Moscow One Day Excursion from St. Petersburg

[Texan1636]

I would love to hear from anybody who has taken Regent's one day excursion from St. Petersburg to Moscow.

We are contemplating a Regent cruise in Summer of 2010, with three days in St. Petersburg. My wife and I are in our 40's and will be traveling with a high school-aged daughter. This particular cruise (versus a cruise in Mediterranean or elsewhere) is our focus mainly because our daughter really wants to visit Russia (after becoming interested in Russian history at school). Our daughter would like to do the Moscow one day trip. I have only seen a brief description of it on Regent's website (the website says that it includes a visit to Lenin's tomb, which is something we definitely would want to make sure is included).

I have seen posts about similar excursions offered by other cruise lines, but I hoping specifically for feedback on the excursion offered by Regent.

Thanks.

[gwesq]

I did this excursion about 5 or 6 years ago.
I still consider it one of the best, if not THE best, excursions I've ever done.
It was an unforgettable experience.
That said, I will be going back to St. Pete on Voyager this summer(3rd time Baltics cruise), and my partner has not done the Moscow excursion, and we are undecided on whether to do the Moscow excursion. There is so much to see in St. Pete itself. 3 days isn't enough. She is an artist, and certainly wants to spend more than the few hours usually alloted for a Hermitage tour. We plan to get to the HErmitage at least twice during our journey. So spending one (VERY LONG) day in Moscow takes away from St. Pete.
But there is so much art in Moscow as well.
And so much culture.
And it is a different place than St, Petersburg. It felt more "russian" to me.
The Kremlin is beautiful.
And if your daughter has an interest in RUssian history, then by all means, DO the Moscow excursion.
(But if you're a nervous flyer, I suggest anti-anxiety medication before boarding the Aeroflot charter flight :-) )

So there's a non-answer for you! :-)

[JACKHAWK]

We were on the Baltic cruise about 1.5 years ago. Moscow was more of an ordeal than a pleasant excursion due mainly to the length of time spent in transportation. We spent at least 12 hours of our excursion in buses, planes and airports just getting to and from. Missed viewing Lenin's tomb, arrived too late due to transportation delays. Saw very little, only about 5 hours of trip was sightseeing which included a long lunch stop. Wouldn't do it again unless it was via train or some other arrangement. Plenty to see in St. Pete's. Sorry to be so negative. We're huge fans of Regent and their excursions but this was poorly planned. I should add our flight was not a charter which would probably make a difference.

[alidor]

Saw this posted on this forum a few months ago and thought it was a great idea to the one day tour alternative offered by the cruise lines. Assuming you are flying in or out of Copenhagen, Stockholm or even London and Amsterdam, you can add Moscow at the beginning or end of the cruise for pretty much the same price as the one day trips. The air fare can be cheap from these cities to Moscow and you can stay for 2 or 3 nights, plus tours and come up pretty close to the price of just the one day tours. You get a more thorough visit and much more relaxed one for the price of a one day tour.

[Dreps]

We did the Baltics cruise in August, and it was terrific. Three days in St. Petersburg is not even enough time to see everything. Friends of ours did a Moscow trip arranged through Red October after disembarking in Stockholm and found it very worthwhile. Unfortunately, we had already arranged our flights and we really didn't have the extra time to join them. I think as others have said that it is much better to do Moscow either before or after the cruise. The one-day excursion is extremely long and more costly than it had been. I am sure it is good, but you already go nonstop on this cruise with no sea days unless you are doing one of the expanded cruises in 2010. Even with a longer cruise, I would recommend not taking away from your time in St. Petersburg.

[Texan1636]

Thanks for the responses!

[UUNetBill]

That said, I will be going back to St. Pete on Voyager this summer.
Gwesq - do you know which sailing you're going on yet? We're booked on the July18th trip. . .first time to the Baltics; can't wait!!

:)

[gwesq]

Gwesq - do you know which sailing you're going on yet? We're booked on the July18th trip. . .first time to the Baltics; can't wait!!

:)

We're on the Aug 28 Stockholm to London, but I think we're getting off the last night in Amsterdam to spend a few days there.

It'll be a nice place to spend the Labor Day holiday.

[RMarc]

We are booked on 7/4/2010 Regent Voyager cruise to the Bsltics and Russia. Although we, i.e., my adult son and I, have traveled on other Regent cruises, we have never taken this cruise. I have independently visited Copenhagen, St. Petersburg and Moscow. We have decided to take the one-day excursion to Moscow. I thought that it would be worthwhile and my son was interested. Moscow and St. Petersburg are quite different from each other. We are struggling with what other excursion to book for the cruise in the different places that we will visit. Have you any information regarding those choices and options.

[linda_22003]

We went in 2006, and those who went on the Moscow excursion said it was exhausting because of the length of travel. (And they were by no means elderly). My husband and I stayed in St. Petersburg because we felt there was MORE than enough to see there. I would do Moscow as part of a separate, longer Russian trip, but that's my own preference.