Peter the Great Cruises

My husband, Ken, and I visited Russia for the first time, Aug. 19-Sept. 3, ’05, taking the river cruise between St. Petersburg and Moscow. After doing much research on the Internet and reading appreciatively the readers’ comments in the March, April and June ’04 issues of ITN, we chose to go with Peter the Great Cruises (2610 East 16th St., Brooklyn, NY 11235; phone 800/828-7970).

We came back full of enthusiasm and praise for that company. I liked the idea that they offered more days in their package than the other companies did for an equivalent price. When I phoned directly to their office to book our trip, I was told that since we were not using a travel agent or a group package, we would receive a 10% discount on the total amount and that if we chose to book Aeroflot through them we would also be given the same discount for that.

I mentioned that we had friends who might be interested in joining us and was told that for each friend who booked directly, using our name and recommendation for the same cruise, we would be entitled to another $100 discount. Needless to say, we took them up on the offer and traveled with six others, who also each were given the 10%!

We chose to book our own airfare using frequent-flyer miles, but one of the couples did use the Aeroflot option.

You may question why someone would travel through Russia by river, but it is along the rivers that many of the country’s cultural and political centers are located. The route we took was made navigable by connecting the Volga to other rivers, lakes and reservoirs, using canals and by dredging the upper reaches of the Volga. In earlier days, boats had to be pulled through the shallow areas by men with ropes, “the Volga boatmen.”

The cruise-only prices listed for 2005 for the 16-day package were $1,998 per person, double occupancy, for cabins on the top deck, $1,898 for the deck below and $1,798 for the next deck down. We were on the M/S Zosima Shashkov, a very comfortable ship apparently chartered from Vodohod (the Russian fleet of river cruise ships) by Peter the Great Cruises.

Since this company apparently is well respected for the 10 trips they run on this route, they seem to get the cream of the crop of the service staff aboard. We were impressed with the attractive and personable young onboard guides who accompanied us on all of our shore excursions as well as with the excellent local guides who met us at each stop.

While sailing between stops, we took language classes, watched films of Russian history, listened to talks by a special lecturer on Russian culture and history and enjoyed musical concerts presented by the four professional musicians who traveled with us. We were surprised at what an educational opportunity this was.

The food on board was varied and tasty, although the box lunches which were sent along on our buses several days when we were to be away from the ship at the middle of the day were rather dull and monotonous. We had had so much food otherwise that it didn’t matter, however.

I won’t go into a description of the itinerary, as it has been covered frequently in ITN. We would not have wanted to miss a bit of it!

We liked the fact that we were met at the airport in St. Petersburg and taken right to the ship and our cabin without having to transfer to any hotel and that, again, the package included transfer in Moscow directly from the ship to the airport.

The only drawback was that from the North River Station, where we were docked in Moscow, it was a drive of a good half hour or more into the city for each tour and event.

We took as many of the shore excursions and optional extra shows and tours as our energy would allow. Daily excursions were included in the price, but shows like the ballet, the circus and some folk and Cossack shows were extra. Peter the Great Cruises’ brochure is quite clear on what you would need to pay extra for. We felt it was all worthwhile.

We were especially lucky to have the owner and founder of the company, Boris Kotlyarsky, traveling with us on this particular cruise. It was obvious that he was concerned to see that everything went as smoothly as possible for the comfort and convenience of his passengers, and he was also very open to feedback and complaints as they arose.

Still, unexpected glitches can occur in the schedule. If one travels with an open mind, a relaxed attitude and a sense of humor, it can be a wonderful experience.

Any readers interested in more details of this trip are welcome to look at my journal on the Web at www.doty.org/travel/russia2005 or at the pictures of everything we saw (www.doty.org/gallery/russia05). If you still have questions after reading my journal, e-mail me at connie@doty.org.

CONNIE DOTY
Orinda, CA