best time of year and cruise line for Italy/Europe Cruise

[HollisNH]

my wife and I are thinking about a 12-14 day cruise in Mediterranian, Italy, western europe next year for our 25th anniversary

 

We've cruised a couple time to Carribean on RCCL.

 

We like informal site-seeing, raoming new cities and would like a cruise that spends some nights over at ports so you can wander the cities at night.

 

Being from New England we'd like to go when weather is warm (70-90F) - bit not hot (90+) or cold.

 

any reccomendations for time of year and cruise lines/tours?

 

thanks

[critterchick]

We've only cruised with RCI in Europe, and both times we went in October - a 7-day on Splendour (loved it) & a 3-day on Brilliance (it was ok), both R/T from Barcelona. The weather was very good except for 1 day of rain in Naples on the Splendour trip. The week before us on Splendour had been pretty rough - the Champagne Bar lost its shelved inventory in one big crash and they couldn't dock in Livorno, so they missed Florence.:(

 

I haven't been in Europe in mid-summer, so I can't compare, but the crowds weren't bad at all in October. Both trips we spent some time in Italy on land before going to Barcelona for the cruise, and I highly recommend it - Italy, France and Spain are fabulous, and you're going all that way, so what's another week, LOL! Then you could pick an itinerary that takes you places you might not otherwise go, such as Malta or Mallorca.

[lannp]

I cruised mid-September to the Med.last year aboard the QM2. It was very warm to hot most days and still quite crowded in most cities.