St Pete to Moscow

[bross2410]

The Mrs and I are booked on a RCCL Baltic Cruise sailing Aug 1, 2017 out of Copenhagen. We spend 2 days in St Petersburg and I'd like to go to Moscow and back the first day. RCCL offers a package where you fly, but we are more interested in the high speed rail. I browsed some of the major tour companies and they seem to indicate that you only go to Moscow as part of a 3-day stay not 2. Also Alla Tours says the tour starts at 6am but the official arrival time from RCCL is listed as 7am. So now for my questions:

 

1. As this sailing was just announced last week, will the tour companies have an adjusted train-to-Moscow tour for this cruise, and I'm just getting ahead of myself?

 

2. My wife and I collect Hard Rock Cafe pins from around the world. If we take an organized tour is stopping at the Moscow HRC even an option?

 

Thanks in advance for any input.

[pjs678]

The Mrs and I are booked on a RCCL Baltic Cruise sailing Aug 1, 2017 out of Copenhagen. We spend 2 days in St Petersburg and I'd like to go to Moscow and back the first day. RCCL offers a package where you fly, but we are more interested in the high speed rail. I browsed some of the major tour companies and they seem to indicate that you only go to Moscow as part of a 3-day stay not 2. Also Alla Tours says the tour starts at 6am but the official arrival time from RCCL is listed as 7am. So now for my questions:

 

1. As this sailing was just announced last week, will the tour companies have an adjusted train-to-Moscow tour for this cruise, and I'm just getting ahead of myself?

 

2. My wife and I collect Hard Rock Cafe pins from around the world. If we take an organized tour is stopping at the Moscow HRC even an option?

 

Thanks in advance for any input.

 

We are going to both places this summer and have done a lot of research. First, in answer to your questions:

 

1) Highly doubtful. You will either have to fly or not go to Moscow.

 

2) You need to ask the tour company or cruise line, but I expect it depends if the HRC is near the major tourist sights.

 

We have a 3 day port stay with Celebrity in St. Petersburg in June and were considering doing the middle day in Moscow. We ended up booking flights directly to Moscow pre-cruise (as it was easier to get business class seats using miles to there than just about anywhere else). Now we are getting visas and will be free to explore both cities without the need for a tour guide all the time.

[kitkat343]

If you've chosen Alla as your tour company, I'd email them to see what they think. Actually, given how much time you have, you can email all the major companies to get a sense of their perspective on the Moscow visit in a 2 day stopover in St. Petersburg.

 

A complication is that there aren't that many high speed trains each day. If your heart is set on the train, I'd ask them if it might be possible to fly one way and take the train the other? Not sure that would be an option and would check with the tour companies.

Edited March 7, 2016 by kitkat343

[dogs4fun]

The Mrs and I are booked on a RCCL Baltic Cruise sailing Aug 1, 2017 out of Copenhagen. We spend 2 days in St Petersburg and I'd like to go to Moscow and back the first day. RCCL offers a package where you fly, but we are more interested in the high speed rail. I browsed some of the major tour companies and they seem to indicate that you only go to Moscow as part of a 3-day stay not 2. Also Alla Tours says the tour starts at 6am but the official arrival time from RCCL is listed as 7am. So now for my questions:

 

1. As this sailing was just announced last week, will the tour companies have an adjusted train-to-Moscow tour for this cruise, and I'm just getting ahead of myself?

 

2. My wife and I collect Hard Rock Cafe pins from around the world. If we take an organized tour is stopping at the Moscow HRC even an option?

 

Thanks in advance for any input.

 

IMHO, there really is not enough time to visit Moscow if you are only docked in St. Petersburg overnight. There is so much to see in St. Petersburg alone that you will only be scratching the surface on your 2 days in port. I would not short myself in St. Petersburg with a very rushed trip to Moscow. With that said, here are answers to your questions.

 

1. As this sailing was just announced last week, will the tour companies have an adjusted train-to-Moscow tour for this cruise, and I'm just getting ahead of myself?

1) The only day that it would be possible to take the Sapsan (high speed train) to Moscow is on your first day in port. Tour companies cannot add tours via Sapsan train - they must follow the train schedules provided by Sapsan. The major tour companies offer group tours to Moscow only on 3 day port stops in St. Petersburg. This is for a very pragmatic reason - there simply is not enough time to complete the Moscow itinerary on 2 days in port because your ship does not arrive early enough to make the early train, complete the Moscow itinerary and arrive back to St. Petersburg in order to overnight aboard the ship (visa free regulations stipulate that you must overnight aboard your cruise ship).

Your ship does not dock in St. Pete until 7:00 am which means that you probably won't be able to disembark, clear Russian immigration, meet with your tour guide and travel to the train station in time to make the 8:35 train to Moscow. The next available train departs for Moscow at 1:00 pm - way too late. Furthermore, the travel time from St. Pete to Moscow is approximately 4 hours each way. Below is a link to the Sapsan website where you can check the available train schedules for your days in port:

http://www.russiantrains.com/en/page/sapsan-train?gclid=CLeCv7KPscsCFYGFaQodr9IF4Q

The tour companies, Alla included, leave very early in the morning (meeting you at the ship at about 6 am) in order to make the early train, allowing you about 8 hours of tour time in Moscow before you must catch the train back to St. Petersburg (you arrive back at about midnight).

2. My wife and I collect Hard Rock Cafe pins from around the world. If we take an organized tour is stopping at the Moscow HRC even an option?

I would think that this is definitely doable on a private tour but probably not an option on the RCCL group tour. The Moscow Hard Rock is located at Stary Arbat, 44, about 15 minutes by taxi from the Kremlin/Red Square area. There is also the metro option. Moscow is huge & traffic is chaotic at best.

Check with the independent tour companies.

 

Whatever your decision, I hope you have a wonderful cruise.

Edited March 8, 2016 by dogs4fun