Has anybody been on a cruise where it rained the whole time?

[cs]

I was looking at the forecasts for our upcoming cruise and it's showing lots of rain. I can only see a couple of days earlier than we'll be at the islands, with the 10 day forecasts, so there's a chance that it may clear up before we get there. But if it doesn't -

 

Have you ever had a cruise full of rain? Did it ruin your plans/excursions? We're you disappointed? I'm sure there are pleanty of things to do even if it does rain, I'm just wondering how much of a bummer it would be to have dark skys for the whole cruise.

 

Anybody?

[kingsgirl]

I was looking at the forecasts for our upcoming cruise and it's showing lots of rain. I can only see a couple of days earlier than we'll be at the islands, with the 10 day forecasts, so there's a chance that it may clear up before we get there. But if it doesn't -

 

Have you ever had a cruise full of rain? Did it ruin your plans/excursions? We're you disappointed? I'm sure there are pleanty of things to do even if it does rain, I'm just wondering how much of a bummer it would be to have dark skys for the whole cruise.

 

Anybody?

 

I'll post an answer since no one else has yet.

 

I haven't been on a cruise where it has rained the whole time but ppl who I talked to have been on cruises where it has. HOWEVER, they cruised to Alaska and you know that going into rainforest territory that it's going to rain.

 

You're trip is what you make it. If you can't cancel I wouldn't worry about it (or try not too). Just tell yourself you're going to have a good time no matter what.

[sandy38]

I was on a 7 night cruise 2 years ago with a friend and it rained from day 2 all the way to the end of the cruise. Each morning the captain would apologize. We could not dock at Belize for the ocean was too rough. We ran out of things to do by day 3 and it just seems like everything else to do was alcohol related, such as nightly entertainment in the lounges or havean afternoon drink in one of the lounges. And drinks are very expensive on the ship. I was on carnival at the time and when we did make it to shore at one stop, they were selling (not giving) ponchos for $3 as we were getting off the ship. I couldn't use the balcony very much because the wind would blow the rain all around. They had the jogging track closed due to the winds.

Wasn't much left to do.

 

 

sandy38 a t operamail dot com

[FitzLA]

Your going on a cruise to the Caribbean, where it is TROPICAL! Just because it shows rain does not mean it will be raining where you are. Showers are possible all the time in tropical climates, and they are scattered. It could be raining where you are, but clear a few steps up the beach. This is what makes it a tropical climate.

[reallyitsmema]

I had a trip that had mostly rain. Was in January though with a noreaster off the coast. Flew BOS to ATL and had to circle forever because plane ahead of us over shot the runway (no one hurt, plane stuck in mud). Were delayed 3 hrs since we had a plane but no flight crew. Landed in MLB at 1:30 AM, so much for coming in day before:o

 

Drove to Port Canaveral next morning in torrential rain. Nothing on upper deck at sailaway since it was still pouring out. Rocked and rolled all the way to Nassua. Nice sunny day in Nassua, went to Atlantis. Left port around dinner time on way to Coco Cay for next day. Didn't make Coco Cay because it was too rough. Captain did his best to go around storm and find calmer waters. Lots of sea sick people but we took dramamine before we felt ill and were fine. Dining room was half empty, shows were cancelled because it was too dangerous for the dancers. Outer decks, pool, etc closed. We played the slots, went to kareoke, played cards.

 

Luckily it was only a 3 night on the Sovereign. Have cruised since on the Mariner with perfect weather even though when I checked long range reports, each day showed rain.

 

Bring rain gear and hope you won't need it, that is what I did this time and it worked:D

[abridalmaven]

I had a trip that had mostly rain. Was in January though with a noreaster off the coast. Flew BOS to ATL and had to circle forever because plane ahead of us over shot the runway (no one hurt, plane stuck in mud). Were delayed 3 hrs since we had a plane but no flight crew. Landed in MLB at 1:30 AM, so much for coming in day before:o

 

Drove to Port Canaveral next morning in torrential rain. Nothing on upper deck at sailaway since it was still pouring out. Rocked and rolled all the way to Nassua. Nice sunny day in Nassua, went to Atlantis. Left port around dinner time on way to Coco Cay for next day. Didn't make Coco Cay because it was too rough. Captain did his best to go around storm and find calmer waters. Lots of sea sick people but we took dramamine before we felt ill and were fine. Dining room was half empty, shows were cancelled because it was too dangerous for the dancers. Outer decks, pool, etc closed. We played the slots, went to kareoke, played cards.

 

Luckily it was only a 3 night on the Sovereign. Have cruised since on the Mariner with perfect weather even though when I checked long range reports, each day showed rain.

 

Bring rain gear and hope you won't need it, that is what I did this time and it worked:D

I always pack and umbrella and disposable rain ponchos. There is awlays something else to do. Unless it is snowing, rain never stops me. Well maybe a hurricane might low me down:eek: .

[Brenda33]

I was on a cruise where it rained the first half of the cruise. I still sat pool side, frozen drink in hand, hoodie on to keep dry.....and then all of a sudden we hit a wave and well another wave found its way out of the pool and onto me. I never laughed so hard! You can have fun no matter what the weather!! Enjoy! :D

[wolfganghowell]

Yes - we still had a good time but I remarked that it almost didn't seem like a cruise. used the solarium pool a lot during the day, managed to still do things in port but got rained out a lot. For instance we did a snorkeling excursion in St Thomas in the morning - got rained on and the seas were so rough people were hurling over the side of the boat - the afternoon excursion got cancelled. The good part of it is that in the Caribbean it generally won't rain non stop so you will have moments of dryness. Hope all is well.

[kidless]

This past September we hit tons of rain. Our shore tour was a beach break. Lucky for us the people running the tour offered any of us our money back if we didnt' want to go because it rained all day. We opted out which we were so glad because it was $100 a person and sitting at the beach in the rain did not appeal to us. But a lot of people on other tours were not given a choice and were not happy about it. Although it rained most of the cruise it didnt' really bother us naturally the pools were empty except for a few crazy people and the decks were very slippery and we saw many people falling. I wouldn't let the rain worry you.....it is a cruise...............................

[Host Karen]

We cruised on Adventure of the Seas back in 2003 and it rained about three full days out of the trip. We didn't bother to get off in the ports, but we found plenty of things to do onboard. DH played a lot of ping pong, I played bingo, we sat in the lounge overlooking the pool and watched passengers try to wait out the weather under towels (!), we sat in the Royal Promenade and did some "people watching," and we found little nooks in which to relax and read. There may have been some extra drinks consumed during that period, but nothing that caused us to gasp at our Sea Pass bill.

 

Regardless of the weather, a good time can be had. Be sure to bring plenty of reading material or an iPod, and check the Cruise Compass for activities. And as one of the posters noted, just because rain is predicted doesn't mean it will rain all day or every day.

 

Have a great cruise!

[crusinmama06]

Nope never. And on our last cruise we were watching the forecast which predicted rain for 5 days straight. We got not ONE drop of rain.

[Jeanie821]

On my last cruise, it rained the first day (embarkation), part of the second (Key West), and the last full day (at sea). It didn't stop me from joining our group on deck for sailaway, even though we were the only ones on deck, or from taking my excursion in Key West. The only thing that threw me was that when I got to the Key West Cemetery, there was a puddle across the main entrance at least ten feet long and two feet wide. I wound up taking my shoes and socks off, wading through the puddle to get in, drying my feet with my socks, then putting my sneakers back on sans socks. When I met my friends for lunch, they thought I was insane. They're probably right...

[katydyd]

July a year ago I was on a 7 nighter in the Western Carribean where it was cloudy and rainy the whole trip. Didn't even use my sunscreen once.

 

Had a blast! It was still warm enough to sit out by the pool, and still kept busy. There's always plenty of indoor places to drink.

[ccletzgo]

two of my cruises were 7 days of rain:eek:

 

A sept Alaska cruise and a Christmas Western Caribbean cruise.

Luck of the draw..The Christmas cruise was very expensive and I was kind of depressed when it was over:( We even missed a port due to the weather.

[deb154]

I hesitated posting a reply, but have got to say when it rains from Day 2 through Day 6 it's really is a bummer!!

We sailed on VOS at the end of October, right after 9/11. It was a Halloween cruise and realizing Hurricane season lasts until 11/1 or thereabouts we thought we were safe. (We did understand risks being Hurricane season, but we had previously sailed in August/September which generally has more activity then late October/early Nov).

Anyway, the trip started out badly which likely contributed to our dismay, but we had cruised at least 7 - 8 times prior so we thought we knew what to expect.

After 9/11, our DD age 12 at the time would not fly - there was no way we were getting her on a plane, so we decided to take Amtrak from NJ to Miami - what a nightmare. We finally get there and tried to make the best of it and we thought our troubles were behind us. Wrong -

There was a tropical depression brewing in the Caribbean at the time - don't remember the name. This was a Western Carib sailing. We started out going toward the depression, and made it to Labadee our first stop and then it started to rain and never stopped after that. It rained evey day and the depression became a storm and not sure if it became a hurricane or not, but we had our balcony and room flooded from Day 2 on. We were midship on Deck 7 and it seemed all the water came to the end of our balcony and just stopped, or I should say, came into our room if we dared to open the door.

This went on every day as it got worse until they decided to turn around and head towards Nassau - thank goodness.

Our last day was nice in Nassau - no rain, but as we started to depart at 4 p.m. the rain started again. My DH had wanted to use the roller blade track but as soon as it started raining he couldn't.

We were at the Royal Promenade every day during that cruise - there were hardly any outside activities offered at all, so it left quite a bitter taste in our mouths related to cruising a Voyager Class ship. We felt like we were at the mall on a weekend.

We realize this is not the norm and we likely will not have this occurance again, but at the time it was very upsetting.

The greatest thing about this cruise is the family members we sailed with and my Wonderful MIL who is no longer with us. We were ticked about the weather, but thrilled we spent time with Beverly, my DH's mom.

Don't ask about the train ride home - worse than the ride down.

[sea-cruise]

We've sailed through some storms & hurricanes but we were never "bored onboard" ;).

The Cruise Directors always had games or dance lessons going on, we went to the library or played cards or scrabble, we watched movies, went into the indoor whirlpools in the gym or went to the spas, overpaid too much $ at the salon to have my hair done once, we ate all meals in the dining rooms (which gave us the opportunity to meet some very interesting people who had GREAT traveling stories to tell), we shopped, went dancing at night (even if we were slow and shakey on our feet) or listened to the bands, we watched the shows (saw two dancers fall on their butt and knees), played in the casinos (watched a slot machine & stools fall over onto the floor), & it was all thanks to Bonine (taken once each day whether I thought we might need it or not).

All the stormy cruises were adventures in disguise! :D ;)

[cruiseman_tx]

deb154...I too was on the Voyager for the Halloween cruise in 2001, and eventhough the weather was not the best ever, we still had a good time. The first day at sea was rough. We were in between frontal boundries and had 50mph cross winds and 25-30 foot seas. Was really something to view it from the Viking Crown Lounge. With the outer decks closed, we were quite happy to have a large area like the Promanade available. There were only a few dry morning hours in Labadee before the rain started, so I know people were disappointed there. In Jamaica, we were able to climb Dunns River Falls, and take a tour with Peet Taylor and only experienced a couple showers there. At Grand Cayman, most of the shore excursions were canceled, but we still went ashore to shop some and stop off at the Hard Rock Cafe for lunch. Skipping Cozumel was a bummer, but the substitute day in Nassau was warm and sunny. The Halloween party and parade in the Promanade was a blast...did you dress up in costume? By skipping Cozumel, we couldn't pick up the headliner entertainer, but the RCI singers/dancers improvised a great show for us in the theater and had a chance to showcase their individual talents. Was one of the better shows we've seen on a ship.

I guess what I'm saying to the OP is, regardless of the weather a good time can still be had. By the way, the storm that never really threatened us was hurricane Michelle. The captain did a good job of keeping us far enough away, so we were never in any danger.

[cruiserbryce]

I haven't but there's enough to do that I would still enjoy myself...the ports would be a bit of a bummer but I would make the best of it

[Coralc]

We have had monsoon type weather at port stops before...Key West, San Juan and St. Thomas. But it was still very warm, and we had a wonderful time at Caribbean ports.

 

We had a 4 day Monarch cruise to Baja a few years ago, in October. When we usually have nice weather. And it poured down rain and was cold every day. In Los Angeles as we were boarding, in San Diego, on Catalina and Ensenada had showers and flooded streets. It wasn't much fun. We watched quite a few movies and read, and drank a lot. It was sunny when we pulled back into San Pedro.:D

 

For us it was a do over. We went again the following July and had great weather. It cost quite a bit more, but it was worth it. :D

[tinaparrotthead]

On our first cruise with Princess in November 2004, we had a mini suite (our first) and were so excited about the large balcony, extra space and extra amenities that they offer in their mini suites. However, the design of their ships mean that the balconies on all the mini's are completely open, no cover. We had rain from day 2 through the end and went through a tropical depression. We did not get to use the balcony even once but we got off ship at the different ports with our umbrella's we had brought and did everything we had planned to do anyway. I was disappointed somewhat because I didn't come back with the least bit of tan but when we look back on that cruise, it has been our favorite so far.....funny how some trips that don't turn out the way you planned end up being the best!

Every cruise we taken the weather has said rain every day and it hasn't so you never know and you shouldn't let it "rain on your parade" Have a great time!!

[DonnaK]

As someone else mentioned, rain in the Caribbean is usually scattered. Depending on the storm tack, itinerary and route, sometimes the captain can veer a couple of hundred miles out of the way so that you are sailing under sunny skies.

 

In the unlikely event that you have rain the whole trip, you have to change your thinking - look in the Compass for activities you wouldn't ordinarily attend, such as Towel folding, Scrapbooking, Name that Tune, learn to play the steel drums, etc. There are little "classes" like this going on all day, and even if you aren't particularly interested in the topic, it's all about laughing with your fellow cruisers. They have a lovely board game room and card room up in the Viking Crown Lounge, and lots of other cozy areas besides the promenade to hang out.

 

We were on an itinerary with a lot of sea days, and my mom was with us - she is not a hang out around the pool kind of person - so we took advantage of all these little activities we never would ahve considered or noticed before. It was still fun, just a different kind of fun.

[lauren0309]

Yes, we were on a 7 day cruise on the Serenade. From the day our ship left its original port in Puerto Rico the rain seemed to follow us the whole cruise except for the last day. It was in November and the Captain said it was unusual and a tropical depression was following us. We tried to make the best of it but I was upset that I would be coming home with no tan. We had to rearrange our excusions and instead took bus tours of the islands because it was no beach weather. We still had a good time though.

[BILL-WI]

Late October 2001, we were on the Voyager and played tag with a hurricane. It rained on 6 of the seven days of our cruise and we had to change two of the five ports...BUT, we still had a great time.

 

The Captain was always at least 160 miles from the hurricane and I am sure if the storm was bigger he would have increased the distance.

 

We had a great time even with the rain...we just changed some of our activities!

 

BILL

[1excitedcruiser]

Are there particular months that are more rainy for cruising than others??

[wraithe]

I love the OP's question. 10 day forecasts are like pulling slot machine handles. At best, it's a guess, at worst, like one guy told me when he said he was a weather forecaster, how many other jobs pay you to be wrong.

 

Big flick, check the 10 day forecast for anywhere in Central or Southern Florida, it's likely to say rain every day, because it's likely to rain somewhere. In the Caribbean, you can be standing at the pier on whatever island in bright sunshine, and the other side of the island could be in the midst of a thunderstorm. What's the weather forecast going to say, rain for xxx island. I don't even look at the long range forecast, it's too unpredictable, and you just get worked up over nothing.