Russia St Petersburg to Moscow

[simonpjd]

Just back from a 11 day holiday St Petersburg to Moscow booked through Titan. We have been Ocean cruising many times and, while not expecting it to be as good, we were stunned with the difference.
Cabin dirty and smelly caused by 18th century plumbing and loos.
No mattress just a 2 inch sponge thing - dreadfully uncomfortable and I have had 3 appointments at the osteopath trying to get my back working again since our return.
Food unbelievable. No choice. One evening it was pickled cabbage soup , pancakes stuffed with cabbage and minced meat wrapped in cabbage. No fresh fruit on board at all.
Very very expensive, Excursions to the ballet in St Petersburg over £75 for a fairly mediocre Swan Lake. On the last day we had to be off the vessel by 0900 but flight not until 1800 so they put on a 75 minute boat trip - £70.
The Titan group was 46 people but they added all the other English speaking passengers so our tour guide had 96 to take care of.
Tips - they suggested 10 Euros a day but then extra for the bar staff and on board guides.
We were billed on board in Euros but this was converted to Rubles for payment at the end of the cruise and the rate was 10% worse that that available ashore - so they nicked an extra 10% off everyone by doing that.
Red Square. Everyone wants the icomic picture in front of St Basil's cathedral and Lenin's tomb. Red Square was closed - we didnt even get to look at it.
Anyone else braved Russia.
BTW - we also saw some wonderful sights.

[1965]

I haven't heard of Titan. Is it a travel company or a ship? I guess I need to google.
So sorry your cruise was awful. I've read lots of really great comments about the Russian river cruise experience with Grand Circle, Gate 1, and some others.

[we're sailing away....]

Thank you for the info .

[squarevanman]

Just googled this cruise as I am going to do the reverse cruise next year. I noticed in the write up that you would be met by the uniworld rep. Is this actually a uniworld holiday sold by titan I wonder?

[didicruiser]

Sorry that you had a bad experience. I returned from the Vantage Russia River cruise last week and had a fabulous time and wonderful food. The boat was old but immaculate. Outstanding!!

[pixiegirl-loves-travel]

We had our Russian River Cruise in July through Travel All Russia on a Vodohod ship. It was an older ship, but like didicruiser, it was spotlessly clean. It wasn't luxurious, but it was charming and well run. While the food was not my highlight, it was interesting to experience Russian style cuisine and there was always something I liked (and I'm a very picky eater). We always had a choice between meat, fish and vegeterian meals. The cruise itself was amazing and unforgettable, we met friends we'll keep for a lifetime. The experience was that good.

I'm sorry your experience wasn't a good one, and I hope you won't let it prevent you from future River cruise experiences.

[Coral]

Having sailed a river cruise and also having done Russia in hotels, hotels is definitely the way to go in Russia. Night and day difference!

The food we ate off the ship was fabulous. When I stayed in Russia in hotels, the restaurants we ate at were fine. The food we had on the ship was awful.

Russian food is not bad. The food they served on our ship was awful.

Hopefully years from now, you will remember the sites and not the ship

[id4elizabeth]

Sorry your experience was a bad one. We took the Uniworld cruise in May/June this year on the River Victoria and had a wonderful experience. The River Victoria was completely refrubished last year and was clean and modern, given that all the Russian cruise ship hulls are fairly old. The beds were hotel style (box spring and mattress) and very comfy, and the food was pretty good and we always had a choice between at least three entrees, with lots of fresh fruit and plenty of vegetables. While some of the excusions were optional and cost extra, almost everything was included, specifically the ballet (of Swan Lake in our case too) was included and did not cost any extra.

I don't see how this was a Uniworld cruise as suggested by poster "squarevanman" as the experience was so very different.

[simonpjd]

Well it seems we maybe were just unlucky. There was a Viking Cruises boat we saw most days and they had balconies!! We googled them when we got home and yes they had all mod cons and everthing looked they way we would have hoped it to be. But they paid a shed load more. As I say our trip was £1800 plus excusions etc. The Viking one was around £3500 - so I guess that is the difference.
BTW Titan is a holiday company, the cruise itself was run by Orthodox Cruises in Russia. I think all Titan did was arrange flights and leave it to Orthodox from arrival in Russia. We have written to Titan but, predictably with holiday companies, have had no reply.

[squarevanman]

I don't see how this was a Uniworld cruise as suggested by poster "squarevanman" as the experience was so very different.[/quote]

I have looked at the Titan site again and for 2013 they actually advertise one of their trips as Uniworld on the River Victoria. The OP does not state the ships name so maybe he could enlighten us.

[pixiegirl-loves-travel]

Originally Posted by simonpjd

Well it seems we maybe were just unlucky. There was a Viking Cruises boat we saw most days and they had balconies!! We googled them when we got home and yes they had all mod cons and everthing looked they way we would have hoped it to be. But they paid a shed load more. As I say our trip was £1800 plus excusions etc. The Viking one was around £3500 - so I guess that is the difference.
BTW Titan is a holiday company, the cruise itself was run by Orthodox Cruises in Russia. I think all Titan did was arrange flights and leave it to Orthodox from arrival in Russia. We have written to Titan but, predictably with holiday companies, have had no reply.

I think you were unlucky. That's what we paid for our Russia cruise (not including optional tours). I hope you'll gamble again with a different company. Budget doesn't have to mean bad.

[RARHouston]

We just returned from a St. Petersburg to Moscow cruise on a Masturflot ship (11 ships in their fleet) used by smarTours (one of Uniworld's tour companies). Gate 1 is also owned by Uniworld. The travel companies contract with the ship companies to provide the river transportation portion of the trip. The ship company sets the menus and provides the provisions to all the ships in their fleet. I am a picky eater and struggled with some of the food. I found the vegetarian entrees more edible, for the most part, than the meat dishes. The meat was often tough or contained connective tissue, bone, fat, or gristle. They always served a salad, soup, entree, and dessert. With all of that, even though there was usually some of it I didn't care for, I was never hungry. Yes, it was different. My husband and two other traveling companions were less picky. They said most of the fish meals were good, but they did have to watch out for the bones. I took plenty of packets of condiments, salad dressing, and snacks. There is a refrigerator in each room where you can keep whatever food and drink that you buy at grocery stores. I found great ham and cheese slices. You can't take it to the dining room, but you can eat and drink whatever you like in your room.

Our rooms were cleaned daily and we had no complaints about the cleanliness. Our sheets were changed once during the 10 nights on board. Bath towels were changed every three days with hand towels changed daily. The beds are a bench seat (as you would find in a restaurant booth), padded and upholstered with vinyl, topped with a fabric-covered two inch foam pad. It was firm, but not uncomfortable. People who like a soft mattress might find it more uncomfortable than I did. The bathroom is small, but not significantly smaller than some of the larger cruise ships I've been on.

The cost of our tour included airfare from New York and was a bargain. We saw the major sights in St. Petersburg and Moscow as well as smaller villages and cities along the river route. There were extra excursions that you could pay for if you wanted to see places such as Catherine's Palace, the Armory Museum, the Moscow Metro, the circus, etc.

If you like the convenience of sleeping in the same place each night, not having to pack and unpack, or hunting for a restaurant with reasonable prices and having to take chances on what you'll get, then you might like these slower paced river cruises, but you do have to be adaptive to the different food and conditions. I have pictures of the cabin if anyone wants to see them.

[simonpjd]

Update.
We wrote to Titan explaining some of the points raised in my original post. TBH we just wanted them to be more honest in the brochure if this is the holiday you will get in Russia. You cannot describe a holiday like this as 'luxury' etc.
Well it appears Titan have been inundated with complaints from fellow passengers. We have been offered £150 each in cash and a similar amount off any Titan holiday valid for 3 years. Now I think we all know that holiday companies hate handing out compensation money so they must have realised how poor it was.
They also said they warned Orthodox earlier in the year about the standard of the food. Now they have dropped Orthodox so this cruise will no longer be available through Titan.
This is the first time we have ever done anything like this (even when we booked a Greenland cruise but never got further than Iceland) and it vindicates our thoughts on what was still a great trip but which should have been so much better.

[pixiegirl-loves-travel]

I'm glad you got some validation and compensation.

Again, please don't let this spoil other river cruises for you. As I said before, budget doesn't have to mean bad. I called our cruise the Best Western Paper Plate cruise, for being on a budget ship. But in reality, the ship- while far from luxurous, was quite nice. The rooms were basic, but functional and clean, and the staff and tours were amazing, the food decent. I wouldn't change a single thing.

May your next cruise be a fabulous one!

[2retiredcanucks]

Originally Posted by simonpjd

Just back from a 11 day holiday St Petersburg to Moscow booked through Titan. We have been Ocean cruising many times and, while not expecting it to be as good, we were stunned with the difference.
Cabin dirty and smelly caused by 18th century plumbing and loos.
No mattress just a 2 inch sponge thing - dreadfully uncomfortable and I have had 3 appointments at the osteopath trying to get my back working again since our return.
Food unbelievable. No choice. One evening it was pickled cabbage soup , pancakes stuffed with cabbage and minced meat wrapped in cabbage. No fresh fruit on board at all.
Very very expensive, Excursions to the ballet in St Petersburg over £75 for a fairly mediocre Swan Lake. On the last day we had to be off the vessel by 0900 but flight not until 1800 so they put on a 75 minute boat trip - £70.
The Titan group was 46 people but they added all the other English speaking passengers so our tour guide had 96 to take care of.
Tips - they suggested 10 Euros a day but then extra for the bar staff and on board guides.
We were billed on board in Euros but this was converted to Rubles for payment at the end of the cruise and the rate was 10% worse that that available ashore - so they nicked an extra 10% off everyone by doing that.
Red Square. Everyone wants the icomic picture in front of St Basil's cathedral and Lenin's tomb. Red Square was closed - we didnt even get to look at it.
Anyone else braved Russia.
BTW - we also saw some wonderful sights.

I too am sorry for your bad experience. We sailed from Moscow to St. Petersbourg this September on the AMA Katarina. Had great meals, friendly staff (the cruise director was full of himself and rarely seen)
We were kept busy on bus tours in both cities. Traffic in Moscow as you may know is HORRIBLE.