Crowded st Petersburg.

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Crowded st Petersburg.
Reviewed By: Mansfield, Evesham on 26th Jun 2009
Cruise Line: Cunard Cruises	Times cruised before: 10+
Cruise Ship: Queen Victoria	Sailed: May, 2009
Destination: Baltic	Age: 56-65

Just returned from a Baltic trip on the Queen Victoria.The ship was superb, cabins spacious and comfortable. Although the food was of a high standard it was not as good as the QM2. Service in all departments could not be faulted it was tip top. Trips in St Petersburg were a complete and utter waste of money. President Putin was at an economic conference so whever we went, the traffic was slow and heavy so consequently the trip to the Hermitage started late.Inside the crowds made it impossible to get into the rooms let alone see anything. Our guide had spent the whole of the journey on coach trying to get the earphone receivers to work. SO didnt point out any items of interest on the way. In the Hermitage we were told to go upstairs and then down because we'd missed a time slot after a while we were moved down a back staircase (lost contact with guide) in narrow corridors jammed with people, if anyone had fallen it would have been disasterous.This trip was$195 each! To cap it all the Evening at the Hermitage (to be the highlight of the trip) was cancelled!!! On a positive note, the Peterhof Palace the next day was wonderful. Our guide spoke perfect english and although crowded we were taken around in comfort. The garden fountains were spectacular. We are experianced cruisers about 34 in all but we have usually found the excursions better value for money. On board the service was exemplary and the ship entertainment,lectures,library, and theatre all perfect. One small niggle is that in the dining room a lot of tables are now oval and dont make for good coversation, if a table for 8,it naturally divided into two 4's. This is worth remembering if you like a large table.
Quality of Food

Entertainment
Talk on minature boxes in Russia was excellent. Shows were good and comedian very funny.
Shore Excursions
Hermitage
Staff
all staff
Children's Facilities	n/a

Onboard Activities

Cabins

Overall Rating

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Comment by weston, aylesbury (28 Jun 09 21:42) about this REVIEW

We went to St Petersburg on the QV last year and arranged our own tour - for 2 full days on our own with private guide and driver it cost $500 in total. So for $100 per couple more, we got to see and do exactly what we wanted to do, and completely avoided the problems you had in the Hermitage - our guide planned a route to avoid all the coach tour crowds and we got to go into most rooms when they weren't crowded. We used anastasiaworld.com, but there are several others which have been recommended on this site - search the 'answers' section for St Petersburg, that's how I found the company we used.

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Comment by Ellis, Rothley (30 Jun 09 13:27) about a COMMENT by weston (28 Jun 09 21:42)

Totally agree with your comment. We too arranged out own tour using Alla-Tours and it was first class. We did the two day full tour and paid $285 each($300 if you pay by credit card) and there was only 6 on us. Like you we queued for nothing and saw everything we planned to. I strongly recommend to anybody visiting St Petersburg in the future to book a Russian tour company direct via the internet.

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