Pros / Cons - Cruising in February

[dthogue]

We want to do the 7-night cruise next year and are considering either the Western on Feb 20 or the Eastern on Feb 27, 2010, but I am concerned about the weather - will it be too cold to swim? How are the temps on the deck, will it be too chilly to be outside? Our only other choice is to wait til June and take a Royal Caribbean crusie. This tri is for my DD's highs chool graduation gift and she wants to do the 7-night Discny, no the 3 or 4-night is not an option.

Thanks,
Tammy

 

[binky1]

We did a 7 day Western Jan 27/07 and for us the weather was perfect!! It wasn't too hot and just lovely in the evening. I guess it all depends where you are travelling from - we were in the water at Castaway Cay all day with the kids while people beside us were complaining it was too cold to go in. (But then again, they told us they were used to much warmer water.)

Happy cruisin!!

 

[MonkeyPants]

aside from the cruise I took for my brothers wedding that took place in an October all my cruises have been late jan to early feb. weather was always great.

 

[scrapgirl3]

We went on the Western this past Feb 7 and I thought the weather was great. In Key West we wore capri's with short sleeved shirts and brought sweatshirts in case we needed them. I thought the water was a little chilly in Grand Cayman but it was really windy that day, Cozumel was perfect and the water in Castaway Cay was cool but once we were in it was fine. We snorkeled for over an hour with no problems. For us, the decks on ship were fine at night with short sleeved shirts. We wouldn't hesitate to go in February again if we could.

 

[OurOhana]

We just went on a 7-night Eastern Jan. 31. It was really chilly (we wore sweaters) while we were in Port Canaveral and on our way down to St. Croix. We had two sea days before our first stop, and it was pretty chilly both of them, and rained some. We were able to swim one of the days, but I'm a baby when it comes to cold weather, and I just didn't enjoy it as much.

It was gorgeous in St. Croix and St. Thomas. We went swimming in St. Croix, and it was warm and very comfortable. It rained on and off the next day in St. Thomas, but it was still warm. Then when we got to Castaway Cay, it was too cold for me to get in the water. My daughter went in briefly, but soon after was wearing a t-shirt to stay warm.

All that being said, it was really a wonderful trip. Sure, the weather wasn't great, but we had a blast anyway. And we live in Florida, so it's not as if we really need to swim a ton. And I remember reading posts from people who cruised the week after us and they said it was gorgeous - it was really nice and warm at home that next week too.

I guess it's close to impossible to guess what the weather will be like. We're going again in Sept, and I suppose we risk a hurricane or something. But we'll deal with it if it happens. I guess it's tough to guess when the weather will be nicest - no rain, warm enough, etc. But I would think your chances are pretty good in February in general.

 

[kcashner]

We've done at least 8 cruises in Jan/Feb. On all but 2, the weather was beautiful--70s during the day, cool on the decks at night. The water was OK once you were in...felt cold getting in.

On 2 cruises, it was in the high 40s-50s....which I consider way too cool. However, at those same times, it was well below freezing at home.....it is really just luck of your timing.

We sailed this year in Feb. and were told by CMs that we'd had the best weather of the preceding 2 months. It was gorgeous.

 

[LisaSp]

We sailed last year Feb 2-9 and the weather was beautiful, warm and sunny. Kids did tons of swimming. We were on the Magic for the Eastern itinerary.

 

[bengals01]

have cruised super bowl week the last 5 years. Have had some good and bad getting on days. We missed castaway cay once. I do have to say this past year the water at castaway cay was really cold. Not many got in the water. I ususally can at least sit in the water but not this year. The weather at the islands are usually great.

 

[Disneyfalcon]

We've cruised in February. It was very chilly in Port Canaveral but warmed up as we sailed south. The water temps were cooler then I would have liked, but we still swam. We also missed Castaway Cay.

The prices in February always tempt me though.

 

[Tneah]

We went mid-Feb. We felt the water was too cold for us at CC. We tried!
The air temp was great, but the day we were at CC it was very breezy. This breeze made getting wet even worse.

 

[djd7292]

Just make sure you pack at least one outfit of warmer pants & shirts or a sweater/light jacket.

We did a 7 night W. Carib in Feb on RCL out of Galveston & the weather didn't get "hot" until we hit Costa Maya. In fact, one day they let the kids use the adult pool (covered) since it was cold & rainy. Definitely, glad I had a sweatshirt!

Have a great trip which ever you decide!!!

 

[DMMarla07860]

I did a Back-2-Back cruise on the Magic February 21st-March 7th, 2009 and the water was chilly, that I didn't get in much at Castaway Cay, although I took a small dip in, but it was great laying in the sun on the beach in warm weather, since it wasn't hot or cold, just right for me. Other then that I had two great weeks for weather best day I went in the water was in Grand Cayman not chilly like the rest of the days. On the ship on sea days it was pretty windy both weeks, but weather was great and had no rain

 

[leelip1982]

If your from the south florida area Feb might be alittle cool to you. But if your from up north Feb will be perfect weather, not to hot , not to cold.

 

[soniam]

We did late February a few years ago and left from Galveston on RCCL. It was too cold the first and last days at sea to swim. In fact, it was so windy on the return sea day that they closed the outer decks. There was still plenty to do inside, and we wouldn't have wanted to swim in the cold anyway. It wasn't bad once we got closer to Mexico. It wasn't hot though. It was probably the minimum temp that we could swim at, being thin blooded Texans.

 

[2prettygirl]

We cruise the past 2 years in January and the weather is beautiful temp wise, but the water temps are cool. Disney's pools are heated so that's a plus but the ocean water in the Caribbean is a touch cool. My girls swam at all ports but it wasn't the most comfortable, very cool. Castaway Cay was a cool day for us, temps were great but not ideal for sitting on the beach. We needed sweatshirts and the water was freezing! Once again, kids are resilient to cold water so they enjoyed themselves.