South Pacific in March

[daisybertie]

We had such good advice from members of the forum when we planned a cruise to Alaska, so I am hoping that we can benefit from everyone's travels again. We have been looking at an 8 day cruise from Sydney to the South Pacific, leaving on March 29th, on Rhapsody of the Seas. If anyone has any comments on the weather at that time of the year, and any other information that might help us to decide, we would be grateful. We are 65 and 70 years old, fit, and looking forward to relaxing sea days, rather than a port oriented cruise. Thankyou.

[goodycruising]

I am interested in answers to this also. We are thinking of trying a South Pacific maybe not this Mar/Apr but maybe next year. We have booked for Jan next year, and expect it to be pretty hot then.

 

We have done South Pacific early Feb, which was hot, as would be expected. We have recently done late October into Nov and it was very pleasant, both on the ship and on shore. I noticed some comments on here about Aug/Sept being a bit cool, but we don't swim much, so we might enjoy that time of year also.

[Kinkacruiser]

Sorry to say, but cyclones may be still about in March. It's a small risk but in my opinion the best time for the Sth Pacific is Sep-Nov. It's also humid north of Tr. Capricorn.

Edited January 12, 2015 by Kinkacruiser

[Wastegirl]

We have done two cruises to the South Pacific, one in early March and one in late March/April. There was not that much difference in the temperature but the early March cruise got cut short because of a Cyclone which we had to avoid and we did not get to all our ports. We were also chased back to Sydney by the Cyclone and when getting closer to Sydney another Cyclone was in full swing in Queensland which affected our weather coming in.

 

Our weather in the late March/April cruise was much more stable, but its the chance you take cruising the South Pacific at that time of the year. Both times the weather was not overly hot except in Suva but I think that Port would be hot and sticky no matter when you go.

[Nattybugle]

We went from Sydney to New Caledonia, Isle of Pines and Lifou at the start of April last year. The weather was fantastic. And some days the sea was just like a mill pond. I loved that it was sunny but without too much humidity. We went on a snorkeling trip in New Caledonia and the water got a bit cold after an hours swimming, but we were provided with wet suits so it wasn't an issue.

[goodycruising]

That is the thing, the weather can be variable from day to day anywhere really. When we went late last October, we had friends that were on a different ship that pretty much followed our route a day later. We had beautiful calm weather for our days in all the 3 ports, and at Isle of Pines we couldn't have asked for a better day. Our friends were unable to get in at all the very next day as the seas were too rough and it is a tender port.

 

It seems that at some times the probabilities of cyclones is higher, around Feb/Mar from what I see here, but as far as temperatures go, it depends whether you are a pool sun-baker, or like us prefer the milder weather. :)

[The_Big_M]

For me, temp wise it would be a nice time to travel then. But it's the tail end of cyclone season so there is the possibility of disruption.