That would really be too bad if the travel time is that long from the river cruise to the centre of Moscow or St.Petersburg.

The trouble with these river cruises..in my opinion.. is that they waste too much time in the morning ( leave the cruise boat) and afternoon ( having long lunches.

I called Viking River cruises on their 1-800 number and asked why one seems to see so little in Moscow and /or St. Petersburg.

His answer to me was:

We have breakfast between 7AM and 9 AM .
Then people have to go backto their room to freshen up and then we leave by bus about 9:30 AM

I said to him "You must be kidding me".!!

Then they go to St.Catherine's Palace...do the tour there and then have lunch for about 1 and 1/2 hours.!!!!

Your afternoon is optional if you want to go to say,Peterhof Palace.!!

After talking to the person from Viking,I got the impression that a lot of time is wasted getting from point A to point B!!

I would be happy to hear from someone who did the river cruise.

I was in St. Petersburg 18 months ago and saw more in 2 days off a cruise ship ...than I would see in 4 days on the River cruise!!

" I was in St. Petersburg 18 months ago and saw more in 2 days off a cruise ship ...than I would see in 4 days on the River cruise!!"

How do you know this?


Also - Anyone know of the Amadeus cruises? About one of their ships, the "Tolstoy"?