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December Cruise Question

DH30

By DH30,
in Carnival Cruise Lines

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DH30

DH30

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My wife and I are planning our second cruise for Dec 5. Our last cruise was in the middle of summer. I am wondering what the difference will be. Less kids? Cooler weather (should we bring warmer clothes)? Rougher or smoother seas? And any other difference I might be missing.

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clackey

clackey

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We cruise a lot in the winter with December being our favorite time to sail to Mexico, Jamaica or the Caymans. Weather is usually in the 80's and water temps in the upper 70's to lower 80's. We have had a couple of trips with rough seas and/or rain, but the majority of our trips have been nearly perfect.

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KLD1019

KLD1019

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great questions! im taking my first december cruise this year for my 30th birthday. i anticipate little to no kids, since christmas breaks arent usually until end of december.

 

my first cruise was January 2003. i remember it being cold while on deck. and it was freezing in port (cozumel)

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John Reid

John Reid

Posted
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My wife and I are planning our second cruise for Dec 5. Our last cruise was in the middle of summer. I am wondering what the difference will be. Less kids? Cooler weather (should we bring warmer clothes)? Rougher or smoother seas? And any other difference I might be missing.

 

From where to where?

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jsfromsc

jsfromsc

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As for the weather, we did a Western Caribbean in December and it was hot everywhere. As for kids, you'd think there'd be fewer kids when school is still on, but on our cruise, which was a week later than yours, it was ridiculous how many kids were there. Maybe parents take their kids out of school in order to get the cheap rate, or maybe some schools broke early that year. I don't know. I was just very disappointed. I thought I was being so smart booking before the week of holidays and the ship was swarming with kids. :( But we still had a great time.

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HawkIVette

HawkIVette

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Leaving Galveston for a five day cruise with stops in Progresso and Cozumel.

 

We are going out of New Orleans on Dec 6 for Cozumel, Belize and Roatan. Weather might be an issue leaving Galveston (might be cooler) but will be great when you hit the ports of call.

We love cruising in Dec and through Feb. Great months to get away from colder weather here in the states.

Less kids is great as we are empty nesters now and semi retired. But becareful of those weeks around Christmas/New years and spring break weeks.

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vamartha

vamartha

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We sailed the week after Thanksgiving last year from NOLA. It was unseasonably cool in NOLA (think 50's for the highs) and we almost froze on embarkation day and the first sea day. I'd never had to wear a hoodie on deck before! About 24 hours into the trip it started to warm up and we had 80's in Cozumel, Grand Cayman and Montego Bay and warm sea temps too. The return trip was much warmer, never needed the hoodie again until we hit the Carolinas!

 

Have sailed from POM that time of year and was 80's from the time we stepped off the plane, never even took a jacket with us (Yep, I was the fool at the airport in Charlotte in November with shorts and flip flops on).

 

Hard to predict, I'd say watch the weather closely starting about 10 days out and plan accordingly!

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evandbob

evandbob

Posted
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My wife and I are planning our second cruise for Dec 5. Our last cruise was in the middle of summer. I am wondering what the difference will be. Less kids? Cooler weather (should we bring warmer clothes)? Rougher or smoother seas? And any other difference I might be missing.

 

Less kids, but you don't say where you are cruising from or to......can we assume Texas and Caribbean? If so, certainly lower temps than July and maybe more rain probability?

 

I'm sailing Southern itinerary from San Juan on Dec 5 but on Celebrity and I'm anticipating an almost adults only cruise. BTW, when I booked, Celebrity had a better fare for this solo cruiser than a comparable cruise on Carnival.

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bkerber

bkerber

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We did a December cruise to Cozumel and Grand Cayman. I was very worried about a snorkeling excursion and it being too cold. It was great weather the whole trip. A bit cool in the a.m. but snorkel trip was fine ( and Im from Florida, so doesnt take much to get me cold)

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KLD1019

KLD1019

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Less kids, but you don't say where you are cruising from or to......can we assume Texas and Caribbean? If so, certainly lower temps than July and maybe more rain probability?

they did. post #5 (and 7 repost)

 

Leaving Galveston for a five day cruise with stops in Progresso and Cozumel.
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jamesr3939

jamesr3939

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We are doing NYE cruise out of Galveston and I was concern about the weather, also. We don't go very far south as only Key West and Bahamas. I looked up the averages and it can be normal of 80 or has been as low as the 60's. I fully expect we might have more kids. But we did spring break out of Galveston a few years ago and it really wasn't all that bad.

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happybooker1

happybooker1

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For us anyway. Two years ago took a cruise out of Galveston to Roatan, Belize, and Coz all Thanksgiving week. Weather was FREEZING through the entire 2nd day. It rained every.frigging.day. Until after Roatan. In fact, they had the worst storm in YEARS in Roatan the early morning we got there & we docked late. Couldn't even get off the ship till noon. All Carnival tours were cancelled because of high winds & the torrential downpour.

 

Belize was ok as was Coz, although it rained in Coz in the afternoon. Coming back it was FREEZING again both sea days. I decided never again for November-January cruises.

Edited by happybooker1
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Gardeneroflove

Gardeneroflove

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We cruise a lot in the winter with December being our favorite time to sail to Mexico, Jamaica or the Caymans. Weather is usually in the 80's and water temps in the upper 70's to lower 80's. We have had a couple of trips with rough seas and/or rain, but the majority of our trips have been nearly perfect.

 

this for us. the beach is perfect, it's not melting, this sucks and isn't fun hot, it's enjoyable, same with the balcony and pools.

 

Fewer kids for sure anytime it's duing school year. We have gone around storms the past two cruises, but we've had to do that in earlier months as well.

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