December at-sea days from/to Bayonne??

[dkpowers]

Good evening fellow cruisers! My wife and I have done (and will continue to do) our time with kids/work at home, and are eyeing our potential getaway this winter! 🙂

 

I'm looking at the 12-day Anthem cruise to/from NJ this December. We have cruise days on day 2-3 and 10-12, which is what we're most excited for (relaxing time). But my concern is what the temp will be like outside being in the middle of winter going down and up the eastern seaboard. Anyone have first hand experience what our days at sea might look like?

Edited April 21, 2020 by dkpowers

[Biker19]

Just now, dkpowers said:

Anyone have first hand experience what our days at sea might look like?

Look at historical weather for those dates - anyone's past experience is not going to be any better gauge than that.

[Sunshine3601]

Hello!  I'm booked on the 12 night on anthem on dec 7th!  Nice itinerary and great to get away before the holidays.  I have done winter cruises from cape liberty and baltimore several times.

The first full and last full day at sea will be too chilly for pool deck and sunbathing.   Lots of fun activities on the Anthem to do such as bumper cars or escape room if wanting to stay busy or just go to solarium for some relaxing.  

[BeagleAgility]

Was just on the Anthem at the end of February (right before all heck broke loose).

 

The Anthem has a wonderful family pool area that is completely enclosed - so no worry about the weather.

 

For those that are a bit older - they also have a fully enclosed adult only solarium with pool and hot tubs.

[meadowlander]

54 minutes ago, dkpowers said:

 

I'm looking at the 12-day Anthem cruise to/from NJ this December. We have cruise days on day 2-3 and 10-12, which is what we're most excited for (relaxing time). But my concern is what the temp will be like outside being in the middle of winter going down and up the eastern seaboard. Anyone have first hand experience what our days at sea might look like?

Sailed twice from Bayonne in January and once in December. All 3 cruises, the outside deck was closed on the last sea day returning to NJ. December sail away was coldest by far, one January sail day had a snow squall, the other January sailing had temps in 60s on first full sea day. Even historical info will be of little use as climate change is real. Heaviest snowfall in north Jersey this past winter was in November(before winter officially started).

[allisonb22]

we did this sailing in early jan this year (jan 5-16). the first two days and the last two days you can expect to not be able to be outside comfortably. the good news is anthem has two indoor pools and plenty of other things to do instead of hanging by the pool. there are tons of fun options indoors and this ship really is perfect for weather that is less than ideal. sailing to the caribbean during winter from the northeast makes it that much better when you walk outside on the third morning and its beautiful and warm out. the 3 sea days home are really nice to unwind and relax after a few perfect days in the caribbean.

 

this sailing is WONDERFUL and i would do it again in a heartbeat. it is nice to be away for a long 12 days 🙂 

 

have a great time!

 

Edited April 21, 2020 by allisonb22

[WeatherFx]

We sail out of Bayonne or Baltimore every year the first couple of weeks in December. The first two days and the last two days are almost always cool to cold on the outside decks. So far the seas have not been bad his time of year when we've gone. The intense Nor'easters tend to be in the months of January - March. (We live on the South Jersey coast.)

[JillK]

Agree with what others have said. We cruised from NYC the past two Decembers and had similar experiences. I will note that for both cruises, the first full sea day were extremely rough.

 

For the December 2018 cruise, our sons were with us and my youngest was quite sick and vomiting. A frequent cruiser that we met on an excursion later in the trip said that she was sick for the first time in all her many cruises (think 60-something cruises) and that a lot of the staff she was speaking to had also experienced sea sickness.

 

We came to understand later that there had been a nasty storm in the Carolinas as we were passing the coastline and chalked it up to that so we were very surprised to encounter it again on the cruise in 2019. Barf bags out everywhere and a very quiet ship the first day. We had been severely delayed boarding the day before and in speaking with staff the delays were due to rough conditions in the harbour on embarkation day. 

 

In terms of weather, as others have said, don't expect to be outside. In 2018, my sons did go to the kids splash works on the second sea day but I would say it was no warmer than 15 Celcius and too cold for me but your kids might think it's just fine.

 

We are also eyeballing this cruise to replace the March break one that was just cancelled. We're only concerned about the amount of days we would have to pull the kids from school given how much they are missing right now so are in a holding pattern. The itinerary looks amazing and the length is a nice break - if you do book, happy sailing! 

[Sunshine3601]

The experience the above cruise had can happen anywhere anytime of the year.   With a ship the size of anthem you should be just fine but then again I have been thru 25 to 30 foot swells on the grandeur in march and didnt bother us.

Also location of cabin has a big part of how bad weather impacts you.

We usually stay in middle decks such as decks 4, 6 or 7 and try to go with middle or aft cabins.   

I say book it and your family will have a wonderful time with lots of fun stories to share during the holidays.

[watson50]

hello. we are booked for the same cruise, fourth time. this is a fantastic cruise. as others have said, the weather is really not a problem for this beautiful ship. one year the outside upper decks were packed as we sailed under the Verrazano Bridge and the temp was in the high forties. YOU WILL LOVE THIS SHIP.

[philbel]

We are also booked on this sailing and the one directly after. I read posts saying that we should not be booking, that we are wasting money to keep RCI afloat etc but if we can afford to do so, they why not?! We all love cruising, which is why we are commenting here after all. We should be on the Anthem now on our way to Southampton, cruise cancelled of course, but happy to keep positive and look forward to future cruises. We live in the Middle East, always warm, cold weather is a marvelous novelty!  

[franncos]

We did this from Dec27 to the 6th of Jan.  Sea days were great. You did not know you were even moving. 

If this Corona virus issue did not happen we would do it again. I would wait and see what all the new procedures are before booking any cruise. You do not want to get stuck out to sea for God know's how long if someone  on the ship get some kind of virus or flu. 

[dkpowers]

Sorry for the delay in responding, but THANK YOU to all with their input! Definitely confirmed what I thought the sea days would be like 🙂

 

Be safe and healthy! Happy cruising (eventually)! 🛳