I went w/my aunt on this trip last May. We'd been to Russia before, and I speak Russian decently. If you don't speak Russian, you need to stick w/your guides, who were very good. Most people you will encounter while touring do not speak English, and most signs are in Cyrillic. The staff is terrific, supportive and helpful. Embarkation and disembarkation went smoothly, food was excellent (eat as much Russian ice cream as you can; it's the best!!!) and well-prepared, but don't accept the "Russian" food as authentic; it isn't. The cabin was comfortable enough, but the air conditioning didn't always work well in the room, even when it was cool in the hallways. Be ware: boats stop very far away from the center of town, where things to see are usually situated. This is probably not an issue for most people, but if you want to go into St. Petersburg or Moscow not w/the tour, you need to take a taxi. Since I speak Russian, we could do that. The staff informed me that it would cost $40. one-way into town, which isn't terribly expensive. The taxi driver gave me his cell phone # should we need him again. When we wanted to return to the boat, I texted him, and he was unavailable, so he called his dispatcher, who called me for our location. She quoted me $7. to return to the ship! I don't know who's getting what kickback, but as I said, this is probably not an issue for most travelers. The presentations about Russian history were very interesting.

What I would suggest is Viking having, where their able, shuttle buses for people who want to go into town to explore on their own; it could be at an extra charge. The biggest gripe I have with this trip is that there wasn't enough time for self-exploration or shopping! There was a folk dance performance held outside the ship in St. Petersburg one evening, but it was an extra $75. apiece; that's expensive for a boat performance. The only other things I would like to mention is that when we left the ship one day to explore Moscow, the gangplank was set at a very dangerous steep angle, when we left our ship to go to the airport in Moscow, everyone had to walk down a long pier in the rain to be able to access our bus, and since the trip from the boat to the airport is over 2 hours (Moscow traffic is HORRIBLE), it would have been nice of Viking to provide a snack/lunch for everyone, because a lot of time passes between leaving the boat and going through security in the airport. BTW: the ship does NOT take Amex; it would have been nice if they had.