Cruising in January

[gcbranscome]

Hi! I was thinking of moving my cruise from April to January because it’s $1500 cheaper.  Is January a good time to cruise in the Caribbean? Is it worth the extra money to cruise in April? We would be switching from a Western to an Eastern Caribbean cruise. Thanks for your opinion!

[Colorado Babe]

The Caribbean may be cooler but I can guarantee the ship will have less children.  I prefer travelling right after the holiday's and enjoying a much quieter vacation.  

[ONECRUISER]

4 minutes ago, Colorado Babe said:

The Caribbean may be cooler but I can guarantee the ship will have less children.  I prefer travelling right after the holiday's and enjoying a much quieter vacation.  

Agree, Jan can be cooler 1st and last day. I use to Cruise every yr in Feb and sometimes was too cool last day to lay out. Still lot warmer then where I was coming from

Edited April 27, 2019 by ONECRUISER

[deliver42]

I would prefer January. Much less children, and I prefer Eastern to Western.

[Grandma Dazzles]

Personally would not cruise in January. Did it a couple of times and although weather was much warmer than home, it was definitely on the cool side.  Had quite a bit of rain;  heavy snow on US east coast meant cooler weather in Florida, Bahamas and into the Caribbean.  Also airline travel was disruptive - always fly in a day before, but was very worrying at the time. 

[Clarea]

48 minutes ago, gcbranscome said:

Hi! I was thinking of moving my cruise from April to January because it’s $1500 cheaper.  Is January a good time to cruise in the Caribbean? Is it worth the extra money to cruise in April? We would be switching from a Western to an Eastern Caribbean cruise. Thanks for your opinion!

 

Love cruising in January, very nice in the Caribbean then.

[EmmasNana]

I would only do the southern Caribbean in January. 

[Norwich Cruiser]

We’ve only cruised the Caribbean in January on three times but were lucky enough to be blessed with very good weather on each occasion.

[vacationlover_mn]

January would be great 🙂

[bouhunter]

Google any of the islands in the easter Caribbean for climate.  Example:  St Thomas January average high 84 degrees, average low 73.  April numbers are each 2 degrees higher.  Anyone who avoids the Caribbean in winter because it is "cool" doesn't know what they're talking about.  It might be cool on rare occasions but it's not likely.  We've been cruising the Caribbean in January/February every year for over 15 years and haven't seen it "cool" yet.  Departure from Florida is another thing of course, they do have their cold spells in the winter.

Edited April 27, 2019 by bouhunter

[Merion_Mom]

I cruise EVERY January.  I love it.  

[Bookish Angel]

For the past decade, we have taken a 10 - 21 day January vacation to the Caribbean or other warm places such as Cuba, Florida, etc. to escape the dreariness of winter.

 

Also, for us, warm places in the spring and summer are insufferably hot and humid. I am a native Floridian who cannot take its summers and we would never consider visiting even hotter places in anything but winter.  

Edited April 27, 2019 by Bookish Angel

[Cigar King]

You might want to consider where you will be leaving from.  We're in Chicago, and the weather here can be very unpredictable in January.  I generally do not consider flying until late February/March myself.  Your risk tolerance may be greater.

[h20skibum]

We have cruised in January for the last few years.  Only once was the weather cooler, but that was when it was sub zero temperatures back home, and the 60’s we experienced on that cruise was much preferable.

 

We didn’t have to worry about flights, since we drove and stayed in Florida for a couple weeks before the cruise.

 

Our April cruises have had many kids aboard, but that is because we tend to cruise then around Easter Break.

 

We have solved your dilemma by cruising both months the last few years.😁

[Nextcruise42]

Just booked our 3rd January/February  caribbean cruise. So far so Great!

[katiel53]

We have cruised in January for at least the last 5 years.  A couple of cruises it has been cool sailing from Ft Lauderdale but by day 2, it was warm and sunny.  

 

I would go so far as to say it was hot in San Juan, St Maarten, Labadee, Falmouth, St Thomas and wherever else we sailed.  We have cruises planned for the next 2 years in January and we do fly to the port from Upstate NY, but we go to Florida 2 days early to be on the safe side,

[shipgeeks]

Where are you thinking of cruising from?  Florida?  Northern port?

[grapau27]

4 hours ago, gcbranscome said:

Hi! I was thinking of moving my cruise from April to January because it’s $1500 cheaper.  Is January a good time to cruise in the Caribbean? Is it worth the extra money to cruise in April? We would be switching from a Western to an Eastern Caribbean cruise. Thanks for your opinion!

Personally I think the Eastern Caribbean is much better than the Western Caribbean.

January sounds perfect.

[cb at sea]

Once you are actually IN the Caribbean, it's summer year-round.  The Bahamas are NOT Caribbean and will have somewhat cooler temps.  Once you get down to Puerto Rico, Virgin Islands, etc....it's shorts weather.

[Captain Billy Bob]

We cruise every January.

[voyager70]

I would also vote for January.  As others have said far fewer kids, better rates, and aside from an occasional cool day when leaving from or returning to Florida generally very nice weather with much lower humidity.  We've done more cruises than I can remember in January/February.  It's our favorite time of year in the Caribbean.

 

[cementhands]

4 hours ago, gcbranscome said:

Hi! I was thinking of moving my cruise from April to January because it’s $1500 cheaper.  Is January a good time to cruise in the Caribbean? Is it worth the extra money to cruise in April? We would be switching from a Western to an Eastern Caribbean cruise. Thanks for your opinion!

We live in New England and always try to cruise in January or February to The Caribbean. Love it.

Less kids onboard unless vacation time.

Water is warm at beaches.

It’s a great way to get through the winter. The prices are generally good then. Early December are very reasonable. 

[molly361]

Love January ESPECIALLY for $1500 less😇

[gcbranscome]

1 hour ago, shipgeeks said:

Where are you thinking of cruising from?  Florida?  Northern port?

We would be cruising out of Miami.

[gcbranscome]

51 minutes ago, cementhands said:

We live in New England and always try to cruise in January or February to The Caribbean. Love it.

Less kids onboard unless vacation time.

Water is warm at beaches.

It’s a great way to get through the winter. The prices are generally good then. Early December are very reasonable. 

Thank you! I was wondering if the water would be warm enough!

Edited April 27, 2019 by gcbranscome