Viking Waterway of the Czars

[Pam in CA]

Again, thanks for the info and the suggestion to bring the ungrounded to grounded adapter. I have the squid but it's awfully heavy! I'm going to my local travel store right nearby to see what they have for 220 > 110 adapters. I checked the adapter that I have and it wouldn't fit a round hole.

[relevart]

When I got off the plane in Moscow I found an ATM and took out about $100 in Rubles. I believe it is 27 rubles per dollar. That lasted my until I got to St. Petersburg where I got some more rubles. It worked out fine.

[Pam in CA]

Thanks... that's very helpful. I was thinking of getting $250 from my bank before I go since they have a 1x charge.

[WarEagle76]

Pam, just back yesterday and had a great trip. We were very lucky with weather, no rain until boarded the bus to come home in Moscow. I know some of these are repeats but need to get back to work and plan full review this weekend. What day do you leave?

 

-- what is the currency onboard? Euros? Can I use $$?

Pam, they use the “Unit” for everything onboard which is equivalent to 1 Euro. Last week, 1 unit or Euro equaled 35 Russian Roubles. All of the prices listed for drinks, laundry, on board are equal to one unit so do not be confused thinking they are in dollars, they are actually in Euros. As lotoarmy stated, at the end of the cruise, you can settle your bill with credit card or currency and mix and match to make up the total. Just about everywhere people accepted US Dollars, Euros or Roubles. When you are interested in something, you just state your preferred payment and they whip out a calculator (the true international language) and let you know how much. One exception was at the circus in Moscow when we wanted to buy a program and they would only accept Roubles. Other vendors at the circus accepted US Dollars.

 

-- are tips automatically included on your onboard account or do you tip individually?

You can add tips to your onboard account. We had left over US Dollars so used those in the tip envelopes provided.

 

-- if you have laundry done or go to the hair dresser, are the charges added to your onboard account or do you pay at the time?

All are charged to your onboard account. No money is accepted. Exception, at midnight prior to last full day, your account is closed and you pay onboard for anything purchased after that time. Settlement of bill occurs last full day on board in the library. Several times (early morning and around lunch time) were scheduled the last full day to settle your bill.

 

-- what currency should I bring for onshore? Rubles? Euros? Do they accept $$ or Euros in shops?

We had some time in St. Petersburg upon arrival waiting for other passengers and exchanged some money while waiting. We took $50 in 1 dollar bills and $100 in 5 dollar bills and used most of them for tipping bus drivers and local tour guides. You cannot get Roubles in the U.S. before leaving.

 

-- for dinner, do most women wear dresses or slacks and a nice top? Some of both, didn’t seem to matter. More people dressed up first night and for Captain’s dinner.

 

-- in the library, is the selection of books pretty good? are they in English? Didn’t really spend much time in there so can’t answer this question.

 

did you tip the tour guide or bus driver for each tour? If so, what currency? You have a Viking River guide assigned to you at beginning of tour and they stay with you for duration. Recommended tip is $5 per cabin per day and you tip and end of last tour. Bus drivers and local tour guides are tipped at the end of your tour in that city. For St. Petersburg and Moscow you had the same bus driver and local tour guide both days.

 

-- is there some place onboard where you can change $ for Rubles? (In case I don't bring enough.) No. However, there are many places and times to exchange while touring. Also, if you want some to begin with get some at airport upon arrival.

 

Regarding the converter, we had this problem but front desk had adapter we used for entire trip.

 

Steve

[Pam in CA]

Steve,

 

Thank you so very much for your informative response. I went to my bank today to see if I could get some Roubles before leaving but they weren't sure. They'll get back to me tomorrow or Monday. I'll bring my leftover Euros from my recent cruise as well as $$$.

 

Pat and I leave on 9/5, arriving in Moscow on 9/6.

[WarEagle76]

For anyone interested, just posted review of our journey on Viking Surkov (8/6/2006) in new thread.

 

Steve