Caribbean Southern Itineraries in the Summer

[formula14]

Hello, Why are there so few choices for Southern Caribbean Itineraries during the summer (July / Aug) months? The cruise lines offerings are endless in Oct / Nov / Dec, but in July the only options are embarking from PR or Barbados. Is it because it's simply too hot on the islands those months & demand is lower?

 

Also, we want to take a Southern Itinerary cruise, but concerned about weather in Caribbean in November. Would consider May instead... any suggestions on when is a better bet? May or Nov? thanks!

[CraftyDD]

Could be because of the hurricanes.

[Krazy Kruizers]

A few years ago Hurricanes caused havic with quite a few cruise lines -- ships had to divert to different ports.

Some ships had to stay out to sea a couple extra days -- people missed planes as a result -- cruise lines were spending big bucks helping to straighten out the mess. Some managed to get to the ports only to find that their ships were delayed thus they had hotel bills they weren't expecting -- again the cruise lines tried to help out.

After that one year HAL stopped going to the Caribbean from about the 3rd week of April until October.

[Keith1010]

In the summer months many of the cruise lines move their ships to other areas including places such as Alaska and Europe. So, there are fewer Caribbean Cruises.

 

I think either month November or May would be fine. I would probably select November just because it would be cooler where we live.

 

Keith

[cb at sea]

I'd go in May--no real chance of hurricanes or tropical storms....of course, you can still have "bad" weather!

 

It's HOT, HOT, HOT down there....would be worse in the middle of summer!

[formula14]

Makes sense, I guess Med cruises in the summer also generate bigger revenues for the cruise lines so they go where the money is. I can also understand why hurricain possibilities also come into play on why so few selections are avail in the summer. It all makes sense now... Thanks for the quick replies!

[Essiesmom]

In the summer months many of the cruise lines move their ships to other areas including places such as Alaska and Europe. So, there are fewer Caribbean Cruises.

 

I think either month November or May would be fine. I would probably select November just because it would be cooler where we live.

 

Keith

Also because the southern Caribbean cruises are usually longer than east and west, (with the exception of those leaving from San Juan) and the ships that do those longer than 7 days are the same ones that go to europe/Alaska in the summer. EM

[collegecruiser346]

It's extremely extremely hot and humid in the Caribbean during July and August. I went to St. Thomas and St. Maarten last August, and the heat was almost unbearable. It was in the high 90's with almost 100% humidity. I can only imagine that islands to the south are even worse. Many cruise lines pull their ships out of the Caribbean during the summer and go to Alaska and Europe instead. They then return to the Caribbean in late September or August.