Cruising in November?

[Octoberbride03]

Hi all

This is my first post on this board and i could use some tips and feedback. Dh and i are conosidering our first cruise for next year and he was thinking that November would be a good month to go.

So has anyone here done ther cruise in November b4? How's the weather then, and is it hard for the ship to get into CC? I know that some of the colder months can make it a bit hard for the ship to dock from lurking over here.

Anything you wanna tell me would be a great help.

TYIA

 

[goofysgirl]

We have cruised twice early November and will going back for the Halloween cruise this year. The first year weather was beautiful. Last year most of the cruise was beautiful, but we did have rain on a sea day. We just could not get around the darn storm. CC was exceptionally beautiful, so I am not complaining.
First year no problem with ssickness. Last year not so lucky first night was awful rocking was killing me, took a dramamine and skipped dinner felt better around 1AM and had room service.
The rest of the cruise was a breeze, once we got away from the high waves.
It is hit or miss, but overall we have had minimal problems, hopefully this cruise will be a good one.

 

[dclwdwlover]

We cruised very early November 03 & although mostly sunny & beautiful - we did hit very rough seas the first night out - hurricane winds! By mid-night everything had settled down - apparently they sailed away from the storm, but we had a 'little' bit of it.

It would not deter me from sailing again in early November. I normally prefer mid-October, but each year can be different.

 

[Octoberbride03]

 

[inkkognito]

We sail on the Wonder every Thanksgiving, and normally we have great weather. However, in 2003 it was so windy that we were almost unable to dock as Castaway Cay, and then we headed in from the beach early because of the chill. But that's only once out of sailing every Thanksgiving since 1999.
Barb

 

[Octoberbride03]

anybody else wanna chime in?

TY

 

[SweetSpot]

We were on the Magic in 2002 and 2003 in early November and will be on the Halloween cruise this year and Nov 5 2005. Both times the weather was beautiful, hot enough for beach weather but not too hot. The first year the weather was perfect and last year we had a sea day that rained off and on. The seas were really choppy the first two night in 2002 and more so last year off and on throughout most of the cruise. We were told that it is fairly normal for choppier seas the first day on the Eastern cruise in Nov. and so far that has held true.

With 2 cruises in Nov. and 2 more planned for the next two Nov. it can't be that bad. I loved the time of year. It wasn't too crowded and the weather was perfect.

 

[lbgraves]

We sailed 11/15/03 on the Eastern Magic & it was beautiful. We had a short shower one sea day but they got thru the storm. There were 15+ foot swells a few days but the temperature was wonderful. It was VERY hot the days we were in St Marteen & St Thomas. We liked it so much that we booked for 12/4 this year.

 

[ivanova]

we were on the Wonder mid-November 2003 and the weather was gorgeous (leaning towards HOT) and we're doing it again this November.

 

[Octoberbride03]

TY for your posts everybody. I know weather is a never a guarantee no matter when/where you vacationa. But since we've never cruised b4 I wanted some idea of idea if Nov. was a good month. And certainly looks that way. Now all i need to do is pick a date and see if my best friend and her Dh wanna come along. I'll be around probably with more questions, though if my best friend comes along then I'll already have some answers cause she and her DH did the Wonder almost 3yrs ago.

But I'll definitely be back when i book the cruise. As long as I'm here i may as well ask for thoughts on the best package or best way to book the cruise

 

[Jestocost]

What these posts and my experience point out is the variability of the weather in November. Hurricane season technically runs through November, for example, but late month hurricanes are extremely rare.

Originally posted by inkkognito
We sail on the Wonder every Thanksgiving, and normally we have great weather. However, in 2003 it was so windy that we were almost unable to dock as Castaway Cay, and then we headed in from the beach early because of the chill. But that's only once out of sailing every Thanksgiving since 1999.
Barb

Inkkognito's experience last year is another example. We were on the Wonder cruise that disembarked on Thanksgiving in 2003 and our weather couldn't have been nicer. High temps every day were in the upper eighties and there was barely a cloud to be seen. The only rough seas were on the first night as we crossed over the (I think) Gulf Stream.

 

[manchurianbrownbear]

We were on the Wonder November 6-9, 2003.

It was raining when we left port so the Sail Away party was inside, which was kind of disappointing; we'd heard so many other DISers say how much they enjoyed it.

We were fortunate, we didn't have any rain during the day after the first day and Castaway Cay day was beautiful.