November cruise??

[jalynn]

We'd love to do a Mediterranean cruise in November, but I'm concerned about the weather. Since the cruise covers several countries, I'm cross-posting this question. Has anyone experienced Venice, Athens, Nice, Barcelona/Madrid, etc. in November? How cold was it?

 

Thanks in advance--

[daryleann]

I've read all the answers for the other ports but my only experience is in Barcelona, in Nov. We had a lovely - almost too warm pre-cruise, then returned to BCN on Nov 6th and went immediately to Montserrat. It was rainy and on the mtn it was downright raw at times. Returned to a very cold BCN, and glad to be warm again the next day. (But we had warm coats, as we would be flying into Denver, so it was okay. )

My point is, you can have a cold day - we even had one here last week - got only to 60 and days before were in the 90's.:eek:

[bdoster]

Very similar experence to daryleann in BCN late November 2008. We were there for Thanksgiving pre TA cruise. Several days were brillant clear and warm. Went to Monsurratt and had snow flurries and was cold.

 

We are heading bact next year for a TA from Rome Nov 7, plan to spend at least 5 days precruise.

[English_in_Spain]

The one of those you may find cold is Madrid. November is a strange month there where is could be warm or cold with snow.

 

Any later that November I would definitely not recommend unless you like cold weather.

[daryleann]

Spent a week in Madrid in April. Lovely until half way thru and then cold and raw.

It always amazes me that people who travel do not take the time to look at weather. Jalynn, you are doing what should be done by everyone. We took a cruise around S America and people only brought shorts and sandals... "but it's South America!" I think the same is true of Spain - "but it's always hot... it's Spain!" :rolleyes:

[BenLynn]

The one of those you may find cold is Madrid. November is a strange month there where is could be warm or cold with snow.

 

Any later that November I would definitely not recommend unless you like cold weather.

We will be in Alicante on Nov.8 arriving on the Celebrity Constellation at 8 am and departing at 5 pm. Can you please make some recommendations on what to do and see in Alicante. Are there taxis at the port that will take us on a tour? What would be the price of a tour that you would recommend? Thanks.

Ben

[dcinmb]

We took a 2-week Mediterranean cruise last November, embarking in Venice on November 14th and disembarking in Barcelona on November 28th, stopping off at Dubrovnik, Athens, Ephesus (Kusadasi), Naples, Rome (Civitavecchia), Florence (Livorno) and Nice along the way.

 

We were fortunate to experience temperate weather and clear sunny skies for practically the entire trip; the weather was actually more ideal than in June - September when the Mediterranean can be uncomfortably warm. We didn't have any issues till we got to Spain and even those were minor: it rained in Barcelona on our second day and Montserrat was very windy and very, very cold. All in all we couldn't have asked for better weather and the sights were much less crowded than usual.

 

~dcinmb

[English_in_Spain]

We will be in Alicante on Nov.8 arriving on the Celebrity Constellation at 8 am and departing at 5 pm. Can you please make some recommendations on what to do and see in Alicante. Are there taxis at the port that will take us on a tour? What would be the price of a tour that you would recommend? Thanks.

Ben

 

See my post #7 here

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1143334

Let me know if you have any questions

[smtcan]

We did a late November Med cruise from Rome last year and the weather was perfect for sightseeing. I would have wanted a little warmer before going to the beach, but for walking around it was ideal. The summer crowds were gone so we didn't suffer the long hot line-ups that occur in the summer months. Unfortunately you cannot predict weather accurately so maybe we were particularly lucky. I know that in Europe the temperature can vary wildly from day to day. One thing to bear in mind - the days are short in November and the temperature drops after sunset. We didn't linger in the ports in the evening, even when we had a late departure.

Sheila