Mediterranean Cruise in November - Weather and other questions

[mjldvlks]

Has anyone else encountered really rough seas in November?

We had some rough seas and high winds as we came around Greece on the leg from Santorini to Corfu, but it wasn't too bad. The Captain used the term "hurricane force winds" in his report the next day, but I think that might be just a bit of hyperbole. They never canceled any activities or shut down deck access that I recall. We were delayed about an hour getting into Corfu but the Captain added an hour on the other end to make up.

[mimimoo2]

Hi,

We did the 12 day Med on the Brilliance and left the 25th of Nov. and sailed over Thanksgiving and into the beginning of December.

 

Most of the weather we had was terrific. We flew into Rome 3 days early so we could see all of the sights and then flew into Barcelona the day before we sailed. The weather in Rome was pretty good, I think we got a few sprinkles the first day, but nothing colder than a light jacket and a long sleeve shirt. Barcelona weather was perfect, short sleeve weather and bright sunshine, high 60's, low 70's. In France/Monte Carlo the weather was windbreaker type. We did have a little rain when we went to Orvieto out of Civitivecchia, instead of back to Rome, but that only lasted about 20 minutes. Out of Livorno we went to Pisa and Florence, it was very cold (45-50), but the sun was shining. We just wore our Royal Caribbean jacket with hat, gloves and scarf and managed okay. In Turkey, Athens and Sanoarini, it was long sleeve tshirt weather. Very pleasant. In fact I can't imagine the crowds during the summer with the very hot weather. I would much rather take my chances sailing later.

 

We did have some very rough seas on two seperate days, we could not port in Mykonos or in Naples. In fact we hid behind Capri with a bunch of tankers to wait out the storm. Many people were sea sick and we could not go out on the deck, but we had all taken Bonine, so we were all fine and enjoyed another day of down time. It was nice to catch up on my journal and enjoy activities. They substituted a day in Sicily, for Naples, which I think was one of the highlights of my trip, The weather was beautiful (mid 70's) tshirt weather, and the skies were clear. We went to Taormina-a great little town, and the walk up to the Grand Theatre to see the view of Mt. Etna was probably the most spectacular sight of the cruise. I have the picture as my computer wallpaper!

 

As far as the tours go, we used private tour companies for most of our trip, RomeInLimo with Vinny as our driver-he was terrific. We had him in Rome for our 3 days, then rehired him out of Civitivecchia and he took us to the great little towns of Orvieto and Civita de Bagnaregio! The drive was beautiful as well. We used Levant Solmaz in Turkey and Unforgettable Tuscany with Paolo as our driver for Florence/Pisa. Paulo had grown up in Florence, so he also took us to a Castle in Tuscany which was nice. In Barcelona we used portcompass.com and booked a halfday tour of Barcelona before we were dropped off at the port. We had a great tour guide and saw a variety of things in and around Barcelona.

We tried the local food everywhere we went, had the local wine, and crammed as much in as possible. It was a great trip, and would love to return. We decided when we booked it that it would not ruin our trip if we hit some bad weather, so went with the attitude that it is an adventure, so live it up as much as possible.

 

You will have a wonderful time, no matter when you go, just be prepared and you will have a terrific time!!!

 

Lisa

[africanviolet]

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[g_rock]

I have done eastern Med in Mid November before. My strategy was to dress in layers.

 

I did a lot of tank tops with overshirts and a lightweight sweater. I could tie my sweater around my waist if that got warm and go down from there. There are days where it would start out cloudy and drizzly but I always had my mini umbrella. It never got really rainy at all. But if the sun came out, I would be warm and want to drink up that sun so was down to just the tank top!

 

My other brilliant strategy was a warm wrap for on the ship. Going to and from dinner dressed up, we were sometimes out and about on deck for a sunset or drink. The weatherproof jacket isn't so much fun then, ya know?

 

I actually loved the slightly cooler weather for travel and the excursions in Europe. Heat is good for the Caribbean, but Europe with a light sweater is PERFECT! Have a happy sailing!

[africanviolet]

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