We wanted to see more of Russia than just Moscow and St. Petersburg, so we looked at the inland waterway between those cities. Most river cruise companies on this route stop at the same places but we chose Viking as it was the first foreign company to develop the route and operates its own boats, giving it greater control.
The cruise includes three days in both Moscow and St Petersburg. In both ...
We took our very enjoyable 1st ever river cruise - Viking’s River of the Tsars. The quality of accommodation, services, food, and tours was in all cases very good.
Our chief disappointment was their disregard for a very simple way to operate in a more environmentally sustainable way by reducing their use of single use water bottles which they pass out by the hundreds daily. Despite repeated ...
This trip gave my husband and me an opportunity to explore St Petersburg and Moscow with the added bonus of seeing some pretty villages and scenery along the way. It was an added bonus that we could unpack our belongings and have a familiar comfortable room to sleep in each night.
We were very lucky with sunny weather, and found the use of our own balcony a great treat so we were able to have a ...
We chose this trip since we were interested in doing the route from St. Petersburg to Moscow. It was fantastic. The shore excursions chosen by the ship were amazing. And a big KUDOS to the tour guides both on the ship and privately. Special mention must be made to Valeria. She is first class as a guide and lecturer on Russian history. We had two lectures given by her and it was ...
We chose this cruise for the two end destinations - St. Petersburg which we had seen briefly in the past, and Moscow which we had no special knowledge about. The ports in between were not "must see" destinations but were very pleasant places to spend a short amount of time. There is very little jaw-dropping scenery as there are in fjords, but the birch forests are calming and beautiful. The ...
Sorry I am late posting this, but we were on the Viking Helgi for the first cruise of the season, which left St Petersburg (SPB) at the beginning of May. We also took Viking’s hotel extensions, in both SPB and Moscow and flights were included (as they are when booking in the UK). Our flight out was OK and the transfer driver was waiting to pick us up on arrival in SPB.
The hotel used in SPB ...
We landed in St. Petersburg and were met by the Viking rep who gathered us and got us on the bus. We arrived on our ship and were in our room very quickly. The ship was older then the other Viking ships we were on. The layout was similar, but noticeably different, and clearly older. All of the same services were available.
Russia was more amazing then we had imagined. The museums, ...
The last time i was in Russia, it was the USSR and I was 20 years old. This was our second river cruise, the first on AMA Vietnam/Cambodia and service wise, that was my reference point. Russia of 2017 is an entirely different country with a developing middle class, outrageous traffic in Moscow and a renewed sense of nationalism and attachment to the Russian orthodox church. Surprisingly - given ...
Rural look at Russian interior.
Paid for transfer package - Our flight was late so we were left our own to get to the ship from St Petersburg. We gave advance notice of the delay.
Some of the bus versus walking excursions were more walking than desired or anticipated.
Talks on board should be recorded and streamed so passengers can watch in their cabin at a better time. Sometimes there ...
We took this cruise to see places we never thought we would see. The excursions were very good, but the excursion to the northern island, while interesting, was a long way there and back. My major complaint was the lack of shipboard entertainment. The piano player and singer were okay. The trivia contests were okay. All together, there was very little evening entertainment. The daytime education ...