planning my next cruise

[ozarkmama]

We have a 30 year anniversary coming up in Jan 2017. I plan my vacations early so I can pretty well pay for it with cash.

DH and I sailed with our adult daughter on the Summit to the Caribbean last Nov (Antigua, Barbados, St Lucia, St Thomas, St Martin) We really enjoyed it. My DH says if we take another cruise he would like to sail on the Summit again out of SJ. Our anniversary is in January but he doesn't want to plan a vacation when there is a chance of having travel plans ruined by snow (we live in Arkansas so the weather is pretty unreliable)

 

So, that leaves us with cruising a few months before our anniversary in Oct, Nov, or early Dec or waiting a couple months late and cruising in late March, April, or May. We would definately want to avoid spring break as one of the reasons he likes Celebrity is the lack of children and teenagers running around. Are there any advantages to cruising in different months?

Which months do you prefer a caribbean cruise and why?

[MR_T]

Great question!

 

As a relitively new cruiser I'm afraid I can't answer but will be looking out for the answers as they come in as I would also like to hear the pros & cons of cruising the carribean in different months!

 

We have only done 1 proper carribean cruise and that was over NYE and I wouldn't recommend that as it was full of kids and although we loved being in the hot sun & on a celebrity ship over the NYE holidays I doubt we would do it again due to the kid factor!

 

Hope you get some good & helpful answers to your questions! :)

[drychi]

Hello Ozarkmama. My wife and I live in Columbia, Missouri and usually fly out of St. Louis on American Airlines because they have direct flights to Miami in the early morning and returns in the early afternoon. We normally cruise in January and leave 1-2 days before the ship sails to allow for weather problems. This schedule has worked well for us over several years. I would not give up planning a cruise during this period of time, but I also recommend you purchase a good cruise insurance policy especially if you are travelling in the winter months.

We have also cruised in May, June and July over the years. Here the problem is usually bad spring tornados, thunderstorms, wind, etc and/or early hurricane season and heat in the Carribean.

I guess I would tell you not to plan your trip on weather, which is very unpredictable throughout the year and just go when you want to go.

Wishing you Happy Cruising!

[archerniak]

My DH and I just booked an 11 day cruise on the Summit out of PR for January 31, 2017. Our anniversary is Feb. 1st. Our solution to the snow problem (north west NJ) will be to book a few days before the cruise at a hotel in San Juan to make sure we make it to the port. We were thrilled to see that the Summit was doing a longer cruise with ports in Aruba, Curacao, and Bonaire. Aruba will actually be an overnight as well.

[miched]

You can usually tell what months are the best by the higher prices.

 

Oct in the Caribbean can experience hurricanes or rough seas and bad weather so prices are lower.

 

Thanksgiving prices tend to be lower because people usually want to be home, I guess that don't want to miss out on the shopping deals.

 

Christmas and New Years are really high and lots of kids.

 

The cruise after New Years is usually cheap. I guess people are broke and partied out.

 

Prices then tend to rise until and the prices may drop for the week before Palm Sunday

 

Other than Oct or the beginning of Nov the weather should the same, sunshine and hot.

 

You might want to look at the repo of the Summit in Oct. from NJ to San Juan. It is fairly cheap and many book a B2B.

C

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌞

Edited December 23, 2014 by miched

[lovemylab]

We prefer the time between the US Thanksgiving holiday and Christmas. There are usually very few children onboard, the prices are great, the ports are uncrowded and the weather is usually fairly good.

[Patrick IL.]

We always cruise in Feb, our anniversary. We also live in Chicago, to be safe we fly in at least a day prior, you could consider building in a day or two in San Juan.

[diesel1973]

We also like to cruise in the first part of Feb. My DW is usually tired of winter by then. All it does for me is get me ready for my annual ice-fishing trip to Alaska in March!!!

[TeaBag]

You will find very good prices between Thanksgiving and the holiday season in Dec.

[Theologator]

Our anniversary is also in January. We find cruise rates are among the lowest of the year. We snagged a Celebrity cruise on Reflection for a bit LESS than HA & Carnival with similar itinerary. We lived it and will stick with Celebrity.

 

As for weather, since you'll likely save on the booking, go 1-2 days early & enjoy the departure city. I'd love to have a day or two to explore Puerto Rico. And you'll get the best Caribbean weather.

 

Have fun and early congrats on 30 years!

 

 

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