This was our second river cruise with Viking: the first was in southern France. In both cruises, the service and ship were exceptionable. In Russia, the staff was superb. The tour guides who were with us for the duration were well-trained, highly informed, creative, friendly, considerate, and spoke English perfectly. The local tour guides were also excellent.

The food was very good, although it was not as exceptional as on the May 2011 cruise on the Rhone in France. Perhaps that was because we had a French chef.

The optional tours were also terrific, especially the behind the scenes at the Hermitage. The other passengers who went on the regular Hermitage tour missed out on seeing the splendors in the other facility. Also, we got in the museum before the normal opening hours and avoided the crush of August tourists. I would suggest that, during August, Viking try to get all passengers inside these prized places before the opening hours. Read more