Thread: The Caribbean in August ... should I be worried?

Ok, I'm not a first timer, but I am still relatively new to cruising. I'm considering booking another for Aug 15 or 22 of next year, but I'm a little nervous about that being right there in hurricane season. What kind of risks am I taking if I book a cruise in that time frame?

I know it's a crap shoot to some extent, so I'm not looking for guarantees, and I know that the ships will avoid the hurricanes, but I also really don't want to have to be running a high risk of missing ports. Especially because we are looking to take our kids on their first cruise here. In the past it has always been just the wife and I. We want them to have some real things to remember, and not just the ship sailing in circles.

The itenery I'm looking at would be Galveston-Jamaica-Grand Cayman-Cozumel-Galveston (the basic Conquest western Caribbean package). Thanks for any input guys!

Hi and welcome to CLF. In hurricane season there are no guarantees but you will get to ports regardless of where the ship ends up. The kids will still get to see lots of new things on a cruise and in ports. If I were you I would check out ports on both eastern and western caribbean as a backup plan on things to do at the different ports, then if the itinerary changes as least you have a clue

Hi HoustonTodd

Welcome to CLF!

I'm assuming that you will be driving to Galveston so you won't have an air situation to worry about, so that's one travel situation you won't have to deal with

Unfortunately, there is always a risk of missing a port or ports, even if you're not cruising in the Caribbean or Mexico during Hurricane season. Things happen that are out of anyone's control. We missed 2 ports on a Med cruise because of high winds.

We just cruised the Southern Caribbean Sept 6 - 13 and the weather was beautiful, calm seas the entire cruise with no missed ports.

Can you cruise when it's not hurricane season? That would lessen your risk of missing ports due to a Hurricane. Be aware that other things can impact a cruise itinerary also.

Like you said, "It's a crap shoot that time of year!"

As Sue mentioned, in the Caribbean they do a pretty good job changing the itinerary to avoid a hurricane. You may not go to the ports you planned ... but it's not too likely you sail around in circles for the entire cruise.

Hopefully, it'll be a calm season like it has been this year!

Originally Posted by ziggysun

Can you cruise when it's not hurricane season? That would lessen your risk of missing ports due to a Hurricane. Be aware that other things can impact a cruise itinerary also.

Depending on when. My wife and I are taking our third cruise this April ourselves. But as far as taking the kids (3 more bodies) we would have to find a time when prices are as low as possible to really afford. Cruising for the two of us we find to be a great travel value; it is somewhat less of a value and stretches our discretionary budget quite a bit adding them to the cost.

Yes we could cruise with them at another time, but we need it to be another time with similar rates.

We cruise in October every year, cheapest prices. We have sailed with our grandchildren during this time, took them out of school. We had them do a journal every night and did a report for school. Cruising is fun but also an education as they are seeing different cultures and counties/islands. Awesome to see a cruise and ports in the eyes of children

Of course, October is still hurricane season, which is why there are great rates then

Originally Posted by canarymoon

Of course, October is still hurricane season, which is why there are great rates then

Maybe but looking at statistics in general, and specifically at the last 10 years or so it is really mid august through september that is the REAL season. The dates we were looking at were/are the 15 or 22 of August next year so it's right in that pipeline.

Now I'm also thinking about the possibility of maybe instead waiting until last minute and booking for a Feb cruise and hope to get one of those "last minute/filling our boat out" past cruiser specials. Or a mid October one like someone had mentioned.

Just after the New Year - say the first full week of January - I have seen really good specials in past years.

From Weatherunderground:

The Atlantic basin shows a very peaked season from August through October, with 78% of the tropical storm days, 87% of the minor (Saffir-Simpson Scale categories 1 and 2) hurricane days, and 96% of the major (Saffir-Simpson categories 3, 4 and 5) hurricane days occurring then. Maximum activity is in early to mid September. Once in a few years there may be a tropical cyclone occurring "out of season" - primarily in May or December