Great River Cruise St. Pete to Moscow with Intrav
Sep 4th, 2006, 11:31 AM
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Great River Cruise St. Pete to Moscow with Intrav
My husband & I just returned home from Intrav's Russia River Cruise, Journey of the Czars from St. Pete to Moscow aboard the Novikov Priboy. This was our first tour and first cruise, we had a great time! We were very impressed with Intrav, they were extremely organized, well run, and added some extra touches that were very much appreciated.
When we first boarded the boat in St. Pete, our key was in our door, waiting for us to arrive. When we checked in at reception later our 1st day, I was handed a small piece of paper that was laminated and said in cyrillic "I am allergic to Seafood", I was instructed to put this on my plate in the dining room aboard the boat and also in the restaurants we would eat at in St. Pete and Moscow anytime Seafood was served, and they would bring me something else. This worked like a charm, it was perfect because most of the waiters, etc. didn't speak much English, same in the fancy hotel restaurants we ate at. By the way this occurred because during one of my discussions with Intrav before our trip I mentioned that I don't eat any seafood, and asked if that would be a problem, and Heather from Intrav said she would make a note that I was allergic, thus this great result!
On our first day and every day afterwards we had two bottles of water awaiting us. In our cabin when we checked in, we had an envelope with a map of St. Pete, a map of Moscow, and 2 postcards of St. Pete and 2 postcards of Moscow already with stamps to make it to Europe or the U.S., nice touch! Also on the second day we had a small bottle of Hand Sanitizer delivered to our cabin, in addition to the several large bottles in common areas such as bars, and restaurants, to help us stay well and not pass on any illness to our fellow travelers. We also received in our cabin the Russia by River small blue book, with the details for our cruise, very nice! Every time we boarded the bus for sightseeing we were given a bottle of water, and if we had a full day, we were given one in the morning and one in the afternoon, much appreciated.
On our first day of sightseeing in St. Pete, while we were leaving the boat we were handed 10 rubels per person for our first Bathroom visit, Intrav was aware that not everyone had exchanged money yet, nice touch! On each bus, we had a local guide and one of our interpreters from the boat, that stayed with us through the sightseeing in town. Our cabin was on the 3rd floor in the middle, great location, no noise from the bars, etc. The cabin was close quarters as we expected from 103 sqare feet including the bathroom, but there was plenty of room to completely unpack, they were very efficient with the space. We had a small refrigerator that came in handy to keep our water cool. The only problem we had, was in the middle of the night they would turn off the air-conditioning trying to conserve and many of us would wake up very uncomfortable. We complained about this, and they replied, that they have a very old system that needs to be replaced. Other than this, anytime we had a small problem, they took care of it promptly!
The food on the boat was always presented beautifully and the food was good. Once we left St. Pete we had a choice of two entrees for dinner, very nice! Their soups and desserts were fabulous, great ice cream too! In St. Pete we ate at a nice restaurant near Catherine's Palace, great beef stroganoff, and live music! We also ate at the Astoria Hotel in St. Pete, also very good food.In Mandrogi we had a fabulous Chicken Shashlik picnic with live folk music too! In Moscow we ate at the National, Marriott, and Kempinsky hotels, all delicious meals, some were lunch and some were dinner. It was a nice treat and also nice that we didn't have to interrupt our city sightseeing to return to the boat for those meals, saved some time!
They had on board lectures by a professor from the university in St.Pete, she was fabulous! They also had language lessons with handouts of key phrases, very helpful for people who wanted to try out the language a little. I had bought a Russian language C.D. program months before our trip trying to learn a little survival to attempt to communicate with the locals when necessary. It turned out to be quite helpful with housekeeping on the boat and also in the restaurants in town when requesting drinks, etc. I highly recommend it!
We had early openings (entrance before the crowds of people) at the Hermitage, Petrodvorets Grand Palace, Kremlin & Armory, Tretyakov Art Gallery and a late stay (after the crowds leave) at Catherine's Palace, really nice!!! We saw a ballet at the Hermitage in St. Pete and an opera in Moscow, very nice!
We were very happy with our trip and will definetly travel with Intrav again!
Happy Travels!
When we first boarded the boat in St. Pete, our key was in our door, waiting for us to arrive. When we checked in at reception later our 1st day, I was handed a small piece of paper that was laminated and said in cyrillic "I am allergic to Seafood", I was instructed to put this on my plate in the dining room aboard the boat and also in the restaurants we would eat at in St. Pete and Moscow anytime Seafood was served, and they would bring me something else. This worked like a charm, it was perfect because most of the waiters, etc. didn't speak much English, same in the fancy hotel restaurants we ate at. By the way this occurred because during one of my discussions with Intrav before our trip I mentioned that I don't eat any seafood, and asked if that would be a problem, and Heather from Intrav said she would make a note that I was allergic, thus this great result!
On our first day and every day afterwards we had two bottles of water awaiting us. In our cabin when we checked in, we had an envelope with a map of St. Pete, a map of Moscow, and 2 postcards of St. Pete and 2 postcards of Moscow already with stamps to make it to Europe or the U.S., nice touch! Also on the second day we had a small bottle of Hand Sanitizer delivered to our cabin, in addition to the several large bottles in common areas such as bars, and restaurants, to help us stay well and not pass on any illness to our fellow travelers. We also received in our cabin the Russia by River small blue book, with the details for our cruise, very nice! Every time we boarded the bus for sightseeing we were given a bottle of water, and if we had a full day, we were given one in the morning and one in the afternoon, much appreciated.
On our first day of sightseeing in St. Pete, while we were leaving the boat we were handed 10 rubels per person for our first Bathroom visit, Intrav was aware that not everyone had exchanged money yet, nice touch! On each bus, we had a local guide and one of our interpreters from the boat, that stayed with us through the sightseeing in town. Our cabin was on the 3rd floor in the middle, great location, no noise from the bars, etc. The cabin was close quarters as we expected from 103 sqare feet including the bathroom, but there was plenty of room to completely unpack, they were very efficient with the space. We had a small refrigerator that came in handy to keep our water cool. The only problem we had, was in the middle of the night they would turn off the air-conditioning trying to conserve and many of us would wake up very uncomfortable. We complained about this, and they replied, that they have a very old system that needs to be replaced. Other than this, anytime we had a small problem, they took care of it promptly!
The food on the boat was always presented beautifully and the food was good. Once we left St. Pete we had a choice of two entrees for dinner, very nice! Their soups and desserts were fabulous, great ice cream too! In St. Pete we ate at a nice restaurant near Catherine's Palace, great beef stroganoff, and live music! We also ate at the Astoria Hotel in St. Pete, also very good food.In Mandrogi we had a fabulous Chicken Shashlik picnic with live folk music too! In Moscow we ate at the National, Marriott, and Kempinsky hotels, all delicious meals, some were lunch and some were dinner. It was a nice treat and also nice that we didn't have to interrupt our city sightseeing to return to the boat for those meals, saved some time!
They had on board lectures by a professor from the university in St.Pete, she was fabulous! They also had language lessons with handouts of key phrases, very helpful for people who wanted to try out the language a little. I had bought a Russian language C.D. program months before our trip trying to learn a little survival to attempt to communicate with the locals when necessary. It turned out to be quite helpful with housekeeping on the boat and also in the restaurants in town when requesting drinks, etc. I highly recommend it!
We had early openings (entrance before the crowds of people) at the Hermitage, Petrodvorets Grand Palace, Kremlin & Armory, Tretyakov Art Gallery and a late stay (after the crowds leave) at Catherine's Palace, really nice!!! We saw a ballet at the Hermitage in St. Pete and an opera in Moscow, very nice!
We were very happy with our trip and will definetly travel with Intrav again!
Happy Travels!
Sep 4th, 2006, 01:28 PM
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Katya, I was a little skeptical about taking a river cruise, this was my husband's idea. I actually loved it, it was wonderful unpacking once, meeting other people and traveling with them. You really have time to develop friendships. I get motion sickness easily so I was nervous about getting sick, and on this trip I didn't have a problem, we were mainly on rivers, and some large lakes. When we were just cruising for a solid day and in the evenings, it was very relaxing, time to get some rest, so we could be well rested when we got to Moscow for the heavy sightseeing days. Have you been on a tour before??
We will definetly do a river cruise again in some other countries in the future, great experience.
Shari
We will definetly do a river cruise again in some other countries in the future, great experience.
Shari
Sep 4th, 2006, 02:24 PM
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Hi Shari!
My very first trip to Russia (1992) was on a tour. I had just started to study Russian in school, and it was my first trip to Europe- my parents and a friend and I traveled together.
It was a fabulous experience for me, and I still marvel at the changes in Russia over the years. Sadly, my parents haven't been back yet- I hope that we will go this upcoming summer of 2007- I think they will be amazed at the changes!!
Aside from this, the most "tour-like" trips I have taken are bringing students to Russia. We spend a good deal of time as a group, touring the areas of Piter & then go to Moscow for a few nights. Three years ago, we went to Riga, as well.
I have never been on a cruise, so I wondered about the motion sickness aspect- I'm glad to hear it wasn't a problem for you!!
My very first trip to Russia (1992) was on a tour. I had just started to study Russian in school, and it was my first trip to Europe- my parents and a friend and I traveled together.
It was a fabulous experience for me, and I still marvel at the changes in Russia over the years. Sadly, my parents haven't been back yet- I hope that we will go this upcoming summer of 2007- I think they will be amazed at the changes!!
Aside from this, the most "tour-like" trips I have taken are bringing students to Russia. We spend a good deal of time as a group, touring the areas of Piter & then go to Moscow for a few nights. Three years ago, we went to Riga, as well.
I have never been on a cruise, so I wondered about the motion sickness aspect- I'm glad to hear it wasn't a problem for you!!
Sep 4th, 2006, 05:49 PM
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Hi Garfield,
I have no idea what Faux St.Marie is talking about. Just ignore her. I have a visa bill to prove that I just took the trip I wrote about. We have only been home one week! My husband & I have just returned from our 1st tour and 1st cruise on Aug. 24th, we have always traveled independently.
But when my husband chose Russia, we decided for safety reasons traveling with a tour would be advisable. I researched three tour companies, Intrav, Uniworld, and Viking. We have friends that took the exact trip with Intrav last year and raved about it.
After hearing all about their trip and comparing the three companies, we chose Intrav because they had the early openings at some of the Museums, etc., some meals at 5 star restaurants, and a ballet & opera, not the circus, which we have heard is quite bad. Also heard that the lectures on board were quite good. I think that was the main reasons.
As I said in my posting, we were very pleased with our trip. If you have any questions regarding our trip I would be happy to try to answer them.
I assure you that I am just a regular person who just wanted to share our good travel experience with others considering a similar trip.
I read the threads concerning this trip before we booked ours and it helped me alot, so I thought I would reciprocate.
Shari
I have no idea what Faux St.Marie is talking about. Just ignore her. I have a visa bill to prove that I just took the trip I wrote about. We have only been home one week! My husband & I have just returned from our 1st tour and 1st cruise on Aug. 24th, we have always traveled independently.
But when my husband chose Russia, we decided for safety reasons traveling with a tour would be advisable. I researched three tour companies, Intrav, Uniworld, and Viking. We have friends that took the exact trip with Intrav last year and raved about it.
After hearing all about their trip and comparing the three companies, we chose Intrav because they had the early openings at some of the Museums, etc., some meals at 5 star restaurants, and a ballet & opera, not the circus, which we have heard is quite bad. Also heard that the lectures on board were quite good. I think that was the main reasons.
As I said in my posting, we were very pleased with our trip. If you have any questions regarding our trip I would be happy to try to answer them.
I assure you that I am just a regular person who just wanted to share our good travel experience with others considering a similar trip.
I read the threads concerning this trip before we booked ours and it helped me alot, so I thought I would reciprocate.
Shari
Sep 4th, 2006, 07:25 PM
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I have taken a number of the various river trips in Russia and have found them to be very enjoyable. Here are some of the photos, see: http://community.webshots.com/user/wu687
Sep 4th, 2006, 10:14 PM
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Garfield, Thank-you for sharing your beautiful photos with me! My husband has been transfering ours from our camera to our computer the past few days. I'm looking forward to enjoying them and remembering our great trip.
