When is Best or Worst time to cruise? When will you NEVER cruise?

[cruisingguy007]

1 hour ago, marsh-angler said:

We were on the Glory out of New Orleans. Heard through the grapevine that 3 were put in the brig.

 

This may be more about the departure port than the fact that it was a holiday cruise. Some departure ports seem to have more issues than others. Choosing a slow time could be better or worse, maybe less people but lower fares may bring out more knuckleheads. Catch-22. 

[mouche]

I would never cruise during spring break, the best time for us to cruise is October, Jan, Feb, April and May.

[ChuckF]

We like April - early May, and late September through November (before Thanksgiving). Also like NYE cruises, but be prepared for crowds and extra cost. We avoid summer due to kids, crowds, and hurricanes. Not a real fan of Jan-Feb because I like it to be warm, and that first sea day going out and the last one coming back can be a bit brisk with a lot of wind. 

[ober134]

Never in summer or holidays

[Oceansaway17]

the only time I do not cruise is Mid-Dec to Late-March because of possible delays with snow as I live in Pa.

best time for Alaska is May-June because still now in mountains,

best time for East Coast Canada and N Eng is Sept-Oct (pray for no hurricanes)

best time for UK and Norway is July-Sept with longer days and a bit warmer

Best time for Med is Spring and Fall but not HOT summer.

Best time for Caribbean is IMHO April-May or Nov

 

then again, the best time is whatever your lifestyle and budget can handle.  And do go to city of departure the day before unless you are within driving distance.

[ontheweb]

12 hours ago, Oceansaway17 said:

the only time I do not cruise is Mid-Dec to Late-March because of possible delays with snow as I live in Pa.

best time for Alaska is May-June because still now in mountains,

best time for East Coast Canada and N Eng is Sept-Oct (pray for no hurricanes)

best time for UK and Norway is July-Sept with longer days and a bit warmer

Best time for Med is Spring and Fall but not HOT summer.

Best time for Caribbean is IMHO April-May or Nov

 

then again, the best time is whatever your lifestyle and budget can handle.  And do go to city of departure the day before unless you are within driving distance.

A lot of good advice, but it really comes down to your last paragraph. You can only go when you can go.

[mdin]

My wife and I prefer January and February. We live in the northeast so getting a break from winter for a week is a nice treat.

 

We did cruise in late March this year (originally booked for February). Initially we were a little worried about cruising during spring break season, but fortunately it wasn't a bad experience at all. There were definitely a lot more families with children on the sailing, but for the most part it didn't seem much different than our non-SB cruises. (To be fair, we did have Havana and spent most of our time in there).

[simplelife]

On 12/11/2022 at 5:58 AM, Honolulu Blue said:

Best for me is November to March, outside the Thanksgiving/Christmas/New Year's weeks.

 

I haven't, and probably won't ever, cruise during July or August.

July and August are for cooler climates. We did Alaska last July. We still had to wear jackets. I am glad I got to experiwnce Alaska would not be able to withstand the weather other than midsummer. A few years ago we did New York to Eastern Canada in the summer - weather was great!

[simplelife]

On 12/11/2022 at 8:13 AM, PhotoMike said:

My S/O is also a teacher, so it's Spring Break week for us, too. The 4 night Mon-Fri cruises really work out well in that regard, but we are doing a 6 night on the Dream (Sun-Sat) this spring. At least we get that Sunday after to recover before going back to work!

We've always cruised on an academic calendar since we are both career educators. I am retiring this year (and DH is already retired). I already have 3 cruises booked for after I retire at times we've never cruised before (mid-September), Late January, and Early November). The 3 altogether were as cheap as one school-vacation cruise.

[Knights on the Beach]

On 12/12/2022 at 2:57 PM, hapytobehr said:

There is no time at all that I would not cruise.

 

I think we have cruised every month in the calendar.  Maybe because we live in Florida and it's easy to pick up and go.

 

This will be our 6th NYE cruise and we love it!

 

I tend to agree with this somewhat. This year we cruised in March, May, October & December and enjoyed them all. I'd probably prefer not to cruise during Spring Break again mostly due to the price but we originally booked that because our grandkids were off that week. They ended up cancelling because the youngest wasn't old enough to be vaccinated so Camp Ocean wasn't open to his age group at that time. They were able to cruise with us for a 4 night long weekend in October and that was great. We heard lots of stories about the kids causing trouble on our SB cruise but fortunately we weren't affected by most of it, but they sure kept security busy that week.

 

Many years ago when our kids were in school, we cruised mostly during June. One year we did a big family cruise during Thanksgiving week and absolutely loved that. The weather was perfect and it was cheaper than our June cruises.

 

We're pretty much at the point where we can cruise any time of year (unless our kids' families are joining us) but I think so far mid-December is my favorite. 

[iheartmarshall]

Technically I would cruise at any time but my preference is the winter months (December/January/February) or early May before schools let out and it gets super hot. This past June, we cruised out of Miami and while we had a good time, there were so many kids running around that it was a bit overwhelming.  I can make any cruise a good one though so that doesn't really "ruin" it for me, but my preference is definitely when kids are still in school and not during spring break.  Plus it's usually cheaper. 

[bguppies]

On 12/10/2022 at 7:18 PM, EngIceDave said:

With Carnival, which seems to have more kids and younger adults....

 

Best time to cruise? Right after holidays? Right before holidays?

Sept-Nov when kids are in skool? 

 

Spring the worst? Holidays the worst?

 

When will you never go?

Depends on what you are looking for in a cruise.

The longer the cruise, the less drunk, partying crowd. (if that is what you ARE looking for, Book a weekend cruise to anywhere)

 

To lose the kids, take a longer than 7 day cruise. (we were stunned on our first week of December, 6 day  cruise, how many kids were on there. Apparently nobody cares about taking kids out of school and missing work anymore)

 

I would NEVER cruise over Christmas, New Years, Thanksgiving (for crowds and I'd rather be home with Family, eating good home cooked Turkey and Ham and sides, versus bad cruiseline food for these holidays)

 

My favorite time to cruise is from 2nd week of January-February for much less crowded ships.

(some good deals in early December too) Going to the Caribbean in those months, so weather isn't much of a factor.

 

As long as you are not married to a particular itinerary, cheap cruises in September-October (height of Hurricane season) are nice for a cheap getaway.

 

I'd have to get a FANTASTIC deal to cruise in June, July or August with maximum kids and crowds.