Unforgettable Russian Scenery and People

Beautiful St Petersburg, a combination of Paris and Venice c 18th century bldgs and waterways full of unbelievable museums, palaces and cathedrals. The River cruise was marvelous, relaxing and exciting with vast stretches of Russian forest, still lake and river water, and interesting stiops. Moscow was outstanding, topped off by the Bolshoi and Gisele, as well as Red Square and the Kremlin.. The people appeared very sharp and the openness of the guides was surprising and very welcome, whether it was concerning Tsarist times, the Revolution, Stalinist purges, his successors and down to current opinion of Putin. Out of 6 trips with Go Ahead, I rate Olga Kovalenko the best tour director. She and the other Olga made it the most educational trip I have ever had and the local guides were very expert and interesting, showing a desire to impart their knowledge and love of Russia. Bring Cash! Da Svedanya.

Sub-par

After standing on line for more than two hours at Passport Control, No Go-Ahead representative met us at the airport to take us to the ship. This began our tour on a very sour note. The M/S Rachmaninoff built in 1985 and last renovated in 1995 is shabby and lacks amenities found on other river cruise ships. No elevators for those with problems climbing stairs. No complimentary coffee or tea available except during meal service times. We did not find the food appealing or well prepared. The breakfast buffet was meager. The inability to charge gratuities for the ship's staff or optional excursions was a great inconvenience. St Petersburg and Moscow excursions were packed with Russia’s well known, iconic points of interest. The tours were very well conducted by the local guides but, in Moscow in particular, much of the time is spent on the bus stuck in traffic traveling back and forth to the ship. The stops on the itinerary between St Petersburg and Moscow, with the exception of Mandrogi and Kishi provided tours of locations ill prepared for the hordes of tourists arriving by ship.

THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY

The Good: our Tour Director, Olga was most helpful, knowledgeable and efficient; St. Petersburg, a beautiful city full of opulent historical buildings and palaces; The Hermitage, and visits to Peterhof and Catharine’s palace are highlights. Moscow’s Red Square and the Kremlin are not to be missed. The Bad: The ship was old, shabby and lacked basic amenities. The quality of the food was not close to the meals provided on the several European River cruises we’ve taken. The stops between St Petersburg and Moscow were brief and/or poorly timed. The Ugly: Two hours on line to get through passport control at St. Petersburg. No representative from Go-Ahead to meet us at the airport to provide transportation to the ship.

Best tour director out of 6 tours

An exciting yet restful tour as the sites and sights were unbelievable but cruising the Russian waterways at 12 knots/hour and leaving the luggage undisturbed made for a calmer, more restful tour. The Russian countryside was very beautiful-forests beyond imagining, rivers and lakes, 15th century Orthodox churces with icons/frescos/paintings to satisfy anyone. St Petersburg was beautiful beyond compare, a mixture of Venice and Paris wtih Tsarist brutality mixed in. Moscow was Busy, traffic, yet modern and sophisticated. The Bolshoi Ballet c Gisele. The Russian people were also very honest, very open about their government, about Putin, the revolution, the Stalinist period , recent Presidents right up to Putin. Brutally honest, in fact. The boat was not the most luxurious, but exactly what I expected. DO this trip. Bring cash!

Interesting but more time, please!

St Petersburg & Moscow were amazing ... the 3 hours in the ports along the ship's route not so interesting ... 5 people in our little group and everyone agreed on this point, and we would have liked more time in the Hermitage and the Armory ... too fast & too furious, whirlwind tours through these magnificent treasures. The Tour Director, Maria, was superb! Tips for the crew is still confusing.

River cruise vs high-speed rail ....

This tour was filled with a few pleasant surprises, but also a few disappointments. Our tour director, Maria, was adorable, congenial, and the perfect ambassador for her country. Our ship (M/S Litvinov) was comfortable, clean and the meals were beautifully presented and delicious. St Petersburg with all her palaces, cathedrals and the Hermitage were breathtaking, but far too little time was spent in this awesome city. Moscow was very congested but we eagerly navigated through to see Red Square (night & day excursions), the Kremlin & the famous Metro stops. However, I must have blinked going through the Armory to see the magnificent imperial jewels & Fabrege' eggs ... it was a blur & everyone wished we had more time here. Which brings me to the disappointments: We spent way too MANY hours on the ship having only 3-4 hours on most days in port (with the exception of one day). I don't mean to disparage the residents of those lovely little villages (whose livlihood depends on tourists, I'm sure), but everyone agreed that St Petersburg & Moscow were the big draws for the trip. The ship offered minimal entertainment except card games and jigsaw puzzles in the bar, so travellers need to take lots of books for reading and there's certainly not much in the way of scenery during the cruise. The visa for Russia cost over $300 and everything had to be overnight expressed at a cost of $46 ... expensive! Forget Russian rubles but get lots of Euros ... everyone in Russia wants Euros. Near the end of the cruise, a note was slipped under every door laying out the terms of tipping and an envelope was provided to us with details on how much we should tip all the crew and reminded us not to forget the ship's Cruise Director. Many objected to tipping the Cruise Director whose job it seemed was acting as a liason between the crew and the various Tour Directors. Our tips to our GAT TD (Maria) and our concierge (Yulia) were generous and given directly to each ... servers and bartenders were remembered as well. In summary: Loved St Petersburg & Moscow, adored our TD & Concierge ... just was not crazy about the cruise itinerary and whirlwind stops. This river cruise would be nice for Seniors and those persons who want to relax, read, sleep and have a little history & culture thrown in the mix. I gave this tour 4 Stars for the St Petersburg & Moscow visits. (Note to GAT: The consensus around the dinner table was that we would much rather have spent more days in St Petersburg, take the high speed rail to Moscow and have more time in cosmopolitan Moscow.)

Good Trip Woderful tourguide

We enjoyed the tour especially our tourguide, Maria. She was helpful to eveone and very friendly. The palaces in St. Petersburg were unbelievable and we enjoyed seeing all of the city. As a whole we enjoyed the boat tour, but would perfer to see fewer churches an have more time to explore the towns, especially the town where the arts and crafts were.

Tzarinas

I travelled to Russia last September and was truly awed. The magnificent churces and palaces far exceded my expectations. I think the museum in the Kremlin is the best I have seen. I think that was because I was thrilled to see some Faberge eggs. I would recommend this tour to everyone who is interested in Russian history, magificent scenery and enjoyable company.

the trip needs work

You were very fortunate to have had an excellent tour director/guide. Advanced information was mostly wrong. It appeared that there was very little contact with what the boat expected and what Go Ahead told us. I am sure that this will improve in the future. I further appreciate the way Go Ahead handled the "after the Tour' phase. We have confidence in your tours and have booked our next tour.

russian cruise

The scenery and the excursions were interesting. The cruise ship was not very accomodating to travelers. I did not like the fact that the front desk was closed at night, so it was not possible to talk with the cruise staff. The cruise did not offer a very wide variety of beverages, i asked for diet coke and there was none. The meals were ok. The state rooms were too small and the beds very uncomfortable.