Athens to Rome - Apr 18th or May 29th?

[TheNit]

We have booked a 10 day Oceania cruise going from Athens to Rome (Greek islands, Sicily, Capri). We chose May 29th,2007 but the same cruise is available on April 18th. We plan on staying in Italy for a week to do some sightseeing. Any opinions on which date would be better? We prefer milder temperatures (high 60's, low 70's) but wonder if it would be too cool in the evenings while cruising in April.

[cberge]

We have booked a 10 day Oceania cruise going from Athens to Rome (Greek islands, Sicily, Capri). We chose May 29th,2007 but the same cruise is available on April 18th. We plan on staying in Italy for a week to do some sightseeing. Any opinions on which date would be better? We prefer milder temperatures (high 60's, low 70's) but wonder if it would be too cool in the evenings while cruising in April.

 

Then I would go in April...it can start to get teally hot in May into June especially in Rome.It may be a little cooler in the evening in April,but to me that would be just fine.Enjoy your cruise whenever you go.

[Juliadlf]

One other thing to consider in choosing dates is looking at what day of the week your ship will be in each of the ports as some places you may want to visit could be closed.

 

Enjoy your cruise.

 

Julia

[KathiB]

I would definitely recommend going in April. Our Med. cruise this year was June 16-28. It was unbearably hot in many cities and the crowds were unbelievable. I vowed I would never go to Europe again in the summer. I would either go before May 15 or after Sept 15 only. If all else is equal for you, go in April. Sightseeing will be much more pleasant.

 

KathiB

[PTC]

We've cruised several times in early June and early September in these same ports and never had any unbearable heat issues.

September 15th onward you run into the season changes and more rain.

 

So to the OP, April or May is fine. You should enjoy either of these months for cruising. But as someone else posted, check your days in port before deciding.

 

PTC

[Cruisingonceagain]

We had a similar experience with KathiB. We were in the Med in late June into early July, and the heat was unbearable. We vowed never to go back during that time period and into August. We plan to go back to the Med sometime, and April is definitely the preferred month.