Rome to Venice: How smooth or rough in July

[Wayfairers]

We are considering booking a cruise July 2021 Rome to Venice with another couple and their 17 year old son.  This will be theIr first cruise (our 13th cruise).  The wife of the other couple gets seasick fairly easily and is concerned her trip will be ruined by being sick.  I have assured her she can wear the pressure point bracelet or take Dramamine, but that makes her sleepy.   The only time we’ve sailed this route was in October 2015 and I don’t remember any rough seas at all.   I know rough seas are always possible but in our 311 days at sea I can remember less than 10 rough days, only 2 or 3 where we had significant rocking where things would slide off tables.  So, even though it is impossible to predict the weather,  I’m wondering what is your experience in July in that part of the Mediterranean and the Adriatic Sea?

[MeHeartCruising]

I've never had anything I would call "rough seas" in my more than 40 days at sea on a cruise ship in the Mediterranean.  However, as you say, they are always a possibility.  

[bennybear]

We’ve sailed out of Rome at least six times and  have spent three months at sea in that area.  If you are heading to the Greek islands it could get windy, usually in August and that can cause rough seas.  Or in the fall around Rome it can storm.  But the Adriatic is usually good.  I too am a fairweather sailor, but I take Bonine or meclizine which is nondrowsy.   It works quickly and I take it if there is going to be roughweather.  I also take chewable Gravol made of ginger, wear sea bands and eat green apples when necessary.  Have them book a low and midship cabin and things should be good. 

Edited June 26, 2020 by bennybear

[ollienbertsmum]

I have done 8 cruises in the Med.  One, in the middle of July got a bit rough near to the French Riviera.  One in late October was so rough we could not dock in Naples, at the same time there were storms across Europe.  Rest have been fine.  

 

My thoughts are that she will not have a particularly bad time, however my advice is that she needs to do her own research about how choppy it will be.  If you are the one that persuades her that all will be well - and it is not - I am not sure how that will work out in terms of friendship.  

 

My policy is to say ‘we are making a booking, these are the dates and you can book via x y or z travel agent.  Let us know if you make up your mind and we can look at flights together‘.   You can give your booking number to link them etc.  But at the end of the day make it her decision.   

[bennybear]

Excellent advice!  I think everyone needs to make their own decisions.  We got asked to join friends on a cruise which we had already done, which they cancelled the day before final payment.  As we had already booked Ai,  we continued and had a great time.  But the lesson we learned is only book what we wish to do and if others join us great, but we have always met wonderful people onboard many whom have become friends.  

[Wayfairers]

On 6/27/2020 at 6:35 AM, ollienbertsmum said:

I have done 8 cruises in the Med.  One, in the middle of July got a bit rough near to the French Riviera.  One in late October was so rough we could not dock in Naples, at the same time there were storms across Europe.  Rest have been fine.  

 

My thoughts are that she will not have a particularly bad time, however my advice is that she needs to do her own research about how choppy it will be.  If you are the one that persuades her that all will be well - and it is not - I am not sure how that will work out in terms of friendship.  

 

My policy is to say ‘we are making a booking, these are the dates and you can book via x y or z travel agent.  Let us know if you make up your mind and we can look at flights together‘.   You can give your booking number to link them etc.  But at the end of the day make it her decision.   

L

 

On 6/27/2020 at 12:58 PM, bennybear said:

Excellent advice!  I think everyone needs to make their own decisions.  We got asked to join friends on a cruise which we had already done, which they cancelled the day before final payment.  As we had already booked Ai,  we continued and had a great time.  But the lesson we learned is only book what we wish to do and if others join us great, but we have always met wonderful people onboard many whom have become friends.  

I understand what you guys are saying and agree with the advice in most cases.  In this case, we are lifelong friends with this couple and have traveled together many times.  Since they are still working and we aren’t and I love to do trip research, I do the research, present unbiased information to them & DH and then the 4 of us make the final decisions together after lots of discussion.  Sometimes they reserve things and we pay them, sometimes we reserve things and they pay us, sometimes we each pay as we go...depends upon the trip.  Works great for the 4 of us,  doesn’t work for everyone.  And, yes, we’ve had disagreements over the years, but, thank goodness, we are comfortable enough with each other to say what we think and remain friends. 

 

When we travel with others, we (and our friends and family) do exactly what you are suggesting...I’m planning this trip, here is what we will be doing and if anyone is interested they ask questions and if they decide it is a trip they want to do they book it themselves.   Prevents a lot of headaches for the planner and everyone is happier.

[ollienbertsmum]

Well in that case I would say that although there is no guarantee over weather, you would be extremely unlucky to have bad weather in July.  There is always the 1% chance that there will be a storm.  

 

I would actually think that the waves that are more likely to give problems are the third and fourth waves of Covid.  

[Wayfairers]

19 hours ago, ollienbertsmum said:

Well in that case I would say that although there is no guarantee over weather, you would be extremely unlucky to have bad weather in July.  There is always the 1% chance that there will be a storm.  

 

I would actually think that the waves that are more likely to give problems are the third and fourth waves of Covid.  

Good info....thanks!   I agree I really think covid could be a big problem.   We were supposed to be in Austria/Italy now with this family but had to postpone to next year

[ollienbertsmum]

18 hours ago, Wayfairers said:

Good info....thanks!   I agree I really think covid could be a big problem.   We were supposed to be in Austria/Italy now with this family but had to postpone to next year

 

I would go on and make plans for the land holiday.   Austria and Italy sounds lovely.    

 

I would not encourage a first time cruiser to go next year.  Imagine all of the queues for hand washing or for the theatre - and the worry about being in the sun on a day in port in case you fail a temperature test and so get confined to cabin.   It happened to a colleague whose wife had taken too much sun, the couple were put into self-isolation until their COVID tests came back negative!  

[iancal]

July would not be our choice-ever.  Far to hot and crowded if you are doing pre or post cruise touring.

[Wayfairers]

On 7/4/2020 at 4:38 AM, ollienbertsmum said:

 

I would go on and make plans for the land holiday.   Austria and Italy sounds lovely.    

 

I would not encourage a first time cruiser to go next year.  Imagine all of the queues for hand washing or for the theatre - and the worry about being in the sun on a day in port in case you fail a temperature test and so get confined to cabin.   It happened to a colleague whose wife had taken too much sun, the couple were put into self-isolation until their COVID tests came back negative!  

That is exactly what I am doing.  Making land plans that can be cancelled and waiting to book cruises.  
 

Hmmm...good points on the difficulties for a first time cruiser next year.  I’ll forward those thoughts to the other family.  Never thought about a sunburn making you fail a temperature tests.....bet my hot flashes would fail the test too!

[Wayfairers]

On 7/4/2020 at 11:57 AM, iancal said:

July would not be our choice-ever.  Far to hot and crowded if you are doing pre or post cruise touring.

Yeah, that is how we usually think.   DH and I decided that we would brave the hot weather this time to allow us to travel lighter, with hopefully just a backpack each and a briefcase for him, insulated beach bag for me that can double as a cooler.   We have done that for a 2 month trip to Acapulco (Jan/Feb with daily temps in upper 80s)  with no problems so I think it is doable for a Southern Europe trip.  And, we live in FL and lived several years in west TN so are used to hot and humid weather.  Bad part is that means early morning or short hikes only. 
 

I am worried about the crowds and trying to plan around them.  We will Fly into Milan (if they still have the best prices) visit Cinque Terre in June because I’ve read their biggest crowds are July/August then work our way along the coast to Tuscany for the cooking school at the end of the month where we meet up with the other family.  In July, after this cruise, we plan to be in the Balkans.  I’m looking at that portion of the trip now trying to decide private tour vs doing it on us own. Then August, when Europe goes on vacation, we plan to be on a cruise ship for the month.  We disembark in Rome if we take the cruise I’m currently considering and will head north along that coast to Milan to fly home.  

[bennybear]

I guess the question is do you have to go in July?   Summer can be unbearable, in the forties Celsius.  Our daughter got heat stroke in the Cinque terre.

 I would strongly recommend spring or fall.  Both are spectacular in Tuscany,  fall for fresh truffles.  The Cinque Terre is still recovering from landslides and is a victim of its own success so the more off season the better. A far more enjoyable area and absolutely spectacular if you are flying into Milan is the Italian Lakes area.  

Its also a good idea to fly open jaw, for example into Milano and out of Rome.  It saves backtracking and while the autostradas are great,  some of the other roads are very windy and take more time than you may expect.

[Wayfairers]

19 minutes ago, bennybear said:

I guess the question is do you have to go in July?   Summer can be unbearable, in the forties Celsius.  Our daughter got heat stroke in the Cinque terre.

 I would strongly recommend spring or fall.  Both are spectacular in Tuscany,  fall for fresh truffles.  The Cinque Terre is still recovering from landslides and is a victim of its own success so the more off season the better. A far more enjoyable area and absolutely spectacular if you are flying into Milan is the Italian Lakes area.  

Its also a good idea to fly open jaw, for example into Milano and out of Rome.  It saves backtracking and while the autostradas are great,  some of the other roads are very windy and take more time than you may expect.

Yes, in this case it has to be in July.  We are meeting a group in Tuscany for a cooking school to celebrate a friend’s birthday that ends July 4 and then exploring the Dalmatian coast  with the birthday girl and her family then going to the Balkans.  Due to a family reunion we cannot go to Europe before the cooking school and avoid the heat.  Yes, there are locations that would give us cooler weather, but we want to travel very lightly so no room for cooler weather clothes.  We will be fine, we got around 3 weeks of 40C+ weather every August while living in TN and due to our humidity the heat index at our house in FL has been 40C+ several times this summer even though actual temperatures haven’t gotten above 33C.  I don’t call that unbearable....I call it home...lol.  That’s awful that your daughter had a heat stroke - no fun dealing with things like that on the road - hope it didn’t interfere with her travels too much.   Thank goodness we’ve lived in the heat long enough to understand our limits because it can certainly be deadly.

 

The Italian Lakes area is gorgeous and we plan to spend some time in that area before we fly back to the US.  I think we typically plan similarly because if we could have taken the trip we wanted to this summer (which included the cooking school which was pushed to 2021) we would have taken more luggage and spent time in Austria, Switzerland, Lichtenstein, the Baltic area, Poland and the Czech Republic to stay cooler.  It is unusual for us to choose to have the same weather on a trip that we would have at home.

 

 Thanks for the reminder that I need to check prices on open jaw trips again closer to departure, last time I checked the cost was much higher than roundtrip.  Last year, I found open jaw flights were similar to roundtrip.....apparently it varies!  I’ve planned several loop trips over the years so that we don’t do any backtracking even when we arrive and depart in the same town.  We were in Paris 3 times on one trip in 2015 (unavoidable due to meeting friends and taking various tours) and never saw or stayed in the same part of the city twice.  We were supposed to be in Amsterdam 4 times this summer by cruise ship and once by land and weren’t going to repeat anything.

[bennybear]

We hit one of the worst summers, 44 Celsius!  People dying, and air conditioning that could only cool to around 90 at a major hotel.  So hopefully that won’t be the case for you. 

Circle trips often work well, we do them too, but lately more often we prefer open jaws.  The good thing is there is so much to see in Europe, you are spoiled for choice really. We prefer getting off the well trodden path.  Where in the Balkans are you planning? 

[Wayfairers]

8 hours ago, bennybear said:

We hit one of the worst summers, 44 Celsius!  People dying, and air conditioning that could only cool to around 90 at a major hotel.  So hopefully that won’t be the case for you. 

Circle trips often work well, we do them too, but lately more often we prefer open jaws.  The good thing is there is so much to see in Europe, you are spoiled for choice really. We prefer getting off the well trodden path.  Where in the Balkans are you planning? 

Ugh....that is terrible.  Not sure yet. I would love to hit nature highlights of Slovenia, Albania, Croatia, Macedonia, Montenegro. and  Meteora Greece if it would work.  We will have 27 days.  Any suggestions?

[bennybear]

We’ve done much of that area by cruise, Piran,  Slovenia,  Split, Trogir, Dubrovnik, Korcula, Kotor and area.  The logistics is a little tricky with all the borders.  Haven't visited Albania, but have seen it from Corfu, so I guess it depends on if you are doing it independently or not?  Where are your two cruises visiting?

 

Last year I arranged a private tour to Meteora and Delphi from Athens and it was absolutely stunning.   We just spent one night in Meteora,  I would recommend two as it was a lot of driving.   

 

We love the Greek islands and have spent several month over the years  in that area.  It is very easy to do independently.  So happy to answer questions about that area.  We really enjoyed Kefalonia and Zakynthos which are in that general area.