weather in Jan v. March v. June

[Janobonano]

I would like to know if weather is a factor in choosing Caribbean in Jan, or Hawaii in March or June. And how likely is hurricane recovery or other effect on tourist trade by January?
Last Q: what's the difference/preference for eastern v. western Caribbean? Thanks for any input for this cruiser wanna-be.

[Marian]

We prefer eastern over western Caribbean but our reasons are a little fuzzy. It seems to us that eastern is more exotic, with a completely Caribbean feel. Ports like St. Thomas and St. Maarten are so different from our everyday life and it's fun to look at the globe and see how far we've traveled.

The western cruises are good as well, and sometimes they're cheaper. They usually have several stops in Mexico and perhaps Grand Cayman or Jamaica. Right now the Mexican areas are off limits due to the hurricane, but they might be coming around early next year. I don't know.

Our favorite time to cruise is late January to early March. It's usually cold in the U.S. and although I live in a fairly warm state, it's refreshing and different to sail in the tropics.

You said you were a wanna-be. If you haven't cruised before, go for it. You will have the time of your life! You'll be recharged, wonder why you didn't do it sooner and hunger for more.

My advice is to pick a newer ship, although sometimes older is wonderful too. Some of our cruises were slightly better than others, but we've never been on a cruise we didn't love.

[Emmi]

Weather really isn't a problem for either destination. If anything, you might get more rain in the Caribbean in Jan. But as far as hurricanes, the season ends at the end of Nov, so no worry there. Recovery from this season's hurricanes could take a while, especially in the Yucatan, so I'd check with your agent prior to booking as he/she would have the most updated info on clean up and reconstruction of the areas.

For early next year, my guess would be Eastern Caribbean will be your best bet (Bahamas, San Juan, St Thomas etc).