Timing for Hawaii and Disney Cruise

Disney_Fan_01

Mouseketeer
Joined
Sep 7, 2016
We are planning a return trip to hawaii (Maui and Aulani) over thanksgiving week or end of May 2019. We have been to Oahu and Aulani once last year during end of May and love that time of the year. We prefer warm water temperatures and when it is warm outside as we are from TX :)

We are still in early stages of planning a trip again and would prefer end of may again; however, I am also interested in doing a Disney Cruise. Never done before. Our thoughts were to do a DCL over thanksgiving week this year. Only option that works for us is a 7 day Bahamian cruise from Galveston with ports that include Key west and Castaway Cay. I also checked a 7-day Western Caribbean cruise from Port Canaveral leaving on May 24th 2019 that works for us as well and looks more exciting with ports that include Cozumel, Grad Cayman, Falmouth and Castaway Cay.

I am not sure weather wise which is better for Thanksgiving, cruise to bahamas or trip to Hawaii. I am looking for suggestions. I know end of May is ideal for a cruise or Hawaii. Plan is to do one during Thanksgiving and the other in May 2019 if everything works out.
 
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Weather in Hawaii is pretty much the same year round. The amount of variance between November and May shouldn't be enough to matter.
 
November is still hurricane season for cruising so you may want to factor that in (or be sure to get trip insurance if you cruise in November).
 
We had a ton of rain this past thanksgiving. End of Nov/early December are my least favorite times here. The weather does change.
 


Weather will vary year round on Oahu in that the average temperatures can range from 85-88 degrees during May through October and around 78-82 from November thru April. "Rainy" season is usually from November through March and hurricane season from June - November. (This is from info a friend provided me who lives on Oahu.)
 
We just did a November cruise this fall to Cozumel, Grand Cayman, Falmouth, and Castaway and it was amazing. We had rain in Cozumel but otherwise great weather. Water in Castaway was a little cooler than I expected in the Caribbean but still warmer than the Pacific. They Merrytime Cruise was a super fun experience.

We are also DVC owners at Aulani and love Aulani. We only have been in Feb-Apr timeframe as that’s when I am dying for warmth and sunshine. Weather is always mostly lovely with occasional rain and or wind, but usually only part of the day. Being from Seattle I think of warm rain as a plus over our rain, so maybe I’m not the best for advice. :) Our Hawaii trips are usually 10 days, and the past 3 trips have had 2 days of partial rain and 1 truly crazy windy/ monsoon type rain days over all 3 trips. Not a bad ratio overall. Just don’t choose a whale watching tour on one of the rainy days... so miserable on choppy water.
 
Thank you all for your help! Direct Flights to Hawaii from DFW are slightly under $1000 for the week of thanksgiving trying to convince us to return. Hoping there is availability for ocean view studio at 7 month mark
 


We had a ton of rain this past thanksgiving. End of Nov/early December are my least favorite times here. The weather does change.

I'm the opposite - I love the weather from November to January, it's so cozy! It's cute to see people in Mililani wearing their puffy jackets in 60 degree weather :rotfl2:

I agree, the weather does change here. Those of you from the midwest are probably laughing at me right now :tongue:

From a temp. standpoint there is little variation compared to most of the US. It's the surf, rain, and trade winds that change and can affect your vacation. For example:

- Napali portion of cruise can be downright miserable (if not canceled)
- dangerous surf on North and West shores = no swimming, possibly no turtles, and no snorkeling at Shark's Cove, but Ko Olina lagoons are generally safe all year long though
- days and days of heavy rainfall
- brown water advisories/contaminated beaches/sewage spills at least several times each winter
- no valley or waterfall hikes for 1-2 days after heavy rainfall

But at least the rain is warm all year long :)

You'll have a great time whenever you visit, but I would strongly recommend a May visit.
 

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