Bermuda braces for drop in cruise visitors

The coming year could be a tough one for Bermuda's tourism industry as cruise ship arrivals drop significantly.

Bermuda's Royal Gazette today is reporting that just 128 cruises will include a stop in Bermuda in 2013, down from 163 this year — a 21% decline. Another local news outlet, the Bermuda Sun, reports the 2013 ship arrivals number will be 126.

Both news outlets cite sources in the shipping industry.

The decline comes as several major cruise lines shift capacity away from Bermuda to other destinations such as New England, Alaska and Europe.

Notably, Holland America's Veendam will not be returning to Bermuda during the summer of 2013 after sailing to the destination 19 times this year from the East Coast. Instead, the ship will sail to New England and Canada out of Boston and Quebec City, Quebec and also visit Europe.

In addition, Royal Caribbean is slashing its calls in Bermuda in 2013, with the Grandeur of the Seas and Explorer of the Seas together visiting 41 times. Royal Caribbean ships made 55 visits to Bermuda this year.

The cutbacks come a year after Princess Cruises and Carnival slashed visits to Bermuda significantly.

One bright spot for Bermuda is Norwegian Cruise Line's plan to send its soon-to-debut, 4,000-passenger Norwegian Breakaway to Bermuda more than 20 times in 2013. The ship will replace the 2,348-passenger Norwegian Star in offering regular cruises to the destination out of New York.

The Bermuda Sun says the decline in ship visits could result in 27,000 fewer cruisers visiting Bermuda in 2013 as compared with this year. The destination drew about 357,000 cruise visitors this year, the news outlet says.