What Month is Best to Cruise?

[southern*belle]

I'm eagerly looking to book my cruise, but don't know which month is best? What are your thoughts?

[finoky]

We have always loved late April to early May. Kids are still in school, spring break is over, and the weather has always been fabulous.

[Lauri32]

To me, any month is a good month for a cruise.:D I say it depends on your schedule and where you're cruising. We sailed in Jan for the first time last month. It was great getting away from the cold weather and going to the Southern Caribbean. Normally, we sail in Sep-Oct for the price drop.

[pacerzfan]

I didn't know there was such a thing as a bad month to cruise!

[TXRoo]

We cruised at the beginning of February and it was nice, but when I choose again, it will be in Mar-May or Aug-Oct. The water was a bit too nippy for me.

[hstrybuf]

We've cruised in January, April, August and October. Those months have worked best for us because 1) fewer children 2) cheaper rates 3) not as hot as the summer months and 4) usually, but not always, those are not during hurricane season (June through November).

[Mask]

We've only been on one cruise, which was the end of November. We found it a great time for a couple of reasons. First it was one of the cheapest times of the year -- between Thanksgiving and Christmas. The weather was perfect. Not too hot. The only downfall is that it was too close to Christmas and I came back facing all the shopping and baking that is needed at that time of year. My advise is that if you go then, do all your Christmas stuff first, so you don't have it facing you when you get back. Also the ship was decorated for Christmas and there was lots of christmas stuff to buy. I'd recommend end of November/beginning of December. One other thing, there were not very many kids onboard.

[southern*belle]

Thanks for all the advice! I would like to stay away from the hurricane season thought! I've never tried April or May. Thanks so much to you all!

[NHLady]

The winter break in the Northeast was over and the Spring break for the college students hadn't started yet. There were very few kids on our sailing, the weather was beautiful and it came at the perfect time of the year to get us out of the "winter funk" up here in NH (Winter here lasts till about Mother's day, so much earlier and there's still too much winter to come back to!) :p

[TNCruiselover]

I think the best month to cruise is April/May. I have cruised in Sept and the weather was wonderful but we were between hurricanes. It was very stressful watching the weather for about 2 weeks before the cruise. I am not sure I would take that risk again because we could have easily had very bad weather and high seas. The rates are great but there is certainly a risk when cruising during hurricane season. :cool:

[JrMafia90]

I didn't know there was such a thing as a bad month to cruise!

 

I was thinking the same here! We cruise in the summer months.

[Valentinecruiser]

I have cruised at Spring Break (3rd week in March) twice.

Love it --- both times. Took kids with us....so it was great!

The weather - on deck and port days was PERFECT!

(Note: Some people don't like spring break because of all the kids.)

 

I just returned from a cruise the last week in January. Really, I thought it was way too cold. On deck it was chilly and windy. One day, it rained a cold wet rain, all day long.

Our three port days were beautiful though......warm & sunny!

 

I have also cruised in June. It was fine on the ship, though

on our 2 port days in Mexico, it rained BOTH DAYS.

Our beach days were worthless.

(Did you know that Mexico has a rainy season? I do now, and so do you!)

 

I would advise you to consider your destination and visit www.weather.com . You should research the rainy time at your destination, average daily temp, etc......

 

Good Luck & Have Fun! :)

[gogetter]

Hello,

 

Without a doubt the BEST time to cruises is the first week of May. Greta rates.......nice weather without it being too humid.........just before the kids get out of school.........a few weeks before a holiday.......Just a perfect way to start the summer.

[MrPete]

I like the Spring, usually April, as it extends the summer for me, and it gives me that break from winter right after the clocks change.

[pazooter]

Any month on a cruise is great, but our favorites are December, November, March and April for Caribbean. We liked June - July for Alaska.

Cathy

[rogerncrystal]

We will be sailing again in mid March. We are from West Virginia and it is GREAT to get away from the cold and snow.

[luv2cruise123]

CHEAPEST month is September , but as you note - hurricanes!