Early Jan Cruises

[lexlaw69]

I had planned a DCL cruise in late Nov/early Dec but work kind of ruined that. I'm thinking of doing the Jan 4 cruise out of Port Canaveral. The cruise is usually discounted and seems not to be that popular (this is good for me). Whats the latest people are booking these unpopular cruises?

 

[lklgoodman]

We've done 2 cruises in Jan. We also have cruises booked for Jan. 2020 and Jan. 2021. The first one we booked about 9 months ahead of it. All the others were booked on opening day. The prices did go up after we had booked, but it did take several months. All of the cruises are 7 nights on the Fantasy and have been SWDAS cruises.

 

[Lynne G]

3 months away for our Magic, Marvel at Sea. Caught a great Military rate, and off we went. Didn't get all the characters that had to be reserved, but still got some, and we had a great time, and great weather. 3 week in January. Booked end of November, or maybe even beginning of December, I can't remember.

Doing another January sail, but not DCL this time. Even with Military rate, too high versus what we are paying for a different cruise line, for same ports and length of cruise, even though I know we'd enjoy the Star Wars stuff.

 

[bbn1122]

I didn’t realize that early January was unpopular.

My family is cruising out of Miami on January 4th, 2020. I booked because it fell during my sons Christmas break from college and I booked it over a year ago. I figured right after the New Year maybe a popular time. I know flights to Miami area were not a bargain at that time of the year.

But, I guess right after Christmas could be a quiet time too.

I know for sure we are all looking forward to getting out of cold and maybe snowy NJ this January.

 

[lklgoodman]

I didn’t realize that early January was unpopular.

My family is cruising out of Miami on January 4th, 2020. I booked because it fell during my sons Christmas break from college and I booked it over a year ago. I figured right after the New Year maybe a popular time. I know flights to Miami area were not a bargain at that time of the year.

But, I guess right after Christmas could be a quiet time too.

I know for sure we are all looking forward to getting out of cold and maybe snowy NJ this January.

You WILL love cruising in Jan, that's when we cruise. I always hope where we live will get hit with a lot of snow while we are gone. Unfortunately last year a large section of the US was getting hit with a snow/ice storm when we returned. That wasn't so much fun. The captain made an announcement about the bad weather and how to check flights since airports were closed. Our flight was cancelled, but we were able to get on another. I hoping we'd be stranded and have to spend an extra day or 2 at WDW but no such luck, lol!!!

 

[BarbSutto]

We are currently booked for the Jan 4 2020 cruise out of Port Canaveral. Didn’t realize they were unpopular either - guess that’s why they made it a SWDAS.

 

[fredandkell]

You WILL love cruising in Jan, that's when we cruise. I always hope where we live will get hit with a lot of snow while we are gone. Unfortunately last year a large section of the US was getting hit with a snow/ice storm when we returned. That wasn't so much fun. The captain made an announcement about the bad weather and how to check flights since airports were closed. Our flight was cancelled, but we were able to get on another. I hoping we'd be stranded and have to spend an extra day or 2 at WDW but no such luck, lol!!!

This. Cruises in January in the Caribbean are magnificent. Where you generally run into problems is if you have a snowstorm or ice in the location you are leaving from and your plane is delayed. So if you do cruise in January I would totally recommend flying in at least a day or two early just in case there are weather issues where you live. This even happened to us once in Atlanta in February where there was a very rare snowstorm and we barely made the plane to get down to Orlando.

 

[Cruising Engineer]

We have B2B cruises scheduled for Jan 2020. Best time of year to cruise the Bahamas/Caribbean. Even though we live in New Mexico we still arrive 2 days early because of weather somewhere else in the country delaying or canceling us.

 

[BarbSutto]

We have B2B cruises scheduled for Jan 2020. Best time of year to cruise the Bahamas/Caribbean. Even though we live in New Mexico we still arrive 2 days early because of weather somewhere else in the country delaying or canceling us.

We are in NM too and arriving 2 days early for our Jan 4 cruise.

 

[MonaMN]

We are leaving the frigid mess in MN for a cruise in January... we are super excited to experience SWDAS. Crossing fingers that we don’t have weather issues getting out of here!

 

[houseofduck]

Our first cruise was in January. I prefer other months over January. The weather was fine for our cruise, but while the ship was moving, the wind made it too cold for me. When we were in port, it was fine. We were able to swim at Castaway, but the water was a little cool. It was a good vacation, just not my favorite month to cruise.

 

[Cruising Engineer]

We are in NM too and arriving 2 days early for our Jan 4 cruise.

Great minds think alike. Almost didn't make a Celebrity cruise because DFW was closed due to high winds in January. If SLC, DEN or ORD are delayed because of snow, we have problems in ABQ!

 

[lklgoodman]

I don't know if I could survive the cold, dreary winter weather if we didn't escape it for a week every Jan. The rest of the year I love Ohio's weather, but it's like the sun completely disappears in the winter. I also find the water a bit chilly at CC. But really all I need is a chair and a drink(or two) and I'm good! Last Jan we did the mojito tasting at the Head's Up bar while at CC. It was a lot of fun, they let us make our own drinks. I've already signed up for it for our upcoming Jan. cruise. Trying to get back to the ship to finish packing afterwards....not so much

 

[CindyandBrice]

Yes, we are from OHIO too and as just stated, I need to get away for a tropical vacation in the middle of OHIO winter. We are booked on the SWDAS Jan 4 cruise too. It is perfect for us...not too hot (considering we are coming from temps in teens usually at that time of year. This will be our 4th sailing in january.

 

[Ralph&Pam]

We will do our third January b2b on the Magic out of Miami in 2020. We skipped last year because we did the PC to San Diego Panama Canal cruise on the Wonder that departed at the end of February. It was not a good winter for midwesterners, so we’re back to a January break. We start with two days in Miami, then cruise, then drive to WDW for a week at the BWV. Miss 18 days of January weather up north.

 

[SL6827]

Would anyone say that the chances of missing CC due to weather during the early months of the year is greater? Or is it about the same as the rest of the year?

 

[lklgoodman]

We've never missed CC in any of our sailings so far. Been there 2 times in Jan. and 3 times in March. I would say you are more likely to miss CC at the end of the year(late Summer and Fall) because that's hurricane season. Also you don't have to worry about sea lice in Jan. They start to appear in late April, I think.

 

[lklgoodman]

Yes, we are from OHIO too and as just stated, I need to get away for a tropical vacation in the middle of OHIO winter. We are booked on the SWDAS Jan 4 cruise too. It is perfect for us...not too hot (considering we are coming from temps in teens usually at that time of year. This will be our 4th sailing in january.

A couple of winters ago it was minus 9 degrees when we left Ohio for our cruise. When we got to Florida it was high 50s. We put on t-shirts and shorts. Our driver to from the airport to the hotel had on a heavy coat, gloves, and hat. He was saying how freezing it was, lol!! I think my dd even went swimming in the hotel pool!

 

[LivingforDisney]

Would anyone say that the chances of missing CC due to weather during the early months of the year is greater? Or is it about the same as the rest of the year?

Missed it Jan 2016. Was really bummed about it, as we are from Australia and doubt we will ever get to do another Disney cruise.