Caribbean cruise in October?

[elusive_23]

Has anyone taken a Caribbean cruise in October? Thoughts? Was the ship full? Were there less tourists? How was the weather? My fiance and are looking at doing the 21-DAY SOUTHERN CARIBBEAN SEAFARER/WAYFARER (October 16) for our honeymoon.

 

I'd definitely prefer to do the Caribbean in Dec-Feb time frame instead but I do not want to wait that long to go on our honeymoon as we are already waiting a month to catch this cruise. Plus my fiance would prefer not to take one of my usual port/excursion intensive trips in Europe or overseas for our honeymoon. Otherwise we would be Australia, Antarctica or Suez Canal bound!

 

Now that the wedding is planned I really think we should have picked a wedding date around the cruise/cruising date we wanted! HAHA :eek:

 

 

Thanks in advance!

Edited February 9, 2015 by elusive_23

[freestyling]

We did a B2B on the Eurodam in late october starting just before Halloween and it was great. Not as crowded as our Dec and Jan cruises. Last year we did the S. Caribbean the 1st week of Nov. and loved it. Can't wait to get back to the ABC islands..especially Bonnaire.

[doublebzz]

I have taken Caribbean cruises in October-November and actually prefer them to height of season cruises in winter. Normally, a lot less children and families and the Caribbean resorts will be less crowded as well. Won't be difference in the weather in the Caribeean throughout the year. October marks the end of the hurricane season so that shouldn't be a problem either. You may want to consider a Transatlantic as well. The Zuiderdam has a nice cruise in October which has a combination of some interesting ports along with a week of sea days. The cost of this cruise appears substantially lower than the Seafarer/Wayfarer which could be applied to the air fare for a "break even" situation.

[POA1]

The Caribbean tends to be a bit rougher during fall/autumn. Port stops that require tendering are canceled more often. Things usually calm down by mid December, with January through April being much flatter.

 

Prices and crowds should be better, but port stops like Half Moon Cay will be iffier.

[take us away]

Have cruised the Caribbean in early Nov and loved the less crowded ship and ports!

[Krazy Kruizers]

We did a Collector's Cruise on the Ryndam out of Tampa in 2010.

Our first stop was Key West. We were supposed to leave at 5 PM but we sat there and sat there. Around 8 we left and instead of heading westward, we turned to the east. Within a few minutes the captain cam on and announced that Hurricane Paula was altering our cruise. We were doing an eastern cruise. As it turned out we ended up with 2 eastern cruises. A couple of ports were different.

[elusive_23]

I have taken Caribbean cruises in October-November and actually prefer them to height of season cruises in winter. Normally, a lot less children and families and the Caribbean resorts will be less crowded as well. Won't be difference in the weather in the Caribeean throughout the year. October marks the end of the hurricane season so that shouldn't be a problem either. You may want to consider a Transatlantic as well. The Zuiderdam has a nice cruise in October which has a combination of some interesting ports along with a week of sea days. The cost of this cruise appears substantially lower than the Seafarer/Wayfarer which could be applied to the air fare for a "break even" situation.

 

doublebzz thanks for the comments! I prefer less people and off season as well. Except the weather will still be tolerable in WI in October. :D I thought about a Transatlantic but my future hubby says heck no to a week of sea days! Which ruled out my suggestion of a cruise to Fiji as well. :(We took a 7 day Caribbean cruise in 2013 and one of our ports was cancelled which meant another sea day and he was stir crazy after only 2 days at sea! :mad:

Edited February 9, 2015 by elusive_23

[igraf]

Fewer versus less. Several posts on this thread are having difficulty with this.

 

igraf

[POA1]

Fewer versus less. Several posts on this thread are having difficulty with this.

 

igraf

Absolutely! The early season Caribbean cruises are fewer crowded because of less people.

[Sundagger]

I've been on the 10 day Sunfarer cruise twice and a similar one once. The latest one was last October. The seas were almost boringly calm - I was making jokes about being glad the ship had engines instead of sails, or we'd be there for a month. The temperature/humidity was uncomfortable (for me anyway) as it had been at other times of the year. There did seem to be fewer "tourists" on shore than previously, but the ship seemed pretty full.There really wasn't a lot of difference between October and other months that I've been there.

[Caribbean Chris]

Won't be difference in the weather in the Caribeean throughout the year. October marks the end of the hurricane season so that shouldn't be a problem either..

 

The National Hurricane Center at NOAA defines season as June 1 to November 30, and there have been storms like Hurricane Lenny that hit in mid-November 1999.

 

I'm no meteorologist, but after living in the US Virgin Islands almost 9 years, I learned that the weather actually does have seasonal differences. It can be quite rainy for days and relatively cool (sweatshirt and jeans weather) sometimes from mid-October to mid-December, until the "Christmas Winds" begin. We saw that in early December in San Juan this year just past.

 

Still, it varies from year to year, and I have cruised during that time frame and will again. Go and have a wonderful honeymoon.