August Caribbean Cruises

[disneylandlocal]

I’m looking at the summer itineraries for 7 night Fantasy. The August dates are slightly cheaper (cheap is not the best descriptor). Is August a good time to sail? How will the weather be? Why is it cheaper? My kids summer break is late so we get July and August off. I could spring money for July if it’s substantially better.

 

[DCSWO]

They may just be based on historical passenger levels for August. Schools around us start back in mid-Aug but everywhere is different. July / Aug are the hottest months. Hurricane season starts 1 June but the highest storm activity is mid-Aug to mid-October.

 

[Engineman02]

August will be hot. There is always a chance of tropical systems moving through, but you can use the big ocean theory. You can pull up historic tracks on the NOAA site to see what the area looks like, but again is historic and just a guess. Outside tropical systems, there is always chance for passing showers.

 

[Dug720]

Increased chance of hurricanes rerouting the ships/causing disruptions (to be clear, they can happen at any time, just more likely during “season” and the risk increases the further you get into the “season”) plus more schools being in session as the month goes on.

 

[Kariyaffa]

I would guess it mostly has to do with schools in the south and other parts of the country starting in August.

 

[ajgardner]

We most often cruise in August and it’s always been great for us. Our schools don’t get out until the end of June and go back early September but many schools in the rest of the country go back mid August.

 

[indylaw99]

We've had more trouble with hurricanes in September than our August trips, but you just never really know. I definitely think it is tied more to school calendars, especially as many schools are starting earlier and earlier each year to "balance" out their calendars. We didn't notice it being hotter anywhere in August than when we sailed in June or July. The Caribbean is just plain hot the whole summer to us. That said, we're sailing in August for the second year in a row because it's easier to plan around when my daughters go back to college than to try to plan around summer jobs/internships. I've just been picking dates 2 weeks before school starts every year so they can work up until then but still have a couple of days at home before we have to take them back to school.

 

[RysMomma]

We have cruised twice so far in August and have had no issues. This year, we're also cruising this August because it's usually a bit "cheaper."