Mediterranean cruises off season

We just came back from a 14-day Mediterranean cruise in December on board the Costa Toscana, and today we will tell you what it is like cruising the Mediterranean off-season. We will tell you what we liked and what we did not like about cruising in the Mediterranean in the winter, and let us tell you, there are not a lot of things that we did not like.

Itinerary

Our cruise itinerary was the typical Western Mediterranean one. We started our cruise from the port of Savona in northern Italy. From there, our first stop was  Marseille, France. From Marseille, we then sailed to the beautiful Barcelona, Spain. After Barcelona, we then sailed to Palma the Mallorca, on the Balearic Islands in Spain. After Palma, we had one sea day before reaching the port of Palermo in Sicily. After Palermo, we then sailed to the port of Civitavecchia near Rome, Italy, before sailing back to Savona. Because we were travelling with a friend that has never done that itinerary before, we decided to do this itinerary twice back to back.

The itinerary is great because it stops in some great ports, and it has only one sea day. Also, Costa Cruises, the cruise line we were sailing on, allows passengers to embark and disembark in each of the ports. This can be particularly convenient for passengers because they can choose to start their cruise wherever it is more convenient for them.

Ship

On this cruise, we sailed on the beautiful Costa Toscana. This is one of our favourite ships on the Costa fleet, and you can see a complete review of it in this article here. Costa, along with MSC, is one of the very few cruise lines that sail the Mediterranean year-round. Most mainstream cruise lines start their Mediterranean season around mid-April, and they end it around mid-October when they move their ships to the Caribbean. 

Going back to the ship, we have to report that the Costa Toscana was in excellent shape; the ship was really well-maintained and clean. In both weeks, the ship was running at full capacity, but because the ship is big and well-designed, it never felt too crammed or too busy. Also, we have to report that the ship performs well in rough seas; in fact, we had one night of really rough seas, and the ship seemed quite stable. However, due to the fact that our cabin was at the front of the ship, we have to report that during the night, we felt some movement.  

Weather

One of the main concerns for people planning a cruise in the Mediterranean off-season is the weather. If you want to go to the beach or swim in the Mediterranean, winter is not the right time to go. However, in the two weeks we went, the weather was nice. In particular, it was quite cold (around 5°C or 41°F), windy, but sunny in Marseille. It was nice and warm in Barcelona, Palma and Palermo with temperatures around 18 °C (64°F), sunny days and no wind.

In Rome, we had some rain on the first visit with a temperature around 10°C (50°F). On the second visit, the week after, the weather was really bad in Civitavecchia with strong winds, rough seas (that delayed our docking for about 2 hours) and quite cold temperatures (5°C or 41°F), but once we got off the bus in Rome the weather was quite pleasant with some sunny breaks and mild temperatures. So overall we have to say that the weather was nice and we were also able to sun tan in shorts in Palermo. 

As we mentioned, we only had two nights of rough seas out of 14, the first night between Savona and Marseille and the second to last night between Palermo and Civitavecchia. Now the weather is always unpredictable, but in our experience, it was pretty perfect.

Ports

One amazing aspect of cruising the Mediterranean off-season is the fact that the ports and the cities are way less busy than they are in the peak of summer. For example, in Barcelona, we were able to walk down la Rambla with almost no crowd at all. We were also able to find tickets to get into the Cathedral on the spot without making reservations, which is almost impossible to do in the summer. Also, due to the fact that we were cruising the Mediterranean in December, every city was beautifully decorated for Christmas. For example, in downtown Marseille and Barcelona, we were able to see some very nice Christmas markets that we loved. In Rome, we were able to see the Christmas tree in front of Saint Peter’s Basilica. This was a true plus of cruising the Mediterranean in December.

Rome was the only city, in our two-week cruise, that was quite busy with tourists, not as busy as it is in the summer, but still quite busy and getting into the Vatican, without buying tickets in advance,  was not possible. By the way, if you want visit the Sistine Chapel and thd Vatican Museums you should always get your skip-the-line tickets for the Vatican Museums and the Sistine Chapel in advance.

Price

Cruising in the Mediterranean off-season has a big advantage in terms of price. Cruise fares are incredibly cheap. We paid €2162 for a window cabin for 3 people (with the all-inclusive fare) while the same cabin, for the same itinerary on the same ship with the all-inclusive in the middle of July it would cost €3998. Now, in those two sailings, we were able to take advantage of the super upgrade with Costa that is part of our gold status, so we booked a window cabin and we got upgraded to a suite, but again to do the same in peak season, we would have spent almost double.

Pros

The main pro of cruising the Mediterranean off-season is the fact that you can visit most of the ports with much fewer tourists. This will allow you to enjoy all the cities much more than at the peak of summer. Second pro is the fact that prices for the cruise, flights and accommodation pre and post cruise are much cheaper than they would be in the middle of summer. Also, in the winter, you don’t have to deal with some of the hot weather that you can find in the Mediterranean in the summer, making sightseeing much more comfortable. Lastly, if you cruise, like we did, in December, you will be able to see the cities all decorated for Christmas, which is quite enjoyable.

Cons

One of the major cons of cruising the Mediterranean in the winter is the fact that you will have much fewer choices of itineraries and ships. As we mentioned, very few cruise lines sail in the Mediterranean year-round with a very limited number of itineraries. The second con is the weather; in the winter, the weather is much more unpredictable than it is in the summer, and it might rain occasionally. Also, in the winter it won’t be warm enough to be able to go to the beach or to swim in the Mediterranean. Lastly, in the winter, the chances of getting rough seas are higher than in the summer. 

To summarise, we had a wonderful time on board the Costa Toscana cruising the Mediterranean in December. It allowed us to visit some ports with much fewer people and to enjoy the Christmas spirit in almost all the ports. The weather was quite good and we were able to have lunch by the beach in Barcelona, even in the middle of December, which made us very happy. For this reason, we think that cruising the Mediterranean off-season is a great opportunity and it should be considered, especially if you are on a budget.