Trying to decide on Viking's Waterways of the Czars

I'm appealing to my fellow cruisers who have always offered invaluable feedback to any of my posts. My husband and I are trying to determine if this particular itinerary is worth doing. I have read many pros, as well as cons regarding this trip. However, many of the posts are not very current. One problem that I have is that I have already spent time in St. Petersburg, so having to be there another three days seems like a waste of time. If we decided to stray from a tour, we would need to spend additional money for a visa. I think that my desire to go is to see Moscow. If anyone can provide me with their thoughts regarding this trip, I would be truly appreciative.

If you are not on a tour - You MUST have a Visa. I also was in St Petersburg last summer and then looked at a river cruise - decided NOT - instead book a different River. Good luck on your decession. Also, as you well know - you Must have your Passport with you in Russia - Do NOT get it stolen - a friend on our trip did - real nightmare.

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Unless the rules have changed, you will need a visa if you are longer than three days in Russia or if you elect to go ashore by yourself during the three day period. The three day rule of not having visa applies if you are on a tour but once you go over three days you need a visa. When we did our Baltic cruise with Cunard and stopped in St. Petersburg, we did not need a visa since we were in port less than three days and when we went ashore we were on a tour from the ship.

When we did Viking River cruises, Waterways of the Tsars we did need the visa. The application is quite lengthy and asked for very detailed information.

We enjoyed our cruise. The only part that I would like for Viking to change is docking closer to St. Petersburg so less time on the bus. But think they do not have any control over the situation. The home visit in St. Petersburg was not to be missed but is was an optional excursion.

Thank you, Bellemere

Unless the rules have changed, you will need a visa if you are longer than three days in Russia or if you elect to go ashore by yourself during the three day period. The three day rule of not having visa applies if you are on a tour but once you go over three days you need a visa. When we did our Baltic cruise with Cunard and stopped in St. Petersburg, we did not need a visa since we were in port less than three days and when we went ashore we were on a tour from the ship.

When we did Viking River cruises, Waterways of the Tsars we did need the visa. The application is quite lengthy and asked for very detailed information.

We enjoyed our cruise. The only part that I would like for Viking to change is docking closer to St. Petersburg so less time on the bus. But think they do not have any control over the situation. The home visit in St. Petersburg was not to be missed but is was an optional excursion.

I agree with your statement but would like to add - just in case someone eles is reading this - I was in St. Petersburg this last July - We did private tours and had friends on the ships tours. I learned that the daily tour ticket (either private or ships) is your Temp type of visa - meaning I got off the ship each morning - had my Private ticket and my passport - Russian Imagrations took each - The private company took care of our visa's for us. That ticket allowed us thru immigrations. When we came back on the fist night - wife wanted to write postcards in the shops in the terminal but needed her address book that was in the cabin.. She stayed and wrote the cards - I went back thru immigration's got on the ship and got the address book - came back out - Immigrations would NOT let me back into the terminal area to give my wife the address book - NO VISA and that ticket I had earlier was ONLY good to get me on my private tour - since that tour was done for the day - Russia would NOT allow me back on their soil (so to speak) I was able to had the address book over to a Russian port police officer and he gave it to my wife.. I had NO ISSUE at all with these rules - just learned the hard way, lol - Russia was very nice about it, just could NOT enter Russia area (away from ship) I ONLY Wish the US would work that hard to keep the rules....

The next day was our second tour and I talked to our tour operator about it... was told that the rules are that as tour people we MUST be with a tour operator at all time. We can not wander off and if we did - the tour operator would get into trouble and if we were stopped by the police and NOT have proper papers - we would be taken in. Again,,, NO ISSUE with this at all - The US should take lessons, LOL

Plus - on the first day, one of our people stayed for the evening show and had their passport stolen. It was a nightmare - she did not realize it was gone until they were on the way back to the ship at 10pm on a Saturday night. Like me and the address book = Wife needed meds - Tour operator was going to take wife to Hotel for the night and contact proper people the next day for new temp passport - husband went to get meds - was NOT allowed back out with wife... had to wave good-bye = off she went... Wow.. took most of the next day to work it all out.. had that been the second day,,, she would have missed the boat.. Could NOT even get back on the ship with out a Passport... Getting back on the ship would be the same as leaving Russia - No passport - No go...

other than all that,,, We really enjoy St Petersburg - would love to see Moscow but not enough to spend another 3-4 days in st petersburg

I have been to Russia 2x. Both times, my passport was kept in the safe at either the hotel or on the river boat. They advised us not to take our passport with us unless we were conducting a banking transaction. I had a photo copy of mine at all times and never had an issue.

My input - I would just do a land trip. First, even if you have been to St. Petersburg, go again. There is much to see and seeing everything in 2 days is difficult.

Hotels are considerably cheaper now in St. Petersburg and Moscow compared to the last time I was there. I would go to St. Petersburg, take the train to Moscow and spend time in Moscow. When I did the river cruise, I felt like I wasted a lot of time in the ports between the 2 cities. Many of them, we were only in port for a few hours and then would leave. I would have loved to have spent more time in the 2 large cities.

I will also add that the docking locations are awful in Moscow and St. Petersburg, especially when you factor in traffic - another plus for staying in hotels. I much preferred my trip where I stayed in downtown Moscow as opposed to being bussed back to the ship which wasted so much time.

I have been to Russia 2x. Both times, my passport was kept in the safe at either the hotel or on the river boat. They advised us not to take our passport with us unless we were conducting a banking transaction. I had a photo copy of mine at all times and never had an issue.

 

My input - I would just do a land trip. First, even if you have been to St. Petersburg, go again. There is much to see and seeing everything in 2 days is difficult.

 

Hotels are considerably cheaper now in St. Petersburg and Moscow compared to the last time I was there. I would go to St. Petersburg, take the train to Moscow and spend time in Moscow. When I did the river cruise, I felt like I wasted a lot of time in the ports between the 2 cities. Many of them, we were only in port for a few hours and then would leave. I would have loved to have spent more time in the 2 large cities.

 

I will also add that the docking locations are awful in Moscow and St. Petersburg, especially when you factor in traffic - another plus for staying in hotels. I much preferred my trip where I stayed in downtown Moscow as opposed to being bussed back to the ship which wasted so much time.

Very interesting, Last July on the Princess we could not get off the ship and enter Russia without our passport, I was not even allowed to go back into the port gift shop area to give my wife an address book.. - go figure

Very interesting, Last July on the Princess we could not get off the ship and enter Russia without our passport, I was not even allowed to go back into the port gift shop area to give my wife an address book.. - go figure

Neither time was I on a cruise ship. Both times, we had our own visas. First time (Soviet Union time frame), I did a land trip with a high school trip. Second time was on a river boat trip. We had our passports with us until we got on the river boat and they suggested we lock them in their large safe and we had to check them out.

There are some tour books out there that says that you can be randomly stopped by a police officer and you must show your passport. Our guides said this was not true.

I understand if you were with Princess and using a group visa or something but we were free to come and go on our river boat and from our hotel. We entered the country with our passports and individual visas. I have friends who did a land trip just recently. They stayed in hotels but had friends in Russia. They advised them to also lock up the passports in a safe in the hotel.

I have been to Russia 2x. Both times, my passport was kept in the safe at either the hotel or on the river boat. They advised us not to take our passport with us unless we were conducting a banking transaction. I had a photo copy of mine at all times and never had an issue.

 

My input - I would just do a land trip. First, even if you have been to St. Petersburg, go again. There is much to see and seeing everything in 2 days is difficult.

 

Hotels are considerably cheaper now in St. Petersburg and Moscow compared to the last time I was there. I would go to St. Petersburg, take the train to Moscow and spend time in Moscow. When I did the river cruise, I felt like I wasted a lot of time in the ports between the 2 cities. Many of them, we were only in port for a few hours and then would leave. I would have loved to have spent more time in the 2 large cities.

 

I will also add that the docking locations are awful in Moscow and St. Petersburg, especially when you factor in traffic - another plus for staying in hotels. I much preferred my trip where I stayed in downtown Moscow as opposed to being bussed back to the ship which wasted so much time.

I went about 4 years ago, and I feel exactly the opposite. We loved the time on the river...seeing the people fishing, and boating. We stopped and toured mostly in the mornings, and the afternoons were on board - usually with a lecture or an activity (ie: blini making or vodka tasting).

I do agree with the issue of being bussed - but do not complain about local traffic any more...:D

We got a visa... just so much easier to do that than to worry about leaving the boat. We never took our passports with us - but had a photocopy --> as suggested by the cruise director.

We enjoyed Moscow, but really have no interest in going back. Would go back to St. Petersburg again. We hired a guide through "Tours by Locals" in Moscow - and went to Ishmaylova (? sp). Truly enjoyed that day.

Fran

I went about 4 years ago, and I feel exactly the opposite. We loved the time on the river...seeing the people fishing, and boating. We stopped and toured mostly in the mornings, and the afternoons were on board - usually with a lecture or an activity (ie: blini making or vodka tasting).

 

I do agree with the issue of being bussed - but do not complain about local traffic any more...:D

 

We got a visa... just so much easier to do that than to worry about leaving the boat. We never took our passports with us - but had a photocopy --> as suggested by the cruise director.

 

We enjoyed Moscow, but really have no interest in going back. Would go back to St. Petersburg again. We hired a guide through "Tours by Locals" in Moscow - and went to Ishmaylova (? sp). Truly enjoyed that day.

 

Fran

OK< one more post here - We LOVE Russia and our tours were just great and our guide was fantastic - However, even our guide told us to always keep our passports with us and eventhough the drive and guide told us we could leave jacket or back packs on the bus (14 in our group) we should keep our passports ON US at ALL times..

We had to go thru Russian immigrations and they would NOT let you thru unless you had your passport AND tour ticket - Like I said, once I passed back thru to get that address book - Immigration's would NOT let me back out to the shops to give it to my wife - and since one passenger lost here passport - she could NOT pass thru immigrations and get back on the ship, so our experience was much different that the river boat people

Still we had a Great time and Love all there was about Russia

I'm appealing to my fellow cruisers who have always offered invaluable feedback to any of my posts. My husband and I are trying to determine if this particular itinerary is worth doing. I have read many pros, as well as cons regarding this trip. However, many of the posts are not very current. One problem that I have is that I have already spent time in St. Petersburg, so having to be there another three days seems like a waste of time. If we decided to stray from a tour, we would need to spend additional money for a visa. I think that my desire to go is to see Moscow. If anyone can provide me with their thoughts regarding this trip, I would be truly appreciative.

We did a wonderful tour with Vantage that included Kiev, Ukraine, Russian River cruise, with 5 star hotels in Moscow and STP, then a week in the three Baltic countries. It was one of our favorites.

I know you have been to SPB before, but Moscow is the heart of Russia and not to be missed. Try to find a river cruise that includes hotels, rather than staying on the ship if you can. There is always more to see of STP.

We did a wonderful tour with Vantage that included Kiev, Ukraine, Russian River cruise, with 5 star hotels in Moscow and STP, then a week in the three Baltic countries. It was one of our favorites.

 

I know you have been to SPB before, but Moscow is the heart of Russia and not to be missed. Try to find a river cruise that includes hotels, rather than staying on the ship if you can. There is always more to see of STP.

We did the same tour as Papa only we were one trip ahead or behind him. I agree, staying in hotels in Moscow and STP was a Godsend....first of all we were free to come and go as we pleased, eat when and where we pleased and we didn't have to be concerned with passports as the hotel concierge kept them until we checked out! We were on a combo land/cruise tour so we had to get Visas but the only time we had to show them was at the airport when we arrived and when we left...we didn't do the Baltic Caps on that trip because we chose the pre-trip to Ukraine instead. We're doing Baltic Caps with Celebrity in August and personally I cannot wait to get back to STP...there's so much to see and do there and 3 nights wasn't nearly enough.

I wonder if some of the confusion over Visas is between people doing ocean cruises and those doing land/river cruises. It is my understanding (and I'm no expert) that ocean liners are given blanket Visas for the period they are in port and passengers are covered by the cruise line Visa as long as they're with a ship sponsored tour....where cruise lines tend to fudge a little is when they tell you if you take a private tour you are not covered by their Visa and have to get your own....this is true, but misleading because your private guide will have a tourist Visa covering you as long as you are with him.... but once your tour is finished and you are returned to your ship, your Visa goes with him, not with you and that's why Harley was unable to bring address book to his DW! As for carrying passports with us....we've traveled pretty extensively in Europe and have NEVER carried our passports with us. We always carry a copy of it together with additional photo ID in case we are asked, which we have never been, and which no one except a police officer or government official has the authority to ask for. That's how they steal them....someone stops you on the street wearing what looks like an official uniform, demands to see your "papers" and when you show him he your passort, tells you he needs to "go check it" and you never see him again. On many of our trips either the ship's purser(Greece) or hotel concierge holds our passports and I'm fine with that.

We did the Waterways of the Czars three years ago and I concur with franski. We enjoyed the time on the river as much,if not more than the cities. As someone else mentioned, if you could find a trip with hotel stays in the cities and then the river cruise, that would be ideal. I was critical of Viking because I thought they did a poor job of planning around the traffic. Using the subway at times would have been much more efficient.

Miss Kitty is correct - we did a Private and our travel visa was ONLY with them - we have also traveled Europe and ONLY in Russia were we told to bring PP's - and that was because of the Visa issue... again, NOT a problem for us...