Viking Russia - review of June 12-24 trip

[SFCruiser1948]

We just returned from Viking's Waterways of the Czars river cruise on the Viking Kirov, starting in Moscow June 12th and ending in St. Petersburg on June 24th. We have only done one other river cruise, which was on the Danube with another company a couple of years ago, but let me say that Viking really did an outstanding job on this cruise. The ship was first rate, the crew was extremely professional, the food was superb and the tours were well organized. The onboard activities, such as the history and language lectures, were excellent. That's not to say everything was perfect, but rarely is that the case when it comes to travel.

 

We were not entirely satisfied with the Viking air travel department because they put us on a really tough and tiring itinerary to get over to Moscow, with crack-of-dawn departures, less direct routes and long layovers, which left us pretty wiped out by the time we got there. The lesson here is to stay on top of things and don't let them force a schedule on you that you don't like.

 

The pickup and transfer in Moscow was flawless, however, and we got settled on the ship in no time. Even though we arrived well after 9 p.m., the dining room stayed open so we could have dinner before unpacking and getting to bed.

 

One of the drawbacks of the docking locations in both Moscow and St. Petersburg is that they are quite far from the city centers. That means most bus tours start and end with 45 minutes in horrible traffic moving at a crawl. This also means you will see the outer regions of those cities and their enormous number of dilapidated Stalin-era buildings, thereby providing a very bad first impression. In my opinion, the river cruise lines should put their passengers up at city center hotels to avoid these issues.

 

This trip is not about seeing great cities, though there are flashes of greatness to be seen, it's really about discovering Russian history, meeting its people and knowing what today's Russia is like. You will learn that Russia is struggling mightily to move from the Soviet era to the modern era and it's going to take a long time. There is great architecture mixed in with some of the most depressing blocks of prefab housing you've ever seen. Keep all this in mind and you will be able to better accept what you are seeing.

 

The thing I liked about this itinerary is that, in between the hectic pace in both Moscow and St. Petersburg, the schedule is more leisurely on the river as you visit the small towns or just cruise the waterways. The scenery was just beautiful, better than I had anticipated.

 

I should mention that, once you select a bus on the first day of tours, you will stay with that bus, and that tour guide, for the rest of your trip. On the Kirov, we had Misha as our guide and he was excellent. On one of the optional tours, where you don't necessarily stay on your original bus, we had Victoria as our guide and she was absolutely brilliant. Of the optional tours offered, in Moscow we did the Military Museum (good) and Moscow By Night (very good), in Uglich we did the Home Host Visit (very good), and in St. Petersburg we did the Peterhof Palace (excellent).

 

One final note, when the Program Director tells you they are taking you to the airport 3 hours early for your flight back home, don't question it. The process through the airport is excruciatingly slow.

[nordski]

Thanks so much for the review.

 

Since cruising in Russia seems to present a rather different experience than that enjoyed in the rest of Europe, based at least on other threads on this board, it's very informative to have these reviews posted.

 

We are considering a Russia cruise and look forward to further discussion.

[SFCruiser1948]

I should also mention that one of the highlights of the trip was definitely Red Square and the Kremlin in Moscow. Being a baby boomer and having grown up with so many references to that place, it was a thrill to see it in person.

 

However, one of the drawbacks of not staying in a downtown hotel is the lack of time for just walking the streets and getting to know the city. We would've loved to have explored more of the area around Red Square. Likewise, in St. Petersburg, there was a great area downtown that offered a much in the way of exploration possibilities. It was ironic that, as much as the river cruise lines tout their ability to dock in the city centers of their various ports of call, in the case of St. Petersburg, it was some of the larger cruise ships that were berthed very close to the downtown area. Of course, those same large ships cannot go to Moscow, so that's the trade-off. Bottom line is that, if your focus is on Russia vs. all the countries visited on a Baltic cruise, then a river cruise is the way to go.

[Viking Cruises]

We just returned from Viking's Waterways of the Czars river cruise on the Viking Kirov, starting in Moscow June 12th and ending in St. Petersburg on June 24th. We have only done one other river cruise, which was on the Danube with another company a couple of years ago, but let me say that Viking really did an outstanding job on this cruise. The ship was first rate, the crew was extremely professional, the food was superb and the tours were well organized. The onboard activities, such as the history and language lectures, were excellent. That's not to say everything was perfect, but rarely is that the case when it comes to travel.

 

We were not entirely satisfied with the Viking air travel department because they put us on a really tough and tiring itinerary to get over to Moscow, with crack-of-dawn departures, less direct routes and long layovers, which left us pretty wiped out by the time we got there. The lesson here is to stay on top of things and don't let them force a schedule on you that you don't like.

 

The pickup and transfer in Moscow was flawless, however, and we got settled on the ship in no time. Even though we arrived well after 9 p.m., the dining room stayed open so we could have dinner before unpacking and getting to bed.

 

One of the drawbacks of the docking locations in both Moscow and St. Petersburg is that they are quite far from the city centers. That means most bus tours start and end with 45 minutes in horrible traffic moving at a crawl. This also means you will see the outer regions of those cities and their enormous number of dilapidated Stalin-era buildings, thereby providing a very bad first impression. In my opinion, the river cruise lines should put their passengers up at city center hotels to avoid these issues.

 

This trip is not about seeing great cities, though there are flashes of greatness to be seen, it's really about discovering Russian history, meeting its people and knowing what today's Russia is like. You will learn that Russia is struggling mightily to move from the Soviet era to the modern era and it's going to take a long time. There is great architecture mixed in with some of the most depressing blocks of prefab housing you've ever seen. Keep all this in mind and you will be able to better accept what you are seeing.

 

The thing I liked about this itinerary is that, in between the hectic pace in both Moscow and St. Petersburg, the schedule is more leisurely on the river as you visit the small towns or just cruise the waterways. The scenery was just beautiful, better than I had anticipated.

 

I should mention that, once you select a bus on the first day of tours, you will stay with that bus, and that tour guide, for the rest of your trip. On the Kirov, we had Misha as our guide and he was excellent. On one of the optional tours, where you don't necessarily stay on your original bus, we had Victoria as our guide and she was absolutely brilliant. Of the optional tours offered, in Moscow we did the Military Museum (good) and Moscow By Night (very good), in Uglich we did the Home Host Visit (very good), and in St. Petersburg we did the Peterhof Palace (excellent).

 

One final note, when the Program Director tells you they are taking you to the airport 3 hours early for your flight back home, don't question it. The process through the airport is excruciatingly slow.

 

Dear SFCruiser1948,

 

 

 

We are sorry to learn that you were unhappy with your flight arrangements; however we are glad you were able to have a good trip despite it. Please feel free to contact us at TellUs@vikingrivercruises.com so that we may discuss your concerns in greater detail.

 

 

 

Thank you for your feedback—we look forward to hearing from you!

 

 

 

Viking River Cruises

[Starfish55]

Can you elaborate on the food on Viking?

[SFCruiser1948]

I hope I'm not overstating this, but maybe the reason we were so impressed with the food on this cruise is because the food on our Danube cruise on another cruise line was so mediocre. However, our friends who traveled with us and who have never been on any river cruise, confirmed our assessment that the food on Viking Kirov was just superb. I will focus on dinner, as breakfast and lunch on most cruise lines is pretty straightforward (usually buffet style with the option of ordering off the menu - all very good).

 

First, the soups. We have never had a selection of soups that was so consistently good, day after day after day. In talking with the restaurant manager, he said they take pride in making their soups from scratch and not re-hydrating powdered soups as some might do and that tells me something.

 

Next, from the appetizer course to the main course to the desserts, the presentations were excellent. And not just at the Captain's Dinner as some cruises do, but every single day. Were there any dishes that just didn't measure up? Sure, but I would say we encountered about a 95% success rate. My understanding is that, after some complaints a while back, Viking now uses beef that exclusively comes from the U.S., and a good tender sirloin steak (as well as salmon and chicken) is always available at every dinner, no matter what else is on the main menu. Without going into too much more detail, let me just say that we were continually amazed at the quality of the product being put out by the kitchen for such a large group of passengers.

 

The chef makes it a point to provide a variety of menu themes from various parts of the world, which really makes things interesting. There was never a repeated menu throughout the 13 days of our trip.

 

The dining room staff was consistently good, with some wait staff even exceeding that standard with some of the most attentive table service I have seen. I have to acknowledge the restaurant manager, Gunther, as the driving force behind the dining room performance. Clearly, he has developed a team, one that has stayed on the Kirov for the long term, that works so well together and respects his leadership. Gunther always had time to stop by your table to see if you needed anything or to explain what goes into various dishes.

 

Now, having said all this, I am realistic to know that it's possible not every dining room in every Viking ship will have the same level of accomplishment. However, I have to believe the basic corporate philosophy that enabled the performance we enjoyed on Kirov would also be in evidence on all their ships.

[Starfish55]

I really appreciate your comments. Sounds like a great trip.

[kevinsac]

We were not entirely satisfied with the Viking air travel department because they put us on a really tough and tiring itinerary to get over to Moscow, with crack-of-dawn departures, less direct routes and long layovers, which left us pretty wiped out by the time we got there. The lesson here is to stay on top of things and don't let them force a schedule on you that you don't like.

 

We are leaving on the Czars cruise from Mos to St Pete in Sept.

 

I fly alot ..... over 100,000 miles a year, and way over 1M miles in my lifetime.

 

While Viking was able to offer good rate for business class seats on United/LH, I found their staff to be shockingly ill-informed about basic fare rules, layover options at no additional costs, upgrade opportunities, etc. The Viking Air Dept is "in the business" and they should know better than the clients about what's going on.

 

When I first started planning the trip, I spoke to one staff member. I wanted to discuss option, opportunities, pricing, routing, etc. This guy knew some things.....but woefully ignorant or misinformed about other things. So, I "gave" him a list of questions I wanted him to ask .... and he was able to verify that what I told him was correct.

 

So, several weeks later, when I called back to make flights arrangements for the 6 of us .... I specifically asked for the same staff member, since we already had discussed (and he had verified) how I wanted to do things.

 

I introduced myself, reminded him what we had discussed ..... and he had no idea what I was talking about. I again raised the issues I had addressed with him weeks before .... I almost could "hear" his blank stare .... and as if reading me a script, he started giving me wrong information again, despite having verified these issues 2 or 3 weeks before.

 

Many just one staff member who is clueless and does not get it??? Again, they are in the frequent traveler business and should know better.

 

The two other couples traveling with us worked with two other Viking agents in the Air Department, and they ended their calls very frustrated. I told these two couples what the real rules were .... and they had to call Viking back to get things they way they wanted .... which was a legitimate and viable travel option.

 

If it were not for the price of business class seats .... and the luxury of having the transfers included, I would have been significantly less stressed handling things on my own.

[dsbks]

Thank you for your report. We will be taking this cruise in October, also on the Kirov.

 

I have my misgivings about being so far from the center city. Ido not think we wool be going back to the ship for lunches while in the cities - too much time wasted.

 

We would like to do a bunch of stuff on our own. On those days that are free - did you go it alone? :confused:I have been told that you can take to the Metro from both the Moscow and St. Pete docking areas. (Although in St. Pete, I think, there is a bus that will take youth the metro stop). We live in NYC and are used to using the subway. And I just learned Cyrillic. So, I hope it helps. (We are:confused not used to doing "tours", this is a first for us. Usually do independent travel.)

[dsbks]

One other thing - we booked our air by ourselves as we had heard that there are complaints about those bookings left up to Viking. Got a very good rate. We fly JFK - Moscow, non-stop. Then St. Pete back to JFK with one stop in Moscow.

 

Oh, and, BTW - in my earlier post, somehow one line came out to read: "we are confused." We aren't confused. Don't really know how that happened. Oops. (a couple of other typos in the post - my apologies.)

[zogrand]

SF Cruiser1948,

"This trip is not about seeing great cities, though there are flashes of greatness to be seen, it's really about discovering Russian history, meeting its people and knowing what today's Russia is like. You will learn that Russia is struggling mightily to move from the Soviet era to the modern era and it's going to take a long time. There is great architecture mixed in with some of the most depressing blocks of prefab housing you've ever seen. Keep all this in mind and you will be able to better accept what you are seeing." I think this sentence says it all.

Our trip in 2007 was the same. It wasn't about seeing Moscow and St. Petersburg - it was a trip to Russia. I still think Russia (We went with Vantage but the same is true for any other comparable tour company.) was the most amazing trip we have ever taken. I, too, am a baby boomer and remember the cold war and hiding under desks when in school. Standing in Red Square and seeing the countryside offered me an opportunity I never thought I would have.

Thanks for your great review and insight. I share your thoughts.

Carol

[HDS]

Message for dskbs,

 

Yes you can do it on your own by Metro, especially as you have learnt the Cyrillic alphabet.

 

In 2008 we stayed 3 nights pre and post cruise in Moscow and St Petersburg hotels and used "free" days on the ship to do our own exploring. We used English language audio guides and site maps at venues and saw what we wanted to see at our own pace. Much more satisfying than cruise ship tours, which we found rushed, crowded and too much souvenir shopping. We are not large (or even medium) group tour people but we loved the ambience of river cruising, the company of fellow passengers and waching the world go by from the ship. The lectures on Russian history and culture were also good.

 

Trip advisor (http://www.tripadvisor.com) had an excellent map and guide to using the Moscow Metro. Good city maps, guide books, prior reading and planning were well worthwhile.

 

Moscow cruise ship dock (Rechnoi Voksal) was an easy walk across a park to/from the Metro in daylight, didn't try it after dark. St Petersburg (Salt Pier) had a bus stop across the road from the dock, 10-15 minute bus ride to Metro, possibly a better option after dark. We were back at the ship before dark.

 

Do beware of pickpockets and secure all valuables in inside closed pockets. The pickpockets are very good at what they do and operate in groups of three or four on (crowded) Metros and streets. Two or three strong young people will jostle you, force your arms away from your body while the other empties your accessible pockets. My outer pockets had nothing but sodden tissues, festy with the ship's virus, to which they were welcome.

 

Enjoy your trip.

[SFCruiser1948]

dsbks,

 

We, too, are very comfortable using public transportation but the couple we were traveling with was a little more apprehensive so we didn't push it. The Moscow dock is at the very end of the Green Line, so it would be hard to get lost, especially if you know the Cyrillic alphabet. The schedule of tours we chose in Moscow, however, did not lend itself to a lot of free time and to using the Metro on our own. We did have a free afternoon but chose to relax back at the ship as we were all still pretty tired after our trip over. So, I used that time to take a nice walk around the park adjacent to the dock, see some of the other ships, have a closer look at the Stalin-era terminal building, etc.

 

In St. Petersburg, you need to take a shuttle bus from the ship to the metro station and then the metro ride itself into the city center. That seemed too complicated to us so, on our free afternoon, we opted for the shuttle bus offered by Viking for $20, which was expensive but included a guide to help you navigate the downtown area if you needed it. I have no idea which method would be faster, the bus fighting the traffic or the metro with the required shuttle. Perhaps the best way to get into the city center is a new water taxi service. There is a pickup point right near where Viking docks and I believe the cost is reasonable.

 

I know there's always the temptation to fill absolutely every minute of every day with some activity because you figure it's your one and only chance to see each destination. For us, however, there is some wisdom to not overdoing it to the point of getting exhausted. I don't much like the feeling at the end of a trip that I can't take anymore and just want to get back home. I think it's best to leave a little something in the tank to prime your next great adventure.

[Island Cruiser]

SFCruiser, we share your values. Travel is to have fun not to complete an arbitrary agenda. Glad you had a great time ON YOUR TERMS.

[Viking Cruises]

We are leaving on the Czars cruise from Mos to St Pete in Sept.

 

I fly alot ..... over 100,000 miles a year, and way over 1M miles in my lifetime.

 

While Viking was able to offer good rate for business class seats on United/LH, I found their staff to be shockingly ill-informed about basic fare rules, layover options at no additional costs, upgrade opportunities, etc. The Viking Air Dept is "in the business" and they should know better than the clients about what's going on.

 

When I first started planning the trip, I spoke to one staff member. I wanted to discuss option, opportunities, pricing, routing, etc. This guy knew some things.....but woefully ignorant or misinformed about other things. So, I "gave" him a list of questions I wanted him to ask .... and he was able to verify that what I told him was correct.

 

So, several weeks later, when I called back to make flights arrangements for the 6 of us .... I specifically asked for the same staff member, since we already had discussed (and he had verified) how I wanted to do things.

 

I introduced myself, reminded him what we had discussed ..... and he had no idea what I was talking about. I again raised the issues I had addressed with him weeks before .... I almost could "hear" his blank stare .... and as if reading me a script, he started giving me wrong information again, despite having verified these issues 2 or 3 weeks before.

 

Many just one staff member who is clueless and does not get it??? Again, they are in the frequent traveler business and should know better.

 

The two other couples traveling with us worked with two other Viking agents in the Air Department, and they ended their calls very frustrated. I told these two couples what the real rules were .... and they had to call Viking back to get things they way they wanted .... which was a legitimate and viable travel option.

 

If it were not for the price of business class seats .... and the luxury of having the transfers included, I would have been significantly less stressed handling things on my own.

 

Dear kevinsac,

 

We’re sorry to hear of your frustration in planning your flights. Please contact us directly at TellUs@vikingrivercruises.com so that we may discuss your concerns and feedback in greater detail. We would like to make sure that when it is time for you to travel to Russia with us in September, you are stress-free and ready to have a wonderful time! We look forward to hearing from you — & we look forward to seeing you in Russia.

 

Very kindly,

Viking River Cruises

[SFCruiser1948]

pabloj,

 

I don't recall the cost of the Peterhof tour, but whatever it is, don't miss it as we thought it was well worth the cost. In St. Petersburg, the Swan Lake ballet performance is included but the folkloric performance is optional. We enjoyed the ballet but, just a heads up, the concert hall was not air conditioned and got a little uncomfortable so dress appropriately. We did not do the folkloric performance so can't comment on it.

[janetcbl]

SFCruiser1948 is totally correct! The Peterhof tour is worth the cost because Viking gets you into the Palace at the front of the line so you can enjoy it (for a bit) before the crowds arrive. Skip the Vienna concert; the room is stuffy and hot, the stage is hard to see if you are short, and people are jammed into the room like sardines! It is strictly a "tourist concert" and not really worth the cost.

[suspaul]

We traveled to China in May for Viking's Imperial Jewels of China and had long flights also, I think the key was using and paying for the custom air. I did my own research regarding flights, found ones that worked very well for us and then called Viking's Custom Air department, I was able to give them the info I had found and they booked those flights. The same goes for an upcoming trip this December to Basel and home from Amsterdam, again I did the search for the best flights for us, gave them to the advisor and was able to get those flights also. Glad you had a great trip to Russia, it's on our bucket list too and we will definitely use Viking.

Susan