July 1 or end of August?

What would you do?

We are planning 3 days in Iceland, then 11 night Baltic cruise out of Copenhagen. We can either "do it yourself" July 1-16, or join an organised group Aug. 27-Sept. 11.

We usually travel independently using CC and TA but are a little tempted by having the work done for us. How different would the weather be?

Thanks for your input!

Pam

Baltics is a very easy DIY destination (exception is S:t Petersburg).

We just got back from our trip 8/15 to 8/30. The weather was nearly overcast everyday, had one or two days that were mostly to partly sunny, with 1 or 2 days where we had sprinkles for a few minutes, with temps from 60 to 65. While this may sound cool to some, the conditions were ideal for walking in what I think is a walk intensive itinerary of ports. I don't know about weather earlier in the summer, but from talking to the locals at all the ports, weather in in Baltic's can be a little unpredictable.

You'll have far fewer children on the later cruise, due to school going back. That might temper your decision. July is high tourist season.

My vote is for July 1. The days are pretty long and it's nice to be out on deck (when it's not raining) in the "late evening".

Thanks for your input, we're leaning towards July....

Thanks for your input, we're leaning towards July....

Agree on your leaning towards early July. From our experiences going up and down the Norway coast, researching the weather averages, plus the view of our experienced ship Captain is that July offers the best chance for this general area. Longer days, more daylight, too!! Yes, more tourists in July, but there are reasons for that reality.

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

For details and visuals, etc., from our July 1-16, 2010, Norway Coast/Fjords/Arctic Circle cruise experience from Copenhagen on the Silver Cloud, check out this posting. This posting is now at 202,789 views.

http://www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1227923

What would you do?

We are planning 3 days in Iceland, then 11 night Baltic cruise out of Copenhagen. We can either "do it yourself" July 1-16, or join an organised group Aug. 27-Sept. 11.

We usually travel independently using CC and TA but are a little tempted by having the work done for us. How different would the weather be?

Thanks for your input!

Pam

The weather turns pretty fast many years. Past August 15 can really feel like fall. For some this can be preferable for touring around cities and the tourist sights will be dramatically less crowded (much more so than in the US tourism drops off dramatically after Sep 1.)

You'll have far fewer children on the later cruise, due to school going back. That might temper your decision. July is high tourist season.

This is not going to be an issue on any Baltic cruise, mainly due to its length. Families just don't do these long cruises. We did a Baltic cruise in July 2015 and there were very few children onboard.

We did a Baltic cruise in July. Had great sunny weather everywhere. There were many children on board but they were not a problem at all. Many were teens.

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

I have done Northern European cruises on 3 separate occasions, always in July. We have been blessed with the long beautiful days that make this area such a lovely summer destination.

We were just in Iceland ( mid July) and the weather was great one of the three days we were there. We took a private tour by 4x4 to the South Coast which was a highlight. Here is a photo review.

http://boards.cruisecritic.co.uk/showthread.php?p=50822137

I would vote for July.

The weather in the Baltic area varies allot. In both July and August this year there were longer periods of colder /greyer weather. Then the past two weeks on the other hand have been very lovely with mostly warm and sunny weather.

Also remember that sometimes Christmas eve is warmer then midsummer eve.

Occasionally there have been days in February that have been warmer then the coldest days in June-August.

Today, where I live (about 100km west of Stockholm), have been a superb summer day with temperatures above +20 degrees Celsius despite that it is very windy.

We did a Baltic cruise this July, great weather, but could have been bad. We will be doing a Norwegian coast cruise next July, longer days! It's no problem to organize 3 days in Iceland. I googled and found a company that does 3 excursions from Reykjavik on 3 days. They call it golden circle.

Definitely July it's the time of the Midnight Sun and the White Nights Festival in St Petersburg. We did the Baltics with NCL in July had a great cruise.

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

We did the Golden circle when we had a land holiday in Iceland, well worth it the falls were amazing, go to the Blue Lagoon thermal lake it's great.

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

We did our Baltic cruise in 2014. Now we are doing the NCL North Cape cruise next July

Sent from my iPhone using Forums