Best dates for the Mediterranean

[TomTN]

Late September or Early-mid October are great. Crowds have lessened and the weather is still warm without being too hot. Any later and it can start to turn a bit cool although crowds are well down in November.

 

Have to agree. Days are generally in the 50s to upper 70s in late Oct and early Nov.

We've been in Oct-Nov, May and jan-Feb. it was too crowded in May, especially Venice and Rome. Unless you are visiting the southern Med it is quite cold in Jan.

[true45]

Sorry :). Lots of fog in Venice

[evandbob]

Sorry :). Lots of fog in Venice

 

And Venice usually has an annual monsoonal deluge in the fall.....last year it occurred two weeks after I returned from my cruise in late September......Newspapers carried lots of pics of tourists waist high in water in St Marks Square. No locals were pictured doing this because they know that the canal system is used for their sewerage disposal.

 

May and early June and early September are prime weather times.

[true45]

Evandbob

We were lucky to miss water but I did pack a throw away pair of shoes

This does not happen every year I think

[Antonintassie]

Hi

 

We normally go mid Sept the weather is stable and not to hot or cold ,Turkey maybe a little cooler.

 

Australian school holidays can be around this period and we travel with our older teenage son on our Royal Princess cruise there were only around 20 under 18 but it seemed like 3000 + over 90 ( not a very lively crowd)

 

 

Kind Regards

 

Tony

 

Can anyone please tell me the best dates/time of year for a Mediterranean cruise? We would like to go when the kids are in school and it isn't too hot. Are fares cheaper in the Spring of Fall? Which sailing should we do and which should we eliminate? Just got off the New Year's Eve 11 day cruise on the Equinox and despite the weather had a wonderful time. Looking forward to planning the next one.

[Tiggertastic]

To the OP - UK schools are out Mid July to early September and USA May to August - so if you want to avoid the kids then Earlier May or after the 1st week of September

 

Any recommendations as to embarkment ports that would be easier, cheaper to get to from the US?

 

I heard it's best to fly into say Barcelona rather than Venice or Rome to start a Med Cruise.

 

Any comments on what's an easy embarkment port for 1st time cruising the Med?

 

 

Hi, we've sailed with you before (Gem) - :-)

 

The infrastructure in the airports in Athens, Barcelona, Venice and Rome are all good for USA flights.

 

Barcelona to port is 20/25 minutes

Venice to port the same

Athens to port the same

Rome - over an hour but they are so organised there are lots of travel options

Amsterdam for baltics and norway is one if not the largest airport in europe

 

Avoid Palma - although not many sail from there now - the airport infrastructure isn;t great

 

 

Go for the itinerary and ship you want from any of those

 

let us know if you are coming across to europe

Edited January 16, 2014 by Tiggertastic

[villauk]

We took oct 25 cruise Rome to Venice with a couple of extra days in each end -- had perfect weather from 60s to low 70s mostly no rain at all. Cool nights & little fog in Venice. It included Amalfi coast Greece & Croatia

 

Everything was open. Most kids were in school but sites were a bit crowded. I wouldn't want to travel here in summer

 

Wonderful trip

 

There would be more kids in this last week of October because it's half-term week. Many from the UK go to the Med as it's their last chance to get some sun before everywhere starts shutting up shop ;). As other have also stated, it's the same for the last week in May (Spring half-term).

 

If I could, I'd go in September - unfortunately I can't :confused:. The April Med (Easter) cruises used to be great, however most ships now don't complete their TAs until May :(.

[stipmom]

We did a cruise that left May 18 on the Silhouette a few years ago and the weather was quite cool. It did not warm up until the last couple of days of a 12 day cruise. We have also been on a number of Med cruises in late June/early July where it was uncomfortably hot for touring. I have never done early September as work schedules do not allow it but from all I read it is a lovely time for the Med.

[ibcnusoon]

Thinking of going in the off season towards the end of November out of Barcelona.

 

What can we expect from the weather that time of year?

 

Naples, Rome, Livorno , Cannes, Palma De Mallorca

[20pluscruises]

What weeks are best in September...and is Istanbul or Barcelona best starting point? Thx!

[dodger1964]

Thinking of going in the off season towards the end of November out of Barcelona.

 

What can we expect from the weather that time of year?

 

Naples, Rome, Livorno , Cannes, Palma De Mallorca

 

We've done 3 cruises out of barcelona in november (2 like yours and the other a 12 day roundtrip going around to venice and back) and have had generally great weather...sweatshirt or light jacket was plenty.

 

great site http://www.wunderground.com/

if you type in a city and scroll down the page there will be a choice to enter date for that city...you can go back 20 years if you want and get actual weather info...you can get a general idea of what to expect.

[rjrpar]

We have done late September/early-mid October for the past few years. It worked out well. We also like May. We like Istanbul as an embarkation port and we prefer eastern Med cruises.

 

One reason we have gone in Sept/Oct for the past few years have been the lower fares. We would normally do land tours but the cruise fares were so low compared to previous years that we decided to incorporate them into our travels. We watch the fares through July/August and then book in August or early Sept. if an attractive offer comes our way. So far this has worked. Not certain about this year as the economy is getting better.

 

One thing is for certain...avoid the summer months if at all possible.

 

This post says it all. Avoid the summer crowds

[cruisemom42]

What weeks are best in September...and is Istanbul or Barcelona best starting point? Thx!

 

For me, I'd say from mid-September through late September. Even then you can get really warm weather. A couple of years ago I was on a cruise that started the last week of September -- we still had temps at or over 100 degrees in Athens, Haifa, and Ashdod.

 

As to your starting point, it would depend on whether you want an Eastern Med itinerary (then I'd say Istanbul) or Western Med (Barcelona). Although sometimes you'll find a nice 10-12 day cruise that will go from Eastern to Western Med, or vice versa.