In fact, the CEO told BVI News plans were put in place for cruise passengers to shop around once they disembarked their ship.

“A facilitation had been made for people who wanted free flow. Accommodations had been made but it seems the passengers chose not to go with that route,” Lewis explained.

In the end, the passengers were confined to two bubble locations approved by the BVI Tourist Board — Long Bay Beach on Beef Island and Cane Garden Bay Beach. But according to Lewis, having those cruise passengers bubbled might not have been the initial plan.

“The ship itself did not operate in a bubble but the passengers that came off the ship… I think the captain had made an announcement that they would operate in a bubble based on a myriad of factors,” Lewis explained.

He further said he was unaware if the bubble operation was the reason for the passengers not stopping at the Pier Park to shop.

We try to keep shop owners informed

The Pier Park CEO said his team tries to inform tenants of all information surrounding the return of the cruise ships and update them as quickly as possible if a situation changes.

“We had a zoom call with the operators and all the tenants in the Pier Park. We notified them of the ship that is coming,” the CEO said.

“We do our best to notify the tenants in the park of the information we know. We give them the details we have and we also make sure people are aware of the schedules of the ships that are coming to the territory,” he added.

Seabourn Odyssey became the first cruise ship to dock at the Pier Park for the new cruise ship season. However, many vendors and operators at the park were left stunned when passengers disembarked and went straight to the taxi operators and did not enter the park. It was a similar case when the cruise passengers returned from their excursions. They were told by the cruise ship attendants to head straight to the ship and they should not stop and shop.

BVI News tried reaching Junior Minister of Tourism, Sharie deCastro, for a comment but all efforts were unsuccessful.