Baltic Cruise - When to Visit????

[martyap]

I know this is a difficult question. I am just reading that August is a prime month in Amsterdam and I was trying to figure out if the latter part of August would be better in terms of cost & crowds.

We are planning our first Baltic Cruise August 2019. We are looking at two, both starting and ending in Amsterdam....12 days including Helsinki, St. Petersburg, Copenhagen, Estonia, Stockholm.

 

The first is 8/11/19 - 8/23/19 with 2/3 pre cruise days in Amsterdam

There second is 8/23/19 to 9/04/19 again with 2/3 pre days in Amsterdam.

In terms of hotel rates, airfare JFK>AMS, crowds and weather would there be a preference????

 

Thank you!

[Desdichado62]

Weather differences might occur but it's impossible to say which one that will be better. Some years the summers

are short, cold and rainy. Other summer can be warm and sunny and stretch far into September or even October.

The current summer have been extreme so far. Except for a week or two in June and a day here and there, the

weather have been hot and sunny since early may with temps reaching 25-30-30+ almost every day and it

hasn't rained ,much at all.

 

I don't think there will be that significant differences on the other things. Especially not since crowds also depends on

how many other cruise ships that are in port that day and how large they are.

[Sauer-kraut]

European schools don't go back in session until later in Sept. (usually) I imagine if you go later in August there might be fewer American tourists, but towns still might be crowded.

[Desdichado62]

Most Swedish schools starts in mid August except for universities that starts in September.

[caripoo]

We did the Baltic at the beginning of their season.....late spring,early June....as we like to avoid Europe in the true summer months....to hot, crowded, and much more expensive....

[LondonTowner]

August S high season in Europe, so most places will be crowded. To avoid crowds you need to visit in spring or autumn.

 

 

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[Grant2000]

We did a Baltic cruise in June (from Amsterdam) and visited the same ports-of-call that you mentioned. The weather was perfect and the cities weren't too busy at that time of year. Hotels tend to be very expensive in that part of the world. The summer months might be particularly bad.

 

https://cruiseports.ca/baltic/

[Giantfan13]

As has been said, the weather is so changeable, that one cannot predict it, but if you go by averages--we went mid to late August and had glorious weather the entire 12 days. Most days started off a bit cool in the early AM, but by mid day we had our light jackets off and short sleeve shirts were the thing until evening. On the ship, especially while sailing, in the evenings, it will be cool, so prepare for that. We most definitely felt the Autumn chill in the air, late August.

Obviously you can prepare for the averages but the days you are there could be hot or cold. We never brought any shorts, just jeans a few long sleeve shirts and the rest T's and a light windbreaker. We did pack a hoodie for the ship and we used it several times.

We never had any problems with crowds that were overwhelming and isn't August when many Europeans leave for vacation--a perfect time to go.

 

Cheers

Len

[Coral]

I have been 2x in May and June. I love this time frame.

[dogs4fun]

I vote for May or October. June through August are very crowded in/around the tourist "must see" sights. Each year there are more and more visitors to Saint Petersburg - even early September is quite busy at the Hermitage, Catherine Palace & Peterhof. And - there are tons of land visitors - in addition to many Europeans, the Chinese are now the largest middle class in the world and they seem to arrive in St. Petersburg by the bus load (they love to travel).

Now sure how much Helsinki and Tallinn have changed since my last visit (3 years ago) but I suspect that they will be busy as well. Seven years ago, most Baltic cruises ended by the first week in September. Now, cruise ships arrive into mid October! Stockholm was quite busy last year in August (particularly Gamla Stan & Vasa).

All are wonderful cities - enjoy!

[Born2go]

We too were planning a Baltic Cruise in August/September 2019 time frame. After research, we decided the September 7th sailing of the Rotterdam from Amsterdam will be the right balance of weather/crowds for us. Did you look at this sailing?

[kentuckycruiser]

Just got back from July 18-31 trip and it was very warm. Some ports would be easily described as hot (92 in Stockholm). No rain the entire time. Crazy crowds in SPB. The line to get in the Hermitage for non groups was 5 hours long. I can't believe those people were standing in the blazing heat. Even with group entrance there were huge crowds and a wait. Not to mention that air conditioning is only in a couple of rooms - the others are very very stuffy. Some people on our cruise didn't do the second day of St. Pete bc of the crowds and heat.

[martyap]

Just got back from July 18-31 trip and it was very warm. Some ports would be easily described as hot (92 in Stockholm). No rain the entire time. Crazy crowds in SPB. The line to get in the Hermitage for non groups was 5 hours long. I can't believe those people were standing in the blazing heat. Even with group entrance there were huge crowds and a wait. Not to mention that air conditioning is only in a couple of rooms - the others are very very stuffy. Some people on our cruise didn't do the second day of St. Pete bc of the crowds and heat.

 

 

 

We had moved our cruise to late August early September. Probably won’t avoid the crowds but temps might be better

 

 

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