june or august for the baltic

[dnbnor]

the cruise that I want to take has departure dates from UK on 1st June or 1 August. We will visit, Denmark, Stockholm,Helsinki, Tallin and St Petersburg. From the point of view of weather and crowds, which of the dates are preferable please?

[Benita]

June 1 would be my choice. Fewer crowds and it won't be as hot.

[TLCOhio]

the cruise that I want to take has departure dates from UK on 1st June or 1 August. We will visit, Denmark, Stockholm, Helsinki, Tallin and St Petersburg. From the point of view of weather and crowds, which of the dates are preferable please?

 

We did these same great places/cities in late July and early August, 2008. We had super great weather!!! Nothing is guaranteed, based on the past weather. BUT, if you look at the historic, day-by-day weather averages for each of cities through http://www.wunderground.com, you would see that early June would be cooler and much more risky. That early August period has better odds. Below are a couple of visual samples for what we enjoyed in that early August period in two of these places.

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

For more details, great visuals, etc., from our July 1-16 Norway Coast/Fjords/Arctic Circle Silver Cloud experiences:

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

 

 

Fountains and water at the spectacular Peterhof outside of St. Petersburg:

 

 

 

Overlooking Helsinki's Senate Square, this is the Lutheran Church with its dome that is a key local landmark:

 

[dexddd]

As far as fewer kids - if you are trying to avoid them - and depending on the cruise line, June will have fewer kids as the kids in Europe get out of school mid June. Our cruise June 16 on the NCL Sun only had 40 but the week after it was going to be 160. I read another reviewer say they had 900 kids on their cruise late July.

[Bet & Peg]

Weather ~ the Baltic (at least Stockholm) is usually hard to judge weather-wise. Our son-in-law's family lives in Sweden and so our daughter and he vacation there every summer since 1992. To quote her - one year its bathing suits, the next sweat suits! However, saying that - we were on a Baltic Cruise July 3rd to 15th and wished we had packed more shorts!!! And then it got only hotter after we left!!

 

Crowds ~ schools in the USA get out mid to late June, except colleges which usually graduate warly May. So I'd go with a June 1st sailing - I think both the cruise and land crowds would be less!

 

Which ever you choose - have a great time - we had a fantastic cruise!!

[CintiPam]

Definitely June (for crowds and kids reasons). Went in June three years ago and will return in June next summer.

[as19111]

We sailed from May 30 through June 9 in 2008 and the weather was great, seas were calm, and crowds were manageable. I remember saying at the time that I would not want it to be any warmer, because it would then be very uncomfortable in port. I vote for June 1.

[dileep]

June for longer days and white nights!

[KirkNC]

We are going next June, looking forward to it. We probably can't stay up late enough to celebrate much of the white nights but we are going to try ;). One item that seems to me to be a challenge is what type of clothes to take (i.e. light for hot weather or something more substantial). I guess the best plan is to take layers?

 

Kirk

[eetonaee]

As you can see from these pictures taken just a few days apart in June the weather can vary from day to day. there is no way to predict what the weather will be like the same time next year in this region.

Having said that -despite the chance of rain and cold I would travel again in May or June before the school holidays. The crowds were large enough in most places without the familes that cruise in July and August.

 

more photos can be seen at www.neilloomer.smugmug.com

 

 

 

 

 

St. Petersburg June 16,2010

 

 

 

Copenhagen June 11, 2010

 

 

 

Talinn Estonia June 17, 2010

[Giantfan13]

No one can predict the weather for any cruise, but I would vote for the August cruise. We sailed in mid August, had just glorious weather, no rain any day. The mornings were cool and the afternoons warm enough for short sleeves. The Baltics never get too hot, and a very hot day is rare, but there are exceptions. For me, an June 1 cruise is too close to May and spring when it rains more often. Do not worry about hot days in August, it is uncommon in the Baltics.

 

As I said, we had glorious days of deep blue skies. here are a few pix of how thing look different under these conditions

 

In Copenhagen, the City Hall building, in the main square

http://i834.photobucket.com/albums/zz267/Giantfan13/baltics/europe326.jpg

 

In Tallinn a Russian influenced Church

http://i834.photobucket.com/albums/zz267/Giantfan13/baltics/europe566.jpg

 

In St Petersburg, entering Peterhoff and some of it's buildings

http://i834.photobucket.com/albums/zz267/Giantfan13/baltics/europe718.jpg

 

The spires of the Church of the Spilled Blood, towering over the tree tops

http://i834.photobucket.com/albums/zz267/Giantfan13/baltics/europemaster656.jpg

 

In Helsinki, The Lutheran Church in senate Square

http://i834.photobucket.com/albums/zz267/Giantfan13/baltics/europe1062.jpg

 

In Stockholm crossing over one of the many bridges in this wonderful city

http://i834.photobucket.com/albums/zz267/Giantfan13/baltics/europemaster1235.jpg

 

Hope you enjoy

 

Cheers

 

Len

[calvin81]

We left Stockholm on July 26 this year and had worn jackets in light rain the day before. Beautiful mid 70's weather in Helsinki on the 27th, and record breaking 100 degrees the next two days in St. Petersburg. I had looked at the weather underground web site (wundergrund.com) where you can look at the history of any city for many years back. I looked at several ports for the past five years, but nothing prepared us for those temperatures. Anything can happen, but I liked to look at the history to have some reasonable expectations. In June you may encounter more rainy days as well. Less kids on the ship versus worse weather and dreary photographs? Maybe look for a line with less kids :). We were on Oceania and I think I saw only one child under 10.

[Ashland]

We just returned from that exact cruise Aug 11-23 and we had beautiful weather in all of our ports..However always had the umbrella with us as you never know..Enjoy whatever month you decide on this amazing itinerary !!!

[Giantfan13]

As Calvin has alluded to, Russia has had some very weird weather this summer. I'm sure we all saw those pix of the fog/haze in Moscow and the tremendous heat. Hopefully it is an aberration and not the new norm. there are always exceptions to all weather rules, but you have to prepare for what is common and not the unusual. As we say hundreds of times, layers, layers, and layers.

 

Cheers

 

Len