St. Petersburg to Moscow

[TequilaLady]

Hello fellow cruisers. We will be sailing this July on the Silhouette to the Baltic’s. We are interested in going on the offshore excursion to Moscow from our stop in St. Petersburg. Anyone out there who has done this trip that can give us any information and maybe the pros and cons of this excursion?

 

 

 

[jelayne]

We haven’t done St Pete’s to  Moscow but last year we left the Connie in India to go to the Taj Mahal.  We booked it thru a agency in India.  It was 5* hotels, meals  private car and driver & guide.  We paid $700pp vs the ships excursion which was $2500pp.  In talking to those who went on the ships excursion it was good but 30 people, Van, 3+ star hotel, no flexibility and on the same flights as we were.  

My advice is to check with companies like SPB and see if they offer a private tour.  You might save a bunch of $$ and have a fantastic experience.  Heck how often are you going to go to Russia?

[upwarduk]

I really would book the excursion via Celebrity.

I say this, because if something goes wrong and you cannot get into to St Petersburg at least you will get your money refunded.

We were on Silhouette last year and entry to St Petersburg was denied, due to high winds on July 1/2 nd 2018. The entry channel is narrow and the Captain said that we were too large to turn. Monies from our booked excursions were refunded to our OBA that evening. 

I was speaking to someone after we had disembarked who had booked their excursions via their TA in the U.K. and although they had spoken to them, no money had been refunded at that point.

Edited May 15, 2019 by upwarduk

[wendyam76]

This is one of the few excursions I would recommend using Celebrity for. In 2016 we had the exact same issue as upwarduk although we did get one day in St Petersburg. For the private companies, for tours in St Petersburg, they refunded the day we lost but I didn’t hear about anyone who had booked the Moscow trip privately. SPB also tried to fit in as much as they could to the one day we had - for the non Moscow trip I can thoroughly recommend SPB.

Wendy 

[4774Papa]

7 hours ago, TequilaLady said:

Hello fellow cruisers. We will be sailing this July on the Silhouette to the Baltic’s. We are interested in going on the offshore excursion to Moscow from our stop in St. Petersburg. Anyone out there who has done this trip that can give us any information and maybe the pros and cons of this excursion?

 

 

 

We did Russia on a wonderful river cruise that included 5 nights in Moscow and 4 in St. Pete, as well as a 7 day river cruise.

Great trip.

 

I recommend not doing a quickie excursion like this.  You need more time in Moscow to enjoy the city. In particular, I would never do the ship's excursion like this.   We were on the Eclipse from Chile to San Diego and did a four day tour of Cusco and Macho Picchu for $799 pp while the shorter ship's excursion was $3700 pp.

[ipeeinthepool]

4 hours ago, upwarduk said:

I really would book the excursion via Celebrity.

I say this, because if something goes wrong and you cannot get into to St Petersburg at least you will get your money refunded.

We were on Silhouette last year and entry to St Petersburg was denied, due to high winds on July 1/2 nd 2018. The entry channel is narrow and the Captain said that we were too large to turn. Monies from our booked excursions were refunded to our OBA that evening. 

I was speaking to someone after we had disembarked who had booked their excursions via their TA in the U.K. and although they had spoken to them, no money had been refunded at that point.

 

I would have absolutely no reservations about getting a refund from SPB if the itinerary changed.  We had excellent experiences with them in St Petersburg as well as several other cities.  They are a first class operation that offers tours in a number of ports in the Baltic.  I would use them in a heartbeat in any city.

[citronella]

Téquilalady,  I’m assuming that you have already been to St. Petersburg and now want to visit Moscow. It’s a long (17 hours) and expensive tour with Celebrity and also non refundable. Half of your time will be spent on the train.

[Fogfog]

We used Dancing Bear for St P and had an incredible 2 days - jammed packed and great food.

They do offer a Moscow option. Worth taking a look ...and asking about refunds if unable to dock

 

 

[capsplace]

Just now, citronella said:

Téquilalady,  I’m assuming that you have already been to St. Petersburg and now want to visit Moscow. It’s a long (17 hours) and expensive tour with Celebrity and also non refundable. Half of your time will be spent on the train.

I totally agree with Citronella's comments.  If you haven't been to St Petersburg, don't waste your precious time travelling to Moscow.  St Petersburg has so much beauty and history.  Spectacular architecture.  It's called the Venice of the North.  Take a canal ride.  Take the tour out of town to Catherine's Palace and see the Amber Room.    Also, Peter the Great's Summer Palace, and of course the Hermitage.  And you may be there for the White Nights on the Neva River, an experience you'll not have anywhere else.

[TequilaLady]

Thanks everyone for all your information. We have never been to St. Petersburg, so I think we will take advantage of the two days there. Thank you ipeeinthepool for sharing your experience, I guess it never occurred to me that there is a possibility of the ship unable to enter port. 

Edited May 16, 2019 by TequilaLady

[capsplace]

So happy you waived the Moscow run. When we were in St Pete (on our own, no cruise) even the locals said St Petersburg has more to offer than Moscow (albeit they’re biased, certainly).  But so true.  Enjoy your time in St Petersburg.  Peter the Great wanted his city to be like the European cities he fell in love with and created his city to be the same. The canals and the architecture reflect his vision.  

[capsplace]

And we were at the river front at 1 AM for the White Nights festivities.   Tons of passenger boats on the river and then the bridges open at 1am for several hours.  Cool lights, etc.   It’s the only time of day when the bridges open, allowing boat traffic through.  The bridges stay open until around 4am.  This practice runs year round.  As we were told, just don’t be on the wrong side of the river from your ultimate designation when the bridges open. You’ll be there for hours until you’re able to cross.  Much unlike our bridge traffic in the US. 

Edited May 16, 2019 by capsplace

[ipeeinthepool]

If you decide to book one with SPB or one of the other private tour groups, remember to ask for the Cruise Critic discount.  They will all discount their rates.

[karli_ratte]

I would definitely go for a private tour. The recommended private tour Groups like SPB won't charge you until you've actually made it to St. Petersburg (on a 2 day tour you pay after day 1). We'll be going on a 2-day private excursion (Partner, daughter, me) in August. They didn't want a down payment in advance and the entire excursion with a wonderful schedule, private van, driver etc. costs us about 100€ more in total (!) than if we had booked with Celebrity and spent the 2 days on a crowded bus with no flexibility to our schedule at all.