Baltic or mediterranean please help

[bahi]

Looking to cruise either baltic on Reflection 12 night or mediterranean on the Edge 9 night. Sailing 8/19. All perks, pricing comparable. Never cruised Europe.

 

 

Any thoughts ?

 

 

Thanks Marybeth

[Book bug]

Both are great , perhaps choose by ports of call?

[Slugsta]

I would do the Baltic itinerary - but I am more interested in northern European history than southern and don't tolerate sun. YMMV.

[Denny01]

Done both, and of course both are very great itineraries, not knowing your specific ones you are looking at. Personally, I’d start with the Med cruise. You probably know more about the areas to be visited, and may get a bit more out of it.

 

With that very superficial and general statement made, just plan on one or the other, and then go with the ‘other’ next cruise......you Know you will!!

 

Den

[jelayne]

I would go with the Baltic and Reflection. It is a great cruise, among our top 3 cruises and we have done 44 cruises.

St Petersburg is absolutely amazing, loved Tallinn& all the other ports.

In August the Med can be very hot and uncomfortable when touring.

Baltic is 12 nights vs 9 for the Med, better bang for your $$.

Edge is a brand new ship and IMHO overpriced just because it is new and looks different.

 

If you do go with the Baltic I would suggest you tour St Petersburg with a independent tour company, much less expensive and smaller groups than the ships excursions. We used SPB and with another couple on our Roll Call & the 4 of us had a guide & driver for the 2 days for about 2/3 the cost. If we had joined a slightly larger group 10-12 it would have been even cheaper.

[rdt10]

We just finished a Baltic cruise on the Eclipse. We have done several med cruise. We had a good cruise but decided we prefer the mediterranean and greek island ports. I doubt we will do the Baltic again but will definitely do the med.

 

I would look for a longer cruise in the med. The pricing on the Edge is higher partly due to it being new. All of our med cruises have been cheaper than the Baltic cruise we did. From a quick look the Infinity and Constellation have longer cruises than the Edge and better pricing.

 

If you can, find a cruise that starts in one port and ends in another. Then you can spend extra time at both ends. It is hard to beat Rome and Venice.

[Onessa]

With an 8/19 sail date, I would go Baltic. Many of the Med ports are uncomfortably hot in late July and August. Whereas mid-August is near the end of the comfortable temps in the northern Baltic ports.

[alcpa1]

We've done both.

Several mentioned temperatures but we happened to hit St. Petersburg during a heat wave. It was 103 F during the first week of August ( a new record BTW).

August is vacation time across Europe and services are not quite as they should be. The tourist sites are open, and crowded, but the shops and restaurants out of the tourist areas may be shuttered.

I've spent two weeks in St. Petersburg via land and sea and two nights is just not enough time. If the ship schedule calls for one night look elsewhere.

I think I'd do the Med first. It has nothing to do with the ships but it's getting a feel for Europe. And I'm sure you are making this your first cruise around the varities that Europe has to offer.

[shofer]

Having done both areas in May and found them busy enough, I would never tour Europe in August for the same reason alcpa 1 mentions. My DIL is a TA for Europe and would never book anyone for August unless they insist upon it.

 

That being said, pick the longer cruise so you can really enjoy it. A 9 day Med cruise is too short for that region. We did 12 day for both and I wish we had even more time.

[Lady Arwen]

Having done both areas in May and found them busy enough, I would never tour Europe in August for the same reason alcpa 1 mentions. My DIL is a TA for Europe and would never book anyone for August unless they insist upon it.

 

That being said, pick the longer cruise so you can really enjoy it. A 9 day Med cruise is too short for that region. We did 12 day for both and I wish we had even more time.

I was just going to post a similar response. We've been to the Med in May twice and the weather was lovely and quite warm. People told us that July and August is the worst time to go to Europe, very hot and humid and loads of kids everywhere. If I had to go in August, I would do the Baltics to avoid the heat in the Med.

[TeeRick]

With an 8/19 sail date, I would go Baltic. Many of the Med ports are uncomfortably hot in late July and August. Whereas mid-August is near the end of the comfortable temps in the northern Baltic ports.

 

Completely agree.

[Travelling2Some]

We would never cruise the Med in August. It is just too hot and crowded to be enjoyable.

[Hydrokitty]

We did Baltics in August and weather was wonderful...this is Northern Europe so it doesn't get as hot as places like Paris that are further south. All of the ports we visited were crowded but with more adults than children. Shops and restaurants were all open and while crowded not unpleasantly so. We did HOHO buses in Copenhagen, Stockholm and Talinn and never waited more than 10 minutes. Tivoli in Copenhagen was wonderfully NOT crowded, Stockholm rained and Talinn was also NOT crowded . Berlin is always crowded! We had no trouble getting seated in restaurants and there were no lines to speak of. St. Pete is also always crowded but there's plenty of room! Been there several times and it's one of my favorite world cities, with lots to see and do...unfortunately 2 days is not enough and if you've never been there or have no plans to go back I would recommend the comprehensive 2 day tour either with shore excursion of one of the Russian tour companies, several of which are exceptionally good. It's pricey and it's physically demanding but you'll get to see pretty much everything from Peterhof to the Hermitage. If you have plenty of time I also recommend the B2B with Norway. X only does one of those (I think) per season and IMHO Norway is one of the most beautiful places we've been. We did Med in October and it was wonderful....and like previous posters, would NOT go there in August....there's a reason why the natives go on vacation in August! :cool:

[maxsales]

Looking to cruise either baltic on Reflection 12 night or mediterranean on the Edge 9 night. Sailing 8/19. All perks, pricing comparable. Never cruised Europe.

 

 

Any thoughts ?

 

 

 

Thanks Marybeth

 

Mediterranean all day long. Been there, done both.

[eileenover]

We did Baltics in August and weather was wonderful...this is Northern Europe so it doesn't get as hot as places like Paris that are further south. All of the ports we visited were crowded but with more adults than children. Shops and restaurants were all open and while crowded not unpleasantly so. We did HOHO buses in Copenhagen, Stockholm and Talinn and never waited more than 10 minutes. Tivoli in Copenhagen was wonderfully NOT crowded, Stockholm rained and Talinn was also NOT crowded . Berlin is always crowded! We had no trouble getting seated in restaurants and there were no lines to speak of. St. Pete is also always crowded but there's plenty of room! Been there several times and it's one of my favorite world cities, with lots to see and do...unfortunately 2 days is not enough and if you've never been there or have no plans to go back I would recommend the comprehensive 2 day tour either with shore excursion of one of the Russian tour companies, several of which are exceptionally good. It's pricey and it's physically demanding but you'll get to see pretty much everything from Peterhof to the Hermitage. If you have plenty of time I also recommend the B2B with Norway. X only does one of those (I think) per season and IMHO Norway is one of the most beautiful places we've been. We did Med in October and it was wonderful....and like previous posters, would NOT go there in August....there's a reason why the natives go on vacation in August! :cool:

 

We've cruised a lot in Europe (and elsewhere) with Celebrity, Princess and one P & O.

 

As Brits living near London, we're used to a variety of weather.

We've had sweltering heat in St Petes on one August trip and heavy rain on another there, at the same time of year.

We've also had a mix in our August visits to Copenhagen! Helsinki, Oslo and Tallinn have always been warm during our August trips. Stockholm... mmm... it rained cats & dogs on one occasion but was fine on the next couple of visits. Berlin... loved the city... but the rain! Torrential! Just bad luck!

 

History & Culture: living in the UK, we have stronger ties with northern Europe... but of course we love the exotic Med. If you want palaces and castles then the Baltic is a better bet ---yes, there are fab places in the Med too.

 

Costs: Oslo is expensive! St Petes is expensive! In fact, your $ will go nowhere near as far as it would in the Med.

 

Closures: a few places in northern Europe will close for a couple of weeks in August ---but very few. Go to the Med in August and you'll find a much higher percentage of places closed ----especially in the larger cities such as Venice and Barcelona. Touristy islands such as Santorini have few places closed because it is high season for them.

 

Queues: there will be a lot more people in the Med! The sites will be far more crowded, the noise level higher, the prices will sometimes be 'adjusted' for locals ---that rarely applies in the Baltic, with the exception of popular locations in St Petes.

 

If it were me, I would select the Baltic for August and leave the Med for May/June or September.

[LondonTowner]

We have done the Baltic twice. The first one in mid September 2015 and the other this July. They had very different itineraries, but both included SPB. We had good weather on both cruises, but this year it was very hot everywhere, with temperatures around 35c. On both cruises we did our tours with Alla, who are excellent. SPB was very crowded.

 

This summer many places in the Med have had temperatures up to 40c, so has been very hot.

 

I would choose the Baltic, but I like that part of the world.

 

 

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[Lastdance]

Like others have said, the Baltic and Med are great cruise areas but August is when many are on vacation in Europe and it can be extremely hot. We did the Baltic in late June and the weather was perfect. The Med can be dreadfully hot in August, but you are on a brand new ship. However, I have been on Reflection a few times and just cruised the Greek Isles and Italy cruise for the second time, but in May. It was perfect weather.

 

So, you will love cruising in Europe and want to return many times...yes, St. Petersburg is expensive. We did a private tour there(just the two of us for two days) and it was our best tour ever; well worth all the money we paid, but we wanted to see as much as possible!

After reading all these posts, go with your gut feeling, and you will love Europe and want to do the Adriatic...gorgeous water...

1. Does the extreme heat bother you?

2. Is a new ship important?

3. Is culture a driving force for this vacation or do you want to relax and unwind too?

 

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Edited September 4, 2018 by Lastdance

[bahi]

Thanks so much for all the information. We decided on the Baltic cruise Reflection 8-1-19 mostly because I'm half Finn and wanted to visit that part of Europe. That being said I love a new ship and based on the Edge prices for the Caribbean this year the price was not bad for the Med. Oh well next time. Suomi here we come!!!

[montythecat]

Good choice. The Med and Baltic are chalk and cheese, so in due course I am sure you will do both. However, the one consistent factor in the decision you have to make is August. Many who have replied to you spell out the disadvantages of the Med in peak summer. My favourite time of the year is May/June. Not too hot and long days which you don’t get in the Autumn/Fall. I don’t know whether it is important to you but the only disadvantage I can think of is that the sea/ocean is cooler. Have a wonderful Baltic cruise. By the way, TJ Travel in St. Petersburg were wonderful and I would certainly recommend them.

[suzzek]

I second the endorsement for TJ travel in St. Pete! We were there in June, 2018 and we had an excellent 3 day tour with our guide, Sophia. She took us to all the highlights, castles, museums and landmarks. More importantly, she took us to some places that other friends of ours in different tour groups didn’t get to see. She was very knowledgeable and we felt her tour was worth every penny!