Whether ’tis nobler in the mind to suffer

The slings and arrows of outrageous fortune,

Or to take arms against a sea of troubles……

From Hamlet

To be or not to be …. against a sea of troubles

The sea of troubles is the cruise ship docking facility.

To be or not to be is a question that has been asked from the time I landed here in Cayman nearly 32 years ago, although then we were talking about permanent moorings.

North Side Independent member of the Legislative Assembly, Ezzard Miller, has said he has never been convinced that Cayman should be spending anything from $150M to $200M on a cruise ship docking facility.

Miller has warned it may not be quite such a beneficial facility to the masses as is believed.

He points to his own observations on busy cruise ship days that although lots of people go in and out of the shops they don’t seem to be carrying many bags with goodies when they leave.

He claims that the larger ships carrying more passengers has cut the cost of cruising making this type of vacation no longer the preserve of the rich. He added the disposable income of cruise visitors declines as the ships increase in size.

He, however, omits that whilst that may be true it does mean more potential visitors. 1 rich visitor spending $100 against 3 poorer visitors spending $35 actually equates to a little bit more. With the 3 poorer visitors having to spend the same amount of money on a taxi fare as the 1 rich visitor his argument really falls into the sea.

His observations spent on watching the visitors exiting the shops with or without bags would have been more worthwhile if he had actually gone into the shops at the end of the day and asked how much they had actually spent. The same size bag (or even smaller one) is used for a $500 sale as a $25 one.

Where I do agree with him is when he said, “The business case seems to have been made around a decision that was already made rather than the other way around. It did not consider any alternative proposals, such as improving the tender process or even a floating dock.

He believes, against what the cruise ship owners have said, “the ships can and will still come regardless of a cruise ship dock.”

They will not.

He should hear the moans and groans from the store owners when inclement weather forces the cruise ships to have to berth at Spotts, or worse – pass us by.

And it is not just the shops that benefit. Taxis, bus operators, tours, bars, food outlets, government attractions, diving and other watersports, etc…

Then we get the stay over return visitors from the cruise ships that have liked Cayman so much they want to spend a week or more here instead of a day.

Yes, going forward with the cruise ship berthing facility might make for a sea of trouble, and not to do so might make for calmer waters. But the calm waters will stay forever bringing forth no revenues. The stormy ones won’t last forever and the revenues collected will grow. Shouldn’t we also be looking at the future.

Look at the other islands in the Caribbean, Mr. Miller, we are being left behind.

They have already answered the question To be or not to be. They have been positive – TO BE!