Eastern Caribbean too cold in January?

[SuperLuckyMamaBear]

How cold is an Eastern Caribbean in mid-January. We were all set to book a January 2019 cruise but we're afraid that it will be too cold to swim on the ship, too cold for the kids to play with water at CC in their island kids club, etc. Are the pools on the ship heated?

*Yes, we googled but we're curious for personal opinions/experiences.

 

[jdb in AZ]

Where do you live? Someone from snow country will find the Caribbean quite warm, even hot in January.

When we were at Castaway Cay at the end of December, the kids (Arizona desert rats) didn't spend much time in the water, but they had fun playing the sand. We were cold in Orlando but as the ship sailed southwest, it became warmer, til we were sweating in port.

The next time we were in the Caribbean in January, we couldn't dock at Castaway Cay because of the weather. The wind was whipping the waves around. again, the farther south we went, the warmer it became.

Yes, the pools on the ship are heated, but crowded.

 

[mom4fun]

The Eastern, Western and Southern are warm year round. The Bahamas including Castaway are more iffy.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

CC will be cooler water, most likely. The Caribbean proper should be fine, and there are numerous activities on the Eastern that don't involve full immersion in the water.

 

[cyclenut]

Yes. it is cooler, but it's not cold. Although my wife may beg to differ. January is really inconsistent with respect to weather. We've done it and enjoyed it. The virgin islands were great. Water and air temperature were fine. Castaway water temperature was a little cool. I still enjoyed it though. Cast members told us we had particularly good weather that week. The cruise before us had wind and rain on the island.

 

[bumbershoot]

It’s near the equator. Things are fairly stable and warm there.

https://www.seatemperature.org/caribbean-sea

Our Southern Caribbean cruise in late December a couple years ago was amazing. One day of chilly rain in Barbados, but the rest was sweltering and awesome.


https://www.bahamas.com/faq/average-water-temps

Our first family cruise was during a February and the second was that October. The weather at castaway was slightly cooler in feb, but that made the water feel warmer than it did in oct, when the air was hotter than the water.

 

[Sepo]

We went in the first week of January 2017 on an Eastern. Tortula and St Thomas were perfect low 80s, water was perfect.

CC had cold water but not unbearably so. The weather however was a beautiful high 70s.

 

[Jestocost]

Basically anything in the Caribbean--not exactly accurate but think Puerto Rico and south--is pretty much guaranteed to be warm year round. The Bahamas, Turks and Caicos, etc. are technically NOT in the Caribbean and, as noted previously, can get cooler during the winter months. By cooler, however, think daytime highs in the high 60s/low 70s during a cold spell. Not cold by most U.S. standards but not as warm as the Caribbean.

 

[lklgoodman]

We always try to cruise Jan-March. I find the water at CC too chilly, but my dd(9 yrs old) doesn't mind it. She played at the splash area on CC when we there in Jan.2017 and this past March. The air temps are perfect, high 70s/mid 80s. We're already booked for another EC on the Fantasy for Jan. 2019. Great time to escape the freezing weather where we live.

 

[_auroraborealis_]

It's also worth noting that even CC doesn't get especially cold, save some of the most shallow water. Big bodies of water take a lot of time to either warm up or cool down. This is why swimming in Lake Superior even in summer is not something most people do.

 

[bcwife76]

We went in the first week of January 2017 on an Eastern. Tortula and St Thomas were perfect low 80s, water was perfect.

CC had cold water but not unbearably so. The weather however was a beautiful high 70s.

We went two weeks after you, so mid January 2017 and it was the same. We swam in the pools on the ship and never felt cold. we didn't swim in Tortola (had a land excursion) but swam in St Thomas and while it was chilly at first, you got use to it very quickly. I found CC rather chilly and never submerged in the water at the beach lol

 

[Shanti]

How cold is an Eastern Caribbean in mid-January. We were all set to book a January 2019 cruise but we're afraid that it will be too cold to swim on the ship, too cold for the kids to play with water at CC in their island kids club, etc. Are the pools on the ship heated?

*Yes, we googled but we're curious for personal opinions/experiences.

We sailed the Eastern Caribbean in late December and it was perfect beach weather.

 

[Jenlynn3]

We have we have sailed the Eastern 2x in December..Caribbean was perfect weather and water temp, Castaway weather was nice but water was cold.. we are from a Northern Illinois