Best month for Caribbean?which part?

[TANZYRAGWEED]

My husband and I are considering a cruise to the caribbean next winter. He can take vacation time in October, first part of November, January, February, parts of March and parts of April.

 

When do you think the best time to go is, and which islands? Eastern, Western, Southern Caribbean?:confused:

[I'm on holiday]

Welcome to Cruise Critic!

 

Weather-wise, I would say October or April. Yes, October (and November) are in hurricane season, however, it's not as hot then. You can get a great deal in October. Personally, I avoid March, it's more expensive, it's Spring break time, and it can be a bit crazy. April is very nice, as long as it's late April. Again avoiding Spring break, and higher rates. I'm sure others may have a differing opinion

 

I live in FL, and YES, it gets cold in January and February, so that's something to keep in mind if you sail from here and have a stop in the Bahamas. It may not be beach weather.

 

I have done Eastern, Western and Southern, and loved them all. I see you live in Oregon, so you'll have to fly no matter where you go. Will it be your first cruise? If I had to pick, and it's your first, I'd say Eastern Caribbean out of Port Canaveral (fly into Orlando) or Miami. JHMO

[Mezzaluna]

I'm on holiday answered the weather question. There are other issues that you may want to take into account.

 

First: don't travel during school vacation times if you want to avoid being on a ship with lots of kids of all ages. I am a retired middle school teacher. When I was teaching, I had to vacation during school vacations. Consequently, our honeymoon cruise had a huge number of school age children and college students. I have to admit that I didn't enjoy the cruise as much as if it were primarily adults on board. (Don't get me wrong: I like kids! But like parents who need a grownup getaway, I did, too.)

 

Second: The ship and itinerary you choose will also determine the "best time" to cruise. Take a look at the itinerary and also at the shore excursions being offered, and you'll get some idea of what the ambience of the ship might be.

 

I hope that all makes sense!

Ann

[arlee]

We took our first cruise in March. Had I discovered CC boards before I booked, I would have known that it was spring break. We're from Canada, so the dates are different here. The ship was very full and there were alot of college kids on board. They weren't rowdy, but I think for 2010, we'll book a different date. Also, I was wondering if there's a difference between eastern, southern and western caribbean with the seas being rougher or calmer? We went to the eastern caribbean and had a few "shakey" days!

[tomko2]

We like first three weeks of December; mid -late January, first two weeks of Feb or April. Florida school break seems to go into first week of April but we have cruised then and not experienced any problems.

We enjoy both the Eastern and Western Caribbean but probably lean a bit towards the Western especially if Grand Cayman is one of the ports of call.

Photos of ports of call on Eastern and Western routes in the link below.

We generally just go to the beach and have our favourite spots on most of the islands we have visited.

Have a wonderful cruise.

Kathy:)

[martinchem]

We enjoy all of the caribbean, since were from the Buffalo area we enjoy getting away between dec-mar, it works for us.

[arlee]

Wow - our one little cruise can't compare to all of yours! Very impressive! I just want to know if the ocean is calmer in the southern or western caribbean from Miami?

[I'm on holiday]

arlee; That's hard to say. Seas can vary from place to place at any given time. However, I'd say the Gulf of Mexico and Western Caribbean Sea catch the most of the tropical waves, which can mean higher seas. At least that's what I've noticed over the past few years.

 

The Captain's do a pretty good job avoiding storms, but the bottom line, there is no sure thing regarding the seas! :)

[arlee]

Thanks for the info. Mother Nature is very unpredictable - we just happened to have strong winds in March - and rough seas, which, of course I wasn't use to because it was our first cruise. One night they had to put out airsickness bags!

[morecruise4me]

Our last two cruises have been eastern itineraries and in March and April and both have had a day or two of rough seas. On the other hand, the two previous cruises were western and in December and January and we had beautiful calm seas (and nice warm days, too!). You can go to weather dot com and check averages for temperature, rainfall, etc. for anyplace and any month. You can't predict the weather 100% of the time, though. Hope you find a cruise you love!

[Travelcat2]

Our experience was the same as the previous poster. In late February early March of this year, we did Eastern Caribbean -- the seas were quite rough about one day out of Ft. Lauderdale. In March 2007 we did Western Caribbean and had pretty calm seas.

 

February and March are lovely months for good weather (without the rain). However, you have to be very careful to avoid Spring Break, President's week, etc. We checked college and high school calendars to determine when these breaks were occuring and managed to find an opening so we could take an 11 night cruise!

[TANZYRAGWEED]

I really want swim friendly weather. I do not like super hot or humid, but like it warm and want to snorkel and do lots of excursions.

 

We did a 7 day Mexican cruise on the Carnival Pride first week of june in '07 and LOVED it. I would go back but thought we'd try something new instead.

[cruiseapril]

We are swimmers and snorkelers and prefer to cruise in April. Last year, we went to Aruba and Curacao on a Southern Caribbean cruise in April and had very good beach weather. Both of these islands have trade winds which are pleasant.