"As long as we entertain their audience, they don't care how drunk we are," he says.

The Dins sing two half-hour sets at several restaurants around the island. In between, the restaurant managers usually offer them dinner and drinks.

"By the second set, we're a bit looser," Ma says. "But the great thing is the audience is a little bit drunk, too."

When the performance is over, the groups often head to a local club--which, thanks to the large numbers of Harvard students in formal dress, sometimes ends up looking more like the Eliot Fete than a tropical hotspot.

Viv Redford, the owner of Oasis, the largest nightclub in Bermuda, says the swarm of Harvard students always makes a splash.

"The Hasty Pudding group always makes an appearance," Redford says. "They come with their props...and sometimes they take the stage, giving an impromptu performance...which always goes down very well."

But Redford says the club, which plays Top 40 music and hosts performances by a local classic rock band called the Kennel Boys--who play "in the style of the Gin Blossoms, Counting Crows and Hootie and the Blowfish"--welcomes the Harvard students no matter how they dress.

Redford says the Harvard students' formal-wear stands our from the uniforms of most college visitors, who choose the warm island climate for spring sports training.

"They're the only ones who come down to do that sort of arty thing down here," Redford says.

Better Than the Navy

The temptations of sun, sand and free drinks notwithstanding, Redford says, Harvard students are the souls of decorum.

"They enjoy themselves, just like everybody else," Redford says. "We see worse behavior when the Navy comes in."

Some students hint at a different story. "I wouldn't want to damage the reputation of the 'Tunes," Brown says. "Let's just say it's been hairy."

But aside from "the occasional moped wipe-out," Gallisa says the Bermuda trips are fairly uneventful.

And a good reputation can come in handy, group members say, since Bermuda's hotel owners tend to share information about particularly obnoxious guests.