By VERNON CLEMENT JONES, Guardian Business Editor, vernon@nasguard.com

The addition of another Norwegian Cruise ship to The Bahamas likely has more to do with gambling and gas than the grandeur of the destination or any greater marketing effort on the part of tourism officials.

Last week, the cruise company announced it would pull the Norwegian Aloha from its Hawaii itinerary and move the ship over to servicing three and four-day itineraries spanning the divide between Florida and The Bahamas.

The newly-christened Norwegian Sky will commence those trips starting this summer, says the cruise company.

"NCL pioneered the first Bahamas cruise from Miami more than 41 years ago and last had a ship in the three and four-day cruise market from Miami in 2003," said Colin Veitch, NCL's president and CEO. "By reintroducing Norwegian Sky and positioning the ship in Miami sailing short cruises to The Bahamas, we are returning to our roots. He went on, "At the same time, we are raising the bar by offering a modern Freestyle Cruising ship that features a variety of accommodations, including balconies and suites, a multitude of on-board amenities and a choice of six restaurants."

Also on the list of amenities — and the chief reason why the ship won't be pressed into service until July — is the addition of an on-board casino. It's something the company was unable to offer in Hawaiian waters, given state laws prohibiting games of chance. There is no such obstacle here in Bahamian waters for Norwegian to navigate as it scrambles to grow its on-board revenues to counterbalance rising fuel costs.

That's another way the company will benefit from its move to relocate the ship to this country. Cutting the longer travel times to Hawaii, from Los Angeles, also cuts into soaring fuel costs for Norwegian, which like all of its competitors, relies on a complicated hedge formula weighing passenger demand against pre-paid fuel purchase prices.

While NCL actually projects growth in that consumer demand, an increasingly tough U.S. economy has clipped the spending power of most Americans nonetheless anxious to vacation.

That new reality has made NCL's customers especially price sensitive, with the company unable to increase fares beyond marginal fuel surcharges.

The phenomenon translates into a potential boom for destinations like The Bahamas that offer close proximity to the U.S. mainland as well as little in the way of rules and regulations hampering a cruise ship's revenue-generating activities.

While a stopover tourist sends an average of $2,000 pumping into a local economy, her cruising counterpart injects less than $100. There is in fact renewed pressure on Norwegian and its competitors to claim a bigger share of any passenger's vacation spending, something that could ultimately eat into in-port spending here in Nassau.

Also of concern to some industry insiders is the company's decision to give Freeport a miss. While Sky will dock in Nassau and at NCL's private island, it won't be calling on Grand Bahama, an island struggling more than most to weather the economic storm of a U.S. recession.