North European Cruises in the Summer???

Question

I am thinking of booking a Princess cruise that starts in Denmark and stops at various north European ports such as St. Petersburg in the summer.

- How would the climate be at this time of year?

- Would I be able to use the pool and other outdoor activities?

- Would the cruise be full of senior citizens and no middle aged because of the ports of call not being attractive to young folks.

- Would a Mediterranean cruise be better?

Any answers or opinions appreciated.

Answer 1

We did the type cruise you are looking at, to the Baltic, a couple years ago.  We cruised on  a Celebrity ship, the Constellation, out of Dover, England.  Our cruise started about May 20 and was 14 days.  The weather was surprisingly rather nice.  It was not warm, but it was not cold either.  We had two days in St Petersburg and we sat on the top (walking/jogging track) deck one afternoon and the temperatures were in the 65 to 70 range.  Our port stops were Warnemunde, Germany; Stockholm, Sweden; Tallin, Eastonia;  Copenhagen, Denmark; St Petersburg, Russia, Oslo, Norway; Helsinki, Finland; and Gdaske, Poland.  We wore a light jacket for all of our tours off the ship as the temperatures were in the 65 to 75 range during the day and maybe 55 to 65 at night.  Even in Norway the temperature was moderate, but it rained; the only rain we had on the cruise.

Our ship had a Solarium area which is a covered pool and hot tub area.  Most ships on cruise lines that do this type itinerary do have a solarium.  I have been on many ships that do. In addition, the ship's pools were on a deck that was kinda protected from the wind and outdoors because there were windows all around, kinda a sunken area, so you can do outside stuff, pools, walking jogging.  I took a warmup suit to wear for walking on the top deck and really needed it when the ship was moving.

The people on the ship were a mixture of ages.  There were about a dozen families with small kids and most were in the 40-50 age group and up,  a few younger.  As far as passengers go its been my experience that the older people want to and do have just as much fun as the younger people.  You just don't hear them from across the deck.  The older people go to the discos and lounges and they dance when their type music is played.

If you are planning to do this type cruise you have to remember that its not going to have shore excursions and tours like the Caribbean.  So you may need to be in the frame of mind that this is a sightseeing trip and not a scuba, snorkel, swim with the dolphins and zip line type tour.   The party people go to the Caribbean and the sightseers do this tour.   Its very much like a cruise to Alaska, lots of pretty scenery.  People of all ages go to Alaska, people of all ages go to the Baltic.

I have also done two Mediterranean cruises and they are scenery trips two, except that you get to see some very well known historic sights, like the Vatican, Leaning Tower of Pisa, Acropolis, etc.  The second Med cruise that we did we visited the Canary Island, Morocco, Portugal, Spain, and Gibraltar.  That was a nice to do cruise and we enjoyed it.  But first Med cruise that we did that included the sights I mentioned above was my favorite of the three because of the historical sights.  It was really great to see the sights in Rome, and Pompeii, and even the Greek Islands that we visited.  That cruise we did on a Royal Caribbean ship, the Brilliance of the Seas in October 2005 and that is one of my two  favorites of all of my cruises.  And the Brilliance (and its sisters the Jewel and Radiance) are my all time favorite ships.  

I will not say that the Med is better than the Baltic but I enjoyed it more.

Answer 2

Denmark in July Averages high 80' low 55', Aug 78'-52', June 75'-50'. I think yes the pool would be a good option. Outdoor activities should be great. The average rain fall for those months is about 4 inches, so you may encounter some rain but it should pass quickly if it occurs.

The price of the cruise and airfare will lend itself to to higher average age cruiser. But it does vary from cruise to cruise partly depending on what groups if any are going.

Hope this helps

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Answer 3

The weather in the summer in northern Europe is very similar to what we have here in the US. The farther north you go the cooler it gets, but not too cold. You will be able to use the pool a lot, and it is heated as well as the hot tubs. On princess cruises to Europe or the Mediterranean is full of a variety of ages of people. I  saw every age from small children to seniors on both Europe and the Mediterranean. In fact, I would say that the majority of people ranged from 25 to 55 years old. Both are wonderful cruises and now you get to decide which one. Lucky you.