Amadeus Russia Aug 10th - a few ?s

[sieburgp]

I have learned a lot from this forum - thanks to Coral in particular

 

I am going with my parents, aunt and uncle and cousin and wife leaving on August 10 on the Tolstoy starting in St Petersburg and ending in Moscow. In September 2004 cruised with Amadeus from Budapest to Amsterdam and last year went with GCT on the Rhine and Moselle Rivers.

 

We had more free time on the GCT trip to explore towns and did a little shopping and just hanging out which we enjoyed immensely From what I have read it appears that there is not a lot of free time on this Russia trip so I want to make the most of it. I am an avid knitter and would love to find some yarn shops. By chance, has anyone seen any or have any advice for finding such stores. Also what did you do with your free time in the ports? I am a little intimidated by the language and alphabet barrier. I understand some basic German and was fine on previous trips. We enjoyed having beer or coffees while people watching. Hopefully we will be comfortable doing that on Russia cruise?

 

On the GCT cruise we never got dressed up - how do people dress on the Russian Waterways cruise - what about captains night, the ballet?

 

We will not have opportunity to get any rubles before we go so we will have to get them there - hopefully that will not be a problem? Are email cafes hard to find?

 

Would love to hear any more info from people who have taken this trip. Thanks so much

 

Pam

[quepaquete]

We enjoyed having beer or coffees while people watching. Hopefully we will be comfortable doing that on Russia cruise?

 

I took the cruise on reverse order back on June 2000. It was great!

The language barrier was not a problem. Many Russians speak english. Since they are required to learn more than two languages in school and most choose English as one of them.

We traveled with Intrav and they had tours most of the time but we managed to take time to explore on our own and enjoy people watching.

One thing you have to consider is that in Moscow and St. Petersburg the boats dock kind of far from the city center. Good oportunity to use the metro.

 

On the GCT cruise we never got dressed up - how do people dress on the Russian Waterways cruise - what about captains night, the ballet?

 

Most people dressed in a smart casual attire for the evenings out, including the valet. Some men wore sport jackets others just a long sleeve shirt with open collars, most women wore wore nice blouses and pants to the valet.

 

We will not have opportunity to get any rubles before we go so we will have to get them there - hopefully that will not be a problem? Are email cafes hard to find?

 

Back in 2000 you could only get rubles while in Russia and couldn't take any out of the country. There were plenty of ATMs even back on 2000. We also use dollars in some places and vendors accepted dollars. I imagine that now they prefer Euros.

A few internet cafes, but I'm sure that in 6 six years that have changed.

 

Overall, it was a great experience.

[Coral]

I have 1/2 of a review done. If you email me - I can send you the review. One of these days I will finish it. My address is in my signature.

 

IMO - there isn't a lot of free time. There was often 15 minutes after a tour or we were told to meet back in 20 minutes. The times we had a lot of free time was in the wrong places IMO. We had lots of free time in Kostroma and were dropped off in a flea/food market but it was so crowded... There was also 15 - 20 minutes after being at some palaces to shop at the museum shops.

 

Rubles - Don't worry about this. Especially since you start in St. Petersburg which is what we did. While waiting for people at the airport - they showed individuals where to get rubles at the airport. I already had some so I didn't go - not sure if it was a counter or ATM but people did get rubles at the airport. Though - I am not exactly sure why they did this as there was an ATM machine right next to where the ship docked in St. Petersburg. It was in a location that we walked within 10 feet of it every time we walked from the ship to the bus. You will want to have rubles before you leave St. Petersburg for the small towns. You also need rubles (either 50 or 100 rubles) if you want to take pictures in many of the museums/churches.

 

Don't worry about not knowing the language.

 

Dress up - yes, people did dress up for the evening performances of the Ballet and Folk show. For the ballet at the Hermitage - they told everyone to wear "smart casual" and that there were tons of stairs and everyone dressed up regardless. I would bring 1 or 2 skirts max or a pant suit. It doesn't have to be fancy. Most nights at dinner - people wore what would be considered smart casual.

 

Otherwise, dress for comfort and lots of walking.

 

Email cafes - There is one at the Hermitage in St. Petersburg - we were given 30 minutes or so after our tour there. I went outside and took pictures, others shopped and there was an internet cafe there. I didn't use that one so can't tell you the cost there. The next one was in Mandrogi - it is at the Post Office there. This was incredibly cheap. There were 2 computers there to use along with phones that you could buy phone cards for. There was one other port and I will have to look it up where they told us there was internet. It was across from where the bus parked and we had 20 minutes free time there. It was a ruble a minute at this place.

 

Theresa

[Coral]

Back in 2000 you could only get rubles while in Russia and couldn't take any out of the country. There were plenty of ATMs even back on 2000. We also use dollars in some places and vendors accepted dollars. I imagine that now they prefer Euros.

 

When I went to Russia in 1988, I got Rubles in the US. I read on another board that people said they couldn't get rubles this year in the US and I didn't have any problems this year either.

[Coral]

The other place I used the internet was Yaroslavl - this post may help you.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=571787

 

The onboard guides and Marina were very good about answering questions on where to find things. If you ask them "when and where can I use the internet" - they will tell you.

[Benita]

When we took this trip last September, we decided to bring only casual clothes - jeans for during the day - chinos for the evening, with a pair of dress pants and a couple of nicer shirts for my husband and sweaters for me. Many people wore jackets and ties to meet the captain - he was just as nice to us (we think, as he did not speak English and we do not speak Russian) as he was to everybody else.

We pulled Rubles out of the ATM machine at the St. Petersburg Airport - we also saw ATM machines all over St. Petersburg and Moscow. We used credit cards for any larger purchases (laquer box).

We took the metro back to the ship in Moscow - takes much less time than the bus). The ship is docked about half a mile from the last exit on the metro (easy walk through a park, or there are cabs parked by the metro station). I would have the tour director point out the proper metro station to get on the train, as there are several different lines - the one to the ship is near the Bolshoi Ballet building. Almost all the sites you will go to on your own are within a few blocks of eachother, so it is easy to get around, especially since the alphabet is totally different from what we are used to and none of the street signs have English translations.