The world’s largest cruise ship called on St. Thomas Tuesday, but where its passengers are dropped off from taxis may not impact downtown Charlotte Amalie shops much.
Instead, some owners said that the passengers head for larger stores that advertise with the cruise ships instead of shopping at the smaller stores that line Main Street and the side streets and alleys. "We’re just watching them walk on by," Karishna Jagtiani, owner of Bobby’s Jewelers, said Wednesday.
Her shop is located near the western end of the Main Street shopping area near where Oasis of the Seas passengers are let off. Taxis discharge their Oasis of the Seas passengers at Market Square. Those that arrive at Havensight are dropped off at the eastern end of Main Street near Emancipation Garden.
That said, Janelle Zachman, owner of Caribbean Surf Co., said she thinks the store’s location near the western end of Main Street is a help. She said passengers get off the taxi at Market Square and "flow through the alleys."
At Caribbean Surf Co., business boomed when the Oasis of the Seas was in port on Tuesdays over the holidays, but this Tuesday was off, Zachman said.
Some shopkeepers near the eastern end of Main Street suggested that they were at a geographic disadvantage.
"We’re not sure they have enough time to get this far," Fresh Produce owner Ted Simpson said.
His store is located in Riise’s Alley.
Simpson and others said that given the huge number of passengers on the Oasis of the Seas, they should definitely have more traffic in their stores.
"Something has to be done," James Mirpuri, owner of Ballerina stores, added.
When taxi drivers dropped off passengers randomly on Main Street, Mirpuri said business was better. Several shop owners also said that Oasis of the Seas passengers’ shopping habits aren’t living up to their expectation.
"Yesterday was so-so," Mirpuri said.
His stores are located near Palm Passage, about a quarter of the way up Main Street from Market Square.
At Crown Bay, where the Oasis of the Seas docks, Blue Island Divers owner D.J. Hiltz said he’s taken five to 10 groups of people diving since the Oasis of the Seas began calling in early December. He said that most passengers go diving on trips arranged by the ship, but those that do dive with Blue Island Divers search his company out on the Internet because they want to dive with a smaller outfit.
The Oasis of the Seas has a full capacity of 5,400 guests and 2,165 crew members. The ship will call every Tuesday until May. After that it will visit St. Thomas every other week.