Southern Caribbean Question

[DMcrusin]

My wife and I are looking to plan an 8 night Southern Caribbean Cruise (Aruba, Curaçao, CocoCay)

Initially had Late November-first week of December in mind.

Now I’m wondering about late March instead (Mid Dec. - early March are out due to sports activities with our kids)

Is there a better choice on average between those two dates?

For example, I read that Dec. is considered the rainy month.

[Linda R]

57 minutes ago, DMcrusin said:

My wife and I are looking to plan an 8 night Southern Caribbean Cruise (Aruba, Curaçao, CocoCay)

Initially had Late November-first week of December in mind.

Now I’m wondering about late March instead (Mid Dec. - early March are out due to sports activities with our kids)

Is there a better choice on average between those two dates?

For example, I read that Dec. is considered the rainy month.

Late March can be spring break for many areas, so more kids.   I cruise every year the first 2 weeks in December and love it.  I have found cruise rates and flights are less in December (except for holiday of course).  Weather always been great.  70-80 degrees and mostly sunny.  You tend to get more rain in spring, in my opinion. 

[ScooterScott22]

Don’t think there should be a huge difference between those dates.  The Caribbean temps do not fluctuate all that much; that’s why cruises go there, and rain is spotty mostly due to fronts but probably more common during hurricane season.  Since your dates are out of that time, should be more specific to any local disturbance or front.  
 

Agree that amount of passengers will vary some.  The goal of the cruise line is to get as many heads into beds as possible.  Still peoples schedules will impact that amount.  Those couple of weeks between thanksgiving and Christmas are not the busiest for the obvious reasons.  March can be hit or miss depending on holidays and spring break schedules.  
 

We did the 8 day southern in late September and it was great.  

[asquared17]

50 minutes ago, Linda R said:

I cruise every year the first 2 weeks in December and love it.  I have found cruise rates and flights are less in December (except for holiday of course).  Weather always been great.  70-80 degrees and mostly sunny.

can confirm, prices are always great during these two weeks for the whole trifecta; cruise fare, airfare and hotels. we make it a practice to go this time during december and the first week or two in february for similar reasons.

[AshleyDillo]

I just booked an 8 night beginning of December..pricing is amazing for that time of year. I wouldn't worry about weather issues.

[smokeybandit]

ABC islands have their rainy season in the mid-late fall, but it's not nearly as rainy as other countries get.

[octaviocloss]

We usually cruise during late December - January and the weather in the caribbean is literally marvelous. 

[CrimsonCruiser]

We were just in Aruba this past December for a week on a land vacation.

The weather was warm and sunny everyday - 80 degrees easily. I had brought along a cardigan sweater just in case the evenings got cool but they never did.

And while it did rain every day it was never more than 5 or so minutes of showers then it was back to sunshine. I don't recall seeing the water ever being rough either, because the rain was never aggressive enough to churn up the waves.

[jbrinkm]

Also, which ship are you looking at? The older ships tend to not have as many kids onboard, so if you are worried about crowds in March, you could look at pre-Freedom class ships.

[Allen2]

We enjoyed a 10 and an 11 day B2B throughout the Southern Caribbean this past December on the Vision.  Highly recommend!!  Great service, food, patrons.  Good ports overall.

[fa-li]

the weather I would worry about for December is in the US.  If you'll be flying to embarkation, I'd plan on maybe going two days ahead in case there is a storm and/or another airlines meltdown like this past year.  

[Linda R]

On 3/14/2023 at 5:58 PM, asquared17 said:

can confirm, prices are always great during these two weeks for the whole trifecta; cruise fare, airfare and hotels. we make it a practice to go this time during december and the first week or two in february for similar reasons.

I also go on a cruise around first 2 weeks  of February

[mac66]

We did an 8 nighter ABC cruise on the Explorer right after Thanksgiving. Had a great time, great weather.  We typically sale between Thanksgiving and Christmas and around late Jan early Feb. Prices tend to be about the lowest at those times.