Carribbean cruises in summer?

[MISSSNOOPYGIRL]

Can someone please explain this to me? (if you live where winters are cold, like Chicago.) I've always cruised during January or February to ward off the winter blues. It truly helps me escape my mid winter funk. It seems a bit silly to me to cruise to the hot Carribbean in say, July, when it is equally warm here. But that's just me. Thoughts?

[matfel]

I use to agree with you, but now our two kids are in university and they want to go with us we have to go when they do not have classes, also my brother and family cruise with us and he is a teacher, I would rather go in the summer then school March break and the Elementary break and University breaks in Canada are all different, We went last August on The Breeze and just booked THE Glory for upcoming August, can;t wait, we go more for the relaxation, food, ports and the fact I dont; have to make the beds and cook for a week, Hope this helps, by he way we are in Windsor Ontario and beleive me a break from this winter would be nice

[txponycruiser]

Because that's when most families are able to cruise due to school. I live in Texas, so I know hot. Perhaps its just because I think hot starts at 100, but I have yet to be hot on a caribbean cruise. In fact, I don't recall ever being hot. Maybe its because I'm used to it or there's always a breeze on the ship. Or I could just be that excited. Its too cool for me to spend the money to go on a cruise during the winter and have to deal with rough water, cold fronts, and fog.

 

Basically, to each their own.

[CoconutJD]

Last time I checked, they didn't have nice beaches, turquoise blue waters, tropical fish, etc. in Chicago. They for sure don't here in Colorado.

[2 cruzen]

I'm with you, especially after mornings like today where the snow was coming over the hood of my car making visibility 0%. Arghhhh. I cruise to warm up after our very long winters, going most of the time in early April.

[trvlgirlmq]

I would love to vacation more off-season but we take family vacations and I don't like the kids to miss school. We did it once with my oldest when we went to Hawaii and it really messed his entire year up. He is a good student but in 6th grade it just didn't work out. We have stuck to summer or Fall break travel ever since.

[ffmikey]

We live in Colorado, so get to put up with the cold and short days as well. We like to cruise between late January and mid-February to get away too. Actually leave in 2 1/2 weeks! We did do a July cruise several years ago to celebrate our 25th Anniversary on the Glory. It was on the Western itinerary. Surprisingly enough, it was not miserable hot, like I was expecting. The seas seemed to moderate the temps. Now, having said that, the ports were hot. Now the other side of the coin. We are "Empty Nesters" and are not held to vacations when school is out. DW and I are both early 50s. That summer cruise was quite an eye opener. The amount (%) of kids on board shot way up, understandably. And they had the run of the ship. Our biggest complaint was kids running the halls at 0130 in the morning, and no I am not exaggerating. They also tended to congregate in the stairwells. That tended to settle the issue for us as to the timing of our cruises from that time on. Otherwise it was a great time. Have fun deciding!

Mike

[TeresaJ]

Agreed! We live in Wisconsin. Would never consider a cruise in the summer to the Caribbean as it's nice here in the summer. We usually take cruises in March. Helps make winter go faster because we are counting down!

 

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[golfadj]

I agree but people with kids in school are limited to when they can get away.

[Tapi]

This is the kind of thing that I never even thought about before. I grew up in Puerto Rico, and all of my first cruises were during the summer out of San Juan. It never even crossed my mind that people hopped on airplanes to go on a cruise, let alone that some people considered cruising in the warm Caribbean only during winter months.

[mikenhe]

summer holidays for the kids - plus its cooler cruising than it is here in the hot and humid days of florida (just too far from the ocean to cool it down a bit)

[SteelerCruiser]

we live at a popular beach area in SC and we still cruise anytime we get a chance to. Can't beat that Caribbean Water!!!

[jen1016]

I am so glad I have come across this post! I am live in Ottawa, Ontario, so it's quite chilly here in the winters! I am going on a cruise with friends at the end of February - but I told my 14 year old son, that I will look into taking him on a cruise next summer, when he is on summer holiday. So I am happy to hear it's not all that bad!!

[cccer]

Yes it's cold here in Chicago, but a cruise whether in summer or winter is a lot better.

[Eng23]

Can someone please explain this to me? (if you live where winters are cold, like Chicago.) I've always cruised during January or February to ward off the winter blues. It truly helps me escape my mid winter funk. It seems a bit silly to me to cruise to the hot Carribbean in say, July, when it is equally warm here. But that's just me. Thoughts?

 

Because most people get their vacation time in the summer. Schools are out, vacation time is easier to schedule during the summer, and there are less travel hassles in the summer (weather hassles that is).

 

 

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[fishtaco]

I live in Australia where its always hot:)

 

We always cruise in Summer, my next cruise out of USA to the Caribbean is mid June,your summer our winter but even winter its always over 50 during the day where I live.

 

I couldnt imagine a cruise where you would not be able to use the pool and open decks from first day to last!

[vacruizer]

I also prefer the winter cruise, but have done a couple summer ones - first to celebrate our anniversary which is in the summer and the second time as a "make-up" cruise for one I had to cancel when I had surgery a couple months earlier.

 

The weather is hotter and much more humid in the Caribbean in summer, but still cooler than home. Sea breezes and a more constant temperature in the mid-upper 80s kept things more manageable. The day before one cruise, it was 108 in Baltimore but only upper 80s in the Bahamas.

[fuddrules]

Can someone please explain this to me? (if you live where winters are cold, like Chicago.) I've always cruised during January or February to ward off the winter blues. It truly helps me escape my mid winter funk. It seems a bit silly to me to cruise to the hot Carribbean in say, July, when it is equally warm here. But that's just me. Thoughts?

 

I'm with you and just down the road.

 

Only summer cruise we've done is in the Med. That was worth it. If we ever did a summer cruise in the Caribbean it would be short.

 

Otherwise our cruises are over New Years and expensive:rolleyes: so the time between our cruising is too long but.....It's the only time we all can get our schedules off and coordinated. Summer also has a few problems for the kids with sports and band. That can be missed but so far it hasn't been worth it to book a cruise at that time.'

 

Alaska is also a summer possibility but given the limited "good" itineraries with Carnival that would likely be with another cruise line.

[Dare2Believe]

I agree with posters above..sailing in the summer is mostly due to schedule constraints. I think most people would like to sail when it's cheaper (i.e. fall, spring) but just can't because of school.

 

I'm taking my FIRST winter cruise (flying to JAX out of JFK in New York) next month..I'm a teacher, and we have a week off in February so I'm FINALLY going to escape the cold. I will tell you...this cruise has created a lot more stress on my head because the threat of bad weather affecting my travel has me in knots. HOWEVER, it will be SO nice to escape the cold NY winter for a few days!

[cruizinisthebest]

I don't see how it's silly to cruise in the Summer regardless of where you live. I live two miles from the beach and love travelling to the Caribbean during the Summer, because to me summer = vacation. It's when my kids are out of school and the expense doesn't interfere with the holidays. Usually during the Spring, we do short road trips. Summer is always reserved for the longer vacations. Plus I personally like all 4 seasons and don't like the idea of mixing up cold weather with a week of hot, then back to cold.

[asalligo]

I agree completely. I am from Florida and anywhere between Florida and the equator is not where I want to be in the summer. I think December through March is perfect in the Caribean.

 

I also do not need a vacation from where i live in the summer as this is where everyone vacations during that time of year.

[seguincruiser]

We live in Minnesota and always took a cruise in the winter (Jan-March) to get a break from the winter. Also we love to go to Miami and hear them complain about the cold front, 45*F in the morning (when it -22 back home)!:D Starting this summer we will have to get use to the higher costs and more kids on board if want to continue taking an annual cruise, two kids in high school and one in college can't take those week long vacations away from school. I want to just wait four years until youngest is at college before taking an other cruise but DH would rather spend more $ to get this time with our kids. We already talk about how when we are grandparents we will be taking our grandkids and their parents on cruise vacations.:p

[roohound]

Some folks may be loathe to cruise in Jan/Feb because of the possibility of not being able to get to the port because of bad weather. Also, a lot of folks may have used most of their PTO during the holidays and have to rebuild it.

 

I would love to cruise in Jan/Feb (especially because of prices) but our semester starts in January and I don't think the Dean would appreciate me not teaching when I just had a whole month off lol

[Ontario_Cruiser]

Don't forget the ports are less busy as many of the cruiselines have their ships elsewhere. Last summer we were the only ship in port at each of four ports of call.

[Cinnamon2]

OP, I agree with you. We always cruise in the winter as a way to get out of the cold and snow. When we return from the tropics, the few remaining weeks of winter are easier to tolerate. I do, however, understand the needs of families who must cruise when kids are out of school; our kids are grown so that's not an issue for us.

 

I see no need to leave our area in the summer, when our weather is beautiful. The Adirondack Mountains are just an hours drive away and in my opinion the mountains and lakes are just as beautiful as the Caribbean sea, just in a different way.