Curious about weather patterns for Western Caribbean in winter

[kjbacon]

I know that the Caribbean during hurricane season is not a good bet for someone (me) who is prone to motion sickness in bad conditions and I've learned that sailing out of NYC in winter is another bad bet. I'm fine until its gets real stormy and super rough. Hoping to learn more about patterns in the wintertime in the Western Caribbean from those that might know!

[Bocadude85]

What kind of weather information are you looking for? Generally speaking the seas should be calmer in the Western Caribbean then what you would find in the open Atlantic ocean.

[DedeM]

I've only heard of a few problems in Grand Caymen. Sometimes they just can't get tenders to the ships due to rough seas. Otherwise it's pretty tame. Larger ships have less motion, so that would help you as well. Dramamine, non drowsy?, ginger ale, green apples, wrist bands, patches...

[kjbacon]

After 5 trips out of NYC, we have always had active seas with no problem. This last trip in February was so bad on the way home that my initial reaction was that I would never cruise again! Now I'm thinking that the better solution is to make choices with lower likelihoods of hitting that kind of storm.

[gooch47]

It sometimes is a little bumpy the couple of hours before you enter or after you leave the Mississippi delta. Not terrible the times we've been on the Jewel or the Caribbean Princess, but you hear stories.

[che5904]

We did the Western Caribbean mid February from Tampa. The highest waves we got were slight 1 1/2 - 4' and that was seldom. The rest were under 1 1/2' 80% of the time.

 

If it weren't for the fact we were surrounded by ocean, I wouldn't have even known we were on a ship.

 

I think it's pretty well the luck of the draw.

Edited March 5, 2014 by che5904

[kjbacon]

Oh true, of course it's a roll of the dice. I'm looking for overall patterns though in the hopes of avoiding last months trip home. I'm fine with rough seas but have learned that I am far from fine with very stormy seas, say over 26 feet with strong winds. I'm wondering if Western Caribbean in the winter might be a good pick for me.

[newmexicoNita]

I know that the Caribbean during hurricane season is not a good bet for someone (me) who is prone to motion sickness in bad conditions and I've learned that sailing out of NYC in winter is another bad bet. I'm fine until its gets real stormy and super rough. Hoping to learn more about patterns in the wintertime in the Western Caribbean from those that might know!

 

We have sailed many times in the winter doing the western Caribbean. late Nov, to early Dec can be the rainy season and a little rough. This isn't so bad a lot of people get sick, but it can be rocky and interfere with things like good snorkeling. From early Jan on the weather is usually wonderful. In fact, other than late spring it is our favorite time to cruise.

[Laszlo]

We sailed the Dawn out of Tampa the end of November. The day before we left the weather channel was calling for rain all week at every port and the highs to be in the low 70's. They were so far off it wasn't funny. It was sunny everyday, all day long with highs in the high 80's. Sea were dead calm all week with the exception of our last sea day, it was windy and a little bumpy