Just back from the Sept. 12th sailing Star Princess

[SaylorGirl]

Just back from the Sept. 12 sailing, the ports were fantastic. We had obtained Russian Visa's so we did St. Petersburg on our own. It was such an incredible experience. We found St. Petersburg very easy to get around on the buses and Metros and it was a very walkable city.

 

I will write in detail later but I just wanted to say that this is a wonderful cruise and everyone of the ports were very easy to see on your own. Thanks to Stan J for encouraging me to get my Visa's and for all his posts on St. Petersburg.

[sunprincess]

Welcome Home.

 

Glad that you too enjoyed the Star Baltic.

Now for the post cruise depression !!

 

Look forward to hearing your cruise news.

[suron]

Look forward to reading your review in due course. Yes, it is a fantastic trip. We were on the Star Baltic cruise on 13th August and had a wonderful time.

 

Glad you enjoyed it too. We are now planning for next May - booked last week for the Rockies Land Tour with Alaskan cruise on Dawn Princess. Apparently we are in for some wonderful scenery on this trip but it will take a lot to beat the sights we saw in St. Petersburg!

 

From Suron in Bristol, England

[SaylorGirl]

Suron - We were on the Alaskan cruise on Dawn Princess two years ago, you will love it! But you are right it is hard to beat what we saw on this trip. I put a deposit down for the next cruise but it's too hard to think of anywhere else but this one. It was truly amazing. We spent 11 days in Europe prior to boarding the ship so we have many memories at the moment. I downloaded our pictures we have over 2500. I know my friends will soon start hiding when they see me because its constantly "did I tell you about this?" I'm glad you enjoyed your trip, Alaska is beautiful, have a great time.

 

I am working on that review, but after being gone 22 days there is alot of catching up to do.

[easy22]

i am on pins and needles waiting to hear about your trip. this is the way we want to go but everyone is so discouraging and pushing us to join one tour or another for large sums of money.

 

i looked into it and the visa was such a hassle it appeared and getting around such a hassle. do you speak Russian? we KNOW that if we can talk to someone who has done it, we can do it. we've done independent travel in China and we didn't speak Chinese. we took the subway there.

 

we just need some pointers. i'm so proud of you for bucking the trend to do the tours.

[SaylorGirl]

Easy22 - I must say that it was such an incredable experience to be able to leave the port on our own. It is true that the Visa part looks difficult to start with but you just get through it, in the end it was faster than my DH getting his passport here in the US. We filled ours out and sent it with a money order to the Consulate in Washington DC and had the Visa back a week later. We speak no Russian, I did buy a tape (learn Russian in 8 days) but all I could speak was please, thank you and hello. We talked with several Russian people by a strange way of communicating, they were very helpful. We used the port bus from the ship to the end of the dock, then we walked a few blocks to the bus stop and just got on the number 22 bus, it cost 30 Rubles, got off on the Nevinsky Prospect and just reversed it to go back.

 

We saw everything from the Hermitage, Summer Gardens, the Peter & Paul fortress, the Church of the Spilled Blood, St. Isaacs Cathederal, Lady of Kazan, and more churches than I can remember. We took a canal ride, which was fabulous, rode the subways several times, shopped at the flea market by the Church of the Spilled Blood, we took a bus out to Peterhof to see the Palace and Gardens, walked across the Troitskey Bridge. Ate wonderful Blineys and ice cream, sat and had a picnic on the Neva river. We had the freedom to do what we wanted to do. Just sat and watched the most beautiful rainbows right over the Hotel Astoria, it was a double rainbow. We were there on a Friday and Saturday and we saw at least a dozen weddings and watched the bride and grooms as if we were part of the wedding party. If you decide to do it there are many great posts on this board, old posts from a guy named StanJ he gives wonderful advice. Denrus can help you get your Vouchers for your Visas, and just ask I'll be happy to answer any of your questions. We felt as safe in Russia as we did in any of the ports, it is beautiful and there is so much to see. If you did it in China you can do it in Russia.

[Hot2Travel]

Just back from the Sept. 12 sailing, the ports were fantastic. We had obtained Russian Visa's so we did St. Petersburg on our own. It was such an incredible experience. We found St. Petersburg very easy to get around on the buses and Metros and it was a very walkable city.

 

I will write in detail later but I just wanted to say that this is a wonderful cruise and everyone of the ports were very easy to see on your own. Thanks to Stan J for encouraging me to get my Visa's and for all his posts on St. Petersburg.

 

Going in Aug 06 and looking forward to your review!