Mediterranean Cruise in May
 

We are considering a Mediterranean cruise. We had thought about September or October but have run into some scheduling conflicts. Would May be a good alternative in terms of weather, crowds, and price? Any preferred cruise line for this area? We would want a balcony room, good food, service, and some evening entertainment. Thank you.

We are looking at May 2006. Any thoughts on whether this is a good time of year for a Mediterranean cruise?

try to go at the end of May-
we did the Med the first week of May and it rained and was chilly the first 2 days....

Thanks... the weather was a concern. It probably would be more the end of May that we would plan to go. Any preferred cruise line for this region?

We took a med cruise in May 2005. We went at the end of May beginning of June. Perfect weather. Had a wonderful time. Best cruise I have been on.

Thanks for the info. What ship were you on? What was your itinerary?

We are headed out mid-Octobermuch less crowds and supposedly great weather...We are doing the Celebrity Century from Barcelona to Ft. Lauderdale..great itinerary.

I did the Med (Barcelona to Venice, 12 days) with Princess (Golden Princess) in late May/early June 2003. It was the perfect time to go, even though it was a little warmer than normal due to a heat wave. We found an awesome price due to the Iraq conflict starting. Crowds were much better than you find in July, although there were still a number of tourists at all our stops.

You may want to check out cruisecritic.com where you can find tons of Med reviews from all the lines. I suggest a cruise that is 10+ days and starts and stops in different places so you can visit more ports.

Princess offers good prices, fresh water pools open 24 hours, a choice of traditional or 'personal choice' dining and also buffet dining 24 hours (nice for snacking after a long day in port). Their evening shows are pretty good too.

My Med cruise was my favorite vacation to date. You'll love it!

Thank you so much for the info. We have focused so much on a fall cruise that I didn't think about May and now that meay be a better time for us. I will check on cruisecrtic for other reviews. Thanks again.

We've cruised in late May/early June and had excellent weather...good choice.

As for ships, we've gone on really large ones that hold over 2,000 passengers and smaller ones with around 600 passengers. To me there is a world of difference and I much prefer the smaller ships that easily get into ports with fewer passengers. (I really hate crowds and waiting in lines, that is my pet peeve). Have you begun to look at the various itineraries? How long do you want to be gone? I think the best med itineraries are about 2 weeks (you can always combine 2 seven day cruises back to back). Planning is half the fun.

We were on Splendor of the Seas (RCCL) in May 2004. The weather was perfect. We cruised r/t Barcelona to Barcelona (7 days). We stopped in Nice, Marsellas (spelling), Rome, Florence, and Naples. We did our own thing. Never took excursions from the cruise lines. We took trains most of the time. We rented a car in the port for Florence. Decided to drive to Pisa and Lucca instead of seeing Florence (next time). For Rome we took the train and spent the day touring. We paid to get on the double-decker bus and then we could get off and on as we wanted. We did the bus in Nice also. In Naples we took the train to Pompei and then onto Sorrento. We then took the hydrofoil back to the ship's dock in Naples. Great trip. We were thinking of going back this year. But decided to to a Carribean cruise in May and go to Egypt in December.

We were thinking of a 10 day cruise and spending a couple of days in the departure port. I have heard for this particular area that the smaller cruise ships are better, but we had not yet narrowed down a ship or an itinerary...just trying to gather info at this point. Thanks for all of the great tips.

We did the MED on the WINDSURF- a 330 passenger 4 masted yacht...It was AWESOME..

The ship could get into smaller ports that a large ship can never get into...

We did ROME to NICE--with stops in Port Venero,Elba,Portofino,Livorno( the stop for Florence),Nice,St Tropez..it was a to die for cruise.

Open seating dining..CASUAL-NO coat and tie needed- no cocktail dress.

Food was awesome- BUT there are NO lavish shows-just a small 3pc band in the bar that can play anything and also a small casino...

BUT you get to meet more people- it was super friendly and everywhere we went, the CRYSTAL ship was next to us!

It was wonderful to leave port with the sails up!

ALSO there is a back end of the ship that drops down and becomes a water sports center with kayaking,wind surfing etc--ALL FREE...

They DO NOT have balconies though...

IF you wanted a smaller, elegant ship with Balconies , I would do RADISSON..

Just returned from Windstar cruise April 24 - May 1st. The weather was perfect. Not hot not cold. Couldn't have asked for better. Our ports of call were Lisbon, Safi/Cassablanca in Morroco, Spain - Cadiz, Marbella and Malaga. Everyday we sat our on deck in the sun. I was concerned about the weather as this can be a bit iffy being so early in the Spring. Even London was good. We have gone to Europe 5 times in mid May to Mid June and have always had good weather except for our trip to Amsterdam where it rained for 3 days. Guess we were lucky with this trip and weather.