How is the water (ship, CC, Nassau) in late January?

[Shanti]

Doing a five night trip on the magic this upcoming January at the end of the month. What I am curious about is how well you are able to swim in the pools, castaway cay, nassau beaches, etc., or is the water just too cold?

Thanks in advance for your help

I've been at Castaway Cay in early January and late December. The water was chilly, probably between 65 and 70 degrees. If you have any freshwater springs in your area (but not hot springs), the temperature is kind of like that. It was definitely not too cold to swim in when we were there, though the water did take a couple of minutes to get used to. The weather was hot & sunny regardless, so we enjoyed our swim, as did many others. The Pelican Plunge line was long both times. One bonus of cooler water is there is less chance of getting stung by sea lice (which are baby jellyfish, not really lice, for those who don't know).

On the ship deck, again, while sailing in the Caribbean & Bahamas it was very warm during the day. At night it cooled off slightly. Not too cold to swim, but cool enough that climbing out of the Aqua Duck didn't feel great to me. It didn't bother my son, though. I get cold easier than he does.

 

[Capt_BJ]

I'm impressed, where did you find this?

 

[Heatherdbby]

Wait. CC has sea lice???

 

[Heatherdbby]

I'm impressed, where did you find this?

It was posted to my cruise fb group. So i googled it on my work computer. Something along castaway cay average temperature by month then click images

 

[PurplePencil]

DCL keeps the pools (Family pools and Quiet Cove) at at least 75 Fahrenheit. I've done cruises in January and February, CC can be hit or miss, really dependents on what you are used to.

 

[TigerLaw]

Bumping with a couple weeks to go!

 

[cyclenut]

We were at Castaway Cay and Nassau from Galveston this time last year. Weather was sunny and nice. Air temps were in the mid 70s but with the sun out it felt warm on the skin. Water was cool but not cold. Too cold for some though, but plenty of folks were in the water at both locations, including me.

Be aware that the weather in January can be somewhat unpredictable though. We've sailed once where the cruise immediately before us had high winds, which dropped the temperature and made Castaway Cay a lot cooler. Ships won't even dock if the winds are too high, which has happened. Safety First dotcha know. Disney won't risk passenger safety by trying to dock if the conditions are not right.

 

[Budzooka]

Just got off the Dream today and the weather wasn’t the best. On the ship was fine, as the pools were comfortably heated and it was nice outside while laying by the pool.

However, Castaway Cay was a different story. Temperature wasn’t that bad, but the wind was howling, which made it quite cool. They closed Serenity Bay and almost all of the excursions were cancelled due to the weather. I still went snorkeling on my own after lunch and while the water was a bit cool, it wasn’t unbearable. It was really cold after getting out of the water and we headed back to the ship right after.

Was disappointing, but the risk you take cruising in January. At least it wasn’t pouring rain and we were still able to enjoy some of the island.

 

[AKVFamily]

Thank you, this is a great resource!