Northern Europe vs Med?

[MSBYRDY]

Hoping for someone who has done both. We've done the Med on Millennium and are considering the Northern Europe on Constellation.

 

A friend tells us we will be dissappointed after the Med, but hoping someone who has done both can give us their opinion.

Thanks

Marilyn

[aqua]

We did the Med on the Grandeur 3 years ago and the Baltic on the Constellation this summer. The itineraries are very different, but I don't think you will be disappointed if you know what to expect. We had much better weather in the Med, but we did the Baltic in late June-early July. I think later cruisers had more sunshine. We loved the Constellation itinerary- we spent 2 days in London pre-cruise, visited Normandy on the cruise, and spent a night post-cruise in Paris. We didn't fall in love with most of the Baltic ports, but did find them interesting. We also gained a better understanding of the devastation caused by WWII. Port highlights were Estonia and St. Petersburg. My husband and daughter also were glad they went to Berlin. Our cruise only had 2 sea days, so we were pretty tired by the end. We disembarked in Stockholm, an absolutely stunning city that we didn't have the time to fully appreciate. We looked at this cruise as a wonderful way to see places that we probably won't visit again. And the Midnight Sun was fabulous!

[MSBYRDY]

Thank you so much for the quick response. That's the sort of information I'm looking for. Trying to make a decisions here. What was the weather like for you?

Marilyn

[kitty9]

I've done both cruises a couple of times and they are both completely different in terms of things to see and do and weatherwise. My personal preference is the Baltic because I find the stops in Russia, Sweden, Estonia and Norway to be very interesting and different from anywhere I had been previously. I'm also not a hot weather person so the cooler temps were perfect. I also think the scenery, especially in Norway, to be prettier than the Med. With the exception of St. Petersburg, I feel the Baltic is less hectic than Med cruises. In the Med there's just so much to see and so little time. The other negative is that the ports for Florence and Rome are so far from the city center. But, you cannot beat the tours of Rome and Florence and it makes you want to return and spend more time in both those cities.

[Tatka]

Any itinerary containing St. Petersburg can't be disappointing...I spent there 1 month and 1 week on two different occasions and still would like to go back there and visit. Tallinn and Stokholm are very pretty cities too.

 

Weatherwise I'd book my cruise somewhere in July, the warmest time over there, and definitely not in September.

[MSBYRDY]

Thank you so much, I'm thinking we may need to just do this. I really appreciate the information.

Marilyn

[sailorbill]

A lot depends on when you want to go. The Baltic has a very short summer season. It can be cold and stormy in May and early June. That is the same time that the Med normally has great weather. Baltic cruises end at the beginning of September because winter can come early that far north. The Med gets very warm to very hot in July and August and the the Baltic can get warm also. I did a Baltic cruise in mid-August and the weather was hot and moderately humid every day. As far as sightseeing, the Med has a much longer history of civilization by roughly three thousand years. The baltic became really civilized only in the ninth to tenth centuries A.D. Both areas have much more to see and do than one can possibly fit in on a cruise. The jewel of a Baltic cruise is St. Petersberg which is a world treasure. The best Baltic cruises are those that spend three days in St. Petersberg rather than just two. Be aware that the majority of people in Europe have their holiday (read vacation) in August when factories, businesses, government offices and schools shut down at the same time. Cruises in both areas are full of european families and lots of children. A significant number of cruisers have posted to the cruise critic boards complaining of the unruly behavior of children on european cruises in August. Do some research before deciding. Every port and city has a wealth of information on the internet which can be found with any search engine.

 

Bill

 

Renaissance R6 Dec 2000; Galaxy Aug 2001: Volendam Nov 2002: Volendam Jun 2003: Constellation Oct 2003; Westerdam Nov 2004

[Jacqueline]

It depends on what you are looking for.

I have done three summer European cruises and my prejudice is to the Med...

I did love the Baltic. We had unseasonably warm weather in August with no rain- butyou have to be prepared for everything. St Petersburg is fantastic. I enjoyed this cruise-

BUT the combination of weather, sights and so forth makes the Med the benchmark cruise for most people. I say most because if you cant stand heat you need to think about spring or fall.

The only real disadvantage- depending on itinerary is that many of the sights for the Med are not necessarily at the port (Rome, Florence, etc). The Baltic ports are much more convenient and not quite as draining to tour.

The few sea days you have in the Med are sure to be pleasant.

[aqua]

Regarding your question about our weather: We sailed June 16-July 3 and had

lots of rain. There were very few days where the sun shined all day and we never wore shorts on the trip. Our dollar store rain ponchos were the best thing that we packed! In fact, we were lucky the ship went into Rostock and St. Petersburg. The fog almost prevented us from going there, and I think that Rostock was skipped on the cruise before ours. The captain also announced that he led other cruise ships into St. Petersburg that morning, so they were grateful to us. The shipping channel is narrow and rocky, so it must be very dangerous to sail around there. I read that people who sailed on the later Constellation sailings had sunshine, so the Baltic weather probably inproves as you get into later July. But we still enjoyed the trip in spite of the weather. The Constellation has a covered pool, and it was wonderful to sit in it and watch us sail out of ports.