Med in late July or early August?

I know that these are not the opportune times to visit the Med... however, due to our school/activity/work schedules this is the time that our whole family is available to vacation. We would love to take our children (11 & 14) to Europe and would really like to tie it in with a cruise. I'm concerned though about the timing and wondering if it is really worth it to go in July or August? I'm considering a Greek Isle cruise, possibly in August. What do you think? I've read that August is difficult because so many Europeans are vacationing as well. Thanks for any opinions!!

Kim

Kim, I think the real challenge with an late July or early August cruise is more with the weather and the crowds. You can expect it to be hot and humid and crowded in most of these ports of call. Yes, August is a holiday time for many locals and some shops and restaurant will be closed but not like it used to be.

But for many with children July and August are the times they can cruise so crusing earlier or later might not be an option.

You posted this question on the Luxury Board. Did you have questions on any of the cruise lines with respect to itineraries you are considering.

Keith

Thanks Keith. I'm still researching lines as well as ports. We had our first cruise on Royal Caribbean's Adventure of the Seas this summer, and while we had a fantastic time, my husband and I are thinking that we would prefer some of the luxury lines even better.

I've been reading the posts on this board to try to settle on a cruise line that would be suited to us (2 adults, 2 kids, good food, good service and not formal every evening). The threads here have been extremely helpful, and I think that I'm finding Regent appealing. I've read that they seem to have larger rooms, good food and service and are not as formal as some of the others.

We found that we did actually enjoy the formal nights on our Royal Caribbean Cruise, and really liked the atmosphere of much of the ship being dressed nicely. My family complained when we first read about formal nights, but I got them all formal wear and even my 13 year old son really enjoyed putting on his suit and even wanted to wear it to the specialty restaurant on the non formal evening! So we would like some nicer evenings, but would also like to combine that with some more casual evenings. The food is also important. My husband and I found ourselves eating at the specialty restaurant on the ship because the food and service was so much better than the regular dining room and leaps and bounds above the buffet (I'm not a buffet girl!).

I've found the opinions on this board to be so well thought out and more logical than other boards, so I really wanted to ask here for the opinions!

Many of my current questions regarding cruise lines seem to have been answered in the past, so I'm trying to read everything I can to narrow my choices. We would really like to do the Med, but I'm concerned that it will just be too hot for touring in August, too crowded, and I was worried that some activities might be closed. I'm just beginning my research, so I've got a long way to go! This is our only time available for the vacation, so I want to make the most of it.

Kim, you are very welcome.

You might want to also consider Northern Europe where the temperatures would be more moderate. Some ports will be more crowded than others in that area but some ports are not too bad in terms of crowds. And, another possiblity you may want to consider would be the British Isles where temperatures would be better in August than the Mediterranean.

Good luck with all of your research and be sure to ask all the questions that you want.

Keith

If you can avoid it, don't go in August. The reason is that all of Europe is on holiday for the month of August and even though places are terribly crowded for most of the summer, it's even more so in August.