Has anyone taken the side trip to Moscow from St. Petersburg? I am signed up for the flight but am concerned about how long this excursion is. This will probably be my only opportunity to see Moscow but I am concerned.

I don't know how long the excursion is, but if this is your only chance to see Moscow, please don't miss it. The regrets for what you DIDN'T do are always a lot greater than any regrets for what you did do.

Will be doing the Moscow trip on June 15th from the RCCL's Jewel Of the Sea. They list the trip as being 16&1/2 hours long.

Guess we will see you then! We are on the Jewel of hte Seas July 2oth cruise and will be flying to Moscow the first day in St. Petersburg. Sounds like a long day but I'm excited to be able to do it.

It is really is a long day and rather unfortunate that some people still opt for this increasing unpopular shore exursion. St Petersburg is one of the most exciting destinations in the world and to have most of the limited shore time wasted traveling to a less interesting destination does not make much sense. Some cruise lines push this excursion because they make a lot of money on it but considering what is lost in time visiting one of the most beautiful cities anywhere it is not worth it. It is sort of like having a 40 hour port call to Manhattan and getting up early to rush off to Chicago, so neither city is really experienced. There are many more "must-sees" in St Petersburg.

We were on a Baltic Cruise two years ago amd chose not to do the Moscow trip.

I am so glad that we had two days in St Petersburg. That wasn't nearly enough! It's such a fabulous city that there is no way that you can see everything in only two days. The Hermitage alone could use up a week!

On the other hand, others on our cruise thorougly enjoyed the trip to Moscow but were exhausted.

Remember that going to Russia you lose an hour with the time zone change. We lost another hour the day before going into Finland. I nodded off in the folkloric show (it was excellent) because I was just plain pooped. Even though I love theatre and dance.

The Baltic was a wonderful cruise but it was "hard work".

Enjoy

Considering that each flight is about 1.5hrs, to get to airport will be over an hour, the time to get into Moscow will be over an hour. Waiting time each airport an hour or more. Lunch 1.5hrs.

You will be lucky if you end up with a bus tour of the city, a walk around Red Square and a short visit to the Kremlin.

You will find that St Petersburg has plenty to see. To see either city at a minimum, you need at least 3 or 4 days in each.

Last Sept. we did a pre-cruise 4 night stay in Moscow through Radisson. It was absolutely the trip of a lifetime. Moscow is so interesting and really beautiful. We were totally surprised by our wonderful hotel (the National) good food, nice people. The Kremlin was nothing like we expected. We really enjoyed walking around the grounds. And the Armoury! The jewels, the gold, the carriages, costumes. We were in awe and stunned by the beauty and the wealth of this city. Enjoyed a night at the Moscow Circus too! We also spent 2 days in St. Petersburg staying on the cruiseship. It is surely an amazing city. you cannot see it in a few days. The wealth of the museums, palaces are shocking! It is absolutely fabulous. We walked around with our mouths open. Do not miss either city!!!!