Weather in November?

[westie55]

First time cruisers, going on the Wish to Nassau and CC in early November. I know this is the tail end of hurricane season and anything is possible weather wise. For those who have cruised in the Caribbean in November:

1) How rough were the seas? How noticeable was the rocking of the ship? Our stateroom is forward on one of the upper decks. I'm hoping this isn't an issue.
2) Was it warm enough to take advantage of the pool deck on days at sea?
3) Did anyone have bad weather prevent docking at Castaway Cay?
4) How was the ocean temp at Castaway Cay? I would like to snorkel but if the water is freezing this may be a no go.

 

[sponica]

Ocean temp is going to be a personal preference. It never really gets above 68-70 where I live. Maybe as high as 72. But my kids will be in that ocean water even if it's only 75 degrees outside of the water.

 

[auntlynne]

Typically, water temp at CC is still nice in December, as is air temp. And I am cold natured.

Storms will determine wind and waves. Sometimes the crossing from FL to the Bahamas (the FL Strait) can be choppy after dinner on Night 1.

Prepare yourself for motion sickness if it’s something you experience. Patches, bands, pills, ginger candy, whatever.

If you forget/forego bringing pills, they have them at Guest Services. Just ask.

These ships are fairly heavy and have stabilizers to decrease side to side movement. I have experienced very little substantial rocking in many cruises.

 

[RedHead0186]

We went last November (Eastern Caribbean). The weather was still quite warm, very easy to take advantage of pools on deck. The ocean temperature at Castaway Cay was a little cool for me. Plenty of people still in the water so not too bad, but I elected to only wade in up to about mid-thigh.

Seas were a little rough a couple of days, but not awful, and I think that was a result of a weather system (ripple effects, no pun intended, lol). Trouble docking at CC can happen anytime, though I recall a semi-recent thread about it that anecdotally seemed to indicate January being the month that had the most issues.

 

[cvjw]

We’ve sailed a couple times in early November. Highly recommend. Weather was very nice both times. A little cool in port Canaveral, but warm in all the ports - castaway included. We were at castaway 11/10/23 and swam for a couple hours at serenity bay. We are from Georgia, so really cold water is a no go for us.

Just sailed 1/20/24 and the seas were MUCH rougher than our November sailings.

 

[OKW Lover]

First time cruisers, going on the Wish to Nassau and CC in early November. I know this is the tail end of hurricane season and anything is possible weather wise. For those who have cruised in the Caribbean in November:

1) How rough were the seas? How noticeable was the rocking of the ship? Our stateroom is forward on one of the upper decks. I'm hoping this isn't an issue.
2) Was it warm enough to take advantage of the pool deck on days at sea?
3) Did anyone have bad weather prevent docking at Castaway Cay?
4) How was the ocean temp at Castaway Cay? I would like to snorkel but if the water is freezing this may be a no go.

We were on the Wish November 2-6. Our experience:
1) Not at all rough. No noticeable rocking. Our stateroom was forward on and upper deck as well
2) Yes, the weather was great for the pool, open decks and Castaway Cay
3) No, we had no problem docking at Castaway Cay
4) The water at CC was ver comfortable

 

[Calantha]

First time cruisers, going on the Wish to Nassau and CC in early November. I know this is the tail end of hurricane season and anything is possible weather wise. For those who have cruised in the Caribbean in November:

1) How rough were the seas? How noticeable was the rocking of the ship? Our stateroom is forward on one of the upper decks. I'm hoping this isn't an issue.
2) Was it warm enough to take advantage of the pool deck on days at sea?
3) Did anyone have bad weather prevent docking at Castaway Cay?
4) How was the ocean temp at Castaway Cay? I would like to snorkel but if the water is freezing this may be a no go.

We sailed on the Fantasy end of October/beginning of November.

1. We did run into some rough seas and we were late to Castaway coming back from the Virgin Islands. We were on 9 mid, and I felt it, but not enough that I needed to take anything.
2. My son did swim and it was fine.
3. I didn't think we were going to dock, but we did.
4. Weather at Castaway was not good and we returned to the ship pretty early. But the water was decent and we did snorkel. It is WAAAY out to actually see anything and DS got tired before we actually got that far and we had to go back.

 

[westie55]

4. Weather at Castaway was not good and we returned to the ship pretty early. But the water was decent and we did snorkel. It is WAAAY out to actually see anything and DS got tired before we actually got that far and we had to go back.

My kids will be 7 and 9. Do you think they’ll be able to make it to the sunken “treasures”? Are there fish to see along the way or not really?

 

[Calantha]

My kids will be 7 and 9. Do you think they’ll be able to make it to the sunken “treasures”? Are there fish to see along the way or not really?

We didn’t see many fish. If we do it again, I would wear a real life jacket/have him wear a real life jacket (rather than the snorkel one). Also, the water was rough that day, so I feel like it was just hard to swim back.

 

[Ronneeaght]

My kids will be 7 and 9. Do you think they’ll be able to make it to the sunken “treasures”? Are there fish to see along the way or not really?

My 7yo made it out and around the treasures ok, complained a bit on the way back. There wasn’t much to see until we got out to the main snorkeling area, but we went pretty late in the day and I wondered if everything was scared out of the shallow waters by all the activity at that point.

ETA: My 7yo isn’t a strong swimmer in the sense that she knows all the strokes or is on the swim team, but she is a strong swimmer in the sense that she could spend all day in the water and is very comfortable swimming, so YMMV.

 

[ladyofthetramp]

The sights are out there, so if your kids are good swimmers, like the above poster mentioned-comfortable in the water, they will be fine. No fish to see on the way. I go first thing in the morning always and have been rewarded with seeing lots of fish.

 

[Michaelene De Boer]

We went the tail end of Nov and had great weather. Kids swam in the pool and ocean, albeit a little cold. The boat didn't rock at all. I didn't take any pants and wished I would have as nighttime and the MDR was chilly.