Regent excursion to Moscow

[jhenry1]

Those of you who have done this give me your feed back. We are booked on the Voyager cruise in August from London to Stockholm and have been pondering over this tour. I know you have to leave early and return late and it is costly but I am wondering if it is worth all of this. Any comments will be greatly appreciated.

 

Kandy

[DeepFreeze63]

Don't do it! We spent 3 full days in Moscow on a river cruise and kicked ourselves that we didn't come in early and spend 2 more days. Much to see and traffic is so horrific, you spend a lot of time moving around.

Furthermore, St. Pete is beautiful and chock full of interesting sights. We've spent 5 nights there and are going back on the Voyager in June.

[Caroldoll]

and seeing Moscow was the thrill of a lifetime for me. We had an excellent guide and it was quite a distance and yes, costly. However, I never thought I would see this and seeing the Kremlin and all was just wonderful. We were accompanied by my childhood girlfriend and her husband. We were all thrilled that we paid the money and saw at least what we saw. We left St. Petersburg at about 5 AM, flew to Moscow and didn't get back until about 3 AM the following day. This was a thrilling experience.

[JACKHAWK]

We took the flight to Moscow. Everyone we dealt with there had a strong dislike of America.

 

Our tour guide was constantly telling us that every problem Russia had was caused by the USA.

 

The service we had at lunch was very rude.

 

We did not have this problem is St Pete.

[wripro]

I would only do it if you have been to St. Petersburg before and already seen many of the sights. There is far too much to see there even for three full days and to sacrifice one of those days for Moscow is unwise imo.

[Hody]

On our cruise last July, a couple traveling with us had been to St. Petersburg before, so they did the one day train excursion to Moscow. They loved it! If you are not going back to Russia, now is probably the best time to see Moscow.

[rvmike]

Did a GCT cruise from Moscow to St Petersburg 2 years ago. Moscow is a must see, true they don't like America but never had a service issue. The sights are nice and the traffic is terrible. If this is your only chance do it. In past years we have done Turkey, Egypt, Jordan, Israel. I would not go now because of the violence and political situation. Go while you can.

Edited March 8, 2015 by rvmike

[jhenry1]

That is what I thought. I booked it. 2 years ago we were scheduled on a Regent cruise to go to the Holy Lands and that is when all the violence began in the region and we cancelled. May not ever be able to go.

 

I will go now to Moscow as things may only get worse.

 

 

Kandy

[colleenmf]

We did the Moscow one day flight from St. Pete on the Voyager in summer 2009. We figured we might never get this way again and wanted to see as much as we could. At the time is cost about $1,000 each. For us, it was worth it. We had 2 days in St. Pete with a private guide and driver (no free excursions then) and saw enough that my head would spin and I can hardly remember one castle, palace, museum from another. (Both DH and I have engineering, math, technology brains and not creative, artsy brains)

 

Anyway, in Moscow we did not encounter rude waiters (but we don't speak Russian) nor rude people in general. No one complained to us about America. It was 2009 so maybe things were better. I don't remember. The flight from St. Pete to Moscow was one of the best in coach class that we had taken since 9/11. Lots of room, decent sandwich and snack for airline food, on time, pleasant flight attendants, security was smooth and they were very nice.

 

If you don't think you will get back that way, I say go for it. We were fascinated to see where Mathias Rust landed that plane in Red Square. And to be able to see the architecture of St. Basil's in person ...WOAH....

 

If you are a world traveler and will return to Russia some other time, I'd say wait and see Moscow for a few days as part of another trip.

[TedC]

On a land trip to Soviet Union many years ago we lined up to see Lenin's tomb in Moscow - he looked VERY waxen. They took my Swiss knife away! The man was already dead! I did get my knife back.

[jhenry1]

We signed up for the trip to Moscow. We are on the Voyager but now they do the high speed train and not air. The price has also increased I believe it is 1,400 now but I can't remember. We may never return to the area so decided to go for it. I am sure we will not be disappointed.

 

Kandy

[Winner]

has glories that are worth the visit: St Basil's, the subway walls, GUM department store, all of the Kremlin but especially the Armory! The Armory showcases the treasures (and the excesses) of the czars: most of the existing Faberge eggs as well as other Faberge goodies, gold encrusted coaches and Catherine the Great's 14k gold dinner service for (I think) 100 guests.

 

The Hermitage has great art displayed without regard to the effects of sunlight and pollution; at least Moscow protects its treasures.

 

I have seen each city and will always be in awe of what artistry each proudly exhibits.

Edited March 11, 2015 by Winner

[TedC]

A Moscowite many years ago told us: "We pretend to work" and "they pretend to pay us!"