Least crowded time to cruise?

[brianosaur]

I know summers and school holidays are peak times.  What weeks have been the least crowded time that you can recall being on a cruise?

Specifically the Caribbean but any general destinations really.

[LHT28]

Nov or early Dec 

[CruiserBruce]

As @LHT28, for the Caribbean, its November, and up to mid December. Other places have dramatically different seasons. Alaska, early May or October, for example. Europe, same.

[navybankerteacher]

14 minutes ago, CruiserBruce said:

As @LHT28, for the Caribbean, its November, and up to mid December. Other places have dramatically different seasons. Alaska, early May or October, for example. Europe, same.

Possibly mid-May for the Caribbean, before schools let out for the Summer.  Mediterranean:  mid November until April.

[CruiserBruce]

3 minutes ago, navybankerteacher said:

Possibly mid-May for the Caribbean, before schools let out for the Summer.  Mediterranean:  mid November until April.

Most the ships are heading out of the Caribbean in May, unless they are among the few that live there all year. Agree on the Med...I just rarely think of cruising the Med then.

[rkacruiser]

The first cruise after the Christmas/New Year's holiday cruises.  The fares are wonderful and the ships are not full.  

[Essiesmom]

Look at the fares.  The lower the fare, the less demand, usually because kids are in school so families can’t go.  Therefore ship will be less full.  EM

[Mum2Mercury]

We enjoy sailing in the fall.  It's warm in the Caribbean, the sea is still warm from summer heat, and the prices are reasonable.  

 

We sailed once on our July wedding anniversary and agreed we won't do that again.  Too hot, too expensive. 

We sailed once on a holiday and agreed we won't do that again.  Too crowded, too expensive. 

[navybankerteacher]

1 hour ago, CruiserBruce said:

Most the ships are heading out of the Caribbean in May, unless they are among the few that live there all year. Agree on the Med...I just rarely think of cruising the Med then.

The reason most ships leave the Caribbean is because there is so little demand - meaning that prices are likely to be low on the (quite a) few remaining. But there must be at least 15 to 20 sailings in the first couple of weeks in May - before the summer vacation mob scene starts up. 

Edited October 24, 2022 by navybankerteacher

[Honolulu Blue]

11 hours ago, brianosaur said:

I know summers and school holidays are peak times.  What weeks have been the least crowded time that you can recall being on a cruise?

Specifically the Caribbean but any general destinations really.

I think you missed the biggest window for uncrowded cruise ships.  Those who were willing and able to sail in the second half of 2021 were rewarded with giveaway prices, acres of space, and crew that were even more attentive than normal.  I did two cruises in that time period, and they were quite nice.  I'm half waiting for the next pandemic so I can take advantage again. 😁

[Joebucks]

Honestly, most of the year is just fine. However, a lot of people tend to gravitate towards summer, spring break, and holidays, as that is when they and their family have time off. Avoid those times. April-May was always one of my favorite times. Sept-Oct was pretty good too as long as you can get past the hurricane situation.

[capriccio]

For cruises originating in the US:  the week after Thanksgiving (which is the 4th Thursday in November) week and the week after New Years.

Edited October 24, 2022 by capriccio

[klfrodo]

17 hours ago, brianosaur said:

I know summers and school holidays are peak times.  What weeks have been the least crowded time that you can recall being on a cruise?

Specifically the Caribbean but any general destinations really.

During a pandemic. Very few guests and prices very low. If you have to fly to the port, these prices a very low and the plane only half full.

Edited October 24, 2022 by klfrodo

[rkacruiser]

5 hours ago, capriccio said:

the week after New Years.

 

Agree and the pricing for sailings then are bargains!  One of those cruises that I sailed was when I was offered well priced upgrades from a veranda stateroom to a Signature Suite and, then, 48 hours before sailing, to a Neptune Suite.  

[Hlitner]

For the Caribbean we would suggest looking in early January (right after the New Years Cruises).  We used to suggest early December (between Thanksgiving and Christmas) but this is no longer the case as we have found these weeks quite crowded.  In fact, we generally cruise that time of the year (every year) and have often met some of the same folks from prior cruises.  One of the least kept secrets used to be a Princess repo cruise that happened every year around Halloween.   It was always one of their newer big ships that had just done a crossing from Europe to NYC.  The cruise was about 12 days and went from NYC to a few Southern Caribbean ports (usually Aruba + others) and ended in Ft Lauderdale.  Some called it the Halloween cruise and folks used to bring costumes.  Since it was NOT a closed loop cruise, everyone had to have a valid Passport which meant that many Caribbean cruisers could not even consider that voyage.  For several years it was a true bargain and one of the best of our Caribbean cruises because of the more "mature" well-traveled crowd of passengers.

 

Hank

[sanger727]

We like to cruise between Thanksgiving and Christmas and have found those sailings to not be crowded. They are often close to giving away Caribbean cruises in September and October since it's the height of hurricane season. We have never booked then because of that, but I assume that those sailings are also less crowded. Not sure what your goal is. Cruises usually sail full because they will give away cabins to casino customers if a sailing isn't selling well. Non-school holidays are best for less kids and fewer 3-4 person cabins - therefore overall less people. But, assume a cruise anytime of the year will sell out. 

[BruceMuzz]

Pandemics are a great time to cruise.

No crowds at all.

[rkacruiser]

15 minutes ago, BruceMuzz said:

Pandemics are a great time to cruise.

No crowds at all.

 

Until one is infected with the darn virus and spends much of their cruise in quarantine.  

[cruisemom42]

On 10/23/2022 at 7:44 PM, CruiserBruce said:

Agree on the Med...I just rarely think of cruising the Med then.

 

There are not that many ships offering Med cruises year-round. NCL has at least one ship there, and MSC offers cruises all through the year, but they're not my preferred lines. 

 

I'd happily sail the Med in the off season if there were better choices. I don't go for the beaches. Cloudy, cooler weather doesn't bother me and there are dramatically fewer tourists.

 

[BruceMuzz]

15 hours ago, rkacruiser said:

 

Until one is infected with the darn virus and spends much of their cruise in quarantine.  

Well - except for that………..

[Ride-The-Waves]

On 10/25/2022 at 4:59 PM, BruceMuzz said:

Pandemics are a great time to cruise.

No crowds at all.

And no ships...