Weather in the Baltic

[mek]

Well, in one word - it was terrible. Copenhagen on the day of departure was very cool and windy and on the ship it was very chilly on the exposed decks. After we departed, it was extremely windy on the decks and the rain started on the first day at sea and continued until Russia, where we were blessed with beautiful weather. Since St Petersburg was the main reason for this trip, overall I was happy, but the rain started again in Tallin and continued right through departure. It was so windy, that we missed to port of Warenmunde because it was closed, so we spent a day at sea instead. Coats, sweaters, and shoes that can stand up to water were definately needed. According to the locals, this type of weather has been the norm for the past several years, so those of you who are going in July and August will problably encounter better weather. If anyone is considreing doing this cruise next year, I would suggest waiting until later in the season, although the cruise prior to our's had beautiful weather with the exception of the last day.

[celem]

So, when was your cruise? I leave on the Constellation on July 3rd.

[mek]

We just returned home yesterday.

[elliebird]

I have been checking the weather on weather.com, and it looks like the weather has been in the upper 60,s for the high, maybe 70, but it has been cloudy and rainy for 3-4 days in a row.

I checked, Stockholm Helsinki, and St. Petersburg.

St.Pete, looks the best, some days were 70-75, this past week's predictions.

[celem]

The tep is fine, not much different from where I live (NC Mtns.) but I don't want the rain!

[celem]

I just checked weather.com for Stockholm. We are going in a couple of days before the cruise, so we'll be there for four days. Weather.com shows a 10-day forecast with 6 days of rain, 3 partly cloudy and only one that is sunny. Yikes!

 

We were planning on bringing umbrellas for the rain, but now I am wondering if we should also bring our rain parkas. Now I may need to rethink my shoes as well.

[nny92825100]

Bring strong umbrellas. My flimsy Colorado umbrella was snapped in 5 minutes in Copenhagen. The rest of our cruise was great. Lite jacket weather but you can expect that for the last half of May.

 

Jewel of the Sea May 2004

Serenade of the Sea August 2003

Splendour of the Sea August 1999

Legend of the Sea August 1997

Rotterdam May 1989

[jeanb]

Does anyone have any idea how the weather is the beginning of August? We sail 7/31 from Dover.

[Kruzrazkal]

I've just returned from two weeks in the Baltic. We had about two days of light rain. Other days were cloudy or partly cloudy. We had two sunny days in St. Petersburg, which is unusual. A greater problem was strong winds on about three days, combined with chilly temps at about 60-65 degrees. We were able to dock in Rostock, Grermany, but the tugs had to pull hard for quite some time to get us out of the dock area. I was on the Constellation. We heard that a Princess ship wasn't able to make it in at all. In Germany, we took the Berlin tour, and once inland, the winds diminished. I suspect that temps might improve in July and August, but then you'll be dealing with heat and stuffiness in the non-air-conditioned museums and palaces.

[Mrs Seabird]

We lucked out on our May 28 Baltic cruise on the Jewel. We only had maybe a 1/2 hour shower in St Petersburg. That said, when the ship is sailing, it is windy and cool on the open decks. A couple of warm up suits for the mornings came in handy. I remember Copenhagen being very windy even though the sun shone and the temps were in the mid to high 60's. A windbreaker jacket was very handy.

[jebjab]

Forget about checking weather.com or the other internet weather sites. Prior to our sailing on the Grand on May 19th, I did just that, and the forecasts were terrible, lots of rain, no sun, and very depressing.

 

But in reality, it was quite the opposite. We had 2 beautiful sunny days in St Petersburg, which is quite unusual with temps in the mid 50's. With the exception of Gdansk, all of the other Ports were sunny also. Copenhagen was very windy the day of departure, almost to the point where is was difficult to walk around. But that was not the case on our return.

 

So don't worry about the weather. You can't do anything about it anyway. Just enjoy these magnificent ports.

 

Judy

[John&Betty1539128129]

Has anyone been there in early May? We're thinking of going on the May 7th cruise on the Constellation next spring.

[Toots]

Weather prediction for the Baltic is the same as anywhere else -- you just can't tell. Weather.com is not much help. We just returned from the early June Baltic sailing and had cool, windy weather most of the time, with some drizzle in Stockholm and Helsinki, wind in Copenhagen, and beautiful weather in St. Petersburg and Warnemuende/Rostock. Our tennis shoes worked great for walking, as did light jackets and rain hats. Umbrellas just get in the way. We didn't let the weather stop us from walking everywhere or taking hop-on buses. One great thing in June are the long days. In Russia, the sun set at 10:30 and rose at 3:30! If it weren't for heavy curtains, we wouldn't have slept much.

 

Vacation weather seems to be more a matter of luck than anything else. We went to Alaska in early September one year, expecting cold and maybe rain, but had wonderful weather all seven days. That same summer, people who went in July had a full week of rain. So you just never know.

 

Brigitte

[celem]

We were on the Constellation's July 3-17, 2004 Baltic cruise. We experienced warm, cold, wet and dry. Actually, it was more cold than warm and more damp than wet. In the mornings it was usually cold - I wore four layers. By afternoon, I had usually peeled off the top two layers and put them into my pack. If the sun came out it warm but that was a rare occurance. We took shorts but never wore them. Likewise, we wore very few of the short sleeve items, bringing home 30% of our clothing un-worn.

 

It only rained hard once, for about 15 minutes. Most of the other times that it rained on us it was light and not a problem. Usually it was simply overcast, windy and cool.

[swdke]

On this past season's Baltic cruises, were there any sailings that had sunny weather during the majority of the cruise, and what dates were they?

[gbc]

We cruised August 7 -17 on the Grand Princess and had pretty good weather - a little drizzle on morning in St. Pete and one afternoon of real rain in Copenhagen and the rest was pretty sunny. BUT, it is a crap shoot as we were told that the cruise before us had rain almost every day. I always pack a good goretex rain jacket with a hood and forge on!

[jimbo23]

We have been to the baltic for the last two years . We sailed from dover both times on norwegian dream in 2003 and constellation in 2004.

 

2003 was late april and we did not get to Helsinki or St petersburg due to ice in the gulf of finland.

 

2004 was sailaway on 22nd may from dover and we had two weeks of lovely weather .Don't forget that the baltic is north and the weather can be changeable. clothing should be layers and be prepared for some rain. The cruise before ours saw snow in helsinki ,but we had a nice day.

 

It's difficult to predict the weather for this region .

 

I have posted two reviews on the review page for the trips if anyone is interested.

 

happy cruising

 

Jim

[stanj]

The world is "changable" for predicting any particular day but seasonally, it is fairly predictable. Now in Helsinki and St Petersburg, it is typcially late fall, at about 0C or 32F, with light misting snow. Really quite pretty or miserable depending on your clothing and attitude. Layers of different materials to offer wind resistance, a moisture barrier and trapped air for insulation can make a long walk on deck or in the cities quite comfortable without resorting to winter coats. The best times for weather in my opinion are late spring into early June for White Nights and early autumn. Autumn is pleasant because museums have fewer lines and there is less congestion on sidewalks and street but the weather is closer to late summer than late fall. We call it Woman's Summer, for its gentle relaxing atmosphere, beauty of the colors of turning leaves and relaxed pace.

September 15th to October 15th is a good time with usually little chance of snow. Summer is more humid, but not bad, with more mesquitoes than I like but there is so much going on in all the Baltic ports particularly St Petersburg with non-stop festivals and events.

Summer weather in St Petersburg can be rain and overcast but normally it is pleasantly warm and comfortable out on foot, even during light summer showers, since they don't last very long, an hour is a big storm. and then in a few minutes the sky is blue again. Expect 70s-84 in the summer, 50-70 in the spring and 55 to 78 in the early fall. Mid and early spring can be fine or cold or anything in between. Winter is closed to shipping in the shallower portions of the Gulf of Finland.

Layers, that is the key, and bring a small umbrella

Stan