January Caribbean cruise weather

[Rixon]

How is the weather and the seas in January in western or eastern Caribbean?

[Vancity Cruiser]

I cruise the Carribean every January and I find the weather fantastic...................of course I'm coming from Canada in January so that plays a factor lol. @Mattand other Floridians will probably tell you to bundle up in January......

[ScooterScott22]

Come on @Vancity Cruiser even us in Florida have to get out of the cold in January.   

Seriously though, the cruise lines go there year round since the weather is pretty nice most all the time.  Depending on which port you might have a cool to cold day.  It is not unusual to have a front that brings cool weather even down at Port Canaveral, if you are using one of the more southern ports there are still cool fronts but usually not as bad.  Once out closer to the islands typically it will be warmer.  

[loki007]

Port Canaveral and the Bahamas can get some cooler weeks but anything further south is great

[AtlantaNole]

Bring a light windbreaker for the first day but weather is ideal, warm but not oppressive.  Humidity will be up there but not as much as in summer.  

[wordell1]

Galveston is often cold in January.  It can go either way - It is usually nice enough for the pool by noon on day 2 - its really no big deal.

Orlando can be cold but it would warm up pretty quickly as the cruise heads south.

Ft Lauderdale and Miami are pretty safe bets.

[Ampurp85]

I come from Chicago and mostly cruise late Oct/early Nov and Jan exclusively. To me Jan in the Caribbean is perfect: just warm enough to enjoy activities, may be too cold for people use to warmer weather, but not so warm you sweat like a fat lady in front of a scale. 

You might need a light sweater or jacket........and sometimes the pool will be too cold to swim at certain times of the day. But overall, I really enjoy sailing during that time period. 

[CruisingOz]

We found the weather quite nice, shorts and t-shirts. We enjoy the water and found it was slightly cooler than expected, but still pleasant for a long snorkel or scuba dive. We found the ocean quite cool at Coco Cay and the pool was fresh, but okay for a dip. Still quite warm during the day in some ports, and we never required a jacket, even of an evening.  

[teddy]

Biggest issue I have with January cruising weather is having to take a big jacket so I don’t freeze my butt off when I walk out of the airport when we get back home. 
 

Other than that, I stopped bringing even a light jacket 

[skittermagoo]

Last year it was absolutely freezing in Galveston in late January, but by time we had lunch on day 2, it was fine. The pools were a little cold for swimming, but other than that it was fine. It was warm enough in Cozumel for snorkeling and beach, but not too hot. 

 

[smokeybandit]

13 hours ago, wordell1 said:

Galveston is often cold in January.  It can go either way - It is usually nice enough for the pool by noon on day 2 - its really no big deal.

Orlando can be cold but it would warm up pretty quickly as the cruise heads south.

Ft Lauderdale and Miami are pretty safe bets.

We have very different definitions of "cold" I think

[wordell1]

12 minutes ago, smokeybandit said:

We have very different definitions of "cold" I think

If I can't sit at the pool, its cold!

[teddy]

We were at CocoCay last November, and while the beach club was crowded, the only people in the pool were my wife and I and a couple from Minnesota.  
 

 

[DonR]

We Spent Christmas Day by the pool lounging with frozen drinks cruising back from Cozumel. (we even had a Mermaid on deck) 

 

Not January but darn close. 

[Jolly Ogre]

We sailed late this past January and it was freezing butt cold in Miami in the 40's-50's when we left.

When we got to Coco Cay it was 60's-low 70's, but by the time we got to St Thomas and St Maarten it was great 80's. 

Fronts can come through but they don't get that far south.

You just have to watch the weather and see how it is.

[mom2mybugs]

On 8/5/2022 at 11:50 AM, Jolly Ogre said:

We sailed late this past January and it was freezing butt cold in Miami in the 40's-50's when we left.

When we got to Coco Cay it was 60's-low 70's, but by the time we got to St Thomas and St Maarten it was great 80's. 

Fronts can come through but they don't get that far south.

You just have to watch the weather and see how it is.

Ugh.... My second day is Nassau and my 3rd day is cococay on my Dec 31 cruise.  It better be having a warm front going through or I'm going to be under a lot of towels trying to sunbathe!   Though anything is warmer than Chicago that time of year!  Jane

[skittermagoo]

When we sailed from Galveston last January, it was unusually cold and windy, and the first morning was a bit rough, but it smoothed out and by the time we were in Costa Maya it was in the 80s I think. Cozumel was warm enough to snorkel. I didn't get in the pools on board, but my husband did (briefly) and said it was chilly. 

That said, Texas weather is so unpredictable that we could have just as likely been warm and balmy in Galveston. 

[twangster]

Historically winter seas can be a little rougher compared to summer seas in the Bahamas and Northern Caribbean.  Back when CocoCay didn't have a pier there were more missed calls at CocoCay in winter months compared to summer months.  The currents in the Florida straits are often stronger in winter months leading to some less pleasant Florida based first nights at sea.  Later on night one once across the straits of Florida it usually calms down.  

That does not mean a winter cruise is guaranteed to have rough seas.  Mother nature is unpredictable.  However many people assume summer seas are worst because they have hurricanes in mind when it fact winter seas tend to have more winds and surface waves.  When a hurricane isn't on the radar summer seas tend to be gentler.      

As you move further down into the Caribbean islands weather extremes are less pronounced.  Places like San Juan, St. Thomas and St. Maarten tend to have temperatures moderated year round by ocean temperatures so they don't get the swings in the extremes like Florida and the Bahamas can at times.  Florida and the Bahamas often share some winter woes when one year or another might see a cold spell one year for a week here or there but another year might not see a cold snap at all.  It's more unpredictable compared to deeper into the Caribbean.