Cruising in January

[daisy7113]

What can you tell me about cruising in January? How is the weather? Looking at the itinerary of Key West, Grand Cayman and Jamaica. We have cruised before in March, May and September and those months were just beautiful weather wise. Any input is appreciated.

[hlb76]

We normally go on Jan. We have been to all but Key West. We have been blessed with beautiful weather and good seas. There where a few days we have had rougher seas but not bad you just knew you where on a ship. I think it will be a great time of year. It's nice to realx after the hussle and bussle of the holidays.

[cruizn2]

cruised Jan 2008 to Cozumel, Belize, Roatan & private isle in Bahamas (out of Miami w/ NCL) and the weather was FANTASTIC! 85-95 degrees and no rain! Cruised in Feb before and had the same results on an Eastern Carribean cruise. Love to cruise in Jan and Feb!

[daisy7113]

Thanks, hlb76! I do see you cruise every January. I am glad to hear that the weather is nice then. I usually like it HOT and like to go during the Summer months. So January has me a bit scared. I want bathing suits and swimming everyday.

[daisy7113]

cruised Jan 2008 to Cozumel, Belize, Roatan & private isle in Bahamas (out of Miami w/ NCL) and the weather was FANTASTIC! 85-95 degrees and no rain! Cruised in Feb before and had the same results on an Eastern Carribean cruise. Love to cruise in Jan and Feb!

 

That weather is fabulous! That is what I am looking for. :)

[marshhawk]

We sailed at the end of January to Grand Cayman, Cozumel, Belize and Isla Roatan, the weather was PERFECT! in all locations. Sailed from Tampa, and it was cold when we left, had a day of thunder and lightening on our day at sea, but when we woke up pulling closer to the port in Georgetown, the sky was blue, and perfect,(we swam every day) and remained like that until......we got back to Tampa.

[RICKAR]

Bring your suits and get a tan! You will be enied by those who were freezing while you were cruising!:)

[happy cruzin]

We LOVE cruising in January or February :D....the weather is perfect and then when we get home its only a few weeks until we start to get some spring days ;)

[lady_cruiser]

This past January; Key West was COLD and WET. The Western Caribbean is the best place to go if you want to get away from the sneaux (Cajun Spelling for snow).

[richbum]

We have done 2 cruises in January, and are getting ready to go on # 3. For us, it breaks up the cold Maine winters. We have done an eastern and western route, and both times, it has been 80's the whole trip! Happy cruising!!!!!:D

[daisy7113]

Thank you everyone for your responses. I am glad to hear the positives of January cruising.

[YB Nrml]

We did a January cruise to Freeport, Grand Cayman and Montego Bay. It was hot and sunny, just what we wanted. In fact our cruise left January 1 and when we'd see Christmas decorations at the ports we'd wonder for a minute why they were up, it felt like July. :p

 

Have an awesome time!

[chihuaha]

Key West is in the temperate zone, which means the January WX is highly variable depending on whether a continental cold front has pushed through recently or not. As it's passing you'll usually get a period (a few hours to a day or so) of unsettled or rainy conditions, followed by a few "chilly" days with northerly wind. But "chilly" in KW might mean 60 instead of 80, and still sunny. And statistically, those cold fronts only get to KW a few times each winter, so the odds are very good you'll have fine WX on your ONE DAY there.

 

Jamaica and the Caymans OTOH are fully in the tropics, so cold WX is unheard of. Once the trade winds kick in, around Christmas in normal years, you'd expect day after day of steady E to NE breezes, sunny skies, very little rain (brief showers), and somewhat lower humidity than the rest of the year.

 

The biggest variable probably is what conditions you'll have betwen your port of embarkation and the destination ports. If leaving from the northeast, you may have crummy WX for a day or two until you near the Gulf Stream, when temps usually warm up dramatically. If leaving from FL or Gulf ports, expect much better conditions sooner.

 

Our favorite cruise to date left from San Juan; we were already in the tropics getting off the plane! And a 767 can do 500 knots toward better weather, beating any 20 knot cruise ship.

 

You will likely have some beautiful conditions for the majority of your days aboard. Enjoy your cruise and tell us stuck at home all about it on your return.

[evandbob]

One of my January cruises was cool, a Canadian cold front extended down through Florida. When I arrived in Miami, temps were in the 40's, and only got to 60 when we sailed. Cozumel was in the low 70's, I could only snorkel for 1/2 hr at a time. Finally got into the 80's as we sailed further south to Roatan & Belize. An aberation for sure, but it certainly beat being back home in NY which was in the 20's.

 

A bad day cruising beats a good day working or staying at home 95% of the time.

[hlb76]

I think of the 17 days we have cruised he have had rain 3 times of course it passed quickly. Anything is better than the COLD Minnesota has. I wish there was a way to plan on mother nature but there is not. When we went last Jan. We had awesome weather those who where down in Mia and cruising weeks prior had cold weather. I read lots of reviews where people said they wore what was supposed to be there traveling clothes instead of the shorts and swimwear they packed. Too my that would be a total bummer but I would make the best of it, and wash clothes each night.

[mrpayroll]

We have been on several cruises in January....LOVE IT.....

[whendoweleave?]

Did my first last January and going back this January! Such a break from the cold at home. We went out of New Orleans and it was chilly on departure and arrival, but BE-YOO-TIFUL once we got to sea and very lovely at the Western Carribean ports--Coz, Belize, Roatan. Totally in swimsuits and snorkelling and everything. Couldn't tear myself off the deck in the late afternoon of that last day at sea. It was SO PERFECT! And I knew once I went in that it would be cold the next time I saw sun. As you can tell, I think it's great. It's awfully hot in the summer months, to me. I cruised in late August-early September for my first cruise....thought that was great, UNTIL I CRUISED IN JANUARY!!! :D

[lillian marie]

We're cruising in Dec. Jan and March, it's our favorite time to cruise, warm weather and calm seas.

[cruznlobo]

Worst part of cruising in January is the Florida home Ports. Some years they have been nice and warm, others not so good. Last January we had one day pre cruise and one day post cruise that were OK (50 degrees and sun). One year out of Port Canaveral it snowed. Tour guide told us it was the first snow he had seen in 16 years.

Other than that...the cruise and ports were excellent.

[Poomah]

Ditto on most of the replies thus far - cool weather leaving and arriving back to home port but wonderful, warm and sunny days once at sea. We love cruising November - March, best time of year for us all around.

[jpg1747]

I've cruised in January several times. The only problem I've ever seen is that sometimes the seas are too rough for tendering at a private island stop. It just becomes another sea day. Other than that it's a great time to cruise and get away from the winter weather.

[mosaic_mom]

Worst part of cruising in January is the Florida home Ports. Some years they have been nice and warm, others not so good. Last January we had one day pre cruise and one day post cruise that were OK (50 degrees and sun). One year out of Port Canaveral it snowed. Tour guide told us it was the first snow he had seen in 16 years.

Other than that...the cruise and ports were excellent.

 

This past January; Key West was COLD and WET. The Western Caribbean is the best place to go if you want to get away from the sneaux (Cajun Spelling for snow).

 

We usually have fairly nice weather here in Florida in January. We usually get a "cold snap" that lasts 4-5 days and then it's gone until the next one comes. Last year was very unusual for us. We actually saw snow, nothing compared to the snow up north, but it was a huge deal for us warm weather folks. Key West is usually pretty nice during January.