Portugal/ Spain in late October

[Macdl]

Hello cruisers… thinking of a late October cruise out of Barcelona next fall ..would like to hear from others who have done it as to weather … I don’t mind cooler temperatures but nervous about rough seas. Thanks for your time.

[patty1955]

We did a Mediterranean cruise that ended in Barcelona in Oct. 2021. We had no problem with rough seas and we were on an Oceania (smaller ship). You shouldn't have a problem. 

[jelayne]

The weather in Spain and Portugal is generally great.  No one can predict what the seas will be like.

[villauk]

11 minutes ago, jelayne said:

The weather in Spain and Portugal is generally great.  No one can predict what the seas will be like.

 

Yes, this was reported today:

Spirit of Discovery: Cruise ship passengers 'feared for their lives'

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hampshire-67342329

[upwarduk]

27 minutes ago, villauk said:

 

Yes, this was reported today:

Spirit of Discovery: Cruise ship passengers 'feared for their lives'

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hampshire-67342329

This reminded me how lucky we were at the beginning of October, on Silhouette. We had 11 days of the most wonderful weather, including the Bay of Biscay, which was like a mill pond

However. The following cruise was the exact opposite.  Lisbon was shut and the ship was delayed by 24 hours so they reached Southampton a day late. This meant the ship was delayed leaving on her TA by over a day.

So there is no way of predicting the weather.

[Macdl]

OMG… I’m rethinking🫣

[lydnsyd]

43 minutes ago, upwarduk said:

This reminded me how lucky we were at the beginning of October, on Silhouette. We had 11 days of the most wonderful weather, including the Bay of Biscay, which was like a mill pond

However. The following cruise was the exact opposite.  Lisbon was shut and the ship was delayed by 24 hours so they reached Southampton a day late. This meant the ship was delayed leaving on her TA by over a day.

So there is no way of predicting the weather.

We were on that cruise which departed on 11th October & sadly the weather wasn't great - I think we had 3 or 4 sunny days out of 11

When leaving Gran Canaria the Captain told us that due to weather conditions in Vigo (Spain) we would not be heading there & instead would be going straight to Lisbon - once there due to more weather issues the Port Authorities closed the port.  When we eventually set sail & boy it was a bumpy ride!! We actually arrived into Southampton the same day we were scheduled to but it was 12hr late & not 24hrs. The TA  passengers ended up leaving 1 day late.   

In answer to the OP the weather can be a bit hit & miss in October. We were just unlucky.

Edited November 7, 2023 by lydnsyd

[LB_NJ]

There is NO way to predict the weather ANYWHERE more than a week or 2 in advance.

 

You could have great weather or terrible weather.

 

The old expression "You pays yer money and you takes yer chances" applies.

 

I was recently in Portugal on a land trip (mid October) and it was quite warm and dry while we were in Lisbon, we took the train to Portugal and it was rainy and one day there was a terrible storm.  Almost hurricane force.

 

I assume cruise ships would have just skipped the port that day.  However, this could have happened on any cruise ship anywhere in the world.

 

Actually, some of the roughest seas I have ever been on were cruising out of Miami towards the Caribbean in the winter.

[Milhouse]

Agree with the comments that one can't accurately predict the weather very far in advance but you are kind of playing the odds.

 

Anyways the missus and her parents are just getting off Infinity in Barcelona today after departing from Lisbon on October 30.  They didn't have the greatest weather for the first part of the cruise due to a fairly large storm/weather pattern.  Bands of pretty wet, windy, and somewhat rough seas including a few days pre-cruise in Portugal mixed with some clear breaks.  So much so, they had to drop a port of call and also swap Gibraltar in for one early in the cruise IIRC.  

[upwarduk]

9 hours ago, lydnsyd said:

We actually arrived into Southampton the same day we were scheduled to but it was 12hr late & not 24hrs. The TA  passengers ended up leaving 1 day late.   

I stand corrected, there were so many reports, obviously some not accurate.