Europe in August??

[DrmnOfMaui]

We are currently scheduled to set sail on the Ruby Princess Med/Greek Isle cruise leaving June 21st. However.... my husband is having difficulty getting vacation for that time. He would have an easier time getting vacation for the same cruise (in reverse...) that leaves on July 27th. That being said, he hasn't worked it yet, it's more of a matter of how much effort (begging!:D) he will need to do to get the time!

 

I'm slightly concerned to be traveling in late July and August rather than late June for just a couple of reasons and I'd love to know if my thinking is off base.

 

Just how hot is it in August??? We will be in Rome, Venice, Greek Isles, etc. Pompeii is one of our stops and I'm guessing it will be really hot?? Will it be much different from June?

 

Crowds... do you think that crowds would be materially different from late June to Early August? I was under the impression that many Europeans take vacation in August (I had a friend who would take all of August off and told me that many things are closed then...). So I'm thinking that there may be more European travelers. Will places shut down in August? Shops, etc? The B&B that we are currently booked at in Rome has the owner traveling in August, so the B&B would not be available at that time.

 

What do you think? Is it worth it to really try for the vacation time in June or should we just go with August and not really worry about it?

 

I know this is a subjective question.... but I'm curious what you all think!

 

Thanks for your thoughts...

Kim

[kasi1979]

If possible in any way, I´d go for june. July / august is much hotter, it might be bearabel in the Greek Isle but sightseeing in Rome will feel light walking into an oven. Apart from that, July / augist is the main vacation time in Europe, nearly all countries have their summer time of for school and therefore places will be crowded. Lots of people also mean long waiting times and rising prices, as it´s main season.

 

So, you can see, I´m not to fond of summer in the Med, but it´s up to you. Maybe heat is no problem to you?

[Keith1010]

In July and August it will be very crowded and very hot/humid.

 

Yes, I would select June over the other time frames. In fact, if you schedule permits I would go in May if that was possible. But, if not, June and the earlier the better.

 

Keith

[Travel to Ports]

Kim,

You didn't mention if you have experience in Europe otherwise or if you have other scheduling issues other than husband (children?). Have you looked at Ruby's Barcelona to Venice or Venice to Barcelona itineraries that start in May? I believe May 4, May 16, and May 28 (we are on this last one and start in an apartment for 5 nights in Barcelona). I would have actually liked to start earlier, perhaps May 4 because I don't like the idea as a 1st timer on a Mediterranean cruise starting with Venice, but MDW teaches and couldn't get away that early. Compare the ports as they are different. If you end up switching, come see our Roll Call. I still have openings for my private tours as well.

David

traveltoports@yahoo.com

[FreewayFortune]

I did my first ever European vacation/cruise this past August. We from Barcelona to Cannes, Florence, Rome, Naples, Venice, Split and Tunisia. Yes it was hot, I think it was 35c and very humid in Rome but the crowds weren't as bad as I thought they'd be. Besides it was Rome. Pompeii was humid too but we were there in the afternoon and we actually did have a breeze. The place were it seemed to be the most crowded was Venice and that was also the only place that rained. Maybe we got lucky or maybe we trained ourselves not to care so much about the temps. It was an amazing vacation and we're doing the greek isles next July but we wish we were going back in august.

[Hambagahle]

Hot - well, hopefully!! Temperatures in the Mediterranean area (Italy, southern France) should be in the 30's C. Greece this summer hit 45C for a bit That is HOT! Lots of places are air conditioned, but you will find that the "coolth" is not nearly as strong as that you have in the US. So you may not notice that it is in fact A/C. Busses (tour busses that is) normally are cool. Public busses - not. Trains - some are, most aren't and the metro is not.

Crowded - very. August is the biggest tourist month of the year. And Italian schools don't go back until around the beginning of the second week of September. I have found that smaller shops shut down, and many restaurants close too.

All in all - if you can travel in May or June or September - Do it!

[DrmnOfMaui]

Thanks everyone! We are bringing our kids with us, so the only options (around their school break) are the late June cruise or the July 27th cruise. We REALLY want the June one, however his seniority (he's an airline pilot....) gave him vacation starting July 26th.... UGH! The vacation time works well for the July 27th cruise, but we don't want to go then. I'm thinking he's going to have to go into begging mode. Somehow he's usually able to make it work out. I don't know what kind of magic he uses, but he was always there for Christmas when the kids were little, birthdays, special events and holidays. I know he worked really hard to make it happen, hopefully he can pull out another one. :) Thanks for the advice!

 

Kim

[jg2256]

Kim:

 

My wife and I did a Greek Isle cruise this past Aug 15-1 Sep. We are in out 40/50's but very fit so we did a lot of walking and sweated a lot. No matter when you go you will need to bring a lot of clean clothes or plan to do/use laundry on the ship. As stated by others it was hot and in early Aug the ports will be very crowded because that is the prime European vacation time. That said we had an amazing time. Every port was beautiful and vibrant. In a few ports we did sightseeing as well beach time and enjoyed looking at the pretty people on the beaches. August beach weather in the EMED is always great. We only had one day of rain in 12 days and that was a nice refreshing shower in Athens. Depending on the island there may also be a lot of wind which will keep you cooler. To be honest it is not that much hotter in late Jul/Aug than it is in late June (crowds will be a bit more hectic). You will have a great time no matter what time you go.

 

John

[chipmaster]

We are currently scheduled to set sail on the Ruby Princess Med/Greek Isle cruise leaving June 21st. However.... my husband is having difficulty getting vacation for that time. He would have an easier time getting vacation for the same cruise (in reverse...) that leaves on July 27th. That being said, he hasn't worked it yet, it's more of a matter of how much effort (begging!:D) he will need to do to get the time!

 

I'm slightly concerned to be traveling in late July and August rather than late June for just a couple of reasons and I'd love to know if my thinking is off base.

 

Just how hot is it in August??? We will be in Rome, Venice, Greek Isles, etc. Pompeii is one of our stops and I'm guessing it will be really hot?? Will it be much different from June?

 

Crowds... do you think that crowds would be materially different from late June to Early August? I was under the impression that many Europeans take vacation in August (I had a friend who would take all of August off and told me that many things are closed then...). So I'm thinking that there may be more European travelers. Will places shut down in August? Shops, etc? The B&B that we are currently booked at in Rome has the owner traveling in August, so the B&B would not be available at that time.

 

What do you think? Is it worth it to really try for the vacation time in June or should we just go with August and not really worry about it?

 

I know this is a subjective question.... but I'm curious what you all think!

 

Thanks for your thoughts...

Kim

 

I like you always must do vacations when kids have break, good for you to make that a priority and not take them out of school!

 

Will it be HOT, YES. Anybody that says it isn't HOT is lying. Is it so bad it is unbearable? That is a more personal issue. My parents who were in their 70's and complain often when it hits 80 in California didn't complain nor have any issues that lowered their enjoyment.

 

We went there in late August, no question it would have been more enjoyable if it was 10 degrees less. Of course you're talking about weather and we were lucky as we heard that we missed a heat wave in several cities by a couple days. Athens WAS uncomfortable and the Plaka in the afternoon was NO fun at all. Venice and Istanbul, two other cities that we did lots of walking were tiring but not deal breakers.

 

We didn't find crowds at any of the place so bad it hindered any of our plans, nor any issues with things being closed. Everything toursity is open as they know its tourist season and they want your $.

 

Do plan to do Acropolis, Pompeii right at opening. If you do private tours you can beat the crowds and heat at many places. You haven't mentioned if you are going to do the ports on your own, with the cruise tours or Private. If it is Private you'll be in a nice AC van for lots of the time, get dropped of very close to many of the sights then hopping back in the van again. If you do the Cruise sponsored tours you will find yourself doing more walking and having less control of things like that. Rome, Florence, and many other places the larger busses simply can't get close. If you end up doing it own your own it'll be more of a challenge.

 

As others have said, June is best, but if you end up July/August just make sure you schedule things smartly. I had the same scheduling issues and our August cruise was still magical.

 

 

Good luck

[FreewayFortune]

The AC is definately not the same as home. We spent some time in Disneyland Paris and Paris before our cruise and we could never get our rooms cool enough. The ship = good AC and our tours had really good AC too.

 

Maybe it was hotter than I remember. We have a great ability to block out certain things. But I am someone who loves colder temps. and it was never unbearable for me.

[travelite]

Give June your best effort.

[Ardy53]

As you are planning to bring your children, it might interest you to know that on our 27th August 12-nighter we had 69 children on board, but the 2 cruises prior to ours, starting 3rd August, had over 400 children each.

 

Regards

 

Roy