Summer is a great time for getaways as well as for researching and booking winter travel. We enjoyed speaking with cruise & travel expert Cynthia Joaquin so much that we decided to do a follow-up interview to discuss the differences between summer and winter cruising.
Courtesy of Royal Carribean
1.How is cruising in the summer months different than cruising in winter months?
It really depends on where you want to go. Certain destinations, such as Alaska or Canada/New England are only available in the summer time. On the other hand, Caribbean cruises are available year round. Also, whenever children are out of school, prices always go up and crowds get bigger.
2. What type of destinations do you recommend for summer cruising?
Some great options to keep in mind for the summer, if you are trying to keep costs down would be to cruise out of New York or New Jersey. You can drive to the port and park there for a small parking fee instead of paying for flights. Royal Caribbean’s brand new Anthem of the Seas is sailing out of New Jersey all summer this year.
3. What are your top destinations for cruising in winter months and what are the benefits?
In winter, I of course suggest warm destinations – Mexico, Caribbean, Bahamas, etc. When the ships pull certain itineraries in the winter you have more options sailing to the hot areas. Crowds tend to be smaller and pricing lower.
4. How is cruising different according to season?
Services on board are the same. However, your cruise itineraries and shore excursions differ depending on the time of year/temperature.
5. Any booking/travelers tips for cruising?
Certain destinations will have concerns with weather in terms of hurricane season/rainy season, but that never seems to slow down vacationers on cruises. The cruise lines have great technology to monitor the weather and avoid storms and skip/replace ports of call if they feel safety may be a concern. When you look at a place such as Alaska that is not available year round, summer tends to be their rainiest season but most popular.
When travelling in winter, we will stress more than ever the importance of arriving at your embarkation city the day before, to avoid any stresses with snow and possible flight delays/cancellations. And above all else we always recommend travel insurance. You just never know what can happen and we always want to protect our clients and their vacation.
Cruising in general is an amazing experience whether summer or winter. The ships continue to get bigger and better and cruising is only getting more popular so I’m sure the best is still yet to come.
Cynthia Joaquin is a franchise owner/manager of Expedia CruiseShipCenters which is a global leader in the marketing and s
ales of cruise vacations. Expedia CruiseShipCenters also provides resort and other land
vacation options, including air, car, hotel and travel insurance. Allowing the company to serve all travel needs.