Uniworld - Moscow to St Petersburg May 20th, 2011

Just signed up to cruise on the River Victoria from Moscow to St Petersburg on May 20TH - It will be our first River Cruise and wanted some advice from previous River Cruisers, and / or other passengers for this trip.

Seabee22 and Mate:)

Dear Seabee22 and Mate

We are going on the same trip on June 13, 2011. May was just a little early for us. I am very excited about this trip and studying the books from the library about Moscow and St Petersburg. Those Russian names will never just roll off my tongue.

We have done one other river cruise, the River Queen, Castles on the Rhine, and Mosel, in 2008. Enjoyed it so much we are back again. Maybe we can at least share some info or at least sources of said info. I wish more people were on this river cruise thread. It is too bad more people don't know about it.

I also see you are going on a TA from Barcelona to Galveston 10/28/2011. We just got back from the same trip only on the Voyager of the Seas. It was so much fun...one of the best trips we have ever done. We went over to Barcelona several days early to see some of those sites and I would recommend that for sure. One of our 'excursions' to Montserrat, and the Frexinet winery was actually planned by one of the cruise critic members. There were 50 of us on the bus! The other day we took a bike tour of the city with our family members who were on the trip with us and saw many sites all over the city. It was a lot of fun too. On the sea days on the ship we had so many fun things to do it was hard to decide some days what we wanted to do. I hope you have such a trip!

You can contact me at tlglotz at sbcglobal dot net if you have any specific questions.

Lynette

We traveled to Russia with Vantage in 2007. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THAT YOU GO TO http://WWW.RUSSIABYRIVER.COM AND BUY THE BOOK “RUSSIA BY RIVER”. We received the book as part of our tour. It normally costs about $18. It gives a description of every thing you see as you glide along the canals, rivers, and lakes. It’s pocket size and includes maps, pictures, and info about each town visited. We loved it and other passengers we traveled with often expressed the wish that they had known about the book. Have a wonderful trip. It was one of the most memorable trips we've ever been on and loved every minute!

To zogrand,

We are taking AMA's new ship the Katarina in September and appreciate your mentioning the guide book. I'm going to order it today. So glad you had a great time on your Russian River Cruise! We are looking forward to it.

Sheila

We traveled to Russia with Vantage in 2007. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THAT YOU GO TO http://WWW.RUSSIABYRIVER.COM AND BUY THE BOOK “RUSSIA BY RIVER”. We received the book as part of our tour. It normally costs about $18. It gives a description of every thing you see as you glide along the canals, rivers, and lakes. It’s pocket size and includes maps, pictures, and info about each town visited. We loved it and other passengers we traveled with often expressed the wish that they had known about the book. Have a wonderful trip. It was one of the most memorable trips we've ever been on and loved every minute!

Thanks, I'm going to look up that book right away as well.

We traveled to Russia with Vantage in 2007. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THAT YOU GO TO WWW.RUSSIABYRIVER.COM AND BUY THE BOOK “RUSSIA BY RIVER”. We received the book as part of our tour. It normally costs about $18. It gives a description of every thing you see as you glide along the canals, rivers, and lakes. It’s pocket size and includes maps, pictures, and info about each town visited. We loved it and other passengers we traveled with often expressed the wish that they had known about the book. Have a wonderful trip. It was one of the most memorable trips we've ever been on and loved every minute!

Thank you so very much for the recommendation of the book... I will do that as my wife and I really look forward to this trip.... We normally do the large cruise ships , however wanted to try a River Cruise - so Russia here we come... :D:D

cruzingrama:

Thanks for the message and good thoughts ... WE decided on May 20Th for our Moscow Trip as we want to get away before Summer....... Also the October T/A on th new magic will our next event for 2011....We are really excited about this one as we have been in contact with many fellow travelers on this trip on CC..... ( even have a Club formed )

Hope to be able to connect with some people who will be on the Victoria River boat from Moscow to St Petersburg.

Seabee22

cruzingrama:

Thanks for the message and good thoughts ... WE decided on May 20Th for our Moscow Trip as we want to get away before Summer....... Also the October T/A on th new magic will our next event for 2011....We are really excited about this one as we have been in contact with many fellow travelers on this trip on CC..... ( even have a Club formed )

Hope to be able to connect with some people who will be on the Victoria River boat from Moscow to St Petersburg.

Seabee22

Took me a while to find this thread again,

Hope you have as much fun on your T/A. Having the CC group helps to build the excitement. Plus they planned a golf tournament on board, the cabin crawl, the slot pull, and the poker run. Can't do most of those on a river cruise, but I just don't see the interest in CC on the river boats. They just don't know what they are missing. Wish you were on OUR boat! We chose our date because we are sailing with another couple from Canada whom we met on our first river cruise. We have already been to visit them at their home and looking forward to joining them again on this trip. We wanted the weather to 'warm up' a little before we went. Hopefully it will be just right!

I looked at the website for the "Russia by River" book... and the website was last updated in 2009. If someone decides to order one (or more) of these books, could you post and let the rest of us know if the link is still active?? The "contact" link isn't anymore.

I ordered the book on line after it was posted by Zogrand and sent my check to a P.O. Box number in Colorado. The envelope was returned to me marked "Return to Sender" with a note that said "This is NOT the box # for this business or person -- which ever!!!" I take it the company is out of business.

Sheila

Hi,

I just googled the "Russia By River" book and Amazon.com has it starting at $182 to $800. It's only a paperback!!!!!!!!!!! I'm sure that I can find a book with info on the various stops on our trip for a lot less. Do these people think they have gold?????

Sheila

Hi Everyone,

I went to BarnesandNoble.com and http://www.abe.com and found used copies of the book for sale under $10 plus shipping. I ordered one from Barnes and Noble and will report back when it arrives. The sites tell what condition they are in. The book is out of print now.

Sheila

I'm sorry I recommended a book that isn't so easy to get! I have also found reasonably priced copies ($3 - $11) on Alibris.com.

I saw a different one that was a specifically river cruise one. Sorry the URL wouldn't post on CC

Let's try this one:

<http://www.abebooks.com/servlet/SearchResults?an=howard+sher&sts=t&tn=Russia+By+River%3A+the+Moscow-Petersburg+Cruise&x=57&y=13>

Hi Zogrand,

Thanks. Found it on barnesandnoble.com and also on abe.com and alibris.com.

Kellie Poodle, its title is "Russia By River" by Howard Shernoff and Tanya Samofalova. It's amazing that the copies sell from $2.13 to over $200.00. I guess people will try to make money any way they can.

Sheila

:confused: Hopefully we will hear from someone traveling on the Victoria - Moscow to St Petersburg - May 20 Th trip. This is our first Riverboat Cruise - and would like to meet up with fellow travelers.

We are on a Carnival Magic Roll Call for the October Transatlantic Cruise - (Barcelona to Galveston) and have made many, many, CC Contacts. The roll call has over 3, 400 posting already and we are still 9 months away.

Going to go on line and order the book, so thanks for the information.

Seabee22 - Plano. Texas :D

Hi seabee22,

We only found one person on line when we did our Rhine/Moselle River Boat Cruise last July. Since there are so few passengers aboard the river boats, you usually won't find many people posting on CC unlike the ocean cruise ships. Our roll call for September has about 8 so far and I am simply amazed at that number.

Sheila

Took me a while to find this thread again,

Hope you have as much fun on your T/A. Having the CC group helps to build the excitement. Plus they planned a golf tournament on board, the cabin crawl, the slot pull, and the poker run. Can't do most of those on a river cruise, but I just don't see the interest in CC on the river boats. They just don't know what they are missing. Wish you were on OUR boat! We chose our date because we are sailing with another couple from Canada whom we met on our first river cruise. We have already been to visit them at their home and looking forward to joining them again on this trip. We wanted the weather to 'warm up' a little before we went. Hopefully it will be just right!

Yes, the River Boat threads are hard to find - as I forgot where it was also. I still have not contacted anyone on our trip for May, but as you said -- there just isn't that much interest from the River Boat Cruisers. Our T/A group --- on the Magic in Oct. is a very active roll call... and we have many of the activities you mentioned - scheduled for our crossing.

Stay warm - there is another cold blast headed our way this week. Seabee22:D

We traveled to Russia with Vantage in 2007. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THAT YOU GO TO WWW.RUSSIABYRIVER.COM AND BUY THE BOOK “RUSSIA BY RIVER”. We received the book as part of our tour. It normally costs about $18. It gives a description of every thing you see as you glide along the canals, rivers, and lakes. It’s pocket size and includes maps, pictures, and info about each town visited. We loved it and other passengers we traveled with often expressed the wish that they had known about the book. Have a wonderful trip. It was one of the most memorable trips we've ever been on and loved every minute!

I second this recommendation! I was the only one on our Viking Russian River trip with this book, and made lots of friends! - people were always asking where we were and wanted to check out the maps/information. It added greatly to our trip with little bits of information/history about the sights we were passing. You will be happy to have it with you!

I second this recommendation! I was the only one on our Viking Russian River trip with this book, and made lots of friends! - people were always asking where we were and wanted to check out the maps/information. It added greatly to our trip with little bits of information/history about the sights we were passing. You will be happy to have it with you!

I found the Book - "Russia by River " - Author - Howard Shernoff via alibris.com for $ 2.14 ( plus shipping ) and it is being shipped presently.

We are really getting excited about this trip in May - and have our airline travel all set, and our TA will be getting our Visa in a few more weeks, as they are only good for a short length of time. My Shipmate ( DW) is already looking at Russia websites, at what to buy - etc. Seabee22:D

I to bought that book after reading a recommendation by CC members. It is excellent!!! I think I only paid about $10 including S&H from the U.S. to Canada. I also bought a copy for our friends that were going with us. We went with AMA and lo and behold weren't they selling that same book in the ship's gift store....and double the price lol. It is worth buying though and a nice keepsake afterwards.

It has been a quest of ours since we booked the cruise .... and our local stores do not carry it any longer, or were Simply out of it.... so I went on several search sites until I found it on alibris.com - in a Goodwill Shop in San Francisco...... I also bought a few other books they listed (Used Military, etc. )

Seabee22

:)

I second this recommendation! I was the only one on our Viking Russian River trip with this book, and made lots of friends! - people were always asking where we were and wanted to check out the maps/information. It added greatly to our trip with little bits of information/history about the sights we were passing. You will be happy to have it with you!

Hi .... We received our Book today as I ordered it on line .... and it only cost a few dollars. IT is a very small but very well written book.... and we are excited to have it prior to our trip in May.

Thanks again for your recommendation !!!

Seabee22 - Plano, Texas:)

To Seabee22,

Great! Hopefully, I'll get my book soon. I ordered it around the same time as you did.

Sheila