From Claudia Marcogliese,
Toronto Ontario
- took a river cruise aboard MS Chernyshevsky, Sept 16-26, 2017, St. Petersburg - Moscow, with 2 nights pre-cruise extension in St. Petersburg
Hi Serguei,
Thanks for your welcome. Sorry it's taken a few days to get back to you, it is a mix of jetlag and catching up with things at home.
We had a wonderful trip altogether, everything went as planned and better. Russia is a beautiful, dynamic country and we are hoping to go back in the future, so much still to see.
I'll give you my impressions as John already wrote to you.
The extra day and tours at the beginning of the trip were a great idea. The hotel facilities in St. Peterburg were very clean and well located, it was so good to be able to go out for a walk right after we arrived.
They were waiting at the airport for us even though the flight was delayed.
Our tour to the Hermitage was memorable, the guide was very competent and knowledgeable and we were able to stay a couple of hours more after the guide left.
Next day we had a beautiful day at the Catherine Palace, the weather was perfect and we enjoyed the greenery and beauty of the area. We paid the driver and he picked us up later to take us to the ship, so that went very smoothly.
The cruiseship and facilities were as expected as we had so much information from the web.
The cabin was compact but well designed and we enjoyed the view to outside, I was glad we were not in the lower level.
The weather overall was better than expected as we did not have too much rain and the temperature was pleasant, I took too many winter clothes.
Summer clothes with a light down jacket was enough most of the time and when it got cold an extra layer was enough. We missed the first stop due to the 5 mt waves in Ladoga, fortunately it was at the beginning and staying the whole day on the ship was not too bad.
Our first visit was Kizhi and the churches and the island were resplendent under the sun, very beautiful and interesting stop.
We also had good weather in Goritsy, it was interesting to see the Monastery but the guide did not speak English and the content was weak but it was a good day overall. The program in Yaroslavl and the tour guide were very good, we could've stayed there a couple of hours more, there was a lot to see. Uglich was also short but the tour was good and the weather cooperated.
We enjoyed the food during the cruise and we thought the restaurant staff were very efficient. There was good variety in the menus and the presentation was always very nice, the portions were not excessive, so we never felt over stuffed (hard to have control when it is in front of you). The vodka tasting and the Russian Tea ceremony were excellent.
The Russian entertainers were of high calibre, we felt bad for them when in the bars as people were talking during the performances but on the other hand there were not other options for people to get together and talk.
I thought they could use the dining room area when not in use for eating, for people to have somewhere to sit and relax - but I guess it is difficult for the staff to work having people there.
The staff really did their best in all areas, keeping rooms neat, dining room, entertainment, coordinating, etc.
We really admired everyone's work but especially the young activity leaders, their language skills and good energy were excellent. It did impart a lot of energy, especially as most passengers were mature adults.
There are no words to describe St. Petersburg and Moscow, they are so beautiful, young, dynamic with amazing old architecture and colorful, interesting, painful history but just shows how the human spirit can raise above all.
We definitely have to visit again.
We did the most out of our time during our stay there and appreciated that the ship was accessible with public transportation and the shuttle bus when necessary.
Riding the Metro is tricky but it is such an interesting experience and very efficient. We had an excellent tour guide for the night tour of Moscow's metro, she really put a lot of energy in her presentation and brought the modern city to life for us.
I am glad we tried to learn the alphabet at least, it did help - the language is so difficult, very hard to memorize but it was fun to take the Russian language and songs class.
Overall our trip was a very memorable experience, loved what we saw so far of Russia and hope to go back one day.
Thank you for your efforts with getting the visa and coordinating the first couple of days for us, that was very important in order for us to see the most during the few days we were in St. Petersburg.
The river cruise was too relaxing for my taste and the stops in between were short, but the company does the very best given the distance and many locks and size of the ship.
We could've used a couple of days more in Moscow.. now we know, we had a lot of energy to tackle the second phase in Portugal which kept us busy and on the move all the time. It is good to be home but we miss all the action and variety of travelling, have to start preparing our next adventure.
Thank you again Sergei for your personal attention in arranging the details that ensured the success of our first visit to Russia.
Your efforts were much appreciated and we wish you continued success with your agency. We will continue to share our positive experience with everyone.
Best regards,
Claudia
October 17, 2017
Toronto
From John Marcogliese:
Wow what a trip. Amazing. I loved Russia. What beauty. St Petersburg a dream. Peterhof, forget about Versailles. The Hermitage was amazing. The guide you got us was great, a very smart and fluent in English. She was amazing. Moscow was great too. The tretyukov museum , my regret l only spent 2 hours there. So easy to get around with the metro in both cities. I would definitely go back to these cities and more of Russia.
The cruise was good. It was very well run. Everything worked. Everything organized was perfect. The kids working there were awesome. As a teacher l realize that they are la crème.
The stops were interesting. Going through the locks was too long . There were 17 of them .
Each taking about 1 hour.
The entertaining spaces were small for the number of people on the ship. The events organized were interesting. I met alot of interesting people. Our table was great.
We missed both connecting flights with Lufthansa. The food was horrible on Lufthansa. I hear this is quite common to miss flights in Frankfurt. Never again.
Our Portugal part was great as well.
Thank you. It was amazing.
John
15 October 2017
Toronto Ontario
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