dream-baltic cruise

[rak]

want to find out how good the ship's shore excursions are. Also is the trip to Moscow worth doing? Can you see St Petersburg the second day in port if you visit Moscow the first day?

[Host CMLA]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by rak:

want to find out how good the ship's shore excursions are. Also is the trip to Moscow worth doing? Can you see St Petersburg the second day in port if you visit Moscow the first day?<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>The trip to Moscow is worth it. I took the ship's excursion to Moscow on September 2, 2001. It was pricey ($675) but worth it to me. For that $675 you got the visa for the day, a short tour of St. Petersburg, a round trip plane ticket from St. Pete to Moscow, all the transportation in Moscow, a box lunch, fees for entering the Armory at the Kremlin and the subway, a snack at the Hotel Metropol at Revolution Square, and dinner at a Moscow restaurant. It's a full day tour. Ours lasted 18 hours.

 

We met at 8:00 am. We did a mini driving tour through St. Petersburg on our way to the airport to take a 50 minute flight to Moscow. Not for nothing but flying on a Russian airline is a bit frightening. For one, passing through the metal detectors was for show only. Every single person set the thing off but we were all waved through. Second, it was open seating. Get on and find a seat. The interior was like a flashback to the 70s. Terribly tacky wallpaper and archaic seats. To give credit to the flight staff, they were great. In 50 minutes we had a cold drink service, a hot drink service and a small snack. Not bad. When we arrived in Moscow we boarded a bus and had a box lunch on the way to the Kremlin.

 

The Kremlin is a spectacular group of buildings. Inside the walls of the Kremlin is the Assumption Cathedral and the Armory to name a few buildings. Vladimer Putin has an office in the Kremlin. In the Armory we saw the wedding gown and coronation gown for Catherine the Great. Also the original throne for Ivan the Terrible. The Armory is filled with all of Russia's history with so many things still intact. If I listed everything I saw, we'd be here for hours.

 

We took the subway to Revolution Square and Red Square. It was more for us to see the subway than to get us there because Red Square backs up to the Kremlin. Anyway, both were very crowded because September 2nd is the Day of the Birth in Moscow. Or as we would call it, Moscow's birthday. Moscow was 854 years old three years ago. So everywhere we went there were concerts and street fairs and freshly planted flowers and banners for the celebration. It was a great day to be there. We stopped at Hotel Metropol for a snack and then went to Red Square. Amazing! Standing in the center of Red Square you see St. Vasily Cathedral, you see the back side of the Kremlin and Lenin's Tomb, you see the national gallery and you see the B I G marketplace.

 

Next we went to the University of Moscow. It's the tallest building in Moscow and has 28,000 students. From the university you get a view of the whole city. On the way to dinner we passed the Cathedral of the Savior that holds 10,000 people and the stadium for the 1980 Olympics and the 1986 Goodwill Games. The stadium holds 103,000 people. We had dinner at a local Moscow restaurant that I can't name because I don't understand Russian. The food was good and we all enjoyed the champagne and Russian vodka. We flew back to St. Petersburg and got back to the ship at about 2:30 am.

 

For the second day I didn't want to do another all day tour because I knew I'd be exhausted from Moscow so I got my own visa before I left the states and went out on my own in St. Pete. To be honest, all I really wanted to do that day was shop. And that's what I did. I got a cab and went to Nievsky Prospekt (sp?). It's a shopping area. It's very hard to find a place to get rubles so I negotiated in US Dollars. There were places that took Visa but I used cash. In hindsight, I wish I would have done a tour that day. I missed seeing the Hermitage and the summer and winter palaces of the Russian Czars. Other people that did those tours said I missed out on something wonderful. So yes, you can do tours the second day although you may be a bit tired if you go to Moscow. Have a good trip.

 

Cecilia

 

I can be contacted at *****@aol.com

 

My Wedding!

 

[xda92]

Hey Rak,

 

When are you going on the baltic cruise?