Best time for a mediterranean cruise?

[lilyafloat]

Hi, looking to book a 7 day western med cruise for 2024 and am interested when people consider the 'best' time. We can go from about the 20th June through to 15th September and would like to avoid the school holidays in July and August. Would late June or early September be better for quieter destinations, not so heaving ships and warm but not roasting weather?

 

Thanks

[maggieq]

We took a 7 night med on the Liberty a few years ago in early September and had the most beautiful weather.  Sun and not a cloud in the sky. 

Edited June 18, 2022 by maggieq

[Biker19]

5 hours ago, lilyafloat said:

Would late June or early September be better for quieter destinations, not so heaving ships and warm but not roasting weather?

Yes, aim for early Sept.

[Norwich Cruiser]

Anytime between now and mid July.

 

Then again from the beginning of September.

[little britain]

5 hours ago, lilyafloat said:

Hi, looking to book a 7 day western med cruise for 2024 and am interested when people consider the 'best' time. We can go from about the 20th June through to 15th September and would like to avoid the school holidays in July and August. Would late June or early September be better for quieter destinations, not so heaving ships and warm but not roasting weather?

 

Thanks

Schools break up any time from mid June… go in early September- schools are back then. And it’s not so hot. 

[lilyafloat]

Thank you all for your replies, now I just have to wait for the 2024 routes to come out. I'm hoping for a route that will include Naples (Pompeii) and La Spezia (Cinque Terre). Don't mind a roundtrip from Barcelona but would quite like a one way trip between Barcelona and Rome/Venice 🤞

[LGW59]

8 hours ago, lilyafloat said:

Hi, looking to book a 7 day western med cruise for 2024 and am interested when people consider the 'best' time. We can go from about the 20th June through to 15th September and would like to avoid the school holidays in July and August. Would late June or early September be better for quieter destinations, not so heaving ships and warm but not roasting weather?

 

Thanks

Hands down, definitely September!  The weather is awesome, far less crowds

[DrivesLikeMario]

The latest in September you can possibly go!  It was boiling hot in Venice in late September/early October even.  If you can go in October, that would be better.

[lilyafloat]

1 minute ago, DrivesLikeMario said:

The latest in September you can possibly go!  It was boiling hot in Venice in late September/early October even.  If you can go in October, that would be better.

Mid september is as late as we can go due to son's university starting back up.

[George C]

Avoid summer or anything close to the summer we did mid September 6 years ago and it was way too hot , churches and Vatican do not allow shorts and tank tops. Did March and weather was perfect for walking around.

[LGW59]

14 minutes ago, George C said:

Avoid summer or anything close to the summer we did mid September 6 years ago and it was way too hot , churches and Vatican do not allow shorts and tank tops. Did March and weather was perfect for walking around.

Agree but that is not the norm though but like anywhere in the world there are always the exceptions.  Normally that time of year is in mid/upper 70’s.

[di T]

9 hours ago, lilyafloat said:

Hi, looking to book a 7 day western med cruise for 2024 and am interested when people consider the 'best' time. We can go from about the 20th June through to 15th September and would like to avoid the school holidays in July and August. Would late June or early September be better for quieter destinations, not so heaving ships and warm but not roasting weather?

 

Thanks

We always book for June and September usually b2b in the med, As you say avoiding school holidays, and mid June perfect weather and those long sunny days! 

[FamilyCruiserUK]

Check when european school holidays are. Uk ones are roughly 20th july till 3 ish sep.

I would go prob 2nd week of sep but wearher cools off then. If tou want weather then end of june begining of july. Rcls prices will tell you when it's school holidays as they will rob sorry charge more 🤭

[pcur]

5 hours ago, little britain said:

Schools break up any time from mid June… go in early September- schools are back then. And it’s not so hot. 

My son is over in Italy right now, and he's been in a major heat wave since he arrived with his fiancée on 6/10.  I was in the Med in June and also got into a heat wave in Greece.

 

May not be constant, but I've been there in October 2- 3 times, and the weather was in the 79's.  More rain that time of year in the am, but the high's were very comfortable.  

[Native Floridian 26]

We're scheduled for end of October into first week of November.  Does it get too cold then?  I love Florida heat, so I know "cold" is relative.

Edited June 18, 2022 by Native Floridian 26

[LGW59]

4 minutes ago, Native Floridian 26 said:

We're scheduled for end of October into first week of November.  Does it get too cold then?  I love Florida heat, so I know "cold" is relative.

I’ll start by saying that I am from Boston.  But depending on where in Italy you are, except temps to be mid 50’s to 70ish, this to me is ideal touring weather, just a light spring/fall weight jacket and all of my trips to Italy (4) have been in April/early May or mid-September/early October.

[Native Floridian 26]

42 minutes ago, LGW59 said:

I’ll start by saying that I am from Boston.  But depending on where in Italy you are, except temps to be mid 50’s to 70ish, this to me is ideal touring weather, just a light spring/fall weight jacket and all of my trips to Italy (4) have been in April/early May or mid-September/early October.

Cruise is RT Venice, with stops in Brindisi, Athens, Split and Mykonos. Then we're deciding whether to hit another European city before we head back and that's where it can get cold quick I guess should we pick Dublin or Amsterdam.

[LGW59]

25 minutes ago, Native Floridian 26 said:

Cruise is RT Venice, with stops in Brindisi, Athens, Split and Mykonos. Then we're deciding whether to hit another European city before we head back and that's where it can get cold quick I guess should we pick Dublin or Amsterdam.

 Nice!  We will be in Ireland last week of September to first two weeks in October.  Though not going back to Dublin, we will be spending most of our time in the west and south west of Ireland.  Our driver tells us to overall expect mid to upper 50’s and on occasion low 60’s which is fine for us, especially with the lack of crowds and of course we expect rain, would not be the Emerald Isle without.

[pcur]

4 hours ago, pcur said:

My son is over in Italy right now, and he's been in a major heat wave since he arrived with his fiancée on 6/10.  I was in the Med in June and also got into a heat wave in Greece.

 

May not be constant, but I've been there in October 2- 3 times, and the weather was in the 79's.  More rain that time of year in the am, but the high's were very comfortable.  

Sorry, mistyped:  that's 70's not 79's.

[andreasfcb]

It depends on what you want.

 

If you love long and warm summer evenings, go for June. If you love swimming in the ocean, go for September. The sea is not warmed up in June, especially im the Northern Mediterranean. But the sunset in September is a real downside because it can be between 7 and 8 PM depending on your location.

 

Also note while it can be very nice and mild until October, the weather begins to change at around September to a more unstable state. For example, we have cruised in the Western part (Spain-France-Italy) with Harmany of the Seas in the first week of September 2016. We were not allowed on deck half of our cruise! The weather was mostly sunny, but windy and waves at around 10 feet. The brand-new Harmony even suffered from some damages on the top deck. That said, you would be likely safe if you went to Greece, Turkey or Israel at that time.

[George C]

9 hours ago, LGW59 said:

Agree but that is not the norm though but like anywhere in the world there are always the exceptions.  Normally that time of year is in mid/upper 70’s.

We had 90’s .

[DrivesLikeMario]

On 6/18/2022 at 11:38 AM, LGW59 said:

Agree but that is not the norm though but like anywhere in the world there are always the exceptions.  Normally that time of year is in mid/upper 70’s.

Not in our experience in Europe.  It has always been way too hot in September in Italy.  I'll never go there again in September.  

[andreasfcb]

On 6/20/2022 at 3:51 PM, DrivesLikeMario said:

Not in our experience in Europe.  It has always been way too hot in September in Italy.  I'll never go there again in September.  

 

It depends. June and September are really similar, it can be 25 to 35 C depending on your destination. As I said, the weather gets very unstable especially in the second half of September and colder temperatures are more likely. I have been in Northern Italy in the first week of September and had never over 25 degrees (at the sea). In the country side (Roma, Firenze, Bologna) or on Sicily it may be like 5 to 10 degrees hotter though.

[Roybthered]

We sail on Odyssey OTS on the 28th Sept this year (last cruise around the Med I think for the season) for 9 nights and are looking forward to it. The weather should be fine and nice to enjoy all the ports of call.