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PennyCat
Just call me mommy :)
Member since 7/08 19084 total posts
Name:
Jib
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Anyone cruise in the winter?
How is it? 
Where did you leave from and what was your destination?
We want to plan a trip!
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Posted 11/1/10 6:23 PM  |
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twicethefun
Loving life
Member since 7/06 4088 total posts
Name:
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Re: Anyone cruise in the winter?
Love it. But be careful where you go. You could have iffy weather in Bahamas and Florida sometimes so you definitely want to go south of that.
We leave from Florida because if you leave from NY you may spend a great deal of your cruise cold
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| Posted 11/1/10 10:06 PM |
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Re: Anyone cruise in the winter?
Message edited 4/21/2011 5:13:44 PM.
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| Posted 11/1/10 10:08 PM |
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Blazesyth
*yawn*
Member since 5/05 8129 total posts
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Re: Anyone cruise in the winter?
Posted by twicethefun
Love it. But be careful where you go. You could have iffy weather in Bahamas and Florida sometimes so you definitely want to go south of that.
We leave from Florida because if you leave from NY you may spend a great deal of your cruise cold
Agreed. We went out of Baltimore in November last year (November - not EVEN winter yet) and the first and last day and a half of the cruise you couldn't be on the decks because it was so cold..
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| Posted 11/2/10 9:26 AM |
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ali120206
2 Boys
Member since 7/06 17792 total posts
Name:
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Re: Anyone cruise in the winter?
We've done a Western Caribbean and a Southern Caribbean in Feb, and a Bahamas in November.
The Bahamas one was cold and overcast.
The Southern Caribbean one had the nicest weather. We left out of San Juan and went to St Thomas, St Maarten, Antigua, St Lucia and Barbados.
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| Posted 11/2/10 10:03 AM |
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jlk51496
Mom of 3 - YIKES! =)
Member since 10/09 6758 total posts
Name:
Katie
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Re: Anyone cruise in the winter?
I would leave from somewhere that is already hot...we took a cruise that left from P.R. and it was great weather not to mention the waters are calmer too!
Agree with PP bahamas may be a hit or miss...so def go more south
Message edited 11/2/2010 10:51:10 AM.
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| Posted 11/2/10 10:50 AM |
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Cheeks24
Living a dream
Member since 1/08 8589 total posts
Name:
Cheeks
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Re: Anyone cruise in the winter?
Ours both left from San Juan so we didn't have to worry about cold weather.
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| Posted 11/2/10 12:22 PM |
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jilliibabii
Mrs. O'Connor
Member since 6/10 12821 total posts
Name:
Jillian
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Re: Anyone cruise in the winter?
Never have but MIL is leaving from NY to Bahamas in 2 weeks. She said the first day and the last day will probably be cold (and dark when they leave at 4 PM) but that it should be warm enough in the Bahamas.
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| Posted 11/2/10 12:52 PM |
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Lillykat
going along for the ride...
Member since 5/05 16253 total posts
Name:
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Re: Anyone cruise in the winter?
I have done the majority of my cruising between end of Nov and February (mostly Jan and Feb). As someone mentioned the further north the cooler it can be. We went one year and places like Grand Cayman were only upper 70's.
Florida is really iffy - expect it to be in the 60's or colder. If you are lucky it could be in the 70s - but my parents sail from FLL some times and it has been 40 or 50 the day they sail.
For the best weather I would say try leaving from San Juan over Ft Lauderdale or Miami. I would avoid places like the keys, and the bahamas. Stick with ports like St Thomas, St Martin, Aruba, Cozemel etc.
It is a great time to go since it is freezing in NY - but keep in mind if you can do it plan to arrive in your departure city 1 day early. Almost every cruise we have taken around New Years or January - I can't tell you how many people say they had to meet up with the ship at a later port or this was a rescheduled cruise b.c they luckily bought trip insurance and they missed the ship the last time. If you can't go down early do your best to get the earliest flight down possible (6am) b.c you want to make sure you have time to work in flight delays, cancellations, lost luggage issues etc.
We usually fly in the morning before or the evening before and use it as a night to wind down and relax. You don't need it on the return flight but it is worth it going.
Remember to buy trip insurance -and read the restrictions carefully (check out insuremytrip.com) - you want something that will let you out if there is say a huge snow storm and you are trapped in NY. This happened to us when I was traveling with my family for a cruise out of San Juan for a New Years cruise. We had a 6 am flight - our car picked us up around 4am - when it just started snowing. By the time the flight was supposed to leave they had to deice us 2 times - and then they closed JFK so we couldn't get out. We couldn't meet up with the ship b.c the 1st 2 days were sea days and then the 1 port day they couldn't get us to that island so without insurance we would have missed the first 4 days of a 7 day cruise.
Also bring lots of hand sanitizer with you - it is norwalk season.
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| Posted 11/2/10 4:18 PM |
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PennyCat
Just call me mommy :)
Member since 7/08 19084 total posts
Name:
Jib
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Re: Anyone cruise in the winter?
Posted by Lillykat
I have done the majority of my cruising between end of Nov and February (mostly Jan and Feb). As someone mentioned the further north the cooler it can be. We went one year and places like Grand Cayman were only upper 70's.
Florida is really iffy - expect it to be in the 60's or colder. If you are lucky it could be in the 70s - but my parents sail from FLL some times and it has been 40 or 50 the day they sail.
For the best weather I would say try leaving from San Juan over Ft Lauderdale or Miami. I would avoid places like the keys, and the bahamas. Stick with ports like St Thomas, St Martin, Aruba, Cozemel etc.
It is a great time to go since it is freezing in NY - but keep in mind if you can do it plan to arrive in your departure city 1 day early. Almost every cruise we have taken around New Years or January - I can't tell you how many people say they had to meet up with the ship at a later port or this was a rescheduled cruise b.c they luckily bought trip insurance and they missed the ship the last time. If you can't go down early do your best to get the earliest flight down possible (6am) b.c you want to make sure you have time to work in flight delays, cancellations, lost luggage issues etc.
We usually fly in the morning before or the evening before and use it as a night to wind down and relax. You don't need it on the return flight but it is worth it going.
Remember to buy trip insurance -and read the restrictions carefully (check out insuremytrip.com) - you want something that will let you out if there is say a huge snow storm and you are trapped in NY. This happened to us when I was traveling with my family for a cruise out of San Juan for a New Years cruise. We had a 6 am flight - our car picked us up around 4am - when it just started snowing. By the time the flight was supposed to leave they had to deice us 2 times - and then they closed JFK so we couldn't get out. We couldn't meet up with the ship b.c the 1st 2 days were sea days and then the 1 port day they couldn't get us to that island so without insurance we would have missed the first 4 days of a 7 day cruise.
Also bring lots of hand sanitizer with you - it is norwalk season.
Wow, thank you for all of this information!!!! 
I need to discuss it more with DH though I was hoping for something that leaves out of NY just because I'm not a fan of planes. I know the winter really takes the enjoyment out of half the cruise that way since it's so cold...... but I think it would just be nice to be away on a boat regardless.
Good call on the norwalk warning- though regardless I always use hand sanitizer on cruises!! 
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| Posted 11/2/10 6:51 PM |
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Lillykat
going along for the ride...
Member since 5/05 16253 total posts
Name:
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Re: Anyone cruise in the winter?
Posted by PennyCat
Wow, thank you for all of this information!!!!
I need to discuss it more with DH though I was hoping for something that leaves out of NY just because I'm not a fan of planes. I know the winter really takes the enjoyment out of half the cruise that way since it's so cold...... but I think it would just be nice to be away on a boat regardless.
Good call on the norwalk warning- though regardless I always use hand sanitizer on cruises!!
I think it would be okay to leave from NY - you just have fewer warm days and more ship days. The only thing I would ask people on here about is - what are the seas like? I know when we used to sail from Florida in the winter the seas were much rough than when we sailed from there in August. I'm not sure if it would be rougher leaving from NY in winter or not. Just something to consider if you get sea sick.
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| Posted 11/2/10 6:58 PM |
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PennyCat
Just call me mommy :)
Member since 7/08 19084 total posts
Name:
Jib
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Re: Anyone cruise in the winter?
Posted by Lillykat
Posted by PennyCat
Wow, thank you for all of this information!!!!
I need to discuss it more with DH though I was hoping for something that leaves out of NY just because I'm not a fan of planes. I know the winter really takes the enjoyment out of half the cruise that way since it's so cold...... but I think it would just be nice to be away on a boat regardless.
Good call on the norwalk warning- though regardless I always use hand sanitizer on cruises!!
I think it would be okay to leave from NY - you just have fewer warm days and more ship days. The only thing I would ask people on here about is - what are the seas like? I know when we used to sail from Florida in the winter the seas were much rough than when we sailed from there in August. I'm not sure if it would be rougher leaving from NY in winter or not. Just something to consider if you get sea sick.
Thank you, that's a good point about finding out about rougher seas. In the times I have cruised (twice) I never experienced sea sickness- and one of those times I was pregnant.
There are many things I have to look into .. though considering just mustering the courage to take a flight already. It would make the plans much simpler.
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| Posted 11/2/10 7:37 PM |
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MrsFrizzle
<3
Member since 9/09 4628 total posts
Name:
Kristin
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Re: Anyone cruise in the winter?
Yes I have every January since I was a kid and now DH & I do too snce our annivsary is in January. We've never had a problem with weather, but it's definitely true that if you want really hot weather you need to go further south.
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| Posted 11/2/10 8:16 PM |
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MrsRbk
<3 <3 <3 <3
Member since 1/06 19197 total posts
Name:
Michelle
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Re: Anyone cruise in the winter?
We did the Southern Carribbean a couple of years ago in February. We left out of San Juan. Even though the boat was set to leave at 11pm on a Friday night, we opted to fly in the evening before just in case of bad weather and delays in our area.
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| Posted 11/2/10 8:37 PM |
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