Live from River Cruise's Rurik, Waterways of the Tsars

More patience and flexibility is called for with morning announcement that we are not able to dock @ Kizhi Island today due to stormy conditions. Many are surprised/disappointed; I am the latter, not the former: have read repeated comments that bad weather cancelled this part of the Waterways of the Tsars itinerary.

 

Besides missing out on Kizhi, I'm not wild about spending so much time cooped up on the Rurik. I'm thinking that if Viking runs into this weather-related issue often enough, it would be great if they had a Plan B option to get us on shore "somewhere."

 

I wish that they'd travel with some yoga mats and offer a session or two of such exercise, especially on these long sailing days.

 

Oh well, extra time to research and plan our time in St. P.

Dear unpartymom,

We are sorry to hear of your disappointment with the weather-related modifications to your itinerary. Please do contact us directly at your earliest convenience – whether while you are still aboard Viking Rurik or after you return home; we can be reached at TellUs@vikingcruises.com. We would truly appreciate the opportunity to further discuss your experiences.

In the meantime, we hope that the weather starts to improve and that you enjoy the remainder of your journey.

Sincerely,

Viking Cruises

To its credit, Viking is comping everyone for the Kizhi miss by including Peterhof. I and others on board agree that this is brilliant corporate strategy: there had already been rumblings about paying 79 Euros each for Peterhof with possibly no fountains; this way, no one pays extra = that issue avoided.

So last evening we dock at the shopping village of Mandrogy and are encouraged to go out after dinner to get off board for the first time in over 24 hours. We're not shoppers, but we are walkers, so why not ? Even with our mini-flashlight, it was very dark along the paths and we found two stores where we had light, heat, and could browse. Most stayed on board.

Viking: please don't miss my first note on this thread. By far, the most negative experience we've had on this trip was the airport "welcome." A truly poor first impression.

To its credit, Viking is comping everyone for the Kizhi miss by including Peterhof. I and others on board agree that this is brilliant corporate strategy: there had already been rumblings about paying 79 Euros each for Peterhof with possibly no fountains; this way, no one pays extra = that issue avoided.

 

So last evening we dock at the shopping village of Mandrogy and are encouraged to go out after dinner to get off board for the first time in over 24 hours. We're not shoppers, but we are walkers, so why not ? Even with our mini-flashlight, it was very dark along the paths and we found two stores where we had light, heat, and could browse. Most stayed on board.

 

Viking: please don't miss my first note on this thread. By far, the most negative experience we've had on this trip was the airport "welcome." A truly poor first impression.

Glad Viking came up with this plan....it's fair because both Kizhi and Peterhof are spectacular. It's too bad it was night at Mandrogi, it was one of my favorite stops. Putin has a summer house there and it was surprising how unimpressive it is.....and no security of any kind in place.

In a few hours we're headed for the airport in St. P...we are optimistic that our departure transfer will go more smoothly than our arrival (see my opening Post).

I plan on posting a trip review once we are home and rested. Overall, I give this first Viking/first river cruise experience a grade of B. I tend to be a tough grader BTW.

No regrets about seeing Russia with Viking: truly educational and eye-opening. Some complaints about the itinerary: they shouldn't oversell Kizhi Island IMO when their track record for actually being able to get there is not the greatest. Ridiculous to have the Program Director advertising his "good feelings" that the Peterhof fountains would be turned on when freezing temps assured that would NOT happen.

Included Viking tours both in the cities and smaller towns were uniformly excellent. We paid for only one optional excursion, Moscow at Night, which was well worth it.

Rurik staff were young and eager to please. Sorry to hear that Rurik is not sailing next season when Viking plans to operate only 3 boats, not 5 like this season.

 

No regrets about seeing Russia with Viking: truly educational and eye-opening. Some complaints about the itinerary: they shouldn't oversell Kizhi Island IMO when their track record for actually being able to get there is not the greatest. Ridiculous to have the Program Director advertising his "good feelings" that the Peterhof fountains would be turned on when freezing temps assured that would NOT happen.

 

Included Viking tours both in the cities and smaller towns were uniformly excellent. We paid for only one optional excursion, Moscow at Night, which was well worth it.

I don't blame you for being upset and I don't understand why Viking has trouble getting to Kizhi since Vantage doesn't. Perhaps the problem is Viking makes trips later in the year than Vantage. But it's really a shame because Kizhi really interesting. As for Peterhof, that's outrageous. Any idiot with a functioning brain knows that fountains don't work when temps are freezing and they should be more honest about it. But I guess they all do it....my beef with Vantage is the TM telling you every walk is "10 min. on flat ground" when it isn't. We did Moscow at Night as well and it was well worth it.....I thought the red fountain was very moving and the buildings all lit up in different colors were beautiful. St. Pete airport is kinda dumpy isn't it......get home safe. :)