I have a cruise to the Bahamas on the Fantasy out of Port Canaveral currently booked (am flying out of New England) & am wondering if it would be better to cruise late January or early March. Weather is always a toss up for New England in the winter time. Which is a better time to cruise in regards to weather in Florida & Bahamas, less crowds on the ship, etc.?
Thank you
I have cruised twice in February and had an amazing time. I do not think there would be a huge difference in 5-6 weeks. The two things that may impact would be that the water might be slightly warmer in March. (If you, like me, are from New England, it will still be warm!!) I think you may run into more “spring breakers” in March than in January. I’m not sure what year you are looking at but Mardi Gras is March 4 in 2025 and that may increase some crowds as some schools break around then.
I would look at when flights would be cheaper if I were you!
We’ve done early February once and late March another time. The weather was SO much warmer end of March than February. We mostly preferred February because it was still warm enough to enjoy but not be oppressively humid and hot (some of the days in late March were starting to approach the level of being uncomfortable in the hot/humid department).
The rain & wind on the days in Feb we did have it, kept crowds away from the pools/slides and they were actually very pleasant crowd-wise. And the pools were mostly all warmed so being in them was very nice (the water slide water is not warmed though so that will be cold splashes). Getting out of the pools or doing the slides when it was windy was a different story, it was very, very, very cold. But we just ran for towels and then to our stuff where he had cover-ups & booked it back to the room if we were done, done.
I do agree that if both times work for your personal schedule, book the time that flights are cheaper. The crowds will probably be similar since neither time is one that attracts any crowds. If the weather is important, I expect early March will be warmer but not guaranteed as even January can get warm, just might have some rain/wind to help cool it down a tad (and that might make seas a little more rocky).