Who Do You Think Is The BEST Russian River Cruise Company To Go With and Why?

[Suesan Jean]

I am again thinking of doing a Russian River Cruise.

It has been on and off for a few years now, but, I think the time is right, either this year or next. :D

A few years ago I was sold an AMA, now I don't know.

I would LOVE to hear ANY and ALL thoughts and opinions on this matter. :)

Which cruise company do You think is the best and why?

How many cruise lines have hotel stays in Moscow and Saint Petersburg?

What time of year would be the best time to go? Spring or Fall?

Who has the nicest cabins?

As in, "American style" showers, no sewer smells in the bathroom, comfortable beds, bathrooms that are not the size of an airplane toilet and are attractively decorated?

The Best food?

The Best on ship entertainment?

The Best staff?

The Nicest, Safest, most clean ship?

I hope I am not asking or expecting too much, but, these Russian River Cruises are not cheap, I hope/expect to get decent value for my $$.

Thank You for all your help, I DO appreciate it!!! :)

[Hydrokitty]

I am again thinking of doing a Russian River Cruise.

It has been on and off for a few years now, but, I think the time is right, either this year or next. :D

A few years ago I was sold an AMA, now I don't know.

I would LOVE to hear ANY and ALL thoughts and opinions on this matter. :)

Which cruise company do You think is the best and why?

How many cruise lines have hotel stays in Moscow and Saint Petersburg?

What time of year would be the best time to go? Spring or Fall?

Who has the nicest cabins?

As in, "American style" showers, no sewer smells in the bathroom, comfortable beds, bathrooms that are not the size of an airplane toilet and are attractively decorated?

The Best food?

The Best on ship entertainment?

The Best staff?

The Nicest, Safest, most clean ship?

I hope I am not asking or expecting too much, but, these Russian River Cruises are not cheap, I hope/expect to get decent value for my $$.

Thank You for all your help, I DO appreciate it!!! :) [/quote

 

We went with Vantage and I'll be honest, they are the only line I've cruised with (6 times) We went in late August and returned early Sept. (whole trip with Kiev extension was 21 days or so) and weather was perfect for sightseeing. One day of rain in St. Petersburg and it was only for several hours. It was lovely in Moscow and got cooler as we headed north but never what I would call uncomfortably cold. As far as I know Vantage is one of the very few who put you up in hotels in the heart of Moscow and St. Petersburg. Apparently the ships dock a fair ways from the cities and the traffic in both of them can eat up a lot of your sightseeing time. Vantage leases the Lev Tolstoy for it's russian cruises. It was old but nice, clean and since it didn't sink apparently safe enough! It was our 6th trip with Vantage so we were upgraded to a full suite and it was lovely. Friends we made on board (all Vantage travelers on the same tour) all said their rooms were small but comfortable. the bathrooms are bigger than airplanes but not huge like hotels. Usually they are very functional and do not encourage you to spend more time than necessary in them. The shower was fine, not what I have in my home, but I wasn't in NY I was in Russia! There were no smells of any kind in the bathroom, stateroom or on the ship. The plumbing functioned the way it's supposed to. The food was very good but not great. Breakfast was a buffet with delicious yogurt, cottage cheese, hot cereal and fruits. Lunch and dinner were served and as I said the food was very good but not great. There was always a meat, fish and vegetarian selection. The staff on board was very friendly and more than competent for example: I was sick one day and sent DH on the shore excursion and stayed in bed. He told housekeeper I wasn't feeling well and to just change towels and bring an extra pillow. She came in late morning with the pillow AND a cup of tea to check up on me and make sure I was ok. As for entertainment, on most river cruises it's very very limited and ours was no exception. There were a few lectures but nothing that would qualify as entertainment. There was an indoor swimming pool but nobody used it because it was in the bar and the water was greenish. I'm not saying it was dirty, just unappealing! From what I understand Vantage is not doing the river cruise in 2015, I think because the tolstoy is being renovated or Vantage is negotiating to put its own ship on the Neva. I also think Viking is the only line that has its own ships doing Russia now but their reputation tends to be hit or miss according to these boards. As for other lines all I know is what I read on CC. Russia was outstanding and I loved every minute of this trip. Hope this helps.

[id4elizabeth]

We went with Uniworld in June 2012. I personally liked the cooler temperatures that time of year and liked the longer daylight hours. But it did rain a lot. I thought Uniworld was great. The food was much better in Russia than we expected, and the food, wine, fresh veges, salads, were great - did not have a bad meal the whole time.

 

We did have a Junior Suite and I thought it was a very spacious room. Good sized marble bathroom. Excellent full sized glass shower with LOTS of elbow room, and very good pressure coming out of the shower head. It was removable so you could use it as a hand-held if you wanted. Lovely sink area with plenty of room for your stuff. Heated towel bar. HUGE double wide private balcony. King bed. Plenty of storage space. Separate desk-ish sort of area that was great for leaving out the laptop and plugging everything in. Flat screen TV. Two armchairs with little table between, in addition to desk chair. Very clean and serviced twice a day. In-room bolted down safe. BUT it's very "French" in decorative style which is typical of Uniworld - some prefer the more streamlined scandinavian style of Viking.

 

We did have some entertainment on board several evenings. A Balalaika Band of about 20 or so musicians came onboard one night for a concert. A few Russian language sessions. Another 2-person balalaika plus accordion group came another night, and a jazz piano guy that played most evenings.

 

It's going to be hard to get any of us to be able to tell you which is the "best" as I would think most of us have only taken this cruise once and so only have one line experience. But hopefully you'll get enough responses to get an idea.

[Suesan Jean]

Thank you both for your thoughts!

I do appreciate it! :)

Now I just have to decide which cruise line and when. :D

[plan09]

Suesan- I am new to this forum but looking at a Russian River trip in 2015 as well. I contacted Vantage, based on what I read somewhere on this forum, and they confirmed in an email that they are not offering the RR in 2015. See their response below.

 

customercare@vantagetravel.com

Jan 16 (12 days ago)

 

to me

Dear Ms.

 

Thank you for contacting Vantage Deluxe World Travel.

 

Unfortunately at this time we are not scheduled to run this program. I recommend checking our website periodically, if this plan changes, we will announce it there.

 

If you have any other questions, please let us know.

 

Best Regards,

 

Brian Kwash

Vantage Deluxe World Travel

Email Correspondent

[Hydrokitty]

Suesan- I am new to this forum but looking at a Russian River trip in 2015 as well. I contacted Vantage, based on what I read somewhere on this forum, and they confirmed in an email that they are not offering the RR in 2015. See their response below.

 

customercare@vantagetravel.com

Jan 16 (12 days ago)

 

to me

Dear Ms.

 

Thank you for contacting Vantage Deluxe World Travel.

 

Unfortunately at this time we are not scheduled to run this program. I recommend checking our website periodically, if this plan changes, we will announce it there.

 

If you have any other questions, please let us know.

 

Best Regards,

 

Brian Kwash

Vantage Deluxe World Travel

Email Correspondent

 

Yes, I heard that too and it's really too bad because I've been telling people on this board how great the trip was! I'm hoping they're substituting a land tour while awaiting restoration of the Tolstoy or completion of a new boat. I think if I were you, I would look at another company like Uniworld because the ports on the river portion from Moscow to St. Petersburg (or reverse) were absolutely fantastic and Kizhi still blows my mind everytime I think of it.

[rvmike]

We did the Volga last year with Grand Circle, they are the sister company to Overseas Adventure Travel. Went from Moscow to St. Petersburg and then on to Tallin by bus and finally Helsinki. We cruised the Douro with Vantage the previous year which was ok but dealing with the Boston office was a nightmare. Excursions and food was wonderful. We were on the ship for July 4th and they raised an American flag and played the anthem with the captain saluting and a fireworks show afterwards. We have done China, Tibet , South Africa, Egypt ,Turkey, Jordan with them and never had a problem. We are doing Costa Rica with them next year . Good Luck

Edited January 31, 2014 by rvmike