Best time of year to sail Valor from San Juan

We are looking at booking the Valor our of San Juan. We were wondering what the best time of year was for this cruise. Taking into account temperature, rain, and of course how crowded the ports of call are.

I have never been to San Juan but will be there for the Splendor repositioning cruise in November. This is a 1 shot cruise so I didn't have to think about whether there might be a better time. I am looking for some advice, based on your experiences, for when to book the Valor.

Sharon

We are looking at booking the Valor our of San Juan. We were wondering what the best time of year was for this cruise. Taking into account temperature, rain, and of course how crowded the ports of call are.

 

I have never been to San Juan but will be there for the Splendor repositioning cruise in November. This is a 1 shot cruise so I didn't have to think about whether there might be a better time. I am looking for some advice, based on your experiences, for when to book the Valor.

 

Sharon

It basically all boils down to many factors. I'll try to list some positives and negatives.

Summer months in the Caribbean usually have more rain than the winter months and are generally a lot warmer with higher humidity. At least with last years cruising itineraries, Valor was the only ship in port since many of the other cruise lines move their ships to Europe for European cruises. The ship itself will generally have more families with kids since they are on summer break.

The winter months are the "dry season" in the Caribbean. That's no guarantee that it won't rain, but it is generally drier with a better chance of clear weather. If there is a strong cold front moving through, it can also get a little chilly. It will also be darker early during the winter months, but that can be a plus to see the ship all lit up after dark while still in port. During the winter months there will be other cruise ships in port, sometimes quite a few, in which the ports of call would be crowded.

Then there's fall - hurricane season. Personally, I'd try to avoid booking a cruise during hurricane season but only for the reason that we've had vacations interrupted by hurricanes/tropical storms in the past and luck isn't on our side when it comes to that. Ships will avoid hurricanes but that could mean missing islands or a change in the itinerary all together. I tend to get motion sickness and take something to avoid it, but I'd hate to risk that in rough water as well. That's just my personal opinion though. I've seen reviews from fall cruises where the weather was spectacular with calm seas.

I don't know for sure what the actual temperature range(s) would be. We were on Valor out of San Juan for the southern itinerary last May and for the most part, the weather was decent. On and off rain in San Juan, afternoon rain in St. Thomas, and rain most of the day in St. Kitts. Beautiful the rest of the trip. It was in the 80's/low 90's but there always seems to be an ocean breeze, however it could seem much warmer with more humidity on inland tours of islands. I would assume that the temps would be pretty much the same through the summer months. Winter months, I don't know what the average is, but am guessing anywhere from the 70's - 90's, just depending.

I know there are a lot of people who choose when to cruise to avoid kids. We have never witnessed any of the poor behavior but maybe we lucked out and we don't mind kids, even though we don't have any of our own. If that is something you want to take into consideration, then times to avoid would be:

Between Christmas and New Year

March (college Spring Break crowd)

Easter (the week before and the week after) for Spring Breaks for K-12. Some have breaks the week leading up to Easter and others have the week after Easter.

Summer months (June - August)

I will say we LOVED our Valor cruise. Valor is a great ship with a great crew and the other passengers were a great group, all ages. The itinerary itself is spectacular. I hope this helps.

It basically all boils down to many factors. I'll try to list some positives and negatives.

 

Summer months in the Caribbean usually have more rain than the winter months and are generally a lot warmer with higher humidity. At least with last years cruising itineraries, Valor was the only ship in port since many of the other cruise lines move their ships to Europe for European cruises. The ship itself will generally have more families with kids since they are on summer break.

 

The winter months are the "dry season" in the Caribbean. That's no guarantee that it won't rain, but it is generally drier with a better chance of clear weather. If there is a strong cold front moving through, it can also get a little chilly. It will also be darker early during the winter months, but that can be a plus to see the ship all lit up after dark while still in port. During the winter months there will be other cruise ships in port, sometimes quite a few, in which the ports of call would be crowded.

 

Then there's fall - hurricane season. Personally, I'd try to avoid booking a cruise during hurricane season but only for the reason that we've had vacations interrupted by hurricanes/tropical storms in the past and luck isn't on our side when it comes to that. Ships will avoid hurricanes but that could mean missing islands or a change in the itinerary all together. I tend to get motion sickness and take something to avoid it, but I'd hate to risk that in rough water as well. That's just my personal opinion though. I've seen reviews from fall cruises where the weather was spectacular with calm seas.

 

I don't know for sure what the actual temperature range(s) would be. We were on Valor out of San Juan for the southern itinerary last May and for the most part, the weather was decent. On and off rain in San Juan, afternoon rain in St. Thomas, and rain most of the day in St. Kitts. Beautiful the rest of the trip. It was in the 80's/low 90's but there always seems to be an ocean breeze, however it could seem much warmer with more humidity on inland tours of islands. I would assume that the temps would be pretty much the same through the summer months. Winter months, I don't know what the average is, but am guessing anywhere from the 70's - 90's, just depending.

 

I know there are a lot of people who choose when to cruise to avoid kids. We have never witnessed any of the poor behavior but maybe we lucked out and we don't mind kids, even though we don't have any of our own. If that is something you want to take into consideration, then times to avoid would be:

 

Between Christmas and New Year

March (college Spring Break crowd)

Easter (the week before and the week after) for Spring Breaks for K-12. Some have breaks the week leading up to Easter and others have the week after Easter.

Summer months (June - August)

 

I will say we LOVED our Valor cruise. Valor is a great ship with a great crew and the other passengers were a great group, all ages. The itinerary itself is spectacular. I hope this helps.

Thank you for your insights. I have cruised the most in April. I was just wondering if there was a better time to go. You have given me some good information to consider. It is always good to hear from someone who had experience on this cruise. Again, Thank You.

Sharon

We did Valor last year. Last week of April- first week of May.

Our weather was awesome! Of course, there's no guarantee it will be the same this year or next. We had no rain and great warm temps but not too hot.

We went in April when it was the Victory doing that itinerary and it rained every day...not quick showers but steady rain. We almost always cruise during our kid's April break and it's the first time we've experienced bad weather. By the end we joked that there was a back cloud traveling over the ship with us from port to port!

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Thank you for your insights. I have cruised the most in April. I was just wondering if there was a better time to go. You have given me some good information to consider. It is always good to hear from someone who had experience on this cruise. Again, Thank You.

 

Sharon

You are welcome and happy to help out with what I can. :) We're actually going on Carnival Liberty on a Western Caribbean cruise (Miami to Cozumel, Belize, Roatan, & Grand Cayman) at the beginning of April this year and we've been wondering about the weather there. Have you had decent weather in April in the Western Caribbean? Thanks!

I am going on the Valor for the second straight year and was on the Victory 2 years ago , so basically 3 straight cruises out of San Juan , and every time we have gone beginning of October , its the end of Hurricane season , and its a great time to go , schools are back in , weather is great

my 2 cents

We went in April when it was the Victory doing that itinerary and it rained every day...not quick showers but steady rain. We almost always cruise during our kid's April break and it's the first time we've experienced bad weather. By the end we joked that there was a back cloud traveling over the ship with us from port to port!

 

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Oh no!!! Sorry to hear that. I mentioned our "luck" with hurricanes/tropical storms in an earlier post while on vacation or interrupting vacations - at least 7 including an evacuation (Floyd, Hilton Head, SC - 1999), riding one out before mandatory evacuation became the norm (Bob, Nags Head, NC - 1991). We also refer to our luck with that as our "black cloud". DH would like to go on a cruise in September...I say "No way". Hopefully your weather will be better next time.

We sailed this past Feb 2-9 and had rain every day pre-cruise in San Juan even rained during the Super Bowl. Then it did rain most days In the morning, but cleared up so we made all of our excursions no problems. Weather was warm and not humid. I think this was unusual because our taxi driver said it was not their rainy season.

There are two times I believe are best for that cruise:

First is in May before the schools get out. Lower crowds because it is between spring break and summer. Also, the weather is nice, but not oppressively hot and it is right before rainy season starts.

Second, I would pick the time between Thanksgiving and Christmas. Nobody travels then, so airfare will be lower, ports will be less crowded, and you will be right after hurricane season.

I traveled in the middle of the "dry" season for over a month. Out of 30+ days island hopping from Trinidad to San Juan, I had exactly 2 without rain. You never know (although that was a very unusual year).

We sailed the Valor out of Miami and love the ship. Our daughter sailed from San Juan Thanksgiving week and said it was terrible due to the crowd. My guess is a big group cruise was onboard as she said they were a rowdy crowd and basically took over every venue.

You are welcome and happy to help out with what I can. :) We're actually going on Carnival Liberty on a Western Caribbean cruise (Miami to Cozumel, Belize, Roatan, & Grand Cayman) at the beginning of April this year and we've been wondering about the weather there. Have you had decent weather in April in the Western Caribbean? Thanks!

We have had good weather in March and April when doing the Western.

We seem to run into more rain on the Eastern itinerary. We had rain in St Maarten 2 out of 3 times. One time it was nearly the whole day. It rained the whole time in Antigua, and it rained most of the time in St Lucia. This was both in April and November.

Sharon

Oh no!!! Sorry to hear that. I mentioned our "luck" with hurricanes/tropical storms in an earlier post while on vacation or interrupting vacations - at least 7 including an evacuation (Floyd, Hilton Head, SC - 1999), riding one out before mandatory evacuation became the norm (Bob, Nags Head, NC - 1991). We also refer to our luck with that as our "black cloud". DH would like to go on a cruise in September...I say "No way". Hopefully your weather will be better next time.

I can't blame you, that's terrible! After the never ending winter we are having I would take the steady rain in the Caribbean without a mutter of complaint ( but I really hope it's sunny and 80 ) ;)

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I can't blame you, that's terrible! After the never ending winter we are having I would take the steady rain in the Caribbean without a mutter of complaint ( but I really hope it's sunny and 80 ) ;)

 

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It was but it could have been worse. When evacuating we saw a lot of people with what looked to be all the most important personal belongings they had and could fit in their cars. We lost a vacation but they could have lost their homes. We're in VA but seem to be having that same, endless winter. It's usually in the 60's here by now but has been in the 30's mostly with a few 60's here and there. After an almost 70 degree day on Sunday, we got 8 inches of snow Sunday night/Monday (St. Paddy's Day). Warm again, snow melted but more next week. It's coming up the East Coast and we'll get snow regardless because it will be cold enough, but it depends on how far east/west the storm tracks on how much we'll get. Sounds like it's either us or NE states. Really looking forward to the cruise though, so there is light at the end of the tunnel and even if it rains, it will be rain (liquid sunshine they call it in Jamaica) and not snow. I hope you have great weather on your cruise.

We have had good weather in March and April when doing the Western.

We seem to run into more rain on the Eastern itinerary. We had rain in St Maarten 2 out of 3 times. One time it was nearly the whole day. It rained the whole time in Antigua, and it rained most of the time in St Lucia. This was both in April and November.

Sharon

Thank you. We were on a Western Caribbean in March 2006 and had beautiful weather but I didn't know if that was the norm or if we just lucked out. I think it rained one night but didn't notice until the next morning when the balcony was wet. We did the Eastern on Glory in 2010 and lucked out with beautiful weather most of the time, but there was more rain (San Juan and Grand Turk) and choppier seas than we'd experienced before. I mentioned in an earlier post that after the winter we've had (still having) that I can't complain about rain (it won't be snow in the Caribbean) but I sure hope we have more sun than clouds/rain. :)

I don't know about any other time of year but I CAN say that November 2013 aboard the Valor was AWESOME!!

For me, and DW, we are hoping that the best time to go on Valor out of San Juan is March 30, 2014!!!!! One week from right now. Can't wait!!!!

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I am thinking the end of April......my cruise time!

Spring is always the best time to cruise the Carribean. No scorching hot, no cold evenings, and not hurricane season. Plain and simple. (Sailed on Valor same itinerary last Easter.)

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We did this trip the last 3 years always the first week of Nov. still hot in San Juan. Never had more than 2 other ships in port many times we were the only ship.

For me, and DW, we are hoping that the best time to go on Valor out of San Juan is March 30, 2014!!!!! One week from right now. Can't wait!!!!

 

 

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We went the first week in March this year. It misted about an hour in St. Kitts right after we docked, but awesome weather. Enjoy your cruise.

We've done San Juan the last 2 years in November on the Victory and Valor. I just booked the Valor again for this November. It was always in the 80's and never seemed to rained a drop! Best of all the water temps are still perfect from summer. Ports aren't crowded and neither does it seem are the ships. The itinerary is a great mixture of islands it's my favorite cruise!!!

dying to take this one. hubby wants to maybe do it next summer, but I am not so sure. we'll see!!! our 20 year anniversary is in June so it's on the list.

I just got off the Valor last Sunday, and the weather couldn't have been more perfect! Mid 80's all day and mostly sunny. There were a few days where it got pretty cloudy, but it never rained a drop except for a brief 10 minute shower on sea day as we passed under a rain cloud. :)

Looks like Valor actually had to miss St. Kitts today. On the live webcam (Funships Live webcam) at around 9AM this morning, it appeared to be sailing away then turned around in what looked like another attempt to dock again, but it appears that attempt failed as well and Valor is now out at sea. I feel bad for everyone on Valor this week. I know the feeling, we missed Grand Cayman last week on Liberty. At least we were there once before. Mother Nature is so unpredictable.