Back from Amadeus Tolstoy in Russia

[Benita]

We returned Saturday. What a great trip. I thought we would be bored with all those days on the ship, but they kept us busy with lectures and classes when not in port. If anybody has any questions, as this is a new itinerary and ship for Amadeus, I would be happy to answer.

[Coral]

Benita - I am so glad you had a wonderful trip!

 

Once you get settled and things return to normal - I have a million questions for you. Everything from food to optional excursions to free time..... I can't wait for my trip in May!

[tban]

Hi Benita - I am happy to hear that you had a great trip.

We are starting our cruise in exactly 10 days.

How are the meals on the Tolstoy and especially how was the "Uglich Family Dinner". I think this is such a unique idea and we are curious to hear how it worked out. Thanks -tban

[Benita]

The food on the cruise was surprisingly good. We had been warned that the meals in Russia left a lot to be desired, but we enjoyed them. Breakfasts were buffet and they were the best meals of the trip. There was juice, scrambled and hard boiled eggs, bacon, sausages, cheeses, and breads each day as well as a really good oatmeal and fruits and cold cereals. Most days they even had champagne (for free) that you could mix with orange juice.

Each day they left menus for the next day at the table with a pen and asked us to fill in our choices. There was a choice of two soups and usually two main courses at lunch and dinner and fruit for dessert at lunch and ice cream with various cakes at dinner. I wouldn't call it gourmet, but it was pretty good.

The meal with assorted families in Uglich was breakfast, not dinner - you sail away from Uglich by lunchtime. It was fun. The group was divided into smaller groups and driven to different homes. Ours was a group of eight and we went to an apartment shared by a couple and their two children. The apartment had two rooms and a bathroom and everybody slept on foldout couches. It was quite cozy, but they did have two TV sets and a computer.

The mother was an English Professor and her husband an engineer. The pay scale is so low, that they could not afford a house or bigger apartment and had to take in breakfast guests like us. It was interesting to experience their living conditions and hear about their lives.

[Benita]

Part two:

Talking about cramped conditions, wait till you experience the Tolstoy. The cabins are amazingly tight. It would not be too bad if they had storage space, but they did not seem to realize that people bring along clothing. The closet was 2 feet by 2 feet, with 1 foot for hanging clothes and three small shelves. There was no space under the beds for storage of suitcases, so you could not keep clothes in the suitcase (they collected them and gave it back to you the last day). We were fortunate to be on the main deck, which has a third bed (folddown) above another bed. We used that for our clothes, but it made the cabin even more crowded.

The suites and minisuites were downright magnificent in comparison, but would have doubled the cost of the trip.

[seapine]

Welcome back, Benita. Glad you enjoyed the trip. My husband and 2 friends are planning to take this cruise Sept. 07. We haven't booked yet and may change to Aug. How was the weather? Also, would you have any suggestions as to which deck would be best for rooms? We have never taken a cruise before and are clueless. We have been reading about giving gifts to the host families and wonder if money would be best, and about how much. Thank you so much for sharing your experience with all of us. Evie

[Benita]

It was quite chilly in Moscow by the time we left (September 16), but the weather for most of the cruise was in the 60's which was very comfortable. Late August is probably a good time to go - I would not go any earlier as it would be too hot, plus the crowds in the summertime makes sightseeing difficult.

As far as cabins, if you can afford it, the minisuites and suites looked wonderful. All the other cabins are about the same as each other, so I don't think it is worth the extra money to go up a deck. As a matter of fact, many cabins in the least expensive base catagory (Catagory F) were slightly larger and had an extra storage closet. We were in Catagory D, which has the extra berth that folds into the wall and made a great closet when left open, so that is the one I would recommend.

As far as the host families, what they really need is money. Gone are the days of shortages where the Russians wanted tee shirts and jeans. Most people did not tip them, but several gave a few dollars.

I would recommend going to the bank and getting a packet of 100 one dollar bills. The recommended tip for the local tour guides was a dollar a person and one a few days we had two or three different tours so the dollars came in handy. We used credit cards for larger purchases and pulled out about $300 in rubles from an ATM. The only place you really need rubles is to use a public toilet or to buy tickets for the metro- most of the rubles we used to tip the crew at the end of the cruise.

[seapine]

I really appreciate your helpful comments. Our decision is now late Aug. We will also re-evaluate the room situation, and will definitely take dollar bills. Thank you, Evie

[tban]

the average temperatures in Moscow are High/Low in Fahrenheit in

May 65/45; June 71/63; July 74/56; Aug 70/54; Sep 60/45;

I hope this helps - tban

[Coral]

Benita - did you by chance take any digital photos of your cruise and the ship? I would love to see them if you did.

 

Can you describe how they handled the few optional tours. I read somewhere that none were offered on their cruise. How much were they and where did they go.

 

I am curious about some small things. They mentioned bottled water in the room - did they give you an adequate supply (a few) or just one for the day?

 

Were you impressed with the tours and guides? Was it well planned or a bunch of hurry up and wait on the tours?

 

Can you post the hours you were in the other ports. I think I read that you are in Uglich only in the morning and sail by noon. I am curious the other times in port.

 

Thank you in advance for answering these.

[River Decker]

we booked a cruise on the Tolstoy in September 2007 and I have a question, maybe someone can answer. I am not clear how the visa process works. We intend to stay a couple of days longer in St Petersburg and I think these days are not covered by the cruise companies invitation letter. Does that mean we have to apply seperately for these days ?

Thanks

[Benita]

Coral- don't worry about the bottled water supply- the cabin steward left two bottles on the table every day. We are not big water drinkers, so by the end of the cruise, we had 14 bottles sitting there.

I did take digital photos of the ship- how can I post them?

The optional excursions were pretty good. In St. Petersburg, there was Catherine's (aka Pushkin) Palace. It was spectacular, especially the amber room and should not be missed.

All the other optional excursions were in Moscow. There first night, there was a Moscow by night trip, which was great. You see Red Square all lit up, as well as several other locations. The next night was a trip to the circus - it was a tented one with lots of water shows and animal shows. The third night was supposed to be the Bolshoi ballet. The theater is being renovated and is closed but the company was performing at another theater, but unfortunately, the performance was cancelled.

During the day, there were two optional excursions in Moscow. One was to Trinity St. Sergius Monastary. We opted out of this one, as it involved several hours on a bus and we had enough of seeing monasteries by then.

The other was a tour of the Novodevichy Convent and Cemetary, were we saw the crypts of many famous Russians. We enjoyed the tour and as it was in the city, it did not take long to get there.

Moscow has more traffic than probably any place on earth (and I grew up in New York City). It can take 2 hours to get from the ship's pier to the city sights. We opted to stay in the city after the tours and took the Metro back to the ship, which only took about half an hour.

The optional excursions cost between $20 and $50 each, except for the ballet the was cancelled which was $175 a ticket.

Whenever we arrived in port, there were four buses with guides waiting for us and an English speaking guide from the ship accompanied each bus as well. You got on whichever bus you wanted each day.On the whole, the guides were excellent.

Our trip was from St. Petersburg to Moscow. I don't know if arrival times will be the same if you go in the opposite direction.

We were in Mondrogi from 2:30pm to 6 pm. We were in Kizhi from 10am to 1 pm. In Goritsy from 3 pm to 6 pm and in Yaroslavl 4pm to 10pm. Kostroma was 8am to 2 pm and Uglich from 8am to 11am.

Yaroslavl was the best place to buy laquer boxes (although they had a nice selection and comparable prices on the ship). Uglich had the best handicrafts and Russian watches.

[Benita]

By the way, there is a great guidebook called Russia by River which gives a kilometer by kilometer description of the cruise. We had fun keeping an eye out for the sights it mentioned. You can buy it on the ship, but we got it beforehand from http://www.russiabyriver.com

[Coral]

Benita,

 

Thank you so much for your replies. I have some more questions and will try to write them up this weekend. Though a few just popped into my mind.

 

I am doing the same route you are. I am flying into St. Petersburg at 4 pm the first day. I couldn't get a flight out using FF miles the day before. Should I pursue seeing if seats become available for the day before? Did you use any pre-cruise hotels through Amadeus or did anyone do that? Will I miss a lot by having a late flight getting into St. Petersburg. I am going Business Class so hopefully I can sleep going over. Amadeus had me on flights getting in at 1 pm (originally) and I switched to my FF miles and am flying in at 4 pm.

 

When you went to the Herimage - did you go to the Gold Room? How long were you there?

 

How long did you spend at Peterhoff? I am really hoping most of the day. This was the highlight of my land trip there in 1988. Did you go into the Palace there or just stay on the grounds?

 

Did you have adequate time in Red Square, have time to walk inside St. Basil's Catedral, the Kremlin, Gum?? I was there in 1988 and we went to Red Square and saw Lenin but didn't have time to walk inside any buildings in Red Square. When you have time - can you list what you saw in Moscow and St. Petersburg...If you plan to do a review - I can wait until you do that.

 

I read somewhere about the Bolshi being closed until March 2008 so I will miss it also. I read somewhere there is a Small Stage owned by the Bolshi that is being used as a replacement - I wonder if that is where they were going to take you?

 

How far were you from where the ship's dock in Moscow and St. Petersburg from the subway or where some action is?

 

The optional excursions look good and the price is fine IMO.

 

Should I be bringing books with me to read on the days before Moscow and St. Petersburg? Thanks for the times in port on those days (I am sure mine will be the same being the same route) - I am a little surprised at the minimal time in these ports - my guess is that it is enough to see everything.

 

If you want to post pictures - many people use snapfish.com, webshots.com or Kodak Photo Gallery...There are many others.

 

So sorry for all these questions. I really appreciate you taking the time to share your trip with me. Please take your time in answering them - I am not in a rush. I guess I had more then a few questions :)

[Benita]

We did not fly in early- our connections were Air France from Miami to Paris and then connecting to St. Petersburg. We had spent a few days there several years ago and did not want the hassles of having to get the Russian visa extended to add the hotels.

You can take a taxi to the ship in St. Petersburg, but we arranged for Amadeus to provide transfers ($40 each). It was nice to have the guides waiting for us in the airport. We arrived at the ship around 4 pm. and the luggage was brought right to the cabin. There was an orientation meeting and dinner and we went to bed early.

The dock in St. Petersburg is not near a Metro station, although it makes no difference as you really have no free time there. On the first day, you are taken on a morning bus trip, stopping at St. Isaacs Cathedral and the Church of the Spilled Blood. Then they drive you the 30 minutes back to the ship for lunch and then you head out again to the Hermitage. You have about two hours there. Even though it was off season, it was pretty crowded. They do not take you into the Gold Room. That night, you go to the ballet, which was very professional and in a lovely theater-part of the Hermitage.

The next morning, some people slept in, but we went to Catherine's Palace. The Amber Room is very impressive-the restoration is completed. We went by hydrofoil to Peterhof.Guided view of the fountains and then had about an hour of free time. Some people went into the palace, but we just wandered around and took photos. (My husband has a web site and will post some photos-I'll post the address when he completes it).

We returned to the ship by hydrofoil and then the ship departed on the river cruise. When we were in St. Petersburg a few years ago, we were on a Renaissance cruise and the ship (114 passengers) was small enough to dock near the Hermitage. We had hired a private guide for two days and saw so much more than was possible on this trip. For those who have not been to St.Petersburg before, I would suggest at least two days pre-trip in a hotel. As the area of the city is large and the sights so spread out, I would hire a guide as we did the last time. Also, nothing is written in our alphabet and it is very difficult to get around unless you read Cyrillic.

They keep you quite busy on the ship- I had brought along several books and never had time to really read much. There is a good book on Russian history that I picked up at Borders called a Travellers Guide to Russian history and I managed to get through most of it on the trip. We also brought along our laptop computer and borrowed a few DVDs from the front desk.

Every day, there were lectures. They had a wonderful Russian History lecturer who teaches at the university but took a leave to come on the trip. Since she only gets paid about $150 a month, she supplements her income by moonlighting on the ships.I think almost everybody in Russia has several jobs. We also had lectures on the various crafts, such as laquer box and doll making and a vodka and blini tasting event.

Also onboard was a trio of singers and musicians who performed folk songs and there was also a classical pianist.

We bought a picture book from a street vendor that was called Russia River cruises and had pictures and text from all the places we visited - it will be helpful to orient our pictures in the album.

I'll post again over the weekend and write about the stops and also about Moscow.

[Coral]

Benita - thank you very much for your detailed information. Every bit has been very helpful.

 

I am having my TA email Amadeus about flying in a few days early (to see if they have any pre-cruise hotel stays). I have been to St. Peterburg before (actually Leningrad back then) but it has been awhile and I truly loved the place. I was sort of hesitant because of the visa issue also. If they don't have a pre-cruise, I will see if I am willing to tackle this myself.

 

Theresa

[Benita]

St. Petersburg has so much to see so extra days are worthwhile. The same goes for Moscow. The included tour is Moscow brings you to Red Square during the day and again in the evening. Michael and I skipped the optional excursion to the monastary and spent an extra afternoon there. We shopped around the GUM, visited Lenin's tomb, and then wandered around town. There was a walking tour in a Fodor's guide that we followed which took us around the KGB area and past the Bolshoi Theater. We took the Metro back to the ship (Green line to the last stop) and walked about 15 minutes to the ship-much faster than using a taxi. I would have liked an extra day in Moscow to see the Pushkin Museum, but overall felt satisfied with the amount of time we spent there.

As far as the river cruise, the stops were fun and although there was not much time in each port, we saw the hightlights.

Mandrogi was built with the tourist in mind, but had a certain Disney-like charm. There is a vodka museum and supposedly a moose farm, but no body has ever seen the moose. You can take a ferry across a canal and visit a Fairy Tale Park. There is a building where different handicrafts are made.

Kizhi was the most interesting stop. There was an open air museum with the churches and reconstructed peasant homes.

When we landed in Goritsy we were taken by bus to Kirillov and walked around the monastary.

Yaraslavl had another monastary and we walked around the city center. We were taken to a showroom or laquer boxes where they had a great selection of authentic boxes and reasonable prices.

Kostoma had a beautiful monastary, where the Romanov's lived.

Uglich is where we had breakfast with a local family and saw another monastary. By the time we got to Moscow, I had seem enough monastaries.

[Coral]

Benita - I want to thank you for all of your information! It has been extremely valuable!

[Coral]

My agent heard back from Amadeus and they do not offer any pre-cruise hotels. So if I go early, I will have to deal with arranging my own visa plus transportation to the ship, etc. . I think I will just stick with my current flight arrangements.

[Benita]

We did not want the hassle of having to have a hotel arrange for extra days for the visa, which is why we did not fly in early or stay later. Maybe in the future, Russia will be an easier place to visit. Doing it with the river cruise took away a lot of the potential problems.

[Coral]

Benita,

 

How was laundry handled? Do you do your own, or do you pay ship's personnel to do it? I am not sure if I can pack for 2 weeks with out doing laundry midway.

 

How about electrical? I will have typical things such as a blow dryer (maybe), curling iron and battery recharger for my camera. What type of adapters are needed for the ship?

 

At what point does Amadeus send packets out with cruise information? Did you find the packet helpful?

 

Theresa

[Benita]

The cabin steward will collect your laundry. There is a bag left in the cabin for that purpose. You pay the steward directly when it is returned. Just like in hotels or on large cruise ships, the service is not cheap-several dollars for a pair of pants or shirt. The weather was pretty chilly, so the clothes did not get smelly like it would if we were sweating. I brought along enough underwear and washed out my socks anad a couple of shirts in the sink. I brought along a clothes line that I brought online from Rick Steves.

There is one outlet in the bathroom which accepts the US type plugs. There is also one outlet in the cabin, near the closet,which accepts the European two round prong plugs-you can pick up an adapter anywhere. We brought along a plug that went into the adapter on one side and had three US style outlets on the other, so we could plug in a few things at once. The voltage in the cabin is 220 volts, so bring along a converter if your appliance does not have one built in.

There is a hand held hair dryer in each cabin and a room with two irons and ironing boards on the third deck.

[Benita]

To answer your last question, the packet from Amadeus had the information on how to meet the transfer agent. There was a brochure about the trip-emergency contacts, tipping policies, etc. There was a paperback book about Russia - about 50 pages with pictures - nowhere near as useful as the Russia by River book that I bought on the internet.

[Coral]

Benita -

 

I want to thank you for being so helpful.

 

I do have a strange question - I have been assigned a room number and it is Room 218 on Upper Deck. The 5 cabins right next to me seem to be cabins but not passenger cabins - do you know what these rooms are used for?

 

Theresa

[Benita]

I would see various crew members - the entertainers and lecturers come out of these cabins. The interior of the cabins looked the same as ours.