What to pack for a January Caribbean Cruise??

Hello...

Does anyone know how to plan for January weather in the Caribbean? Do we need warm clothes? We are really looking forward to our balcony cabin but I am wondering if I will need warmer clothes in order to use it when the ship is moving. Any packing suggestions you may have would be greatly appreciated! Our ship leaves from Miami with stops in San Juan, St Thomas and St Martin. Thanks in advance for your help. :-)

It will be hot and humid on those islands so shorts and bathing suits will be what you need. The ship can be cool in dining rooms and lounges. A light jacket or sweater can be useful. If you are leaving from a Florida port. that port area can also be cool. Warmer clothing may be necessary for travel.

Summer clothes for the trip...depending on your home port, dress for the weather on boarding day! Miami will be anywhere from the 60s-80s......generally speaking. Best to check the weather the day before leaving and adjust your packing.

Once you are below the Bahamas, it's warm/hot all year round.

Okay...so we just returned from a week in the Caribbean. Could have taken out half of our clothes! Really...for on board during the day shorts, swim suit, cover up and that's it. For dinner, a light dress or shirt/pants (no shorts in MDR). Only a few times was I chilly but then I would step outside and warm up. We brought way too many shoes also...only needed flip flops for day, dress shoes for evening, tennis shoes (or comfortable shoes) for port.

In general summer clothes will be fine.

Having sailed out of Miami many times in January the weather in Miami can vary so do check the forecast a few days before you leave just to see what Miami will be like.

Keith

I would check the forecast a few days before you leave and take mostly warm weather clothes with a couple of layering pieces. I will admit that I get cold sooner than many other people, but I have photos from a March Caribbean Cruise where I am wearing a fleece on the ship, jeans on Grand Cayman, and light weight capris and a t-shirt in Cozumel. Some years/weeks/days will end up being warmer than others, and some of your ports will be warmer than others.

But do bring something warmer for inside, when you might be dining, or at a show, and have to sit still for a couple of hours.

Thanks for all of the great feedback! Very helpful! Now I am wondering how formal are the formal evenings?

Thanks for all of the great feedback! Very helpful! Now I am wondering how formal are the formal evenings?

what cruise line? Some cruiselines are more formal than others.

double post

Thanks for all of the great feedback! Very helpful! Now I am wondering how formal are the formal evenings?

On which cruise line will you be sailing?

Formal evening are more formal on some cruise lines than they are on others.

Once in the Caribbean, it'll be very warm and even hot ... it's always summer there! :)

Some public areas INSIDE the ship can get very chilly so take some sort of wrap.

LuLu

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On which cruise line will you be sailing?

Formal evening are more formal on some cruise lines than they are on others.

 

Once in the Caribbean, it'll be very warm and even hot ... it's always summer there! :)

 

Some public areas INSIDE the ship can get very chilly so take some sort of wrap.

 

LuLu

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Oh Sorry! :eek: We will be cruising on Celebrity Reflection:) Can you wear dress jeans on other nights in the MDR when it is not a formal night?

You dont say where you are from, but winter in the Carib is a cool 80-90 degrees:) Shorts and tee's kinda day wear!

Thanks for all of the great feedback! Very helpful! Now I am wondering how formal are the formal evenings?

Our Roll Call has around 50 active and the Meet an Mingle has 100 registered. Most all the guys are taking a tux, dinner jacket, or suit that we know and have talked to.

On Celebrity the majority of people still dress nicer than on some other cruise lines.

Some men still wear tuxedoes, many wear suits, and many wear a sports coat & tie with nice pants on formal evenings.

Women wear something "dressy" which does not need to be long. Low-key dressy ... for example, a black dress is fine.

Decent jeans can be worn on non-formal nights.

Normally, men wear a collared shirt of some kind. Polo shirts are probably the most commonly seen.

Look decent and don't wear shorts ... and you'll be fine. :)

On a seven nighter you'll have two formal evenings.

Plan to have a great time! :D

LuLu

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I'm doing my first cruise-a Caribbean cruise, over the Christmas holidays.

I've vacationed in the Caribbean several times, but never from a cruise ship and I'm having a hard time deciding on what to bring also.

When doing land only vacations, I pretty much live in bermuda shorts and tank tops. I never have to worry about dressy nights so thats more that I need to bring, plus I don't want to bother with laundry nor pay to have it laundered-the info from the ship said they use very hot water to wash in and I always wash in cold or maybe warm water...most of what I'm bringing requires cool water wash.

So tell ya what....I'll post again when I get home-right before New Years and let you know what I brought too much of!

For 'formal' nights I'm wearing my 2 "mother of the bride" dresses purchased for fairly recent weddings and packing a colorful blazer type jacket-it's a very pretty floral that happens to go with both of my dresses and a lot of my clothing actually. I'm also wearing a jacket..after all I'm leaving Portland Or in December and darn if I'm not taking a jacket..just not my heaviest one.

For shoes I'm taking a pair of tevas for the beach, a pair of Clarks walking shoes for city touring and a pair of pumps for evening. I'm wearing a pair of turquoise flats on the plane, as turquoise is the primary color I'm accenting my white shorts & capris with. I don't wear tennis shoes at all and I'm not buying a pair when I have shoes I know will work. I love Clarks walking shoes-I can walk all day in them + they look nicer than tennis shoes.

I'm really getting excited about the trip-and bet you are also.

Have fun

I'm doing my first cruise-a Caribbean cruise, over the Christmas holidays.

 

I've vacationed in the Caribbean several times, but never from a cruise ship and I'm having a hard time deciding on what to bring also.

 

When doing land only vacations, I pretty much live in bermuda shorts and tank tops. I never have to worry about dressy nights so thats more that I need to bring, plus I don't want to bother with laundry nor pay to have it laundered-the info from the ship said they use very hot water to wash in and I always wash in cold or maybe warm water...most of what I'm bringing requires cool water wash.

 

So tell ya what....I'll post again when I get home-right before New Years and let you know what I brought too much of!

 

For 'formal' nights I'm wearing my 2 "mother of the bride" dresses purchased for fairly recent weddings and packing a colorful blazer type jacket-it's a very pretty floral that happens to go with both of my dresses and a lot of my clothing actually. I'm also wearing a jacket..after all I'm leaving Portland Or in December and darn if I'm not taking a jacket..just not my heaviest one.

 

For shoes I'm taking a pair of tevas for the beach, a pair of Clarks walking shoes for city touring and a pair of pumps for evening. I'm wearing a pair of turquoise flats on the plane, as turquoise is the primary color I'm accenting my white shorts & capris with. I don't wear tennis shoes at all and I'm not buying a pair when I have shoes I know will work. I love Clarks walking shoes-I can walk all day in them + they look nicer than tennis shoes.

 

I'm really getting excited about the trip-and bet you are also.

 

Have fun

Great suggestions! I will look forward to your response when you return... Funny I was planning to take my two mother of the bride/groom dresses for the formal nights!!

I would add 2 things

a pashmina/wrap - the air con can get rather chilly

a waterproof or umbrella, last 3 caribbean cruises over christmas we've had showers

My packing gets less and less every year

I would add 2 things

 

a pashmina/wrap - the air con can get rather chilly

 

a waterproof or umbrella, last 3 caribbean cruises over christmas we've had showers

 

My packing gets less and less every year

Oh yes on the pashimi-I have one that lives in my carry on all the time..so helpful when it gets chilly on the plane-I've used it as a blanket, as a beach 'towel' as a sarong (which I have to remember to throw in also) and as the ever ready wrap.

Would a light jacket with a hood be sufficient? I use a cane and thats hard to do when using an umbrella too.

I'm going with my daughter who has done several cruises-all on HAL, which is what we are doing in December. She feels that the mother of the bride dresses will be totally appropriate..

Here we buy these (usually) expensive dresses -I spent more on these 2 dresses then on a full years worth of casual clothes and I've worn one of them twice-once as the mother and last january on my birthday and the other one, which is really pretty, just the once. It's just too dressy for my style of living! Most of my dates (it's awful to be 70 and still dating) are casual restaurants or movies or activity type dates. I haven't had a date at a dressy restaurant since my husband passed away 9 years ago. So I'm glad to get some more wear out of them!

I hope you don't mind me piggy-backing on your question bjarrett7, how will the weather be for a Western Caribbean cruise (Galveston --> Progreso --> Cozumel) in late January/early Feb. The gf and I are booked on Triumph in January and are super excited, it will be our first cruise! :)

I hope you don't mind me piggy-backing on your question bjarrett7, how will the weather be for a Western Caribbean cruise (Galveston --> Progreso --> Cozumel) in late January/early Feb. The gf and I are booked on Triumph in January and are super excited, it will be our first cruise! :)

It will be warm. We were just in Cozumel a couple of weeks ago and it was hot and humid.

Enjoy your first cruise.

It will be warm. We were just in Cozumel a couple of weeks ago and it was hot and humid.

 

Enjoy your first cruise.

Thanks, we can't wait! We hope this is the beginning of a new way to vacation for us. Usually our vacations consist of visiting family, so it will be nice to do something for us. Plus the gf is working retail this holiday season, so it will be a nice break for both of us post-holidays. :D

Hi-

I agree with the other posters--it will be warm outside in the Caribbean, but can be cool in South Florida; one year, it was even in the '50s!

Onboard, it's shorts, bathing suits and sandals during the day.

Definitely have a wrap or sweater for the ship--the air conditioning is always higher than it needs to be.

On the formal nights, you'll see a few men in tuxes, but there seems to be fewer and fewer. Women wear everything from nice pants to long gowns; it comes down to what you'll be the most comfortable in. Typically, I wear a cocktail-length dress one night and funky, sparkly pants and top outfit the other.

Leave room in your suitcase to buy a few things. And have a fabulous trip! - Diana, http://musingaboutcruising.blogspot.com