The Best Time to Cruise Alaska Month by Month
Table Of Content
December is popular because of families on winter break from schools. March as well as June through August are popular with families on spring and summer breaks. June is the best time to cruise the Caribbean in the summer because it has a lower risk of rain than July or August.
Another Reason to Book Early: Price Protection If Prices Fall
Cruise ships sail in the Mediterranean all year long, but the primary season runs from April into early November. For more mild weather and less crowds than during the busy summer season, aim for a Mediterranean voyage in early May or September. Whether you want to have a summer vacation or a winter getaway, the weather somewhere in the Caribbean is always warm and welcoming. The best overall credit card for booking a cruise may be the Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card for a few reasons.
Get a FREE $250 Credit with CruiseFirst
As well, when winter has gripped most of North America, the Caribbean still offers a warm getaway with lots of sunshine. So instead of setting calendar reminders to book on a specific day, consider signing up for email alerts so you’re ready to pounce when the right deal goes live. To get the best possible experience please use the latest version of Chrome, Firefox, Safari, or Microsoft Edge to view this website. Pirates Week is the national festival of the Cayman Islands, taking place in November. As you might imagine, it's a week filled with reenactments and spectacle, paying homage to the islands' rich history and cultural ties to piracy.
Winter: January to March
So, while you'll miss the chance to see wintering humpback whales, there's still plenty of sea life to spot. The weather is also more than likely to be ideal, with just an inch of rain or less per month on Oahu, Maui and the island of Hawaii and about two inches on Kauai. And that’s all without mentioning the entertainment and facilities onboard your ship. Its banks are lined with dramatic, unspoiled landscapes, postcard-perfect towns and villages, and grand, opulent cities. Be the first cruise to Antarctica where you’ll witness majestic whales, penguins, and icebergs aboard Norwegian Star. Another first, Norwegian will offer Africa cruises round-trip from Cape Town where you’ll witness unique wildlife that you won't see anywhere else in the world.
This cruise is aboard Harmony of the Seas on a 7-day cruise departing Galveston. Since the cruise is scheduled regularly for more than a year into the future, we can compare the price of the cruise now with the price of the same cruise at the same time next year. Even though there are festivities during the month (including Easter and the Peppercorn Ceremony), it's still early in the tourist season. For example, a seven-night round-trip voyage from Long Beach, California, along Mexico's Pacific coast with Carnival Cruise Line starts at $629 in June. The same cruise is even less expensive in October at $464 per person. The best time to board a cruise ship is obviously when there are few lines and short waits.
What time do cruise ships board?
But the island is generally far less likely to be struck than either of those regions, and a strike is most common between late August and October. While Australia's weather varies, winter temperatures between June and early September are rarely as extreme in North America. Crowds are fewer, and there are bargains to be had, especially on larger ships and Great Barrier Reef cruises that are available year-round. If you dislike large numbers of children, avoid sailing late June through August or during school break times (late December, early January and March through mid-April). If a post-Thanksgiving/pre-Christmas cruise in Hawaii sounds appealing, you're apt to encounter the arrival of the humpbacks during the first two weeks of December. The waves on Oahu's North Shore also begin to swell, making for dramatic photos.
Boarding begins roughly between 10 and 11 a.m., depending on the ship's schedule and how long it takes everyone from the last cruise to debark. Most cruise ships require all passengers to be on board no fewer than one to two hours before the scheduled departure time, which is almost always in the late afternoon or evening. In the aftermath of the pandemic, lines began assigning boarding times to passengers or, more commonly, asking them to choose the window of time that they'd prefer in order to stagger the crowds. The new method has worked so well that it has largely remained in place for most cruise lines. If you're not interested in high-season travel or experiencing the latest cruise ship, you can play the waiting game and pounce as soon as fares drop. As any seasoned traveler knows, you'll often find lower rates or free add-ons as the departure date approaches and the cruise line works to fill the ship.
NEW! Caribbean Cruises from Galveston, Texas
8 Eastern Mediterranean Cruise Tips: Know Before You Go - Cruise Critic
8 Eastern Mediterranean Cruise Tips: Know Before You Go.
Posted: Thu, 11 Apr 2024 18:00:00 GMT [source]
A similar seven-night itinerary from Boston to Quebec City in late September starts at $1,279 per person. For example, in May 2023, you can sail on a seven-night Western Mediterranean voyage from Barcelona to Rome with Princess Cruises starting at $699 per person. If you prefer to travel in the fall, you can still find a good deal on the same itinerary for $848 per person in September. Since you'll have the greatest choice of ships midsummer, you might luck out and find a one-off deal if you can be flexible about ship and sail date. Wave season may be a popular time to find cruise deals, but not every company releases its best deals and promotions during that period. Sales (or lack thereof) are often based on what is and isn't selling.
Taking a Cruise in August
The good news is that there is no wrong time of year to sail for most cruises, such as those heading to the Caribbean or Bahamas. Knowing the best time to purchase your cruise is just one part of the puzzle. When you sail has a much bigger impact on what you pay than when you buy. In our experience, there isn’t much difference in the time of year that you book. For example, the same cruise isn’t automatically cheaper if you buy in January versus if you buy in July.
It's a fun way to create a break between Thanksgiving and the December holidays. If I had to pick based on weather, cost and crowds, I'd vote winter as the best time to cruise the Caribbean. Our award-winning ships are designed for you to enjoy as you choose while cruising to beautiful destinations around the world.
First, it comes with a healthy 60,000 bonus points after spending $4,000 on purchases in the first 3 months from account opening. If you book a cruise via Chase Travel℠, the redemption rate rises to 1.25 cents per point, making these bonus points worth $750. Each of those points also gets a 25% value multiplier when used to book travel through Chase. Then, if you don’t see the deal you want over the holidays, go ahead and set up email alerts with the cruise lines so you don’t miss any deals starting in January. But whatever the reason, cruise lines tend to be extremely generous during wave season.
You'll also need to plan for mosquitos in port and for serious sun protection. Most of the Caribbean averages a UV index of 7 (considered a high risk) during the summer months, holding at a high or extremely high level for long stretches of the day. If I were to narrow it down even further, I'd say the best time to cruise to the Caribbean is early December.
In the summertime, you'll have family vacations and people with vacation homes in Bermuda returning for the season and warmer weather. Bermuda's cruise season runs between April and November, with a few ships calling on Royal Naval Dockyard in December. While the pink-sand beaches and glistening, turquoise waters offer a slice of paradise, the archipelago in the western North Atlantic Ocean does not stay warm year-round. The subtropical climate of these British islands has winter temperatures that dip down into the low 60s and high 50s.
I could say that winter is the best time of year to book a cruise because that would cover the late-fall Thanksgiving week sales and wave season promotions. I can guarantee that your cruise line will offer some promotions during the winter, but that doesn't mean it's the best time to book. In some cases, heat waves and low rainfall can cause European rivers to be too low for ships to sail. Additionally, depending on where you're sailing, July and August may mean some local cafes and restaurants are closed for summer holidays.
Comments
Post a Comment