March cruise - weather worries

[Jack_Sparrow_NJ]

Thinking of booking the Bahamian cruise in early March but I’m worried about the weather. For those who have done it, should I be worried??

 

[Cheburashka]

Thinking of booking the Bahamian cruise in early March but I’m worried about the weather. For those who have done it, should I be worried??

We sailed in March and the weather was great. What are you worried about, specifically, in regards to the weather?

 

[WishUponAStarryNight]

We’ve done early March twice. We found the ports to be plenty warm, but on deck was chilly/cold. I’m thinking the end of the month would be warmer (our mid-April trip was much warmer).

 

[Jack_Sparrow_NJ]

We sailed in March and the weather was great. What are you worried about, specifically, in regards to the weather?

I read if it’s windy they can’t dock at Castaway Cay

 

[TestingH2O]

We’ve done March Bahamian and Caribbean cruises. The weather was great! The water was cold though. My daughter didn’t care and swam a ton at Castaway.

 

[deliela999]

We went in March and the weather was beautiful, but the water was freezing.

 

[Marc D]

We sailed to the Bahamas 6 times at the end of February or beginning of March, with 9 stops in total at CC between those cruises. We never missed a CC day due to wind, but the shore activities are often canceled because of it. A long time ago, someone here made statistics about missed CC days and if memory serves me correctly, it was around 1% of stops that were missed.

Only once did we have a cold day and we received only a few hours of rain in total. The water temp is hit or miss. Some days, it is nice and warm, others it is way too cold to swim. Most days, you need to get acclimated before plunging in.

 

[JWelch62]

I read if it’s windy they can’t dock at Castaway Cay

This is true any time of the year. I'm not aware of any unique weather patterns in March that would make this worse. This chart from a weather website gives the average wind speed in the Bahamas in March. (EDIT - For Nassau)

 

[OpieDoodle]

We sailed in end of Jan 2020 and it was great. It wasn't crazy hot but it also wasn't chilly. Some people didn't get in the water but we are from Ohio and came from below zero weather so we happily were in the water.

 

[Cheburashka]

We went in March and the weather was beautiful, but the water was freezing.

I know you're using hyperbole, but just to be clear to an OP who's concerned about weather, I'll state that the water never even approaches freezing at Castaway Cay. We've sailed there 5 times in winter and early spring, and the water is chilly (maybe 68 - 70 degrees), which can take 30 seconds or so to get used to upon immersing yourself, but not dangerously cold or even subjectively unbearable unless you're the type who always needs bathtub warm water to swim (I have a thyroid condition that makes me less tolerant to cold, but even I am fine with winter Castaway Cay water, whereas I can't tolerate north Florida beach water in winter, for example). It isn't bathwater warm, which many Floridians are used to. But if you've swam in cold water springs before, or are from a northern climate, then it probably won't phase you at all. The water is still filled with people swimming and Pelican Plunge still has just as many people in line. The air is very warm, too, which makes getting in and out (on Pelican Plunge, for example) comfortable.

 

[KantLose]

I read if it’s windy they can’t dock at Castaway Cay

We're 50/50 for being able to dock at Castaway Cay the first week of March - our first cruise it was too windy to dock so we had an extra day at sea and the second one a year later we had a perfect day. I do believe the wind did cancel some of the excursions like parasailing on the second one, but it was perfect on shore.

 

[bakerworld]

We've a double stop at CC in March '22 so hopping this isn't an issue.

 

[Jack_Sparrow_NJ]

Thank you all for your insight

 

[Cheburashka]

Wind can happen any time of year. The worst wind we ever encountered on a cruise was in mid-December. The pool decks were closed for days during that Fantasy Eastern cruise & the cruise itself felt extremely rocky: the crew even commented on it. But we did dock at Castaway Cay, and the next time we cruised the Fantasy in December, wind was no issue at all. Our mid-March cruise on the Magic also had no issue with wind.

Except to avoid high hurricane season in early fall or to avoid high heat in the summer, I wouldn't worry about potential weather in relation to a cruise. The destinations are tropical, and an occasional bad day (either too hot, or too cool, or too rainy) can happen at any time of year.

 

[Cupcakesmum]

We sailed in February and March before and wonderful weather both times. No issues docking at Castaway Cay either times as well!

 

[Capt_BJ]

for docking at CC, wind DIRECTION is at least as significant a wind speed. Problem is the 'channel' at the pier is very narrow - little more than twice the width of the ship. When the wind is directly from the side and the ship tries to back slowly the wind when strong enuf causes the ship to crab sideways and even with ALL the side thrusters there are times there just is not enuf power to back the ship safely in the space available. This is why they usually do BACK IN. The problem happens when backing slow ..... and backing is just about always slow because of control issues.

In the early days of DCL and CC they pulled in bow first one day and the wind picked up during the day and they could not back out safely and got STUCK at CC. Some say GREAT, an extra day!! Except the cruise was due at Port Canaveral the next morning .... folks did NOT get off and get home .... and others arrived to pretty terminal and no ship. DCL learned a lesson. If they can BACK IN they are 95% sure of being able to pull out (bow first). Today they WILL on occasion pull in bow first (helps with maintenance sometimes) but ONLY when they are VERY VERY sure there is little change of the wind going foul for departure.



in a 'real port' when winds become a concern in this type of situation the pilot will call in tugs for help .... not an option here as no tugs close by . . and they wouldn't have much room to work either! (in many ports there are standing orders if the wind exceeds a certain speed, tugs MUST be standing by for assist <and ship pays those tugs>)

On one of our early trips this very thing happened. As a former ship driver I woke to hear the engines working HARD and went on deck to see what was happening. Master and pilot tried to get in for well over an hour but the wind won every time. Had the opportunity to sit with the Master that evening and discuss the situation. I mentioned I was surprised how long he kept trying ...... he mentioned I was probably the only passenger who appreciated the situation and he KNEW the 'customer feedback' was gonna be BAD which is why he tried as many times as he did.

p.s. when the wind is that bad .... your day at CC would be a bust ANYWAY .... a sea day MAY be able to find better weather!

for OP: this does tend to happen more often in the spring ... but isn't all that common in any case.

 

[RedHead0186]

for docking at CC, wind DIRECTION is at least as significant a wind speed. Problem is the 'channel' at the pier is very narrow - little more than twice the width of the ship. When the wind is directly from the side and the ship tries to back slowly the wind when strong enuf causes the ship to crab sideways and even with ALL the side thrusters there are times there just is not enuf power to back the ship safely in the space available. This is why they usually do BACK IN. The problem happens when backing slow ..... and backing is just about always slow because of control issues.

In the early days of DCL and CC they pulled in bow first one day and the wind picked up during the day and they could not back out safely and got STUCK at CC. Some say GREAT, an extra day!! Except the cruise was due at Port Canaveral the next morning .... folks did NOT get off and get home .... and others arrived to pretty terminal and no ship. DCL learned a lesson. If they can BACK IN they are 95% sure of being able to pull out (bow first). Today they WILL on occasion pull in bow first (helps with maintenance sometimes) but ONLY when they are VERY VERY sure there is little change of the wind going foul for departure.

in a 'real port' when winds become a concern in this type of situation the pilot will call in tugs for help .... not an option here as no tugs close by . . and they wouldn't have much room to work either! (in many ports there are standing orders if the wind exceeds a certain speed, tugs MUST be standing by for assist <and ship pays those tugs>)

On one of our early trips this very thing happened. As a former ship driver I woke to hear the engines working HARD and went on deck to see what was happening. Master and pilot tried to get in for well over an hour but the wind won every time. Had the opportunity to sit with the Master that evening and discuss the situation. I mentioned I was surprised how long he kept trying ...... he mentioned I was probably the only passenger who appreciated the situation and he KNEW the 'customer feedback' was gonna be BAD which is why he tried as many times as he did.

p.s. when the wind is that bad .... your day at CC would be a bust ANYWAY .... a sea day MAY be able to find better weather!

for OP: this does tend to happen more often in the spring ... but isn't all that common in any case.

That's super interesting, makes a lot of sense. Thanks for sharing!

 

[dclDream2018]

Thinking of booking the Bahamian cruise in early March but I’m worried about the weather. For those who have done it, should I be worried??

I have done an early March Bahamian cruise and will never do one again. While the weather and water were ok, I did find the ship deck to be too windy and cool for my comfort. For that reason I'd never do one again (wasn't hot enough for my preference). If that matters to you but you're locked in, I'd just set your priorities and let the rest go. You'll still have a good time and be able to wear shorts.

 

[dclDream2018]

I have done an early March Bahamian cruise and will never do one again. While the weather and water were ok, I did find the ship deck to be too windy and cool for my comfort. Tbh I would never do a March Bahamian cruise again because of that (wasn't hot enough). If that matters to you but you're locked in, I'd just set your priorities and let the rest go. You still have a good time and be able to wear shorts.

Also should add, fortunately our cruise was able to switch CC/at sea days due to wind/being unable to get to port on our scheduled CC day. I feel there is too much risk with early March weather relative to other times of the year, hence I'd never do another early March Bahamian cruise again.

 

[soniam]

Sailed Western Caribbean in late February once. Weather was ok further from Galveston, but it was really windy and chilly near Texas. They closed the decks coming and going.