Never cruised in summer, what am I in for?

[lovetotravel06]

Thinking about a last minute B2B (Eastern/Western Caribbean). Have went on many of these (always RCI and mostly Freedom class) but always in the winter. Assume heat/humidity at the ports will be pretty nasty. What about sea days? Plenty windy and not crazy hot?

 

More kids on board? What else might differ a little from what I'm used to? I know the prices on these summer cruises are CRAZY high compared to what I'm used to.

 

Thanks in advance for any thoughts, input, etc.!!

[rilco33647]

Heat, humidity, kids!!!!!

[lovetotravel06]

Heat, humidity, kids!!!!!

 

 

LOL, I thought so! :) Should be discounted right!? (yes, I realize kids are out of school).

Edited July 20, 2015 by lovetotravel06

[rilco33647]

It's tough to walk around the ports in the summer. We try to get off the ship as early as possible and get back to the ship before lunch and the glorious air conditioning! Boat and beach excursions are great, but don't let anyone tell you differently!!! It's hot! Even on sea days when you're at the pool and there's a breeze, it's hot and humid! Can you tell I think it's hot and humid??? LOLOLOLOL

[Paulette3028]

Thinking about a last minute B2B (Eastern/Western Caribbean). Have went on many of these (always RCI and mostly Freedom class) but always in the winter. Assume heat/humidity at the ports will be pretty nasty. What about sea days? Plenty windy and not crazy hot?

 

More kids on board? What else might differ a little from what I'm used to? I know the prices on these summer cruises are CRAZY high compared to what I'm used to.

 

Thanks in advance for any thoughts, input, etc.!!

 

It's the Caribbean and you will have typical tropical weather. It will be hot and humid. It is the 'rainy season' so a rain outburst could happen at anytime while in port. The ship's captain will try to sail out of the wet/rainy/overly windy areas and therefore more rougher water and usually can do that and keep the movement onboard minimal. But it is the summer weather season.

 

Would it stop me from cruising at that time of year,no.....but then again I live in S. Florida.....so the magnificent breezes as the ship is sailing along in the evening are wonderful, but it doesn't remove the humidity -- considering water is all around you.

[ehfl]

Winds are much calmer in the summer, so seas will be a little calmer than you're used to. More rain in the summer.

[2CatsInFlorida]

We just got back from a Bahamas cruise. Nassau had breezes and was OK though hot. Coco Cay was unbearable hot with no breeze. I have a hold on a 7 night cruise to the Western Caribbean, but not sure if I will take a pass.

[riclop]

Kids , heat , humidity and pop up showers and thunderstorms and more kids.

[OSUZorba]

Compared to Oklahoma in the summer, I don't mind the weather in Caribbean. You trade a lot of temperature for a little humidity. But if you are from a climate where 80 is hot, I imagine you'll have some issues with the temperature/humidity.

 

The worse thing is the ship is just packed, crazy packed. I did Oasis in April and I thought the ship was so big you'd never have an issue, the sports pool was always empty, deck chairs were easy to find any where. Then in June, it was like a whole different ship, no deck chairs, no room in the pools, etc. The kids really don't bother me, but the shear number of people do.

[cruisingsince94]

Heat, humidity, kids!!!!!

 

That pretty much sums it up. I would also add impromptu rain showers thanks to all that heat and humidity. On sea days, crowded pool decks, with plenty of chair hogs and as many people as can fit into a hot tub scenes.

[Debinnova]

We went on a cruise towards the end of August. I remember that it was 100° or over in Saint Maarten. The walk off the ship to catch the little boat over to the tourist area about killed me. We walked around outside for about 30 minutes and went right back to the ship. I was so disappointed but it was just too hot. We looked around for some little bars or restaurants that were air-conditioned, but couldn't find any.

 

Sent from my KFTHWA using Tapatalk

[ColoradoGurl]

I for one am really hoping all this "hot" talk is true :) I have only traveled to the Caribbean during winter months and have always found the pool deck to be too cold for me with the breeze, and way too cold at night; I don't like traveling to a hot climate and having to wear a sweatshirt. But I don't retain heat well, so i may be in the minority when looking forward to 90 degree weather :)

[markeb]

We did what I guess was officially late spring/early summer on Explorer last year. It was hot, but not yet oppressive, and New York school dismissal had been delayed by all the weather, so the kid quota was a little lower than we expected (it was also a 9 day cruise and I find anything over 7 alters the demographics a little).

 

So no, it wasn't Oklahoma in August (Go Pokes! Beat OU!), but it wasn't the mid-Atlantic in April either!

[JamesEM]

A cruise is good any time of the year, but I do not cruise in the summer, kids, heat, kids, rain, kids, lots of sweaty clothing, oh did I mention lots of kids.

[Summerknight]

We have only cruised once in the summer. As everyone has said it was very hot and humid. I love the heat, but DH stayed in the air conditioned pubs when we were onboard and said, "never again"

 

Our next 23 cruises were in the fall or winter. Much more fun to leave the Midwest during that time.

[Jay Sam]

Never have cruised during the summer. Spring and fall is when I cruise for a lot of the reasons listed above.

 

From what I have experienced weather wise, eastern Caribbean is cooler than western. We were in Roatan in late April and it was miserable. So, I would consider an E CRB in the summer more than W CRB. Am not a big fan of W CRB itin's anyway.

[Pitbull1130]

The heat is on during the summer, found that in August the kids get a little less. It seems in the last 5 years though we see a lot of kids no matter what time of year we go.

[OCruisers]

Lots more children and there's always the chance of hurricanes/tropical storms.

 

LuLu

[jewopaho]

Heat, humidity, kids!!!!!

Yep ... but not necessarily in that order. Kids, heat, kids, humidity, kids ... that's closer to reality. Add the fact that many parents pay no attention to what their children are doing (pressing every button on elevators, using the hallways for running tracks, piling into the hot tubs, even though the minimum age is 18 ... staff often ignores it). We stopped looking for summer cruises after one experience in June, and it wasn't even mid-summer yet. And for this they charges premium prices ... and folks are willing to pay it because it's family vacation time.

 

I for one am really hoping all this "hot" talk is true :). I don't retain heat well, so i may be in the minority when looking forward to 90 degree weather :)

It's actually closer to the 100 mark ... and you can feel every degree of it. I hope you love children, as well, since you'll be cruising with 1000 of them ... literally.

[voyager70]

Yep ... but not necessarily in that order. Kids, heat, kids, humidity, kids ... that's closer to reality. Add the fact that many parents pay no attention to what their children are doing (pressing every button on elevators, using the hallways for running tracks, piling into the hot tubs, even though the minimum age is 18 ... staff often ignores it). We stopped looking for summer cruises after one experience in June, and it wasn't even mid-summer yet. And for this they charges premium prices ... and folks are willing to pay it because it's family vacation time.

 

 

It's actually closer to the 100 mark ... and you can feel every degree of it. I hope you love children, as well, since you'll be cruising with 1000 of them ... literally.

 

^This, exactly!

[rilco33647]

We're sailing on Allure in March 2016 for our daughter's high school graduation gift pre-graduation because I refuse to do anymore summer cruises! Son in college, daughter going to college! Hubby and mom free to travel whenever we want!!! YAY!!!!!

[bouhunter]

The Caribbean is always warm and doesn't vary that much. Scroll down to the climate section for St. Martin as an example:

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marigot,_Saint_Martin

 

It only varies 5 degrees through the whole year so it's pretty much always the same!:D

[lovetotravel06]

Although most of the answers I got here (thanks so much btw) were kind of what I thought...however, the responses got me to REALLY thinking harder about it! lol

 

I'm leaning to go somewhere land based (HI perhaps) after really putting myself in the positions mentioned above!

 

If these summer cruises were "cheap" that would help but they are far from it!

 

I'm a midwesterner so I know about heat and humidity btw.

 

Hmmm...Not ruling them out completely yet but about too! :)

 

Thanks again and feel free to continue to contribute!

[ColoradoGurl]

Yep ... but not necessarily in that order. Kids, heat, kids, humidity, kids ... that's closer to reality. Add the fact that many parents pay no attention to what their children are doing (pressing every button on elevators, using the hallways for running tracks, piling into the hot tubs, even though the minimum age is 18 ... staff often ignores it). We stopped looking for summer cruises after one experience in June, and it wasn't even mid-summer yet. And for this they charges premium prices ... and folks are willing to pay it because it's family vacation time.

 

 

It's actually closer to the 100 mark ... and you can feel every degree of it. I hope you love children, as well, since you'll be cruising with 1000 of them ... literally.

 

100 is pushing my limit but I'll hang out in the water and cool off and hopefully that will help. Usually my issue with the winter temperatures in the Caribbean are when I'm on the ship and the wind makes it too cold, so I'm hoping with the hot temperatures, the wind will be welcome.

 

I don't mind kids, although my tolerance for the younger ones has gotten a little less as my own kid has gotten older (I have a teenager). Mine is well behaved though and acts like an adult; i actually just tried to convince her we should eat dinner at the buffet and skip formal night and she insisted that we eat a proper meal in the dining room EVERY night and that we pack proper attire for formal night, haha. She actually doesn't like kids at all, and said she hopes most of them will be back in school next month when we go.

 

I think the kid thing is probably more of an issue on bigger ships and easier to reach routes (like the ones that leave from Florida). We're going on a southern out of Puerto Rico and I'm more worried about the rude locals I've read about more than the kids (as I don't think there will be that many kids on our ship). We're sailing pretty close to the start of the school year so I don't think many families with kids will fly to Puerto Rico during that week. So maybe the OP should also consider doing a route from Puerto Rico or Texas rather than Florida if they are sailing during summer, and avoid the Florida (especially the Orlando) routes and avoid the oasis and freedom class ships.

Edited July 20, 2015 by ColoradoGurl

[ColoradoGurl]

Although most of the answers I got here (thanks so much btw) were kind of what I thought...however, the responses got me to REALLY thinking harder about it! lol

 

I'm leaning to go somewhere land based (HI perhaps) after really putting myself in the positions mentioned above!

 

If these summer cruises were "cheap" that would help but they are far from it!

 

I'm a midwesterner so I know about heat and humidity btw.

 

Hmmm...Not ruling them out completely yet but about too! :)

 

Thanks again and feel free to continue to contribute!

 

I could be wrong, but I'd be willing to bet a vacation to Hawaii will be far more expensive than a cruise during summertime!!! If you're looking for a cheaper option, you can cruise in August, which is cheaper than June and July, and you can look for a non-Florida departure port. If you truly want a land based vacation, I'd suggest going to an all-inclusive in the Caribbean. If you're 2 adults, look at Secrets resorts in either Punta Cana, Mexico (although Mexico would be at the bottom of my list), Jamaica or costs rica (the secrets resort in Costa Rica doesn't open until this November). I would also highly recommend the Couples resorts in Jamaica, but they aren't cheap (I've been to couples swept away in Negril and it was amazing- but 3 times the price i'm paying for my summer cruise). Sandals are supposed to be nice but I haven't been to one, but they've got them all over the place and their resorts include water sports (including free scuba diving!).