"Best" weather for cruising? Months?

[makelifehappen]

Now that I am completely obsessed with cruising, I wonder what time of year (prices aren't really a concern) for travel to the Caribbean?

Purely personally, I cannot cope with too much heat. My kids could probably do without the extreme heat also.

Our summers in Toronto are HOT, humid and smoggy, so we are not strangers to the heat, but have been to Orlando in Feb (too cold), end of April (starting to get pretty hot) and August (TOO HOT!).

However, we would like to swim and enjoy all that the Caribbean has to offer.

Our oldest daughter went to Grenada in June a few years back and it did nothing, but pour rain and all of her photo's were really dark and grey, so we'd like to avoid that at all cost.

August was rainy in Orlando, but didn't deter us from doing anything. Would rather avoid massive amounts of rain, though.

Thoughts?

 

[moochpuppy]

We've cruised in January (St. Maartin/St. Thomas), February (Bahamas) and November (Grand Cayman/Cozumel). I have to say the weather was the best in November. The seas seemed calmer and warmer. Also noticed less bugs at this time of year.

We have never had any rain on any of our cruises at these times except late at night.

 

[disneyfaninaz]

I have cruised twice in March and the weather was perfect both times. We had smooth seas and little to no rain.

 

[KSandbergFL]

We discovered that September seems to be the best time.... the weather is still warm, but no longer blasting hot... and the water is still warm enough to stay in all day. The cruise fares (at least on Disney) are lower for Sept cruises too, because that's a slow time since kids start school.

We cruised 4 times in January first (since Jan fares are the lowest), then last Sept 2009 we cruised for the first time in Sept... we have decided that we're not cruising in January anymore!

 

[makelifehappen]

We discovered that September seems to be the best time.... the weather is still warm, but no longer blasting hot... and the water is still warm enough to stay in all day. The cruise fares (at least on Disney) are lower for Sept cruises too, because that's a slow time since kids start school.

We cruised 4 times in January first (since Jan fares are the lowest), then last Sept 2009 we cruised for the first time in Sept... we have decided that we're not cruising in January anymore!

Just for curiosity sake~what is the weather like in Jan?

and ty you all btw

 

[alwaysabuckeye]

I am curious also what the water temp is like in March. I am a bit of a wimp and was wondering if there is a site that gives water temp for the castaway cay area/ nassau for each month?

 

[TrueDisneyDreamer]

We have cruised in late February and early March several times and the weather has always been nice. Not too hot and very pleasant. The seas have also been very smooth at these times. Hope this helps!

 

[alwaysabuckeye]

We have cruised in late February and early March several times and the weather has always been nice. Not too hot and very pleasant. The seas have also been very smooth at these times. Hope this helps!

Was the water comfortable to swim in?

 

[bbn1122]

How is the first week in April?

I would think very nice. How is water temp? Cozumel, GC and CC.

 

[DisneyWillow]

We cruised the Bahamas last week and the weather was good. Sunny everyday, no rain, but a bit windy. I found the water at CC to be a bit chilly, didn't stay in very long. I don't know the exact temp. though.

 

[KSandbergFL]

Just for curiosity sake~what is the weather like in Jan?

we have cruised in Jan 4 times... the weather has always been sunny and very nice, except for one day in Jan 2009.. the temps dropped to 50, with strong N/NE winds - the windchill must've been in the 30's. It was so windy that day, that the Wonder couldn't even dock at Castaway Cay. Usually tho, the weather is sunny, in the mid-70's to low 80's... very nice. it's a great time to cruise, but the ocean water temps are too low for any prolonged swimming.

 

[moochpuppy]

Just for curiosity sake~what is the weather like in Jan?

We were on the Magic 1.16.10 eastern cruise. St Maartin and St. Thomas were both in the mid 80's with about 65% humidity. The water temp there was around 75 degrees. Castaway Cay was in the low 80's but the water was a little cooler...I think around 71-72 degrees. After about 5 minutes in the water it was fine.

 

[Tarabra]

April and May are the best months in my opinion. We've done Jan., Mar, and Aug too. Will never do a Jan cruise again, March was nice but we've also had chilly weather in March, August was too hot, although the ports weren't much hotter than Apr/May. The parks were hot. Apr/May is always perfect, plus the rates are pretty good too.

 

[bobbiwoz]

I thought May would have been lovely, but we had a wet, very wet CC day last Memorial weekend.

We're going on a different cruise line this Memorial weekend, so we're not giving up on May!

Bobbi

 

[Tarabra]

I thought May would have been lovely, but we had a wet, very wet CC day last Memorial weekend.

We're going on a different cruise line this Memorial weekend, so we're not giving up on May!

Bobbi

Wow...I don't think we've ever had rain in the ports in May, but we go in early May. I guess that doesn't really make much difference. You can get rain anytime. I do know in Aug. we got hit a few times at the parks around 3.

 

[TrueDisneyDreamer]

The water was quite cool in late Feb./early March, but once you got in you got used to it pretty quick.

 

[codygirl5150]

What about June? I haven't heard anything about June (bahamas).

Weather, temp, water temp at CC, rough seas??

Thanks!

 

[SwimMama]

Does anyone know what the weather is like in December in the Carribean and Castaway Cay? Water temp too?
Thanks!

 

[NancyIL]

I like December and April. I love the holiday events at WDW and the holiday decor on December cruises. The weather in Nassau and Castaway Cay was nice - not too hot. April is my birthday month, and the Flower & Garden Festival at WDW is in full swing. It's usually not too hot in the Caribbean, and hurricane season hasn't started.

 

[pmama]

Does anyone know what the weather is like in December in the Carribean and Castaway Cay? Water temp too?
Thanks!

We did December for our first cruise and will never do it again. The weather was at times a bit chilly and VERY windy. We did not dock at CC.