Is fall a nice time to cruise? Cozumel or Bahama's areas

[maplevale]

DH and I are thinking of doing a short cruise (sans kids) in the fall. In part because some great prices - will allow us to try out cruising without a huge investment.

 

Question though is October an okay time? I realize it is hurricane season so that would be a variable - obviously if there is activity it oculd be much cooler/cloudy etc.

 

What about crowds? We generally do AI resort the beginning of January and the resort are only running at 60-75% capacity. I have seen pics of friends cruises in the summer and it seems like wall-to-wall bodies!

[jennmaybe]

We only cruise in the fall and it has always been hot in the Caribbean. Of course, anything can make the weather change, but just in our experiences, we've never had any problems with it being cool. We've also been lucky and haven't had any hurricane issues, but we've just been that.....lucky.:)

[judycruiser]

Prices are low in the fall because kids are in school and its hurricane season.

 

Cruises are very rarely cancelled because of hurricanes but hurricanes play havoc with itineraries. If you cruise in the fall, be very flexible with expectations of where you will go and when you will get there. Don't go with your heart set on making a certain port.

 

I have cruised for years during hurricane season and have had beautiful weather but have also had changes to itinerary from east to west carribbean and vise versa, more days at sea due to missed ports, and ports re-scheduled.

 

I still cruise in hurricane season but after more than 100 cruises, I do not cruise for the ports anymore.

 

Have fun whenever you cruise.

 

Judy

Booked for October 21, 2012 on the Carnival Legend

[maplevale]

Cruises are very rarely cancelled because of hurricanes but hurricanes play havoc with itineraries. If you cruise in the fall, be very flexible with expectations of where you will go and when you will get there. Don't go with your heart set on making a certain port.

 

Thanks - that happened to my cousin on her honeymoon. And seeing as we want to find out if we like the cruise portion over the ports... we are pretty flexible!

[judycruiser]

You can also have some rough seas because of storms or hurricanes. On one two-week cruise in the western caribbean, we had three storms with extremely high rough seas. TV's were on the floors, the gift shop was trashed (glass objects thrown to floor and broken), and piano in the buffet area was tied to a center bean.

 

Weather can be anywhere from near perfect to pretty uncomfortable.

 

Just be aware of the possibilities.

 

Judy

[Greatescapes]

The Fall is a great time to go... weather is usually very nice.... I never worry about the hurricane season because the cruise lines will usually just change the itinerary around. They sometimes make it worth your while when they change things.

[PattyG12]

We cruise in either October or November every year!! Love it and we haven't had bad weather yet

[meggie711]

If I could always cruise in September, I would. Perfect time of year.

[Jimnbigd]

Ships will go around a hurricane, changing their ports-of-call if needed. The only thing that would mess you up would be a hurricane hitting your home port on or just before your cruise, but I would not let that stop me from booking. I find November and December nice too, and prices are still low except for USA Thanksgiving (the 4th Thursday in November) and Christmas & New Years. I like to sail the 1st couple of weeks in December because the ships are decorated for Christmas, and December should be well past hurricane season. Also, Halloween (Oct. 31) can be a fun time, usually with both crew members and passengers in costumes. You might look at cruises from San Juan, Puerto Rico, like the Royal Caribbean Adventure of the Seas. These go to the Southern Caribbean, but this would require a 7-day cruise. Cruises seem to always sail full or almost full. Compare ship tonnage with the number of passengers to get an idea how crowded the ship might feel. I find Carnival more crowded than Royal Caribbean, and the tonnage vs. passenger count is better on Royal Caribbean -- at least on the Galveston-based ships I've been on.

[FloridaMimi]

We always cruise in the spring or fall. Spring because the kids aren't out of school yet for the summer ( Never during spring break) and Fall usually in October because it not as hot and the kids are back in school. We cruised last year 2011 on Carnival going to Grand Cayman and Cozumel. At the last minute because of a storm that was no where near us but made the water rough and we couldn't tender in Grand Cayman, We were rerouted to Pregresso Mexico. We were a little disappointed but completely understood it was for safety reasons. As long as you are willing to have a good time where ever you go and not determined to go to one place or another you will be fine with the itinerary changes to avoid bad weather. That's one reason why we always book excursions through Carnival. When we were rerouted we received a refund from Carnival on the excursion we had booked for grand Cayman. We ended coming home with a $15.00 refund from Carnival instead of paying because of it. We have another cruise booked this October. Can't wait and if we get rerouted from our original destination? Oh Well, We're still cruising. :-)

[mitsugirly]

We cruised last year on Sept 11, the year before..Sept 11th. Yes, it was hurricane season and yes there was a hurricane/tropical storm prior to our cruise date. It's just the chance you take when cruising in the fall.

 

However, we had WONDERFUL weather. Sunny every day and only one rain cloud (that happen to be over top of our ship and the sun was all around it...it was weird but yet neat) that sprinkled for maybe 10 minutes after we got back on board from the port. So it wasn't a biggie. People were out in the pools during the brief rain. It didn't bother anyone. :D

 

You will find that you can get a great price in September and on (provided you are not cruising during a holiday) because like others stated, the kids have gone back to school. We love cruising in the fall.