Better chances to make it to Castaway Cay

[petchie]

Trying to decide between a Dec cruise and a January cruise. Is it better to sail one month over the other to assure making it to Castaway Cay?

How often in Dec do they not make it to Castaway? That is my preferred month.

 

[jrabbit]

Horace or Lloyd have some pretty good stats on this. I'll bet that they jump in here with the latest and greatest info for you.

 

[nluvwithmickey]

I took a land/sea vacation last dec.....9-16.

We got fabulous weather at castaway cay. Plenty of and lots of happy people. No rough waters while we were there. And the decorstions were FABULOUS!!!!

Have a wonderful time planning

 

[westjones]

I thing I hadn't thought of before until our servers mentioned it on our last cruise (which was a 4 night) is that the 4 Night Cruise has a better chance of going to CC than the 3 or 7 night. That is because on the 4 night you go to CC on the 3rd day, BUT if the weather is bad, they will make that a day at sea and try again on the 4th day.

On the 3 and 7 night cruises, CC is scheduled for the last day, so if you miss it there isn't another day to try again.

DJ

 

[Lloyd Dobler]

Based on the trip reports I've seen here for the past few years, January (94%) has a slightly better chance of making Castaway Cay than December (91%). I don't believe that there's really a difference in these two numbers. The raw numbers are as follows:

January: 44-47
December: 32-35

Overall, the numbers are pretty consistent, and the chances are that you will make it. My advice would be to go with your preferred month. There's roughly the same chance that you won't be able to dock during either month, but the most likely outcome is that you will.

Westjones brings up a good point about the 4-night. Since this itinerary stopped its Freeport calls, there is an extra day to try, so it stands to reason that there's a better chance of making it. I haven't compiled 3-night vs. 4-night numbers, but will do that today if I get a chance and post an update here.

 

[lbgraves]

On the 12/18 cruise last year they did dock but the beach was closed due to the nets being torn, so IDK how that would factor into it. IDK which would be worse...not docking at all or docking but having to stay on the ship to let the kids swim so they wouldn't whine about not getting in the water.

One huge benefit to cruising in December are the beautiful decorations on the ship. There is even more to enjoy and that is why we choose to only cruise during the holidays.