AT FIRST GLANCE

it's hard to see what

Carnival Cruise Lines

But it turns out the Lawrenceville, Ga., family weren't the only ones looking forward to a day at the beach. In fact Trunk Bay is one of the most popular St. John outings with Carnival passengers, not to mention the rest of the two million cruisers who visit the U.S. Virgin Islands each year. By noon the ships had arrived, and several hundred people made a beeline for the beach, their towels covering the sand like wall-to-wall carpeting. The sunbathers next to them were so close, says Blair, "they could have literally reached over and pulled a drink out of our cooler." Even trying to snorkel with the crowds turned out to be a dangerous proposition something that became painfully clear to Blair's wife, Lela, when she was conked in the head by a fellow swimmer's flipper.

So much for that tranquil tropical setting you thought you had to yourself. With the cruise industry booming (even in this economy), port and resort towns throughout the Caribbean are facing a flurry of cruise crowds. Last year the Bahamas alone hosted more than 2.4 million cruisers, and George Town, Grand Cayman, is regularly visited by up to six ships a day, with a combined passenger capacity of more than 14,000 well over a quarter of the 22-mile-long island's total population. The largest islands may be able to hold the vacationing masses, but stepping off the ship at smaller ones is "like stepping into a tidal wave of people," says Carolyn Spencer Brown, editor of web site CruiseCritic.com. And with the ever-expanding selection of shore excursions shuttling cruisers to every corner of the destination, the crush no longer stops at the harbor, leaving land vacationers and cruisers alike vying for an unclaimed slice of paradise.

While newer cruise markets like Europe have recently stolen some of the spotlight, the Caribbean remains the destination of choice for nearly half of the 12.8 million people expected to set sail this year. In addition to old standards like Cozumel and St. Thomas, little guys like St. Vincent, once just a blip on the radar, have seen cruise traffic spike by nearly 70 percent in the past year alone. Factor in four new megaships hitting the water this year and it's no wonder the Caribbean is feeling a little cramped. And with the Shamu of ships, Royal Caribbean's 5,400-passenger Genesis, launching next year, the crowds won't be dispersing anytime soon.

The cruise lines say the ports welcome them with open arms, since their passengers are a vital part of Caribbean tourism. But in reality cruisers can do only so much for the economy. While the average Caribbean cruiser spends $98 per port, according to the Florida-Caribbean Cruise Association, bars and restaurants usually see less than $8 of that, since they're competing, in part, with the ships' free food. Hotels do even worse. And the size of the crowds alone can make doing business in the ports nearly impossible, turning off the onshore guests who pump money into tourism mainstays.

Not surprisingly, the destinations most affected by the cruise crunch are some of the most popular. The Bahamas, which reigns as the region's undisputed cruise capital, already hosts six large ships a day in high season. The most popular islands in the archipelago are still actively wooing small luxury lines, and plans are afoot to expand the harbor surrounding Nassau's Prince George Wharf this year, in part to attract Royal Caribbean's new behemoth Genesis. The Ministry of Tourism says that with expanded retail centers under way in nearby Cable Beach and Atlantis Paradise Beach, shopaholics now have an alternative to the busy Bay Street commercial strip in Nassau's historic downtown. "We don't have any problems accommodating them," says Carla Stuart, the Bahamas director of cruise development, though she does allow that "from time to time, you might have a little line when they're going back to the ship."

But many locals and frequent travelers to cruise hot spots have a different take like the Blairs, who now set foot on Trunk Bay beach only before 10 a.m. or after 4 p.m. Some swear by web sites like CruiseCal.com to clue them in on when cruise crowds will be where. Some hotels, like Tortola's Mongoose Apartments, keep guests up-to-date by posting the weekly cruise schedule. Susan Shevlin, a Caribbean specialist at Linden Travel in New York, says she advises clients to avoid heading to an island's downtown on heavy cruise days or even to schedule a day trip to another island altogether. She also suggests booking outings well in advance, since the popular activities often sell out when several ships are in port.

These tips could soon come in handy in some surprising places. In an attempt to keep things fresh for repeat cruisers, the lines have been busily turning formerly obscure locations into marquee ports of call. Take Roatan, an island off the coast of Honduras, which is poised to enter the big leagues thanks to Carnival, currently building a $50 million cruise terminal capable of handling 7,000 passengers a day and, eventually, half a million people a year. Progreso, a village on Mexico's Yucat n peninsula, is another up-and-comer, in part because of its easy access to the famous Chich n-Itz ruins.

Still, not every Caribbean destination is clamoring for the cruise lines' attention. Tiny St. Barth allows only small luxury lines, like Crystal and Oceania, and shopkeepers have been known to close up when cruise passengers are in town, says Cruisecritic.com's Carolyn Spencer Brown. Historically, Bermuda has also restricted the number of cruises permitted to visit the island, and this season most ships will be limited to stopping at the remote Dockyard Wharf rather than the popular port town of Hamilton.

The cruise lines, for their part, say they're doing plenty of crowd control. They point to an increase in staggered scheduling, meaning ships leave their home ports on various days, avoiding the gridlock that results when everyone sets sail on Saturday and returns a week later. Terry Thornton, Carnival's VP of marketing, says it's not uncommon for the company's ships to make a last-minute itinerary change if a particular port is expected to be unusually packed, while several lines say they've upped the use of their private islands (most large lines have one) to provide passengers with a crowd-free beach day. Developing little-used ports is another tactic; Royal Caribbean is working with the Jamaican government to build a new pier in Falmouth, part of a move to cultivate destinations where "we can be the only ship in port," says Diana Block, the company's vice president of revenue management and deployment. Of course, while such moves may temporarily relieve the pressure, ultimately, they could mean even more overflowing harbors.

Which doesn't make cruisers happy, either. Just ask Matt Kucera, a veteran of 15 sea voyages who has tried every possible tactic for avoiding the port pack. The Illinois native bypasses the beach-chair scrum by touring snorkel spots via sailboat and books private tours rather than cruise-arranged excursions. But after enduring a virtual mob scene last year at a beachfront bar in Mahahual, Mexico, on the Costa Maya so jammed it felt like a mall food court he and his family had had enough. "Everyone says how beautiful it is," he says. "It probably is, but not when there are 300 people crawling around." So they've developed a new strategy: When visiting a prime port, they often stick with the one spot they know they'll have to themselves: their ship.