Questions on Oct 2009 Italy/Greece cruise - Royal Caribbean

[HoosiersWhoCruise]

Just looking for a little help from some cruisers who have traveled on a Med cruise (Italy/Greece), or even people who might live there! Our biggest decision is whether to book the Oct 1 or Oct 25 sailing. The Oct 25 sailing would save us about $900, but we have some questions about it. So here are my main questions:

 

I saw somewhere that the end of October/beginning of November is the end of "holiday season" in Europe and not all shops or businesses will be open or operating. Is that true?

 

Also, is there a noticeable difference in the weather, would it be that much colder at the end of Oct as opposed to the beginning? Does it rain more later in October, usually?

 

I know I have a lot more questions, but they are more pertaining to the actual cruise and ports, and these are the main questions we have so we can decide which date to choose for the cruise. I appreciate in advance any help or guidance you wish to share!

[CintiPam]

I saw somewhere that the end of October/beginning of November is the end of "holiday season" in Europe and not all shops or businesses will be open or operating. Is that true?

 

Also, is there a noticeable difference in the weather, would it be that much colder at the end of Oct as opposed to the beginning? Does it rain more later in October, usually?

 

1. Certain Greek islands really close down a lot by the end of October, but some cruisers may prefer the quiet.

 

2. There certainly is much more rain and rougher seas in November than in October. (There is a good reason that it is cheaper to cruise in November than October.) However, you may luck out on the weather. My obsessive-compulsive spouse checked very carefully into the weather history of the various Greek islands we planned to visit last fall, and he definitely decided not to cruise the Med in November.

[texancruzer]

We did our first cruise the very very end of November. We actually arrived Rome the night before Thanksgiving. While it was cold at night in Rome precruise, the days were gloriously nice. We did Naples, Dubrovnik, Corfu, Livorno, Villefranche, Toulon and Barcelona. Not one drop of rain. A bit of fog in Dubrovnik that burnt off by noon and really really nice touring weather. I for one would much rather put a sweater on than sweat to death....... but in actuality I carried my sweater most of the time. We ended our cruise in Barcelona on Dec. 2 and flew home the 3rd. I would definately cruise this time of year again in Europe. The trees in Italy were all in the fall finest color - gold, red, orange etc.... really beautiful

 

We had no problem finding plenty of places to eat or spend our money shopping. A few places were closed but not enough to bother us. The best part ---- no crowds, no lines and no traffic. We got to see and do so much more because of this. Oh wait....the other best part - we paid less for our hotels (low season) and only $899 per person for the highest catergory balcony on Brilliance for 9 night cruise !!!!

 

We did our second cruise the very beginning of May (just a few months ago) We were going to go again in Nov. but dh schedule would not fit. We enjoyed seeing this area in spring but it did get hot in some places. Athens was really hot ! as was Ephesus. I can't even imagine going there in the summer heat :eek: The flowers everywhere were blooming and enjoyed those.

 

Weather is weather..... who can predict what it will do when. But October should be really nice. Can't see what 3 weeks will make that much difference.

 

I would save the 900. and use it for some great tours.

[Bobal]

I would say it all depends on how much the weather is important to you. We cruised in the Med for 1 week, sailing on 25 October last year and I said never again that late in October. Whilst there will always be people who say they had the greatest weather in late October/early November you do run the risk of more rain and cooler temperatures.

 

Here's our experience. We left Barcelona in sun and had a glorious next day in Villefranche, the following day (Livorno) it rained most of the day and we cut short our trip to Pisa because it was so miserable, the day in Civitavecchia it rained so hard we didn't even leave the ship (had spent a few days in Rome earlier in the year), Naples - gorgeous day, Palermo - sunny/cloudy, last day at sea - not nice enough to spend much time on deck.

 

If you're happy to take the risk of spending some wet/cool days in some ports and are not bothered about getting some sunshine too then take the cheaper option. Personally I would spend the extra money - we'd been watching the weather for all our ports in the weeks leading up to our cruise and the first week in October was very settled. Also depending how far south you go the weather in Greece would probably be warmer than in the West Med

 

As for places closing, whenever there are cruise ships in there will always be plenty of places open. The only places which could be closed would be some beach bars but even then, the last week in October is a school holiday for some countries in Europe so a popular time to go away (which may be another reason to avoid it)

[HoosiersWhoCruise]

Thanks everyone for the responses. We still haven't decided which date we're going to sail on. I think we're leaning towards the earlier date because I don't think the ports will be much busier and having good weather, even if it's just a little bit warmer or just a little less rain, is important for us.

 

One other question for anyone who's ever traveled to Barcelona is in regards to hotels. I know there are a lot of threads with hotel recommendations, but most of them are higher-line (more expensive) hotels. What I think we'd look for is something that is close, but not on, Las Ramblas, so we can check out the action there but not have it be too noisy when we try to sleep. We also need something relatively affordable. Anyone care to share any recommendations?

[cougfan]

We have done both of our Med cruises the last two weeks of Oct. The weather was mostly nice with some rain on both cruises. Last Oct. we did miss Split because of high winds and had a downpour the day we got off the ship in Barcelona. We picked that cruise because it was $1000 cheaper than the earlier ones.

 

As to a good cheap hotel in Barcelona, we stayed at the Hotel Continental. It is right on Las Ramblas and I have heard if you get a room in the rear it is quiet. We had a balcony and it was quite noisy all night but we were only there that one night. We booked on their website, priced in euros, so we had a cheaper hotel by the time we actually paid. Just for the free drinks (pop and water) it was worth it to stay there.

 

Julie

[cruisienewbie]

Hoosiers,

 

If you decide on Oct 1, come on over and join us on the Roll Call Board (I'm assuming you're talking about Brilliance of the Seas). We have a nice group that would be happy to have you. By the way I'm a Hoosier born and raised.

[Jenagain]

Thanks everyone for the responses. We still haven't decided which date we're going to sail on. I think we're leaning towards the earlier date because I don't think the ports will be much busier and having good weather, even if it's just a little bit warmer or just a little less rain, is important for us.

 

One other question for anyone who's ever traveled to Barcelona is in regards to hotels. I know there are a lot of threads with hotel recommendations, but most of them are higher-line (more expensive) hotels. What I think we'd look for is something that is close, but not on, Las Ramblas, so we can check out the action there but not have it be too noisy when we try to sleep. We also need something relatively affordable. Anyone care to share any recommendations?

 

We are booked on the Brilliance cruise on the 25th, and will be staying the the Banys Orientals Hotel in the El Born section of La Ribera for $100 E a room. Their website is http://www.hotelbanysorientals.com

[sanjim]

We were on the BOS last NOV 1, had 12 great days no rain temp were in the 60s to 80s great weather, no waves except for the first night, but not bad at all. The rest of the time the Med was calm very calm some days. Temp on deck was cool, hot tub was great till you got out, some days the pool was OK also. Evenings were cold both in ports and on deck. We did have alot of rain in Barcelona pre cruise, It did not stop us, and it certainly did not stop the people on La Rumbas they just kept going and going rain down pour or not. In fact it snowed in the mountains. But it melted and warmed up pretty quick. The first time in years that it snowed, we were told. Since this was the only time I was in the Med, I cant judge the rest of the year, but I will tell you I would not hesitate to go in Nov again I would save the 900 and spend it on Tapas