A cruise ship dwarfs a tiny port in Curacao.
Big ships can flood an island with hundreds of visitors, sometimes overcrowding small attractions.
Yet cruise passengers spend only limited amounts in these often-impoverished islands, mainly on taxi rides and shops, but nothing on hotels and little on dining. The average ship-borne tourist leaves less than a third of what an overnight visitor contributes to an island economy. Faced with the uncertainty of island supplies, cruise line operators don't buy much locally either. All rights reserved.