Are you thinking about taking a cruise vacation? More than 20 million people take cruises every year. Nearly 20% of all Americans have taken at least one cruise. The average time people spend on their cruise vacation is 7.2 days. If you are thinking about planning this kind of vacation for you and your spouse or with friends and/or family but have never taken one, you may have a lot of questions. You might want to know, when is the best time to go on a cruise?” or “what are the different types of cruise packages?”
When Is the Best time to Go on a Cruise?
There are a lot of different kinds of cruises to take you places all over the world. The answer to the question, “when is the best time to go on a cruise?” depends on where you want to go.
- Alaskan Cruises: If you are looking for the best time to go for the price, you should plan your cruise of mid-May to early June and then from the end of August to the middle of September. If you are looking for the best weather, you should plan to take your cruise from late June through the middle of July.
- African Cruises: One fun way to get to see a lot of this very diverse continent is via cruise ship. The season there typically runs from October through May. You may want to plan your cruise to coincide with other things you are doing. If you are planning a safari in Tanzania or Kenya, the best times are between January and March when you can see the most wildlife.
- Cruising the Caribbean: You can get the best prices on cruises there in January, May and September. Remember that hurricane season runs from August through November. December has some of the best weather in the Caribbean sea. Winter is definitely the best time to take a cruise in this area.
- Mediterranean Sea: To get the best cruise deals, you should travel from October through February (though not over the Christmas holiday when the price goes up). The peak season for weather runs from May through August.
- Northern Europe Cruises: There are fewer answers to the question “when is the best time to go on a cruise?” for the trips through northern Europe so it can be hard to get good deals on cruises through this region. The season runs from May through August and the weather is pretty close to perfect. If you can, book your cries on the first or last cruise for that season.
- South America Cruises:For discounted cruise deals, you should try to go either in November or from late April to early May. When it comes to the weather, it is important to remember that the farther you get from the equator, the more changes you will see in the weather. December and January are often very nice for cruises in this areas. No matter when you go, the seas will be very rough around Antartica and Cape Horn.
- The Panama Canal: You will get the best deals on cruises through the Canal, in early January, April, and September. You will have great temperatures and not much rain if you go between December and February. For those cruises from December through February, you also have some of the best shopping and great street festivals.
- Canada and New England: The best deals can be found from June until October. If you are going to check out the leaves changing color in the fall, you might want to plan your cruise for September or October.
When you are thinking about how to determine the right cruise, think about the people who are going. Cruise vacations can be great for larger groups because they can offer so many different things to do. People can relax by the pool or spend all day sightseeing at the port of the day. You can also plan cruises to such a wide variety of places to appeal to just about every taste and interest. If you do some research, you should find a cruise to make everyone in your family or in your group happy.
