By VERNON CLEMENT JONES, Guardian Business Editor

The Ministry of Tourism is doing some crude calculating in estimating that Tropical Storm/Hurricane Hanna — depending on what status it is — has already washed away some $657,000 in cruise visitor spending.

"Sky, Spirit, Regal Empress, Glory are ships which have canceled as a result of Tropical Storm Hanna," Director of Cruise Development Carla Stuart told Guardian Business last evening. "Initial projections with regards to loss in revenue on head taxes and possible spend is projected in the neighborhood of $657,000.

"The figures include cancellations and changes through Wednesday 3rd September only (and) the cruise lines monitor the weather very closely and hence there are many last minute changes."

What a difference a day makes: While as late as Monday, many cruise companies were still looking to make their voyages from Florida to Nassau, Freeport and a smattering of private islands in our storm-tossed chain, they've now drawn back, erring on the side of caution.

Norwegian Cruise Line is not taking any chances. It has canceled all of its stops to The Bahamas from Wednesday on — a precautionary move that may register more than a temporary blip on this economy's radar screen.

The decision should surely come as good news to Bermuda and Mexico, whose safe distance from category 1 Hurricane Hanna has put them in the perfect position to benefit from this country's loss of two major ships this week.

The move comes as this nation already struggles to maintain tourism visitor numbers.

"Because of the current expected path of Hanna, forecasted to pass near most of the islands of The Bahamas, NCL has altered the itinerary of Norwegian Spirit's six-day Bahamas & Florida sailing, departing New York on August 31, 2008. Norwegian Spirit will now call on the island of Bermuda for this sailing," read a statement on the company's Web site. "NCL has also altered the itinerary for Norwegian Sky's four-day Bahamas sailing, departing Miami on September 1, 2008. The ship will sail a Western Caribbean itinerary, with stops in Cozumel, Mexico, and Key West, Florida."

The cruise line indicates the decision was made for the safety and security of its guests and crew, and it was closely monitoring the path of the hurricane.

Nonetheless, the change in plans will likely cost The Bahamas upwards of a million dollars before Hanna and storm Ike, possibly just behind her, head north or northwest or northeast.

Flight cancellations may ultimately be more of a concern, especially given the Wyndham's loss of a group booking of some 200 people this week.

Hotel guests spend about $1,000 each on average while in town compared to the 50 bucks or so of their cruise counterparts.

Once they start to cancel, hoteliers, workers and cab drivers can wave good-bye to the thousand-dollar average each will spend even during shorter stays. Airlines largely adopted a wait and see attitude Tuesday morning.

Still, the loss of thousands of cruise passengers in port may be mitigated by the natural ebbs and flows of our tourism season, given the slow traffic that usually accompanies September and October.

Stuart notes, however, that the situation remain fluid: Cruise lines that have canceled could well decide to again sail later this week.

"Requests to berth are also being changed daily and throughout the day as the definition and direction of Hanna changes," she said yesterday. "I must add, that with the exception of cancellations by NCL, the last minute changes have actually worked in our favor."