Now, we don't profess to be experts at reading between lines. Sometimes, all we see is space. However, we're willing to venture into that space to try and give some context to what's happening on the wharf in Bermuda.
Princess has cancelled an April port stop at Heritage Wharf, which is being renovated, and is sending the Emerald Princess to the Azores instead (while this is about 2,000 miles away, the ship is re-positioning to Europe for the summer so it's just being re-routed). That alone will cost Bermuda $400,000, minimum.
The Carnival Splendor is spending two nights at sea instead of going to Bermuda, also in 
April. Oceania Riviera and MSC Poesia will drop anchor and tender to a different part of the island, and passengers on the Norwegian Dawn will now have to be tendered.
The thread that ties this all together is tendering.
Nobody likes tendering which, for the uninformed, means riding in a small craft when the cruise ship has to anchor off shore. It's a two-way (you hope) trip that generally cuts your shore time by at least an hour.
The cruise lines have reasons for making these changes, of course. Princess says it takes too long to tender the Emerald's 3,200 passengers, if all go ashore. Oceania and MSC indicated passenger safety in the construction area could be an issue. Norwegian seems to feel the same way and Carnival, well…is just staying at sea.
And then there's this statement from the local Chamber of Commerce President, Ronnie Viera:
"Our concern needs to be for the visitor’s experience and not about squabbling over who conducts the tenders or whether the ships use their own tenders."
Squabbling?
In that space between the lines, does that mean at least some of this is not about passenger inconvenience or safety after all, but about the cost of tendering?
Holland America Zuiderdam
22 nights
April 19, 2013
Fort Lauderdale: Curacao, Aruba, Cartagena, Panama Canal, Puerto Caldera, Corinto, Puerto Chiapis, Huatulco, Puerto Vallarta, San Diego, Victoria, Vancouver
Inside: $1,229
Cost per day: $55
www.hollandamerica.com