How risky to cruise in January?

[Vitesacd]

Looking at caribbean cruises leaving from Florida in January and was wondering if the weather is usually warm enough to lounge on the beach? Also, coming from the northeast, I am worried about flight cancellations and missing the cruise. Should I aim to arrive two days earlier or is a day earlier good enough?

[Clarea]

It's warm enough for the beach in Caribbean year round.

[island lady]

I always cruise in January.  Have three of them booked for this upcoming.  😉

 

And yes, agree with Bob.  Always warm enough "down island"....even for a Florida girl used to really warm weather.  🙂  

 

Of course beaches in central Florida can be a bit nippy...but the Carib is always somewhere around 80 degrees water temps.

 

I think you would be just fine booking one day early.  

 

Enjoy your cruise!  

Edited July 28, 2019 by island lady

[d9704011]

We always plan on arriving at least the day before the cruise; we have come in two days early just to escape the cold weather for a little bit longer.  We have been fortunate and have never experienced any significant weather related flight delays.

 

As for lounging on Caribbean beaches in January, very seldom have things been cool enough for us that we could not do it.

Edited July 28, 2019 by d9704011
Fix spelling error.

[Dett]

Southern Caribbean will be even warmer.  We cruise in January all the time.

[fishernrex]

I would agree with everyone else -  As a Florida gal, it can be a bit nippy sometimes in the evenings on the exterior of the boat, daytime is usually great and I've enjoyed the weather at all the ports.   We usually take at least one cruise in January just to get away from the "cool" weather in North Florida. 

 

 

[Ourusualbeach]

Look at a cruise from Miami or FLL as opposed to Tampa or Port Canaveral if you want your day earlier in Florida to be warmer.

[Dett]

We go one day early but we drive.  That can be an adventure as well especially if going out of FLL.  Might do 2 days earlier if flying,

[Charles4515]

37 minutes ago, Vitesacd said:

Looking at caribbean cruises leaving from Florida in January and was wondering if the weather is usually warm enough to lounge on the beach? Also, coming from the northeast, I am worried about flight cancellations and missing the cruise. Should I aim to arrive two days earlier or is a day earlier good enough?

 

I do two days early in January because I am flying from the northeast at a time of the year when snow storms happen and because it gives me another day of Florida sunshine! One day early is probably good enough though. 

[nascarcruiser]

We spend 10 days in cozumel every January on the beach 

[LadyBerard]

I have found the western caribbean to be somewhat cooler than southern or eastern itineraries, and Nassau can be quite cool at times.

 

[Snit13]

In the past there were excellent prices in January, especially the week after New Years.  Have sailed for many years the last week of January.  Coming from NE you might want to go with the 2 days prior.  Have had family experience extreme difficulty flying from Pittsburgh due to snow.

[Clarea]

19 minutes ago, LadyBerard said:

...  Nassau can be quite cool at times.

 

 

True, but Nassau is not in the Caribbean.

[Pratique]

We typically fly one day before the cruise out of the northeast but we also keep an eye on the long term weather forecast, not just for the departure city but also any connecting cities and the destination. If there is trouble brewing, I re-book flights to get out before the storm even if I have to pay the change fee. Unfortunately, flight delays are unpredictable. A thunderstorm knocked out power to the Atlanta airport a year or two ago and completely upset Delta's schedules. An ice storm in Atlanta has done even worse damage to flight schedules.

[mafig]

If large groups bother you, check for that in January.

[Snit13]

1 minute ago, Pratique said:

We typically fly one day before the cruise out of the northeast but we also keep an eye on the long term weather forecast, not just for the departure city but also any connecting cities and the destination. If there is trouble brewing, I re-book flights to get out before the storm even if I have to pay the change fee. Unfortunately, flight delays are unpredictable. A thunderstorm knocked out power to the Atlanta airport a year or two ago and completely upset Delta's schedules. An ice storm in Atlanta has done even worse damage to flight schedules.

Wish more cruisers shared your knowledge of what can happen when booking flights for cruise travel.  Mother Nature can certainly wreck havoc with airline schedules.  

[mayleeman]

1 hour ago, Snit13 said:

Wish more cruisers shared your knowledge of what can happen when booking flights for cruise travel.  Mother Nature can certainly wreck havoc with airline schedules.  

Flightaware.com is a good resource for checking on airport conditions around the country. Don't only look at connecting cities in the day before your flights: check the city where your airplane is coming from because delays there will impact your city even if you have 70° and blue skies.

 

When we fly, just for fun I usually look for the tail number when it is finally assigned, and plug it in to Google. Very interesting to see how busy they keep planes, and all the places they can go!

[katiel53]

We cruise in January every year and other than embarkation day, it is warm enough to lounge on a beach.  It has been cold enough on embarkation day to wear a jacket or sweatshirt when on the deck.

 

I also fly from the Northeast and go down 2 days early just to be sure to get there for the cruise.  A couple of years ago the airport at Ft Lauderdale was closed because of a shooter and my flight had me stuck in Baltimore.  Long story short,  my original flight would have gotten me to Ft Lauderdale about 4PM and I never left Baltimore until about 9PM and ended up flying into Orlando arriving at midnight and my luggage never got on the flight.  We ended up staying in Orlando, renting a car the next morning and driving down to Ft Lauderdale.  I finally got my luggage in Ft Lauderdale about 8PM the night before the cruise and that was only because I went to the airport to find out where it was as it was to have been delivered to the hotel and it wasn't.

 

Another time someone took my sister's luggage by mistake and the airline didn't find out where it was  until the next day.  We have also nearly missed a cruise because of snow storms.  There are lots of reasons for us, at least, to fly down a couple of days early and enjoy the warmth a bit longer.  A cold day in Fl in January is a lot warmer than up here.

[mayleeman]

@katiel53 Those experiences make me think I have been really, really lucky in travelling over the years!

 

Fortunately, we live in SC, close enough to drive to all Florida ports. For Ft L cruises, we leave 2 days early, stay near Dayrona, and get to our hotel in Ft L by noon. If the weather looks like it will be bad, we will drive more the 1st day.

 

My wife finally joined me in retirement, so that offers a lot more flexibility by driving anywhere within a thousand miles. I don't trust airlines' ability to be on time (despite our luck mentioned above)!

Edited July 28, 2019 by mayleeman

[bouhunter]

Google weather averages for any Caribbean island (St Thomas, St Martin, etc....).  It's warm there year round🙂

 

We always fly 2-3 days early.  One reason is to have a good cushion flying from snow country, second reason is to just get out of the snow for more days😀

[actuarian]

I have lived in Florida for many years.  When I was young in the 1970's, there were often cold snaps in January and I even remember seeing snow in Orlando.  However, in recent years, those cold snaps have become extremely rare and most Floridians who were born after 1980 have never seen snow unless they were traveling out of state.  As for the Caribbean, it is always warm enough for swimming (IMHO).  However, that only applies to strictly Caribbean beaches such as Labadee.  For me, the water off the Bahamas (including Nassau and Coco Cay) is much too cold for swimming in January.  However, unless you get an unusually chilly day, it is still warm enough to lounge on the beach during the warmest hours of the day (but not before noon or after 5 PM).

[sft429]

6 hours ago, katiel53 said:

We cruise in January every year and other than embarkation day, it is warm enough to lounge on a beach.  It has been cold enough on embarkation day to wear a jacket or sweatshirt when on the deck.

 

 

 

Since our  first cruise out of Galveston (Feb) we always cruise out of San Juan for that very reason.  First and last days are as warm as the other in-between days .  

Edited July 28, 2019 by sft429

[maggieq]

If I were going out of Florida, I would wait until February.  We have boarded ships in January and the sail away was chilly.   I want the sun when I cruise so we will go out of San Juan or wait until feb/mar for our winter cruise. 

[waterbug123]

22 hours ago, Vitesacd said:

coming from the northeast, I am worried about flight cancellations and missing the cruise. Should I aim to arrive two days earlier or is a day earlier good enough?

 

No one can answer with any certainty.  Most of the time, even with some weather disruptions, one day early would allow enough cushion but you never know.  If a really massive winter weather system moved through the northeast, it could affect NYC, Philly, DC and Boston and mess up travel for days afterward to the point that even two days wouldn't be enough, especially if you are flying on a super cheap fare (lower priority for rebooking). 

[island lady]

13 hours ago, maggieq said:

If I were going out of Florida, I would wait until February.  We have boarded ships in January and the sail away was chilly.   I want the sun when I cruise so we will go out of San Juan or wait until feb/mar for our winter cruise. 

 

Actually February can be even colder than January in Florida.  Really hit and miss.