cruising in late july/august?

[SLPloves2cruise]

I am starting to wonder about cruising in late July/early August (departure date of July 31st)... We originally booked this date thinking my DH would be in school until the middle of July.

 

It looks like he will be done early June... (I had wanted to do a June 26th departure date, as we did the same time frame last year on Princess).

 

I know the risk of a hurricane is always there in the summer, but feel a little better about it towards the beginning of the summer versus middle of the summer/closer to the end.

 

The prices between the two different dates is less than 50 bucks total (and 50 bucks for the air fare I've already purchased!)

 

Would you stick with the already purchased date (July 31st) or switch to the June 26th cruise?

[MamaParrotHead]

I think there would be a considerable difference in weather...meaning the later in the summer you go, the hotter and more humid it is. I also think that the earlier date may have less kids possibly as well, I know some schools that don't start until September go pretty late into June.

[parrothead81]

We cruised out of NOLA on July 31st of last year and the weather was great and we had smooth sailing our whole trip.

[tandemcruzr]

We had a balcony in August a couple of years ago. Too hot to sit out even while moving. Never again. :mad:

[Deckbreeze]

We sailed on the Fascination in mid-Aug '09 with TWO hurricanes scheduled to cross our path. The ship sailed around both of them. If not for the news, we would not have been able to tell that there were storms out there.

The really bad Atlantic/Carribean hurricanes USUALLY happen in late August and early September. I would not worry at all about a hurricane in July. Enjoy your cruise.

[amcankid]

Hurricane season starts sometime in May and ends nov.1 From what I understand though, July is actually a lull month for hurricanes. Something to do with changing currents during the month that disrupt the climatic conditions needed for the hurricanes to form and intensify. And most of the most potent hurricanes occur mid August through mid October. I would rather plan a vacation on a cruise ship than a specific spot (like an all inclusive resort) during hurricane season cause the ships will avoid the hurricanes but the resort ain't goin nowhere if the hurrricanes comin their way. The worst case scenario (other than the storm hitting your port the day you're scheduled to sail) is that your itinerary may get changed. But you're still on a cruise so what the heck. We've been on the back side of a hurricane before and other than some rougher than usual seas it wasn't all that bad. So just book it and enjoy.

[Atty]

You can't predict that one part of the season is going to have more than another part. The season officially runs June 1-November 1 but those are just general dates. I'm sure if you went back and looked at historical data you could say that Month X historically had more hurricanes than month Y but in reality, its a crapshoot. As for the actual weather, yes, it will be somewhat hotter/humid in the July/August time period but not to such an extreme that it changed my experience at all. Its just plain hot/humid down there all summer.

[kkdleon]

I was going to say that I have lived in SC my entire life and can tell you without a doubt during my lifetime we have never experienced a storm on the east coast in June or July. But upon some further research, I discovered that during my 30+ years of life we have had named storms (tropical depressions, tropical storms and hurricanes) starting as early as May for about half of those years. While the chance of a hurricane hitting the states/caribbean during those months is less likely than in September, it does happen. Living in SC we find it curious if there is a storm that has chance of hitting us before September. I bet the good people of Florida would set that mark a little earlier in the season. We don't however plan our lives around the possibility of a storm. They can develop quickly anywhere and never make landfall. If I were planning a cruise, I would not worry about it for late July/ early August. Have fun either way.