Disney Cruise Season Preference

[madiaka]

I currently have a cruise booked on the Fantasy for the beginning of June 2017. I'm thinking of changing to the week before Christmas in 2017.

 

Are the ships much more crowded before Christmas than they would be in early summer? I heard Disney Parks are horrible around Christmas.

 

Is the weather in Castaway Key usually too cold to enjoy the beach and water? When I went in April this year the water was freezing.

 

Just want people's opinions.

 

Thanks

[meatloafsfan]

Generally December will be colder than June in the Bahamas / Caribbean.

 

If you found the water in April to be too cold, there's an excellent chance that you'll find the water too cold in December.

[madiaka]

Thanks. I kind of figured that about the weather. I was trying to get the impression of whether or not people found it more enjoyable to go in the early summer than over the holiday season - crowds, just too hot in June, etc.

[moki'smommy]

Early December is a good time, but the closer it gets to Christmas, the more crowded and more costly the cruises become.

 

The cruise ships are different from the parks in that the ships sail full or nearly full all the time. What changes is the age mix of the kids. On traditional school break times, you'll have lots of 7-17 year old kids. In my experience, most of the trouble on the ship comes from the 10-14 year old crowd when their parents allow them to roam the ship unsupervised and they haven't internalized all the excellent parenting that they've undoubtedly received. These are the kids who play "Ding Dong Dash" on cabin doors, steal from host carts, hit every button on the elevator, trash the self serve outlets, etc.

 

What you will find when schools are in session is a lot more toddlers and young kids. This age group is generally not a problem as they can't be left anywhere unsupervised. They are either in programming or with parents.

 

Honestly, my preference is to cruise in September--warm water, not the horrible humidity of the summer, and younger kids on board. There will always be a mixture of ages, but you get the idea. We've been on cruises where there were 14 teens and cruises where there were hundreds.

 

In contrast, the actual numbers in the parks vary greatly. And as you noted, Christmas is big crowd time.

 

I'm guessing that you can only do school breaks. I love the Christmas decorations and activities, but in December you'll have cooler air and water than in June. If those were my only choices, I'd probably do June.

[chemistrynerd]

It depends on your definition of cold, how hot it is that particular day, and the recent weather. A hot stretch can warm the local waters quite a bit, especially in the shallow lagoon.

 

My family has been on a few cruises in Feb and Mar and one cruise in Jan. The weather will make it or break it.

 

Most people hit the beach hard right after breakfast. To beat the crowds, you can stay on the ship. You'll have the pool deck almost to yourself. By the afternoon, people will return to the ship. You can slip to the beach and enjoy an hour or two with the full heat of the afternoon to make the cool water seem a bit nicer.

[madiaka]

Thanks for the feedback. I'm leaning towards keeping the June cruise. I've never cruised in the summer before -- usually April/May or January. January was to Cozumel which was much warmer than experiences in the Bahamas. I'm limited to school breaks now.

[Staying Focused]

I've only been on one cruise and it was in late May with another cruise line. My question is, how is the water in September? It was really smooth on our Cruise in May, just wondering, besides the possibility of hurricanes, is the water generally smoother or more choppy in the fall?

ETA: i'm talking about cruises out of Canaveral.

Edited June 13, 2016 by Staying Focused