Cruising in January...how is it? Specifically wondering about Castaway Cay weather.

[Cheburashka]

Title sums it up.

We've sailed to Castaway four times in late December/early January within the past 7 years. Two of them were New Year's cruises. Each time, the air temperature was comfortably warm on Castaway Cay- no cover-ups desired, etc. The water is chilly, but that never stopped us or many, many others from enjoying it. We had no problem swimming out to Pelican Plunge, walking around wet, waiting for the slide wet, then plunging back in, in terms of the weather. The air temperature was plenty warm enough for us to feel comfortable doing that. Being in the water itself was chilly, but your body acclimates to that about 30 seconds after you immerse yourself fully (don't try to go in very slowly, just go for it and dunk yourself). It isn't freezing water or anything like that (which I have experienced in another context), it's just chilly. Some people (especially many Floridians) can't stand non-warm water & will say it's too cold, but that's just a preference and the lines for Pelican Plunge at New Year's were as long as the lines for Pelican Plunge during our Spring Break cruise in March. To give another comparison, I'll say that the water at Castaway Cay at that time of year is a lot warmer than the water at Vero Beach at that time of year (the latter was too cold for me & most other visitors, even though the air was warm).

That was four cruises in four different years, so it wasn't a fluke. That being said, there could always be a cold snap that makes things cooler. Not very common in the Bahamas but it can happen. Also, mid and late January might be cooler than late December/early January. The Caribbean, of course, is further south than the Bahamas and the weather & water there is noticeably warmer. The warm yet not hot air temperatures are also perfect for bike riding on Castaway Cay.

One particular benefit about sailing to the Bahamas in winter instead of summer is that there are not daily afternoon thunderstorms like there are in summer. It's the dry season. You can get rain at any time of year, but it isn't the daily rain that you have to expect in summer. I only remember a couple of times it ever rained out of all four of our winter cruises.

 

[DIS_MIKE]

It is very hit or miss. I did January for my first ever DCL cruise and we had trouble docking at CC because of the winds. We eventually got on the island but it wasn't until the afternoon, so we only had a few hours. The water was but we still got in along with pretty much everyone else. The water and atmosphere is very inviting.

I recommend one of those thicker long sleeved rash guards which can double as a wet suit top to keep you insulated.

 

[vakamalua]

We were there is mid-February. Air temperature about 55 degrees with a 30 MPH wind. Really cold! We went ashore and it was almost empty; saw about 5 people total in the water on both beaches. We had lunch & went right back to the ship which was as crowded as a sea day. Don't count on a perfect beach day that time of year!

 

[Ronneeaght]

I think it depends where you are from...if you, like me, are from New England...the castaway cay temp on its COLDEST day is still going to beat the northern Atlantic in august

We are from PA but we like to drive up to RI to go to the beach, so I think we should be good!

 

[Sarco11]

We took early Feb cruises in 2018 and 2019 and an early December cruise in 2019 had were lucky to have great weather at Castaway Cay each time. The water is chilly, but having swum in Lake Michigan my whole childhood, it was no biggie. And my DD did not mind at all, though we both wear long sleeve rashgauard shirts which help. My husband uses a spring suit (wet suit with short sleeves and short pants) to make it more acceptable for him. Fingers crossed that our good weather luck continues for our early Feb 2022 cruise!

 

[Cruising Engineer]

Our last cruise was Jan10-17, 2020, B2B on the Dream. The weather was perfect on both cruises, with clear skies, slight ocean breezes, and in the low 80s. We're from NM so any water is wonderful. Of the four times we had CC on the schedule, only missed once and that was due to Hurricane Sandy.

 

[auntlynne]

Water temps for Nassau. CC should be similar, as both are protected from the Atlantic. (They didn’t show Nov and Dec).


I’ve done cruises in mid January, late Feb, early March - and always got in the shallow and open waters of Serenity Bay.

I don’t like cold water.

And have been fortunate to have never missed docking at CC.

Avoided hurricane season, though.

 

[squirk]

I think you've all convinced me to pick another time of year. LOL

I wouldn’t *not* sail in Jan/Feb just because of this. The CC water isn’t intolerable, and as other have mentioned, there are other big pluses, like beautiful not-too-hot weather, with less rain and lower fares.

 

[DLgal]

I wouldn’t *not* sail in Jan/Feb just because of this. The CC water isn’t intolerable, and as other have mentioned, there are other big pluses, like beautiful not-too-hot weather, with less rain and lower fares.

It's the lower fares, honestly. I'm not willing to pay the summer premiums anymore.

 

[Cheburashka]

It's the lower fares, honestly. I'm not willing to pay the summer premiums anymore.

Have you considered the first week of March? The prices aren't like summer then as spring break hasn't started. Not quite as cheap as mid-winter, but also with less risk of poor weather.

 

[squirk]

It's the lower fares, honestly. I'm not willing to pay the summer premiums anymore.

We are the same way. No "high" season fares for us, either.

We are lucky in that our kids have Mardi Gras week off of school, when none of the rest of the country does. So we can sail in "low" season -Feb/March; not Easter, not Spring Break - and they don't have to miss any school. Plus, since the South ends its school year relatively early compared to the rest of the country, we can also usually sail before Memorial Day as well.

 

[mab2012]

We've been twice in March (similar water temperatures to January, although the air temperature is probably a bit warmer). I thought it was too cold to swim, but I'm the rare breed of Canadian who usually won't bother unless both the water and the air temperature are over 25C (mid-70's). Others were in the water, but I wouldn't have said it was busy.

Personally, if I were taking a vacation in January, I would probably go further south. I know that lots of Canadians would say that "anything is better than Canada in January" (likewise those from the colder regions of the US), but if I'm trying to escape winter, I want consistently warm weather. Florida and the Northern Caribbean in January are a little too "iffy". Even in March it can be hit or miss, although most days are nice enough.

Obviously it's personal preference though. Maybe it's counter-intuitive, but I think if I lived somewhere where the weather was consistently nice, I'd be more willing to put up with the chance of middling weather on vacation. At least I'd know that I would see warmth again soon.

 

[MNtwinsplus1mom]

I think you've all convinced me to pick another time of year. LOL

Me too!

Our first cruise was to Alaska (loved it!) and my family is looking forward to a warmer cruise for something different, but I really didn’t consider that our planned January cruise was a risky time. March is our backup but maybe that’s too cool also. Yikes! Lots to learn, clearly...

 

[DLgal]

Have you considered the first week of March? The prices aren't like summer then as spring break hasn't started. Not quite as cheap as mid-winter, but also with less risk of poor weather.

I will look into that time frame. Thanks.

 

[DLgal]

We've been twice in March (similar water temperatures to January, although the air temperature is probably a bit warmer). I thought it was too cold to swim, but I'm the rare breed of Canadian who usually won't bother unless both the water and the air temperature are over 25C (mid-70's). Others were in the water, but I wouldn't have said it was busy.

Personally, if I were taking a vacation in January, I would probably go further south. I know that lots of Canadians would say that "anything is better than Canada in January" (likewise those from the colder regions of the US), but if I'm trying to escape winter, I want consistently warm weather. Florida and the Northern Caribbean in January are a little too "iffy". Even in March it can be hit or miss, although most days are nice enough.

Obviously it's personal preference though. Maybe it's counter-intuitive, but I think if I lived somewhere where the weather was consistently nice, I'd be more willing to put up with the chance of middling weather on vacation. At least I'd know that I would see warmth again soon.

Yeah we wouldn't necessarily be going for warmth or better weather. I mean, we get plenty of that at home. We actually need to try and go when it's a bit cooler as we have a son with heat intolerance and the summer is just too uncomfortable for him to be anywhere except in the water.

I wouldn't mind a cool day at Castaway, but would be really bummed if it was too windy to dock or rainy.

 

[Cheburashka]

We just booked for mid-February, and I reflected on this thread while booking. For us the important things are not to be baking hot on the island (we really enjoy bicycling), and getting a respite from the winter weather at home. I hope it all works out well. Excited to cruise again!

 

[sugliac]

All pretty interesting... January is tempting me with those prices for sure! Maybe thinking of doing a Galveston or other instead and skip Castaway for it. Still great prices for other routes and can just enjoy the ship!

 

[rere101399]

It’s a solid gamble that time of year and there’s no way around it. We did mid January SWDAS in 2020 and I have a mixed opinion.

SWDAS was on our bucket list and so cruising in Jan/Feb was necessary to go one of those. I won’t be cruising in those months again, but I also don’t regret doing it because SWDAS was amazing. But we missed 2 out of 4 ports due to rough seas/weather and had a horrendously rough sea day as well.

We are a heavy YouTube watching family. Coincidentally several of the vloggers we follow were on cruises in the 1-2 weeks before and after our cruise and their cruises were unable to dock at Castaway Cay. That would be a huge sad thumbs down for our family and I feel lucky that our cruise in the middle of that same timeframe was able to have a great Castaway day at least.

Our sailing was meant to stop at Cozumel, Grand Cayman, Falmouth Jamaica and Castaway plus two sea days. We docked at Cozumel on day 3 and it was a nice day weather wise, and then we didn’t get off again until Castaway Cay on day 7. There was bad weather and rough seas that prevented us from tendering at Grand Cayman as well as docking at Falmouth. Our captain got permission for us to try another port on the other side of Jamaica and when we got there it deteriorated and we couldn’t dock there either. Day 6 we had the roughest seas I’ve ever experienced, and was the only day I’ve ever felt green on a cruise. The MDRs were more than half empty that night even though it was the specialty Star Wars menu. We cut our dinner short because we thought we could handle it and ended up feeling too affected by the huge sways to eat much. People were puking at tables around us and overall it was just too much.

Fate smiled on us on day 7 though and we had an absolutely gorgeous day at Castaway Cay. It was sunny, 80s by midday and the water was chilly in the morning but warm in the afternoon. Maybe my favorite CC day ever. After such a rough sailing, it was a great way to end the cruise and while I wouldn’t do January again, I’m glad we checked off our SWDAS itch. Seeing that the cruises both before and after ours had rough sailings as well really showed us that January is just a tricky time and too much of a risk for us.

We love March for cruising, and really anything from March to November, but of course Aug-Oct will be a hurricane risk. The spring and summer seas are so calm though. January was a totally different beast for us. Have you looked at March or November if summer isn’t the right time for you?

 

[pascalspal]

I sailed in January 2019 and 2020, both with stops at CC. While I did find the water a bit chilly myself, it was not a deal breaker for me. Just took me a bit longer to get all the way in. If it is windy, then I have stayed out of the water as it was too cold under those circumstances. Ships were not at full capacity and the pools were a nice temp on the ship. Jan is my favorite time to go personally.

There is always the risk of not being able to dock at CC or colder temps, but you can run these risks any time with cruising!