Eastern Med. cruise in Oct. or Nov.? Thoughts?

[Tennessee Traveler]

Thinking of a cruise from Rome to Greece & Turkey in Oct. or Nov. What's the weather like? What about the seas? Good time or bad time? I'm thinking about a Celebrity cruise on the Galaxy at that time. Need your thoughts before I book.

[paul929207]

We were on the Royal Princess in November. We sailed from Venice to Rome. Temperatures were cool. A few hearty souls used the pool/ Most days were in the 60's, a few only made it to the 50's. We only had rain one morning. We had a great time, but it was not a "beach" cruise

[pris993]

Just returned from a cruise on the Royal out of Rome on October 23, visited Turkey and Greece, among other southern ports. Arrived in Kusdasi Turkey on October 31, and Greek ports the first week in November. Had calms seas and comfortable temperatures, only a bit of a drizzal on our first port out of Rome in Italy and some rain in Athens on November 4. Off season weather is unpredicable. Very enjoyable time to travel, if you like cooler weather.

[Keith1010]

I would go in October. Weather will be fairly nice and it's a great time of the year to go with respect to less tourists. If you could, I would pick early October.

 

Keith

[ldog]

We went in October 2006. The weather was fine - not too hot. I think there were smaller crowds at some of the sites.

 

One thing to consider if you are going to Egypt or Turkey is Ramadan the Moslem holidays.

[Tennessee Traveler]

Thanks, Paul, Pris, Keith & ldog,

I appreciate the info. October seems like a good time to go. My wife was worried about rougher seas. Did you find that to be true? Also, there must be a reason why Nov. is less expensive. Thanks again, Tennessee Traveler

[cruisemom42]

November is cooler than October and can be a rainy month in some Mediterranean ports, hence it is cheaper.

 

That said, we did the Egypt/Aegean cruise on Star Princess in mid-November last year and had excellent weather. There were no rough seas. The big plus (to me) was that there were very FEW crowds. It's hard to comprehend how crowded some of the popular sights/ports can be during the height of the Med. cruise season.

 

If you're not a beach person, I think either October or November is fine. As others have said, October probably has the edge weather-wise, but if November is cheaper, I wouldn't hesitate.

 

Of course, you could hit bad weather with rougher seas on any cruise; there is no guarantee!