Back from AMAKatarina Moscow to St Petersburg

[Coral]

I agree with Carol's and Sheila's recommendation for extra days in both St Petersburg and Moscow pre and post cruise to explore at one's own pace.

We thoroughly appreciated the convenience and the ambience of the river cruise but are very pleased we explored both cities independently. English language audio guides available at major venues offered a much more satisfying experience than the tours our cruise line provided.

With prior study of the Cyrillic alphabet, guide books and maps (especially of the metros) it was easy to use public transport and explore at our own pace. And well worth the effort.

Deb.

 

I agree.

 

I have been to both of these cities twice and I don't think they are that difficult to navigate around. I wouldn't hesitate to tell people to wander off on my own or to book hotels and spend time before or after (or skip the cruise all together and just do hotels). When I asked individuals questions such as directions, individuals happily answered me. No problems with finding someone who spoke English in Moscow and St. Petersburg. I found Russians very proud of their city/country and happy to help whenever possible.

 

Not sure why it would be more difficult to navigate around Russia verses other foreign countries where one doesn't know the language. I went to Japan a few years ago and experienced the same type of friendliness in asking others for directions and had no problems what so ever.

[HDS]

No-one offered seats but three young men did their best to share the contents of our pockets in a very well co-ordinated thirty-second "jostle and grab" on the St Petersburg metro. My husband was quick and strong enough to keep hold of his wallet, I had nothing but soggy tissues in my pockets.

Several of our companions weren't so lucky so I caution all travellers to guard against the very skilful pickpockets in Russia.

[shoshona2]

to HDS,

 

So sorry your friends were robbed. We have been all around the World and always keep our money, passports, etc. in a pouch around my DH's leg. We don't wear expensive jewelry and on our trip two weeks ago, I only wore a silver wedding band. One of the guys on our trip was robbed crossing the street in St. Petersburg. He carried his wallet in a pocket.

 

Sheila

[Coral]

No-one offered seats but three young men did their best to share the contents of our pockets in a very well co-ordinated thirty-second "jostle and grab" on the St Petersburg metro. My husband was quick and strong enough to keep hold of his wallet, I had nothing but soggy tissues in my pockets.

Several of our companions weren't so lucky so I caution all travellers to guard against the very skilful pickpockets in Russia.

 

We had several in our group that ran into this in St. Petersburg also (didn't have the problem in Moscow but we were not there long). The worst I have experienced is in Rome with the gypsies but I hear Barcelona is even worse.

 

I keep my items in a neck pouch. Always do when I travel outside of the US and Canada.

[MizzDEE MD]

Guess it just depends on how lucky you are. My friends were robbed in both SPB and Moscow.....they were on a Tauck tour. Any city can be dangerous, but I was robbed by a shop keeper in Florence and therefore claim Italy as my least favorite. The gypsy problem in Italy is serious and we witnessed many

incidents in a brief visit.

 

Still coughing after coming home....did everyone get that bug? We both did, as did our traveling friends.........

[shoshona2]

Hi Dee,

 

Sorry to hear that you are still coughing. We were certainly lucky not to catch that bug going around. I usually get bronchitis.

 

Sheila

[msfancy]

GOOD MORNING "AMA WATERWAYS - AMA MSKATARINA SHIPMATES"!!!

 

Remember Friday, November 11th, 2011

 

"LEST WE FORGET"... please remember those who gave the ultimate price - their lives for us to have a better life! I'm a proud "Civilian" working with our "Canadian Military" & very grateful to all those who have served (like my Father) or are still serving in unsafe territories for our "Peace" & our "Freedom"!!! :)

 

til later... Gladys Marie (msfancy) & Gail :)

[shoshona2]

Hi Gladys,

 

My father and uncle served in WWII and I shall always remember the two star flags my grandmother had displayed in her window until they safely came home. My birthday is November 12th and I always have thoughts of those brave men and women who have served in our armed forces!!

 

Sheila

[msfancy]

GOOD AFTERNOON - "AMA WATERWAYS - AMA MSKATARINA SHIPMATES"!!!

 

Thought I'd drop by to wish "One & All" a Very Merry Christmas & a Prosperous 2012 New Year... have a FUN & Safe (Do Not Drink & Drive - Bring Em Back Alive) Festive Holiday Season with Family & Friends!!! :)

 

til later... Gladys Marie (msfancy) :)

[Melody6]

We are traveling on the AMA Katarina to Russia in May. Could anyone give me information on what the tours are like in Moscow. Do the guides drop you off in Red Square and you are on your own to tour. Do they take you into the Kremlin on a tour.

 

We are contemplating hiring a guide for the first day we arrive since we get to Moscow early in the morning. Has anyone done that? Can you recommend a guide? We want to make the most of the time we have.

[shoshona2]

Hi Melody6,

 

AMA does take you into the Kremlin BUT, we spent a lot of wasted time with them having lunch on a boat until it was time to get into the Kremlin. If you can find a guide who will pick you up at the ship and take you sightseeing, then do it. We did the St. Petersburg to Moscow cruise and ONLY had a day and one half in Moscow. The brochure had the timing wrong and we all felt cheated and rushed to death to see everything in a day and one half.

 

Have a good time. The sights are wonderful!!

 

Sheila

[pixiegirl-loves-travel]

Melody6, if you look thru some of the other Russian River cruise threads there are some online websites where you can hire Russian tour guides for private tours. I can't remember which thread listed the links, unfortunately. It was either the Russian River cruise 2012 thread or possibly the ms Russ thread.

 

Depending on what you want to see or do, Moscow can be easy to navigate on your own. If you're wanting to explore the Kremlin or Red Square, Alexander Park, the armory, etc, it's all together. If you peruse the ms Russ thread there are Moscow maps there that list the popular tourist sites, subway links, etc.

 

My daughter and I took the ms Russ from Moscow to St Peteresburg last July. We arrived a day early and spent the morning before our cruise exploring Red Square and Alexander Park on our own. We're so glad we did!

 

I can't speak for the AMA Katerina (listen to Sheila on that one), but for the most part our tours on the Russ were pretty thorough. For all of the tours we were accompanied by our ship's guide and the tour guide hired for that particular city. You are given the "school field trip" tour, an educational overview of the major sites, including picture time. Then you are also given free time at each place, anywhere from 15 minutes for a shopping/bathroom break, to an hour or more for personal exploration. We also had a free day in Moscow where you could sign up for optional tours to Sergiev Posad or other places, or you could explore the city on your own. Our tour offered a bus ride to and from town, but it left only a couple of hours to explore. Most of the people did a bit of research, walked to the local bus stop and then took the subway into Moscow for the day and back to the ship again later. It was much cheaper and gave them more time in Moscow.

 

Here's a link if you want to look at the pictures from my cruise (I took a ton- everwhere in Russia!). Look at the drop down under solo adventures. I have pictures of our ship, all of our tours, food, copies of our daily itineraries, etc. If you click on the blog section, you can read the journal I kept on the cruise, which gives details of the tours, lists some prices, etc.

 

http://lisaaroundtheworld.weebly.com/

 

You'll have a great time in Russia!

Lisa

[Melody6]

Thank you Lisa and Sheila for your suggestions. I enjoyed your pictures, Lisa. I will look on other threads to gain information on a guide in Moscow. We will have three days in Moscow and want to see as much as possible. It sounds like using the metro shouldn't be difficult from the ship - I hope.

 

Cathy

[franski]

We are traveling on the AMA Katarina to Russia in May. Could anyone give me information on what the tours are like in Moscow. Do the guides drop you off in Red Square and you are on your own to tour. Do they take you into the Kremlin on a tour.

 

We are contemplating hiring a guide for the first day we arrive since we get to Moscow early in the morning. Has anyone done that? Can you recommend a guide? We want to make the most of the time we have.

 

We did Russia with Uniworld - and had a free day so we booked a guide.

 

We booked through Tours by Locals (http://www.toursbylocals.com) - and were very pleased. We wanted to see the Ishmaylova Flea Market - and booked Daniel through the website. He came to the boat to pick us up, and we travelled on the metro. He did tell us that he did the Kremlin and Red Square the day before with a small group of people.

 

We felt the greatest challenge to travelling the metro was changing trains (ie: which train to change to, and which direction...) - but I do know that some managed this without the support of a guide. The metro stop is walkable from the dock in Moscow.

 

Fran

[pixiegirl-loves-travel]

Yes! Thanks, Fran! That was the link I was trying to think of for her!

 

I know the maps and such I was talking about are on the ms Russ thread (last half of thread)- there is tons of good info on there as there were several CC members taking that cruise last summer. The 2012 Russian River Cruise thread also has lots of great info and discussion. Check them out.

[cruzemaven]

This confirms the food hasn't changed at all the past 5 years......

 

Here is the rat photo - I couldn't bring myself to even touch it. Looking back, it was probably one of the safer things to eat. I showed it to my Russian friends here in the states and they couldn't believe they served that to us. It was repulsive to them also (so it is not something that Russians find appealing either). Maybe 5 year olds???

 

Wow!! How special....what were they thinking??

[Srilankaleader]

Whati is the best way to get from airport to cruise terminal and back to airport?

[Coral]

Whati is the best way to get from airport to cruise terminal and back to airport?

 

Book it through the cruise line. In AMA's case, it was incredibly cheap compared to getting a taxi. If you do the taxi route - I would arrange for it beforehand from a reputable company. Leaving from the ship to the airport, you can have the ship call you a taxi but I would just use their transfers.