Weather in Caribbean

Hi, we are joining Azura in Barbados next Friday. Looking at the weather forecasts it appears to be showers every day. Never been here before so is that what we can expect? I suppose at least the rain will be warm :)

Hi, we are joining Azura in Barbados next Friday. Looking at the weather forecasts it appears to be showers every day. Never been here before so is that what we can expect? I suppose at least the rain will be warm :)

The Caribbean is a climate where rain often falls in the afternoon due to heating on the land . Clouds form and they can rain. In all of our cruises in the Caribbean and Central America ,there where rain clouds with showers in the hills..

Funnily enough, during our Caribbean cruise in late December last year, we found the showers were in the morning, usually around the time the ship was docking, or shortly before, so 8-9 am. After that it was always fine, except Dominica where there were very heavy showers every 15-20 minutes throughout the day. Don't know if it being the best part of 2 months later would make a difference.

Sussexboy

We have cruised in the Caribbean in November, December, January, February and March and it always rains at some point in Barbados but as the Bajans call it Liquid Sunshine we never complain especially as you are not there for to long.

Remember the weather at home will be a lot colder and wetter.

Enjoy your cruise.

Thanks, we fully intend to. Can't think of a better place to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary.

We have often arrived in Barbados to rain and also left in rain! Not always but often enough to be able to say - it's raining again - as we arrive. The showers don't last for long and of course it's very warm rain! The only thing I would say is that if you have soft sided cases then do take the precaution of lining your cases with polythene - the sort of things that dry cleaning comes back in - slit the bags open and spread out one in the bottom of your case and then another goes over the top once you've packed - tucked down the sides. The reason I say this is that on our first trip to Barbados I didn't do this and on our return journey to the airport it was pouring. As some point our cases must have been left on the tarmac in the open. When I got home and unpacked I found my husband's cream jumper had turned a delicate shade of pink! I'd put a red linen jacket of mine on top of his jumper and everything around was slightly damp! So since then I've always put polythene in a case if it's soft sided. Just a precaution!

The other places we've seen rain are St. Lucia and Dominica. In both places the rain didn't last long and we've never had a cruise in the Caribbean where we felt it had been spoilt by the rain. Enjoy your trip.

We have never seen rain in Barbados yes in St Lucia and every time apart from the last time, St Vincent every time other than that not enough rain to remember.

Just go with the flow and enjoy

We have found Dominica to be the wettest of the regular islands that P&O visit. Also we have been 9 times in Feb-Apr and have always had good weather apart from a few showers excepting Dominica which always seems to rain for us. We have been once in November though and had quite a bit of rain that time and based on that we would not go again before Xmas.

We have often arrived in Barbados to rain and also left in rain! Not always but often enough to be able to say - it's raining again - as we arrive. The showers don't last for long and of course it's very warm rain! The only thing I would say is that if you have soft sided cases then do take the precaution of lining your cases with polythene - the sort of things that dry cleaning comes back in - slit the bags open and spread out one in the bottom of your case and then another goes over the top once you've packed - tucked down the sides. The reason I say this is that on our first trip to Barbados I didn't do this and on our return journey to the airport it was pouring. As some point our cases must have been left on the tarmac in the open. When I got home and unpacked I found my husband's cream jumper had turned a delicate shade of pink! I'd put a red linen jacket of mine on top of his jumper and everything around was slightly damp! So since then I've always put polythene in a case if it's soft sided. Just a precaution!

 

Great tip Thanks, we are going to be using soft cases for the first time in March to save weight and would not have thought of that, but will do so now !! Thinking about it our hard cases have arrived the cabin wet in the Caribbean before

I always use hard suitcases and have done for about 10 years before that had a good few accidents with wet bags and burst bags not worth the hassle for a few KG more luggage.

Having said that have known one of our hard cases to split but only slightly and the contents weren't affected and M & S replaced without question it was 3 years old.

I wondered about the same thing before we went last December as the forecast was showers everyday. In reality we probably saw 2 or 3 showers all holiday. One was incredibly heavy but we were safely ensconced in our cabin at the time watching the water taxis bringing unlucky passengers back from Great Anse beach in Granada.

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We have often arrived in Barbados to rain and also left in rain! Not always but often enough to be able to say - it's raining again - as we arrive. The showers don't last for long and of course it's very warm rain! The only thing I would say is that if you have soft sided cases then do take the precaution of lining your cases with polythene - the sort of things that dry cleaning comes back in - slit the bags open and spread out one in the bottom of your case and then another goes over the top once you've packed - tucked down the sides. The reason I say this is that on our first trip to Barbados I didn't do this and on our return journey to the airport it was pouring. As some point our cases must have been left on the tarmac in the open. When I got home and unpacked I found my husband's cream jumper had turned a delicate shade of pink! I'd put a red linen jacket of mine on top of his jumper and everything around was slightly damp! So since then I've always put polythene in a case if it's soft sided. Just a precaution!

 

The other places we've seen rain are St. Lucia and Dominica. In both places the rain didn't last long and we've never had a cruise in the Caribbean where we felt it had been spoilt by the rain. Enjoy your trip.

what wet weather gear do you take for the rain then?????cagouls??ponchos???padded jackets???please advise!!!:eek::eek::eek::eek:

We have found Dominica to be the wettest of the regular islands that P&O visit. Also we have been 9 times in Feb-Apr and have always had good weather apart from a few showers excepting Dominica which always seems to rain for us. We have been once in November though and had quite a bit of rain that time and based on that we would not go again before Xmas.

This was our favourite island. However it is a tropical rain forest...hence all the rain...

It stood out for us as it was different-very poor though.

All the others seemed to merge into hot/dusty places , with shops. Mind you we have not done St Lucia.

Well we have hard cases, light rain jackets and a determination to have a good time whatever. So I think we are good to go! Thanks for all your comments and advice. Now, did someone mention rum...............

Well we have hard cases, light rain jackets and a determination to have a good time whatever. So I think we are good to go! Thanks for all your comments and advice. Now, did someone mention rum...............

A good satellite loop here to give an idea of whats going on and where in the Caribbean...

http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/goes/east/tatl/flash-avn.html

I'm going to complile a list of 'Cruise' destination islands for the Caribbean and post the max and min temperatures plus daily 24 hour rainfall totals currently in the region abit later.

Keith (Southend)

A good satellite loop here to give an idea of whats going on and where in the Caribbean...

http://www.ssd.noaa.gov/goes/east/tatl/flash-avn.html

 

I'm going to complile a list of 'Cruise' destination islands for the Caribbean and post the max and min temperatures plus daily 24 hour rainfall totals currently in the region abit later.

 

Keith (Southend)

As promised yesterdays weather round the Caribbean .

*Caribbean Islands overview*

5th NOVEMBER 2016

Max °C Min °C Rain (mm) Location

28.9 22.0 5.1 Nassau Int. Bahamas(7m)

29.9 24.6 - Grand Cayman Int Owen Roberts(3m)

31.0 24.0 1.5 Montego Bay, Jamaica (3m)

29.5 23.1 36.2 Punta Cana(12m) Dom Rep

30.6 25.0 - C. Amalie/Truman St. Thomas US(67m)

30.1 21.3 TR Belize Int(5m)

30.7 24.9 - St. Kitts/Golden Rock(48m)

30.4 25.8 - Nevis (17m)

29.5 22.3 0.3 Antigua/Vc Bird Int(14m)

30.5 25.8 2.0 St. Maarten/Juliana Air(9m)

29.6 23.6 7.6 Guadeloupe/La Raizet(11m)

28.3 23.7 10.1 Marinique/La Lementin(7m)

29.6 24.5 TR St Lucia/Vigie(2m)

29.0 22.8 0.1 St Vincent/Arnos Vale(5m)

27.9 22.7 25.3 Barbados/Grantley Adams(50m)

31.5 25.1 - Grenada/Point Salines Int(7m)

31.2 24.8 TR Tobago/Crown Port Aero(6m)

32.1 22.9 74.5 Trinidad/Piarco Int(15m)

32.7 28.5 - Aruba/Q Beatrix(3m)

33.3 27.9 - Curacao/Hato Aero(67m)

Keith (Southend):)

Thing is I think some people book Caribbean cruises on the assumption that,

well its the Caribbean it will be hot and sunny wont it...

Ofcourse it will not. They have hurricanes ,extreme rainfall etc. and if there is a tropical rain forest there will be rain -lots of it..rather gives the game away in the tropical RAIN forest.

It will be warm to hot in whichever island you visit. Any rain tends to be short and sharp---liquid sunshine.

Clotheswise...not padded jackets...just something for the rain you may get.

I sometimes think -not this thread but over the years the 100s I have read-that some people do no research whatsoever on where their cruise is going before they book. They just go entirely by the price.

Roaming Rover - you ask what wet weather gear we take to the Caribbean - well I suppose the answer is apart from an umbrella we don't take any. We've been to the Caribbean on 9 different cruises and we've never felt the need. We don't tend to go on long walks where, if it rains, we might need something - apart from an umbrella. The wettest time I remember, apart from the rain forest walk I mentioned, and even there I didn't have any wet weather gear apart from the umbrella - was a trip that included St. Lucia. We were doing a Back to Back and it happened that the day before we got back to Barbados we were in St. Lucia and then at the beginning of the second cruise our second day was back to St. Lucia. On the first visit it did pour for a couple of hours. I was on a sightseeing trip and apart from wet feet, I had sandals on, I used my umbrella to get from the ship to the coach and on the various places we stopped at - no problem. On the second visit the sun shone all day long!

My daughter is now in St Lucia for two weeks (Not on a cruise) According to her face book they have had showers of rain during the past 5 days. But, they did not last long and the sun was soon shining and it was warm.

We go to the Caribbean in Jan 2017. We will take a very light rain jacket and a brolly. I may loo into buying a poncho as I will have my camera gear with me, so want something that will keep it dry during the showers.

This will be our first time in the Caribbean and did some research re weather, we decided that rain was not going to be a problem. Also, as it's a round trip from Southampton we do not have the weight restrictions as fly cruises have. So we can pack wet weather stuff.

what wet weather gear do you take for the rain then?????cagouls??ponchos???padded jackets???please advise!!!:eek::eek::eek::eek:

Wet weather gear? Shorts and t-shirts!

They dry in about 5 minutes with the Caribbean sun...

Wet weather gear? Shorts and t-shirts!

 

They dry in about 5 minutes with the Caribbean sun...

Camera gear and rain do not mix very well :D

Camera gear and rain do not mix very well :D

Quite true. My Nikon bridge camera suffered badly in Alaska when we were dog-sledding. However, the pictures were well worth it. The camera still works ok, but the LCD screen has misted up a bit, so it's not good in direct sunlight.

I've got a waterproof Pentax compact - on reflection it would have been a better camera choice to take, but I wanted the more powerful zoom for scenery.

Still - at least I've had an excuse to go camera shopping - and I really fancy a Nikon AW1 ... are you listening, Santa?

*Caribbean Islands overview*

6th NOVEMBER 2016

Max °C Min °C Rain (mm) Location

28.6 21.6 0.5 Nassau Int. Bahamas(7m)

29.8 23.6 TR Grand Cayman Int Owen Roberts(3m)

31.4 24.3 0.2 Montego Bay, Jamaica (3m)

28.4 22.8 17.6 Punta Cana(12m) Dom Rep

31.1 x 2.8 C. Amalie/Truman St. Thomas US(67m)

26.3 21.9 0.6 Belize Int(5m)

31.0 24.7 - St. Kitts/Golden Rock(48m)

30.6 25.1 6.2 Nevis (17m)

29.7 24.3 1.2 Antigua/Vc Bird Int(14m)

30.3 24.2 18.7 St. Maarten/Juliana Air(9m)

30.3 23.6 23.2 Guadeloupe/La Raizet(11m)

32.1 23.1 1.8 Marinique/La Lementin(7m)

31.4 x 0.4 St Lucia/Vigie(2m)

31.2 26.1 12.7 St Vincent/Arnos Vale(5m)

31.4 24.7 16.0 Barbados/Grantley Adams(50m)

31.1 27.1 TR Grenada/Point Salines Int(7m)

30.9 25.1 11.0 Tobago/Crown Port Aero(6m)

32.4 23.7 12.7 Trinidad/Piarco Int(15m)

33.3 28.7 - Aruba/Q Beatrix(3m)

34.1 27.8 - Curacao/Hato Aero(67m)

*Caribbean Islands overview*

9th NOVEMBER 2016

Max °C Min °C Rain (mm) Location

28.5 18.3 - Nassau Int. Bahamas(7m)

30.1 25.8 TR Grand Cayman Int Owen Roberts(3m)

31.6 25.4 - Montego Bay, Jamaica (3m)

29.5 21.0 - Punta Cana(12m) Dom Rep

31.1 25.6 3.6 C. Amalie/Truman St. Thomas US(67m)

29.3 21.4 4.2 Belize Int(5m)

30.9 25.5 - St. Kitts/Golden Rock(48m)

x x - Nevis (17m)

29.9 22.9 1.2 Antigua/Vc Bird Int(14m)

31.0 26.3 0.2 St. Maarten/Juliana Air(9m)

31.3 24.0 9.0 Guadeloupe/La Raizet(11m)

31.0 24.8 19.1 Marinique/La Lementin(7m)

28.4 24.7 33.6 St Lucia/Vigie(2m)

x x - St Vincent/Arnos Vale(5m)

30.1 25.7 5.4 Barbados/Grantley Adams(50m)

31.2 25.2 0.4 Grenada/Point Salines Int(7m)

30.0 26.4 0.5 Tobago/Crown Port Aero(6m)

34.0 23.8 2.1 Trinidad/Piarco Int(15m)

33.1 27.5 1.4 Aruba/Q Beatrix(3m)

31.6 27.0 0.8 Curacao/Hato Aero(67m)

Had to post as Grantley Adams Airport, Barbados came out as my wettest location for the whole Americas region (time zone) with 96.3mm (3.79") of rain yesterday.

Caribbean maybe a good place to go this winter as many signs seem to indicate similarities to 1962/63, this one I saw today and its not the first over the past couple of months

.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-38088036

*Caribbean Islands overview*

23rd NOVEMBER 2016

Max °C Min °C Rain (mm) Location

28.0 21.4 - Nassau Int. Bahamas(7m)

29.2 25.0 - Grand Cayman Int Owen Roberts(3m)

30.4 25.9 5.3 Montego Bay, Jamaica (3m)

29.5 24.2 0.1 Punta Cana(12m) Dom Rep

31.1 25.0 0.5 C. Amalie/Truman St. Thomas US(67m)

27.4 20.7 2.3 Belize Int(5m)

30.4 25.6 - St. Kitts/Golden Rock(48m)

30.8 25.3 2.4 Nevis (17m)

29.2 24.7 0.7 Antigua/Vc Bird Int(14m)

30.1 26.1 - St. Maarten/Juliana Air(9m)

30.4 23.2 - Guadeloupe/La Raizet(11m)

30.4 25.3 20.8 Marinique/La Lementin(7m)

29.9 24.4 22.5 St Lucia/Vigie(2m)

31.3 25.0 1.7 St Vincent/Arnos Vale(5m)

27.1 24.2 96.3 Barbados/Grantley Adams(50m)

30.0 25.6 2.0 Grenada/Point Salines Int(7m)

30.3 24.6 13.1 Tobago/Crown Port Aero(6m)

32.7 24.2 7.6 Trinidad/Piarco Int(15m)

31.6 25.5 0.6 Aruba/Q Beatrix(3m)

31.1 26.0 - Curacao/Hato Aero(67m)

Keith (Southend):)