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Speaking of short term visits

The Wall Street Journal reports the Caribbean cruise business has grown to "unprecedented levels" with nearly 1.8 million people pouring onto island beaches, up from 700,000 in 2001.  Great for Carnival and Disney, not so good for folks looking for a quiet place in the sun.

The commissioner of the VI Department of Tourism likes cruise people, but loves resort and villa vacationers.  They spend four times as much as the boat people, says Pamela C. Richards.  However, she reports, each ship that docks brings about $200,000 to $400,000 of "immediate economic impact."  And, some days, there are half a dozen ships in Charlotte Amalie harbor.

WindjamSt. John gets very few cruise ships – we’ve seen only one multi-sailed Windjammer in the last two weeks. The Journal does say that, while "St. Thomas sees the majority of cruise arrivals, many (people) take day trips to St. John."

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