summer cruising- good idea or not?

[mouseclick1]

We have gone on 2 DCL cruises, both of them in February. We don't plan on cruising again until 2004, but we think we will probably go sometime in the summer. We will most likely choose the western itinerary. We've had great weather in February, but I am wondering how people hold up in the summer. The reason that we would be choosing summer is so that we can wait until my younger DS turns 13 so both boys will be able to go to Common Grounds together. My boys did not enjoy the Oceaneers Lab on either cruise. Is it worth going in the summer, or would I be better off waiting until 2005 to go in February again? Thanks for your input!

 

[taswira]

I LOVED cruising in January and the weather happened to be wonderful. In May I found Castaway Cay to be <I>way</I> too hot (But I'm not <I>really</I> complaining - At least it wasn't raining.) My next three are October and November bookings. Personally I would steer clear of summer sailing unless it was an inaugural of something, BUT then many people prefer it! Strictly personal preference. ANY cruising is better than no cruising!

 

[MrsG]

We were on the 7/6 Western. We expected it to be hot and it was, but not oppressively so. I am not a fan of humidity, but managed quite nicely. In fact, I think the heat and humidity was worse in NY this past summer. I'm sure you'll enjoy it. Go for it!

 

[jlawall]

We've sailed twice in August and it was great. It is not too hot about mid-80s at worst.

 

[prymsu]

For my family summer cruising would be great, but the one big factor that always puts us off is the price. That may be one thing you want to consider when booking your cruise...

 

[mouseclick1]

Sounds like our plan will probably will be the western cruise in July 2004, unless this mediterranean cruise really happens and changes the itinerary. We've been to WDW in the summer; I guess the cruise couldn't be any worse than that!

 

[floridaminnie]

You are right about it not being any worse in July at WDW than it would be on the cruise. The only place that I found it extremly hot, was in Mexico when we went on our cruise this past July.

 

[macbasset]

hi, we have just the opposite question. we have done 3 DCL cruises all in the summer months, june, july and august because we didn't want to take kids out of school and because being a teacher, i can't get off. we loved the summer cruises and weather was always around 80 degrees. it was very sunny and you had to constantly reapply sunscreen, but there were always ocean breezes. however, we are now doing the 7 day eastern over new years eve and wonder how cold it will be. we hope the water will be warm enough to swim and snorkel as that was our favorite things to do. barb

 

[PirateOfTheCarribean]

Hi all:

We've done five Disney cruises now - three four-day cruises and each of the seven-day ones. We've done three in the summer (July and August) and two in the spring (March & May).

We LOVED the summer cruises. The biggest difference we found between the spring and summer cruises was in water sports. We really enjoy swimming and snorkeling, and the summer cruises were so much nicer in that regard. The water is bath-tub warm in the summer (one day as we were docking in Port Canaveral, my dh noticed on the shipboard TV that the air temp was 30 degrees Celsius and the water temp was 32 degrees). It's great to be able to swim for as long as you want without getting cold.

When we went in March, we really noticed the change in water temperature. After a short time in the 70 degree F water at Castaway Cay, we stopped swimming. My ds's lips were blue. Not fun. Even in May, the water wasn't as warm as in the summer.

As someone else mentioned, though, you do have to be very careful about applying sunscreen and keeping hydrated. Other than that, we'd recommend summer every time.

Cheers,
Pirate

 

[disneyholic family]

we were on the wonder for the 4th of july cruise....
i chose that weekend in order to keep us out of WDW for the second most gridlocked time of the year in WDW.....(we can only come to the states in the summer now that the kids are too old to be pulled out of school for a month).....
the cruise was perfectly smooth....except for crossing the gulfstream, we never felt the ship move at all.....
the only problem in the summer, besides the high season prices, was the constant threat of rain (our sail away party in port canaveral had to be moved to the atrium due to the lightning storm.....definitely way too cramped in there.....we left after about 30 seconds....but we had a great sail away party in nassau.....)..
as for weather.....it wasn't any hotter than orlando in july (which is just this side of hell, if you've never been there during the summer)....
bottom line, we would definitely sail again in july.....and are planning to do just that (albeit in 2005, the next time my daugther is free to join us...unless DCL comes to europe in 2004.....then we'll get our 7 day a year early...)

 

[FantasticDisFamily]

If you can handle 80 degrees and humidity anywhere on land you can handle the cruise. And as someone else noted - it isn't any hotter than at WDW in the summer. We've done August and Feb. Will do June next, mainly to work around schedules.
Deb