Russia

In your opinion, which cruiseline/cruiseship is the best to cruise to Russia? Thank you.

Did the Baltic cruise once and went on the Regal Princess. We find staying on the ship after port vsits enjoyable.

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Did a Baltics cruise a few years ago on Brilliance of the Seas. Had a fabulous time. Honestly, a cruise like that is really all about the ports/itinerary and less about the ship. I really don't think you can go wrong.

Did Royal caribbean out of Copenhagen, currently Serenade of the Seas.

We did a Russian River cruise with Grand Circle a few years ago. It was 4 nights in Moscow, 6 nights on the rivers and canals and 4 nights in St. Petersburg. The extra nights allowed us to see so much more.

There is no best that applies to all people. Best varies by things the person prefers.

Keith

Pick one that spends 3 days in SPB

Honestly they will all do the same route & you will be so tired after spending 2-3 days of tours you will just want to eat & sleep

Book private tours in SPB ..smaller groups are better you see more & are not waiting for 30+ people to be back on the bus to get to the next attraction

Check out the Baltic forum for more info

I agree that if you can afford it pick an itinerary that spends 3 nights and close to SPB. Although I loved our Star Princess Baltic cruise I would have preferred to skip Estonia and spent 3 nights in SPB.

Pick one that spends 3 days in SPB

Honestly they will all do the same route & you will be so tired after spending 2-3 days of tours you will just want to eat & sleep

Book private tours in SPB ..smaller groups are better you see more & are not waiting for 30+ people to be back on the bus to get to the next attraction

Check out the Baltic forum for more info

Agreed.

Or at least two days.

Some cruises include St Petersburg simply as an 8 til 5 one-day port-of-call and that's grossly inadequate.:(

That's "some cruises", not "some cruise lines". RCI for instance offer different cruises with one or two or three days in St Petersburg.

Go by itinerary rather than ship.

Another point to watch for is Stockholm. Whether the ship berths in Stockholm

- at Stadsgarten (spelling?) pier, which is best

- or at Frihamnen pier, which is OK,

- or at Nynashamn, which is very much not OK. It's not "Stockholm", it's a tender port on the coast about an hour from Stockholm. More importantly, you miss the glorious sail-in / out through the archipelago of islands. This is normally the biggest ships, sometimes ships which are slightly smaller but not as manouvreable, sometimes even those scheduled for the sail-in instead have to port at Nyneshamn due to unfavourable winds.

Yes, the Baltic is usually port-intensive.

Yes, the ship - and even cabin choice - is much less important.

And yes, book a small-group visa-free tour with a local operator rather than ship's tours.

Plenty of suggestions on http://boards.cruisecritic.co.uk/forumdisplay.php?s=&daysprune=-1&f=192

Just MHO as always

JB :)

Are you interested in an ocean cruise or a river cruise?

Roz

Just did the Baltic itinerary in June on Vision of the Seas. I agree this is a port intensive cruise so the ship and cabin are not that important (we had an inside). Also agree you need at least 2 days in SPB.

All of our Baltic cruises did include 2 days in Russia.

The first time we went there it was Leningrad. We were the last ship (the original Royal Princess) to visit there before the coup d' etat and the name changed to St Petersburg.

We are more interested in itineraries than the ship.

Thank you everyone...you have been very helpful.

We booked a private tour - actually organized on our roll call thread. 18 of us for two days was only $600 p/p and it was terrific.

We booked a private tour - actually organized on our roll call thread. 18 of us for two days was only $600 p/p and it was terrific.

That seems very expensive for 2 days PP

Most are in the $300 pp range

We did a Baltic cruise a few years ago with Princess. The only Russian port of call was St Petersburg and we were there for 2 days......IMO..not long enough. More recently we did a Russian river cruise with Grand Circle. 4 days in St Pete, a one week cruise and 3-4 days in Moscow. IF you're going for the cruise experience and want only a "taste" of Russia, take a Baltic cruise. If you really want to see and experience the country, take the river cruise.

That seems very expensive for 2 days PP

Most are in the $300 pp range

Sorry, yes it was $600 total for 2 days for 2 people....

The Princess excursions were way more expensive at the time. If I remember correctly to be on the bus with 48 other cruises was like $500 p/p so it saved us $400 and we were a group of 18 with a guide that managed to get us in the front of the line for most of the attractions. Plus we convinced her to let us take the subway a couple stops to see the amazing Stalin era subway stops!

Sorry, yes it was $600 total for 2 days for 2 people....

 

The Princess excursions were way more expensive at the time. If I remember correctly to be on the bus with 48 other cruises was like $500 p/p so it saved us $400 and we were a group of 18 with a guide that managed to get us in the front of the line for most of the attractions. Plus we convinced her to let us take the subway a couple stops to see the amazing Stalin era subway stops!

That sounds more like it

Most private guides have a option of the Subway ride the driver will pick you up at the next arranged stop

just saying

We did a Baltic cruise a few years ago on the "Royal Princess". It was nice, but more recently we did a river cruise St Pete to Moscow. If you really want to see St Pete and more of Russia, we found the river cruise to be a much, much more rewarding experience.

We booked a private tour - actually organized on our roll call thread. 18 of us for two days was only $600 p/p and it was terrific.

Yikes....We paid approx $500pp for our 2 day private tour (just the two of us) with driver and guide with TJ Travel...Amazing VIP tour !