July/August weather on Baltic cruise

We are looking at booking a Baltic cruise for next year in either July or August. My husband is reluctant to commit as he believes it will be cold. Can anyone give me an idea of what temps to expect, whether rain is likely and if July or August is a more favourable weather month.

I appreciate weather can be very variable but I would just like to hear of any personal experiences.

I have also posted this on ask a cruise question but was re directed here.:D

I don' t know if this will help. Just came back from the Baltics. We had Perfect weather. It was in the 70s. I was able to get away with capris and light pants.

I was told that this summer was unexpectedly warm. I would pack clothes you could layer plus a rain jacket just in case. I hope it will be warm again next summer. I hope you book it. We had an amazing time.

We are looking at booking a Baltic cruise for next year in either July or August. My husband is reluctant to commit as he believes it will be cold. Can anyone give me an idea of what temps to expect, whether rain is likely and if July or August is a more favourable weather month.

 

I appreciate weather can be very variable but I would just like to hear of any personal experiences.

 

I have also posted this on ask a cruise question but was re directed here.:D

We just came back from a Baltic cruise and had perfect weather. We were able to wear shorts in some ports. But weather is unpredictable, were told that the cruise before ours had miserable weather and it rained on almost every port. We packed jeans, light sweaters and rain jackets. :):)

We had perfect weather (july 9-16)

I took thick winter coats, jeans and everything an Aussie would need for temps below 20c and never even thought about using them

We needed sunscreen and may have even considered hats

In 3 weeks we got 1 thunderstorm (YES YES YES summmmmerrrr)

We just got back as well. You need to be prepared for anything.

We packed for summer (very warm in London & Amsterdam), but also brought along a rain slicker and a fleece pullover. We had a small backpack to carry the rain slickers and the fleece pullovers.

Copenhagen was sunny & cool in the morning (low 60's) and quite warm in the afternoon (70's). Sandals & shorts with a t-shirt, fleece pullover in the morning

Berlin was hot.

Helsinki was sunny and quite cool in the morning (high 50's) and pleasant in the afternoon (low 70's). We took a cruise tour and the wind was cold on the boat.

St-Petersburg (2 days) was sunny & cool in the morning, quite warm in the afternoon on day 1. Day 2 was raining heavily in the morning and quite cool (low 50's) but overcast and warmer in the afternoon (high 60's).

Talinn was sunny & cool in the morning, pleasant in the afternoon.

Amsterdam was overcast, warm & muggy all day, with a few sprinkles thrown in.

For most of these ports, you will be FAR NORTH and need to be prepared to enjoy the sights...which are SPECTACULAR.

:)

We did the Baltic cruise in early July and felt quite lucky that we had nice weather. Stockholm, Copenhagen, Helsinki, Gothenburg all sunny and very warm. Tallin was warm but cloudy. St Petersburg, the first day was sunny and warm, the second day was cooler with some cloud. Two of the sea days were cold and cloudy with some rain. A light fleece was all I needed when it was a little cooler, I wore capri pants or shorts and tee shirts. I don't doubt that it is sheer luck whether or not the weather is good, it isn't guaranteed. In all honesty I don't think I would have enjoyed the cities as much if it had been dull and raining but that is just me personal thing, other people may have enjoyed it just as much.

Hi, We sailed on Celebrity Constellation to the Baltic from July 7 - 19 and had unexpected fabulous weather. During the cruise it was 68 - 74 degrees almost everyday with no rain. I think generally it is colder and I believe someone said that the cruise a month earlier had a lot of rain. We had rain and drizzle in Amsterdam before the cruise for 2 days, but everyone remarked on the tremendous weather at our Baltic ports. I wore capris most days and didn't see a lot of shorts on the excursions. I would sometimes take a jacket because our tours started early. Certainly on the ship and around the pool more people wore shorts.

When we booked our cruise, I was told that August is vacation month for Europe and that things get more crowded. I never checked that out, but you might want to.

Hope this helps!

I took all the wrong clothes for our Baltic cruise last month. I should have taken the clothes I had packed for our Hawaii cruise! Seriously, it was warm, even hot, in most ports. Remember, too, that none of the museums, cathedrals, or palaces are air-conditioned, so my best advice would be to plan for hot weather and add a sweater, jacket, or rain gear, if called for on a particular day. It's easier to add clothes than try to get by with clothes that are simply too warm for the weather.

Jennifer

To show how unpredictable the weather can be in this area, . . . for our cruise May 31st - June 10th, . . . record warmth. Mid/Upper-80s in St Petersburg, and sunny and warm/hot for every day, every port. Cruisers quickly ran out of shorts. :) :)

The cruise before us - mid-60s, rainy, foggy everyday. I think this is the nature of a Baltic cruise, . . . you need to be prepared for either extreme and hope for something in the middle.

It is a great place to cruise though - so enjoy.

That's such a hard question to answer since weather is so changeable. We embarked on our cruise on June 21 and thought we were going early enough in season to have some cooler temperatures. It was in the 80s and umcomfortably humid at pretty much every port. I took only a couple pair of capris and one pair of shorts--should have taken more. If we go again, we'll go a month or two earlier for sure since we don't like the heat at all.

We were on the same sailing as drarill. :D

We were blessed with exceedingly good weather in ports, the exception being our final port of call that did have afternoon showers — though still quite warm.

Bear in mind that heat waves in the northern climes are not too common. The last time the UK and northern Europe had the kind of heat we experienced was in 2006.

Your best bet, as others suggest, is to plan on taking layers and possibly a compact travel umbrella. Being prepared for temps from the 50s - low 80s F is wise.

Another thing you can do is go to online weather sites the last day or so before departure and check the 10-day or long-range forecast for ports you'll be visiting. That can also give you some last-minute hint as to how to fine tune your packing.

Have a great trip. The Baltic sailings are fantastic!!!

CM

We were on the same sailing as drarill. :D

 

We were blessed with exceedingly good weather in ports, the exception being our final port of call that did have afternoon showers — though still quite warm.

 

Bear in mind that heat waves in the northern climes are not too common. The last time the UK and northern Europe had the kind of heat we experienced was in 2006.

 

Your best bet, as others suggest, is to plan on taking layers and possibly a compact travel umbrella. Being prepared for temps from the 50s - low 80s F is wise.

 

Another thing you can do is go to online weather sites the last day or so before departure and check the 10-day or long-range forecast for ports you'll be visiting. That can also give you some last-minute hint as to how to fine tune your packing.

 

Have a great trip. The Baltic sailings are fantastic!!!

 

 

CM

For Sweden: http://www.smhi.se

For Denmark: http://www.dmi.dk

for Norway: http://www.yr.no

for Finland: http://en.ilmatieteenlaitos.fi/

For Sweden: www.smhi.se

For Denmark: www.dmi.dk

for Norway: www.yr.no

for Finland: http://en.ilmatieteenlaitos.fi/

The Finnish firm http://www.foreca.fi will serve you in the Baltic area, and globally as well. The global location database is extensive and the user interface logical.

The Finnish firm www.foreca.fi will serve you in the Baltic area, and globally as well. The global location database is extensive and the user interface logical.

All of the above links will cover most of the world as well but each national service usually have a more accurate forecast for their own territory.

In Sweden SMHI have proved to be the most accurate for Swedish weather with a correct percentage of 53%,

All of the above links will cover most of the world as well but each national service usually have a more accurate forecast for their own territory.

 

In Sweden SMHI have proved to be the most accurate for Swedish weather with a correct percentage of 53%,

In a study by whom and where?

The forecasters will use international modelling and data in any case, and a forecaster needs not be speaking Swedish in order to predict Swedish weather correctly!

Foreca offers an easy interface that works globally.

I guess "cold" has different meanings to different people.

If you click on www.weather.com you can search each of the port cities to get an idea of what the weather is like right now and for the next 10 days.

I leave next week and am really looking forward to long days with cool temperatures. The daylight hours in June/July are even longer.

In a study by whom and where?

 

The forecasters will use international modelling and data in any case, and a forecaster needs not be speaking Swedish in order to predict Swedish weather correctly!

 

Foreca offers an easy interface that works globally.

By Dagens Nyheter; paper issue a couple of weeks ago.

The point is that each countrie's meteorologists are experts at their own countries weather, experts at interpreting the weather data for their country.

By Dagens Nyheter; paper issue a couple of weeks ago.

 

The point is that each countrie's meteorologists are experts at their own countries weather, experts at interpreting the weather data for their country.

You then really need to reveal who the competition was, and what were their respective success rates. Or, if you have the date for the publication, I can go to the library and see that for myself.

I think your views of meterology are outdated: there is nothing special about Sweden that a Norwegian or a Finnish meteorologist cold not now perform equally well from his or her desk. Everything you need is on-line, including the actual forecasting models.

We had great late July and early August weather in the wonderful Baltics. You can go to

http://www.wunderground.com

and check for the very specific weather history on many of the key towns in the world for their past temperatures in that specific area for a date in the past. Just look lower left in the page for weather history area, put in your exact dates and the year prior. You will then see what last year was like, along with recent highs and lows for that date there.

Here are a few weather averages/details for these three key cities in the Baltics by looking at the 7th, 15th, 23rd days of each month from http://www.wunderground.com:

Copenhagen: High/low averages,

May, early: 61 high/47 low °F

May, mid: 63/48 °F

May, late: 65/50 °F

June, early: 67/53 °F

June, mid: 68/54 °F

June, late: 69/54 °F

July, early: 69/55 °F

July, mid: 69/54 °F

July, late: 69/54 °F

August, early: 67/53 °F

August, mid: 66/52 °F

August, late: 64/51 °F

Sept., early: 60/49 °F

Sept., mid: 58/47 °F

Sept., late: 56/45 °F

St. Petersburg:

May, early: 60 high/41 low °F

May, mid: 62/44 °F

May, late: 65/46 °F

June, early: 68/49 °F

June, mid: 70/51 °F

June, late: 72/53 °F

July, early: 72/53 °F

July, mid: 71/52 °F

July, late: 70/51 °F

August, early: 66/48 °F

August, mid: 64/46 °F

August, late: 61/45 °F

Sept., early: 55/41 °F

Sept., mid: 52/38 °F

Sept., late: 48/36 °F

Stockholm:

May, early: 60 high/44 low °F

May, mid: 62/46 °F

May, late: 63/49 °F

June, early: 66/52 °F

June, mid: 68/54 °F

June, late: 70/55 °F

July, early: 71/56 °F

July, mid: 70/55 °F

July, late: 69/54 °F

August, early: 67/52 °F

August, mid: 65/50 °F

August, late: 63/48 °F

Sept., early: 58/44 °F

Sept., mid: 54/42 °F

Sept., late: 51/40 °F

YES! These are only "averages", but this gives some added data and insights.

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

For details and visuals, etc., from our July 1-16, 2010, Norway Coast/Fjords/Arctic Circle cruise experience from Copenhagen on the Silver Cloud, check out this posting. This posting is now at 117,472 views.

http://www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1227923

Sounds like a fab destination, enjoy! In the North East of England where I'm from we say 'it's Baltic out there' when it's freezing cold! Just a fun fact for you haha...have a lovely time. :)

just got back from Baltic cruise on Celebrity Eclipse out of Southampton. Glorious sunshine, almost cloudless blue sky for the entire 2 weeks , av temps of 22 to 26 degrees !! on balcony at 7 in the morning and at midnight 11 wonderfull !!