January Cruise?

[drcpn7]

Who has done one? Was the water too cold for you at Castaway Cay? Anything I should consider about cruising at that time?
Thanks!!

 

[pershing]

I did! Won't do it again!

Western Cruise:
Key West was cold and overcast
Couldn't dock at Grand Cayman
Couldn't dock at Castaway Key

Does that help?

 

[Jen32113]

I'm considering a cruise in January also for our (DH and I) 5th anniversary. Also will be bringing my DS.
For our honeymoon we cruised at this time and we had bad weather about half of the time, but it was still enjoyable. Then again I have been on cruises in October, May and June and had bad weather there too. Maybe it just follows me!!

 

[Oihane]

We're cruising in January of '08, as you can see by my signature. My first 2 cruises, were 3 and 4-day cruises, in Mid-December and early January. We had good weather both times, might be a little cool for some, it probably varied between 70's to mid-80's.

Are you thinking of doing a 7-day cruise? If so, eastern or western? I would probably recommend eastern if you want some warmer weather, as even though I haven't been there yet, from what I've read, it's warmer on the eastern because you go further south than you do on the western. I've never been impressed by the weather in Florida the times we've been in January, so maybe that's why the previous poster had some bad weather there...who knows. it IS winter.

As for castaway cay, we snorkeled a bit, and I got a little cold after awhile, but for the most part, it was fine. We couldn't dock at Castaway our first cruise, in December, which was a drag, but I'm pretty sure that's quite rare. We also snorkeled in Nassau once and that was fine too. I AM from Minnesota, so that could have something to do with it, but it isn't exactly the frozen Siberian tundra that some in warmer climates think it to be

I guess it's up to you. No cruising time will probably be perfect for everyone. It's not off-peak season for nothing whatever you do, I'm sure you'll have a good time.

 

[disneychic]

I've done 4 Disney cruises. My fifth will be in less than 2 weeks. I can tell you that I've cruised in July 2X, September, October -- all were excellent ..and then there was the 4 Day Wonder that we did in January one year--won't do that again. The weather stunk. It was cold all 4 days, it rained the day at sea, the water on Castaway Cay was cold. The majority of people on board had some sort of cold or flu or something, everyone was coughing and sneezing, etc. In my opinion, January was just not as good a time to cruise as the other times we've cruised.

 

[mattmommy]

We did the February 7 day. Won't do it again. It was warm and sunny the whole week - 90 degrees. Water, freezing.

 

[global_mom]

Gosh, I never even considered the "sick factor" with a January cruise! Thank you to the above poster for pointing that out. We were thinking of booking Jan. 3 for 3 night but my children tend to be sick that time of the year as well. What was I thinking!!

 

[pppiglet]

Even when we went the first week in May, the water at CC was cool to me. I did get in though. Cozumel was like bath water and we loved it. I don't think I would cruise in Jan though. My reasons being that it is still winter and more people are sick with colds and flu so I wouldn't want to travel and take my chances getting sick.

 

[Riodog]

Cruise in January. Our anniversary is in January and we have taken two cruises one with DCL and one with RCCL. Both times it was wonderful. WE wore shorts and went swimming at Castaway Cay on the DCL cruise. The RCCL same thing shorts, swimming at Labadee, however we did not get to go to Grand Cayman with the RCCL cruise it was too wavy the weather was wonderful both times. I can't wait for our next Januaray cruise. It looks like 2009. We are doing ALaska this year.

 

[mousefamily]

We have cruised 3 times in January: Bahamas, Eastern and Western. The weather was awesome all 3 cruises. The water was a little cool at Castaway Cay and it was windy, but overall it was nice. I know there have been weeks before and after we go where the weather was bad. The eastern is warmer than the western, but it can be a little rougher too.