Best time to cruise during "value season"?

[wdwmom2]

I was thinking about cruising at the least expensive time of the year. What would be the best month to cruise in? During the colder months, how warm is it, can you still wear shorts, swim, how is CC?

 

[KarenP99]

We have cruised 2x in September and 2x in January. I personally prefer the September cruising.

With the exception of the hurricane risk (we never had issues), the weather was hot & beautiful.

January was a bit colder. The first time I wished I had brought jeans and a sweatshirt, the second time was a bit warmer...but still not real beach weather (we did not swim the entire trip).

Karen

 

[2kidsmom]

Both times we have cruised we went in the beginning of May. We disembarked both times on the Saturday before Mother's Day. It was beautiful and hot enough to swim. Although the Carribean water is always cold from what I understand. It was chilly in May, but not so much that we couldn't swim.

 

[dzneprincess]

What I like to do is go to www.allseastravel.com and scroll through their pricing and pick out the cheapest week. It just so happened that last year, the cheapest week was the week after Thanksgiving, and that is when we are going

 

[goofyforlife]

We've gone twice in May....

The weather has been absolutely beautiful each time.

The water was never cold....

(Then again, we live up north where no pools are heated and you're lucky enough not to have your lips turn blue.)

We were on the cruise in Sept. We went to Blue Lagoon Island and one woman said "Watch out, the water is cold." Well, the water felt like bath water to us. It was so warm.

We're going again next month...I will let everyone know what the temps were like.

 

[jollytammy]

We went the first week in January. The water was a little cold in CC, but otherwise the weather was absolutely wonderful. Actually it was pretty hot in Cozumel. We're planning on going again in January in 2006.
Tammy

 

[dharma517]

I will NEVER book another cruise during hurricane season. Just the stress alone wondering if something will get in your way is enough to pay a little more and go during another time. You think it can't happen to you...but I am proof that it can. Just my 2 cents.
Jenn

 

[Garfield29]

We cruised in November 3 years ago. The temp was in the high 80's low 90's for the whole cruise.

 

[logan1_2000]

"Although the Carribean water is always cold from what I understand. "

Huh?

Leaving that piece of misinformation aside, the issue really is CC for the most part, because unless there is something HIGHLY unusual, the Eastern stops, usually St. Thomas and St. Maarten, are always warm. I have done an Eastern in January, and CC was around 72 degrees, with the water just a bit too chilly for enjoyable swimming, though some folks from up north went in. The caribbean is year round swimmable, the bahamas are not. I have done a 4 day in May, and it was plenty swimmable in the bahamas in May, which of course is Atlantic, not caribbean.

The comment above about never again in Hurricane season, well, pay heed to that. if you do not end up with a hurricane, the weather is much warmer in september than january, so good luck with that. OR just do a search on this board about the hurricane impact this year and make your own decision if you are willing to risk everything going to hell and understand that it is your assumption of the risk, even with trip insurance, which is a necessity. i wont risk it.

for relative price comparison, the advice above to go to allseastravel is the best--they have the best, user friendly site to compare fares for every stateroom category for each week/cruise and then you can make a very imformed decision.

So no, the caribbean isn't always cold, but january in the bahamas might be too cold for your swimming comfort even if the air temp and sunshine might make it an otherwise lovely day on the island.

 

[2kidsmom]

I should have mentioned that we live near Galveston Texas where the Gulf of Mexico is ALWAYS warm, so the Caribbean is a LOT chillier than the Gulf. Sorry!

 

[dclwdwlover]

Although we are trying January for the first time this trip, typically we prefer mid-October thru mid-November. The weather has always been absolutely beautiful for us. We are always in shorts & tank tops & wear a sweater only at night on deck or in the restaurants/clubs. We have always been able to swim in the ocean at CC & it has always been gorgeous weather.

 

[berly1657]

we went 1st week of Feb this past year, had wonderful weather all around, even very hot one day at sea!

 

[Kanga]

The water in Cozumel in September was glorious.

However, I would seriously think again before booking a September cruise again. I nearly wore out my computer checking orlandoweather.com/hurricanes for 3 weeks before our 9/25 cruise. Four major hurricanes this year, and ours ended up being the shortened "Jeanne" cruise, much to my disappointment. Five nights onboard were better that no nights at all.

A very stressful time waiting & watching as "Jeann" did a big 360 degrees.

 

[bbowers]

We sailed on the 9/9 Wonder between Jeanne and Francis, and when we got home we booked for September again for 2005. There were a few things we had to rearrange because of the hurricanes (had to rent a car to get to Port Everglades, etc), but the weather was perfect and even though we didn't get to go to Castaway Cay we had a wonderful time.

If you're the type who stresses too much when things change, then hurricane season (which is much longer than just September) is out, but for us, it was just great - fewer kids on the boat right after school starts, sunny skies with perfect temps... aaahhhhhh.

 

[BABYJOSIE98]

We have sailed both cruises at the end of October-beg of November and had Wonderful weather both times.... Still Hurricaine season,but less of a threat than August and September.
We have two more booked for October 2005-2006...
I just can not afford Summer or Spring prices and so I am planning around DD's fall break and she will only miss 3 days of school..

I would think Bahamas may be cool in Jan,but we have been to Mexico twice in Jan and it was very nice...Warm days and cool nights and we swam and snorkeled... Guess it depends on weather you are looking at the 4 or 7 day cruises.

Good luck!

 

[lisa702]

We sailed the day after Hurricane Jeanne and booked onboard for next September. Stressful sailing in September? Yes, but so was "hunkering" down for 3 hurricanes this past season. We have always sailed in September for the great prices and prior to this year, never had a problem or obtained insurance. Do I have travel insurance for next years cruise? You bet I do!

 

[wdwmom2]

Thanks everyone for your advise, it is greatly appreciated. I'm thinking about maybe going in October. I think that the weather would still be nice. I think that is still hurricane season but I am willing to chance it. Thanks again!!!

 

[MariaTia2]

No one mention the weather in December -- how is the weather and the water temp during this time? Any one out there who knows first hand?