best time to visit Caribbean outside college vacations??

[ceejilly]

I don't intend to stir up a hornets nest regarding children but I would be grateful if some self thoughtful cruisers could advise me of the best time to cruise the Caribbean outside of the US school/college holidays and that doesn't mean during the hurricane season!!! My initial thoughts were to cruise during February, probably the best month to escape from the cold UK winter. Your thoughts and advice would be most appreciated.

[TOgal65]

IMHO, between Thanksgiving and Christmas is a good time to avoid the "kid rush". My husband & I like to cruise late November for this reason. Also longer cruises ie 10+ days have fewer children. This comes with an older average age of guests because most younger people have families and/or jobs that don't allow them to vacation for longer than 1 week at a time.

[Booyakasha]

I would agree with the PP poster. Usually very few kids at this time as most will go on vacation on thanksgiving and christmas so it is quiet in between. It is after hurricane season so the weather should be perfect.

 

Mid January to late February are also good but avoid president's week and Martin Luther King holiday. The weather can be a little cooler in the Northern Caribbean this time of year so make sure to pick a southern route out of San Juan for the best weather. We love this time in the Caribbean and go over MLK weekend every year with our kids. Really breaks up the winter nicely.

 

B.

[ceejilly]

Many thanks for your quick responses. I think we'll stick to the Jan-Feb dates, too much going on leading up to Xmas!

 

Sorry for being an ignorant cousin but what are the dates of the President's Week and Martin Luther Kings's holiday:confused:

 

Also good advice about heading south for the warmer weather. Your thoughts have been taken on board, so to speak!

[sadie8]

Definitely stay away from President's week. Usually about the third week of February. I always know which week it is because the prices are a little bit higher.

[scotslizzy]

We will be going to the west carribean in JAN and I have cheked the average temps and for people coming from the UK high 70's low 80's is good enough for me !

 

Scotslizzy

[eandj]

If you cruise in early to mid Jan. from Florida, you will have cooler temps during any precruise days in Florida. Varies tremendously. However you will have wonderful hot weather from the time you wake up on the first or second day. We love late Jan. and early Feb. as starting dates as the weather then is wonderful in Southern Florida.

[anonymouscruiser1]

New England Schools, and perhaps other Northeast states, have a break in February and many people head to warmer climates. Of the six new England states it usually works out that three are on break the second to last week of February, and three the last week of February. In my experience, FL in general, and especially Disney World and cruises are more expensive those weeks. Marthin Luther King Day is observed the 3rd Monday of January and President's day is observed the 3rd Monday of February.

 

Happy Planning!

[Alsmez]

My first cruise was an 8-dayer on Carnival at the end of February (between President's Day and Spring Break) and there were almost no kids on board. We chose that week specifically hoping for as few kids as possible - we were very worried that there would be a ton since we were sailing Carnival - but we really lucked out. There were also not a ton of college-age people or really anyone under the age of 60 - my friend and I were late 20s, and we did hang out with the small handful of people our own age, but there just weren't many.

 

I think if you go just before the spring break season cranks up, you will probably be fine - why would people pull their kids out of school for a week when a scheduled vacation is right around the corner?

[Lsimon]

If you're interested in Celebrity cruises and want to avoid kids you'll do better on the longer cruises. We typically cruise around spring break time and while there are a kids on board the numbers are not huge so there will be even less in Jan & Feb, even around the long weekend holidays. The longer the better for this since the 11 and 14 day cruises both cover two full weeks of school days. So consider the 11 day Equinox Western Caribbean or 11 Day Millennium Southern cruises or, even better yet, the 14 night Constellation Southern cruise.

[BroncosFan2010]

If you're interested in Celebrity cruises and want to avoid kids you'll do better on the longer cruises. We typically cruise around spring break time and while there are a kids on board the numbers are not huge so there will be even less in Jan & Feb, even around the long weekend holidays. The longer the better for this since the 11 and 14 day cruises both cover two full weeks of school days. So consider the 11 day Equinox Western Caribbean or 11 Day Millennium Southern cruises or, even better yet, the 14 night Constellation Southern cruise.

 

You took the words right out of my mouth!! Longer cruises are the best way to cruise during high seasons and avoid kids on the cruises. The only down side to this, is that the ports are often very busy as well (lots of ships in port).

[dkjretired]

I have notice that over the past few years, it is getting more difficult to avoid cruises with children. I attribute this to parents taking the kids out of school and more and more kids being home schooled...

[swigso]

Hi

We too are from the UK and love to cruise the

Caribbean in February. Usually we leave the cold of the UK

around Feb 12th and its great to have some beautiful sunshine.

We have never really had a problem with Kids on Board, as we have to

fly so far we take a minimum of 12night sailings. I think last year on our

Constellation cruise there were only 4 or 5 under 5's on board,

we never saw any other children.

We loved our cruises on Azamara but they have increased their prices

which are a bit too steep for us.

As you can see this year we are travelling a bit later as we plan

spend some time in Florida after our cruise and it was a bit cold last year.

We did try a cruise in Late January but found that while the weather

was good it was a bit too close to Christmas.

I would also add that the prices available now on our cruise

are much higher than when we booked in February.

Hope this Helps

[Lois R]

Hi,:) I would say the middle of Sept to the end of October..yes, that

is hurricane season but most schools are in session and from previous

experience there are very few school aged kids on board.

And I also agree with the folks who suggest longer itineraries if you

are able.

I was on Solstice in September and I remember talking to one of the

staff and I think there were only about 50 kids on board and most

were toddlers.

I have also cruised in January and May and both of those months

have fewer kids on board.

[AZRN]

We visit the Caribbean every year between approx. 2nd week in Nov through 2nd week in Dec. and then again the 1st week after New Year's in Jan. Airports empty, hotels empty, folks worn out from the holidays, kids back in school--it's great.

[NnJ2010]

One of our best cruises to date was on Celebrity prob 6 years ago 11 days around Dec 4 or 6. It was fabulous. So laid back, not crowded, hardly any children. And the weather was PERFECT. Ahhhh :) Man I can't wait - this one will be much more crowded but we're having to deal with college vacation time so...such is life.

 

Whichever you pick, enjoy!