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St Petersburg to Moscow – Cruising the Waterways of the Czars

Article posted: June 7th, 2010 by Cruisepilot | No Comments »

Ever wondered what it would be like cruising the waterways of Russia? Follow Cruisepilot’s CEO, as he travels from St Petersburg to Moscow on Viking River Cruise‘s 13 day “Waterways of the Czars”.

Arrival

Well, we’re landing in St Petersburg with lots of apprehension of the unknown and a preconception of what we think Russia is going to be like.  

I think I’ve watched too many movies and expected the third degree at immigration, but nothing. Just a pleasant smile and a welcome. We picked up our bags and our transportation was waiting for us with an assistant that spoke perfect English.  We headed for our hotel with a full commentary of the history and land marks of St Petersburg from our guide.  The architecture of the city is a mixture of mostly old in the city centre and newer as you move to the outer suburbs.  The wide boulevards and streets were probably the most surprising thing to me as I expected the opposite.  

We arrived one night earlier than required for the cruise and had Cruisepilot consultants also arrange accommodation at the Marriot Courtyard Hotel.  A very modern hotel which kept the original St Petersburg architecture on the outside.  The staff were very accommodating and all spoke English.

We arrived on the 27th May which was the 300th birthday of St Petersburg’s foundation by Peter the Great.  There were fireworks and other celebrations just a few blocks from the hotel.  St Petersburg is very safe for tourists and we walked to the festivities without any hesitations. The only problem was that we were caught in a rain storm, which was our first lesson for St Petersburg…you need to always carry either wet gear or an  umbrella because rain can come on very quickly.

The Ship day 1

We headed to the ship the next morning and what a surprise it was.  The Viking Kirov was completely renovated in 2009 and is now a very modern river cruiser.  The cabins are quite large for a cruise ship and when they renovated, it was not just a lick of paint.  It seems as though the whole ship was emptied and completely rebuilt.  The bathrooms are all new and very roomy and the living area is also roomy with comfortable beds, plenty of cupboard space, satellite flat screen TV with several international news channels and two movie channels that show different movies each day.  The first three days of the cruise are spent in St Petersburg and surrounding districts and as part of the program, you are taken through the amazing history and story of St Petersburg, along with our journey through the rivers and lakes of Russia as we end our adventure in Moscow in 13 days time. 

Log on to Cruisepilot tomorrow for the next instalment of “Crusing the Waterways of the Czars”