Rain on both Port days... oh no! What do you do?

[dislvr75]

I know that 14 day weather forecasts can change of course, but as of right now there is a 50% chance of rain for Tortola and St. Thomas/John!

Some excursions say they will still occur rain or shine....do folks cancel and stay on the ship? Go out and explore anyway, what about those with beach excursions?

Just curious what experienced cruisers have done with rainy days... thanks!

 

[starvenger]

Depends where you are. St Thomas you can at least get off and walk around the touristy shops at the port (assuming you're not tendered). We did something similar in Falmouth. For a place like Cozumel, we cancelled our beach plans and just did whatever was available on the ship. Basically ended up being a quiet day.

 

[Mr. Drauer]

The Carribean has a 50% chance of rain almost every day, so I'm not sure that I would be that concerned 14 days out. A lot of the rain comes in quick bursts and is over pretty quickly. Many excursions still will go on unless there are higher winds and/or thunderstorms.

 

[jrabbit]

and for most of us it's still warmer in the Caribbean than at home - we're sitting at 17 degrees

We usually are snorkeling when in the Caribbean, and therefor going to get wet anyway, so unless there are dangerous conditions or poor visibility (happened once) our excursions almost always go.

Last year at CC it was only about 70 degrees, pretty windy and rainy and it felt pretty cold. We stayed on the ship and played games and went to a movie. I kept going out onto deck 4 to check the weather and it just didn't ever get nice enough to go outside. I think most people that got off of the ship returned by noon or shortly there after.

Don't know why DCL didn't call an "All Aboard" and leave early and have half of a sea day. Oh yea, I forgot about that $10,000 per day they get from cabana rentals.

 

[kiford]

Unless the weather is so bad that the excursion has to be cancelled, if you cancel on the day because of rain, you will not get a refund.

At fourteen days out, you'll find the forecast will get changed probably about 14 times. And just because it says rain, it doesn't mean all day. I think practically every cruise it says rain for all of our ports even just a few days before and it never does or it's very light or very short.

When we stayed in Jamaica, we got very heavy rain every day between 2-3 pm like clockwork. Then it cleared and dried up. We just moved from lounge chairs out by the pool to lounge chairs under cover on our porch and then moved back after the rain.

Just wear clothing that will dry relatively quickly and won't be uncomfortable if it gets a bit wet. We just did the Dunn's River Falls waterfall climb excursion followed by the bobsled in Falmouth on our cruise in early December. We wore bathing suits and swim shirts under regular clothing. We couldn't change after leaving Dunn's River Falls so I just put my linen pants over the bathing suit. By the time we got up to the bobsleds, I was reasonably dry and glad that I had been a bit wet because of the heat.

 

[bumbershoot]

We were in Barbados the they werk and it rained all day. At least at the dock. Which is where we stayed. And sulked.

I met people later who had gotten off our ship to do excursions and they had a blast. The snorkeling was good, they were wet anyway, they saw sea turtles...it was more fun than our day of sulking had been!


Charlotte Amalie in st Thomas has a yummy chocolate store in downtown and a fun-looking restaurant called something like greengos? Near the old pier, havensight, there's a lovely veggie place called the Barefoot Buddha that I would gladly catch a cab to go to.

 

[FSU Girl]

I would say don't worry. My cruise itinerary had it 80% rain every day of the cruise. It didn't rain at all the entire cruise.

 

[ntmec]

As stated by a previous poster, it generally rains in a quick burst and before you know it the sun is out again. The good thing is that often after a quick shower it is less humid and more pleasant. Have fun!

 

[lorimay]

If it is raining when you get off the ship, DCL usually hands out ponchos to each guest.

I hope the forecast changes for you!!!
But you will still have a great time I'm sure.

 

[Anchors Away 2016]

One more thing. Rain or even the threat of rain causes a lot of other people to stay on the ship. So getting out on those days might actually be even better. Then if the weather does clear up, you'll have a much less crowded beach or whatever. Of course if it rains all day, then I guess you'll have to find some nice shops. Or just get wet.

 

[Shanti]

I know that 14 day weather forecasts can change of course, but as of right now there is a 50% chance of rain for Tortola and St. Thomas/John!

Some excursions say they will still occur rain or shine....do folks cancel and stay on the ship? Go out and explore anyway, what about those with beach excursions?

Just curious what experienced cruisers have done with rainy days... thanks!

Take the forecast with a grain of salt. A day or two prior to our EC Fantasy trip a few weeks ago, the forecasts predicted rain in all three ports. But the weather ended up being beautiful the entire trip, with only one 15-minute afternoon shower in Tortola.