retailers in St George have their fingers crossed that the threat of rough weather this weekend will not stop the town welcoming its first visiting cruise ship of the year.Government passed legislation specifically to allow St George’s shops to open on Good Friday as the Azamara Journey visits Penno’s Wharf, but businesses said weekend forecasts suggested the ship might not be able to visit the town.According to the Bermuda Weather Service, winds on Friday are expected to be moderate to strong, strengthening into Saturday when gusts are forecast to reach 45 knots.Despite the disappointing news, several stores promised to open on the holiday anyway and hope for the best.Theresa Gibbons, of the Island Shop, said that she had hoped to keep the store open late on Friday for the passengers on the ship. Noting a sign she hung in the store’s window, she said: “I didn’t put a closing time because I thought I might stay open until 9pm or 10pm with the cruise ship in, so it is disappointing.“Hopefully they will have the buses to bring people down. If they have the buses to bring people to St George’s, that will help a lot.”She said after the strong winds that have battered the Island over the last week, she had been watching the weather forecasts with bated breath.“I was checking the weather every 30 minutes and it looked fine,” she said. “Then I woke up and it said 45 knot winds.”Both she and Cathy Roberts, of Bermuda Linens and Gifts, decided to open their businesses on Good Friday regardless of whether the ship visits the town.Ms Roberts said: “We both will be open because we will still have visitors in St George’s in from the ship, even if not the hordes we would have if the ship was in dock here.”Many East End businesses have been hit hard by the lack of ships visiting the port, with both the Cracker Box and the St George’s branch of AS Cooper’s closing their doors recently.Despite the apparent challenges, Ms Roberts said that her business is doing better in St George’s than it was doing in Hamilton.“I’ve been doing very well. Better than I did in the Washington Mall,” she said. “People from as far away as Somerset like to come to St George’s to shop. Some of them hate shopping in Hamilton.“I think part of the reason is that I sell to locals. We don’t have a lot of tourist things. When they come in it’s great, but we don’t rely on that. I think it’s the tourist shops that are struggling.”Ms Roberts said she is optimistic about the future of the town, and her opinion was shared by others.Terry White, manager at the recently reopened Book Cellar said: “We have only had the doors open a week and we have been doing fairly well, so we are hopeful.”She said the bookstore will also be open on Friday, saying: “I just don’t think it makes sense to fight to open and then stay closed.”Evannie Dickinson of East End Variety expressed similar optimism, saying: “Business has been very good actually. We’re very optimistic about the future of the town.”This week’s visit by the Azamara Journey is the first of only a handful of visits to Penno’s Wharf on the 2012 Cruise Ship Schedule. The Seven Seas Navigator is scheduled to arrive in port next week.Following that, the port will be visited by the Regatta in June, and the Quest for Adventure and the Silver Whisper in October.