Super The trip to Russia with Volga Dream was a success across the board. Very good hotels, competent guides, nice rides The stay on the ship was extremely pleasant. The staff were very obliging and friendly. The meals on board were excellent. The lectures and other activities on board very pleasant and instructive. I would VOLGA DREAM recommend to anyone who wants to visit Russia,

A trip we would recommend to our friends. Never having been on a cruise, we were unsure of what we would experience. We were very pleasantly surprised, the staff were excellent, food was delicious, entertainment was enjoyable, lectures opened our eyes to the history of Russia and in general we had a wonderful time. Our fellow passengers also made our trip one with wonderful memories.

Pros & Cons Pros – For the 1 night prior and the 1 night following the cruise, instead of staying on the ship, which is docked one hour plus outside the city, you will stay at a hotel within Moscow and St. Petersburg. The hotels may not have the best or even in the best location, but it will be a lot closer than if you stayed at the dock. The capacity of the ship is under 100 people, which was a positive for us For the most part, the guides were very good, with one or 2 exceptions Programs on the ship such as: speakers, cooking class, etc. were plentiful and excellent The service in the dining room is excellent and the rest of the service is good Cons – The ship is not luxurious in any way The cabins are minuscule and poorly appointed. The furnishings are bare bones and right out of IKEA. The ship is much more 2 stars than 5 The cabins are dark, depressing and poorly lit. We had to use our own flashlight to even find our clothes in the wardrobe The curtains are so thin that they offer no privacy or any means of blocking out the daylight The shower is so tiny, you can barely wash yourself There are a few meals which are very good, but for the most part, they are mediocre at best. They were more quantity than quality and certainly not fine dining in any way Except for the “Russian Night,” there are no Russian specialties on the menu or at the buffets. It is over cooked and dried out paella, bbq ribs and lasagna. Since lunch is a buffet, why couldn’t one of the choices be Russian? In the evening there is No local or folk entertainment, except for games played by the staff The hotels the utilize in Moscow and St. Petersburg are far down on the scale of 5 star hotels and the one in Moscow is 2 miles from Red Square Of course no one can control the weather, but the following issues must be considered prior to booking - You may think that taking a river cruise, it would be smooth sailing all the way, which was not the case. When crossing one of the large lakes, we were caught in a terrible storm and the ship was rocking and rolling. In fact, the water poured out of our shower and drenched the carpeting in the bedroom. Because of this we had to be temporarily relocated to another cabin. Also because of the weather, we had to totally skip one of our ports and on the final morning, the ship could not reach St. Petersburg. We had to dock 4 hours outside the city, get up at 4:30 in the morning, in order to board buses for the 4 hour bus ride into the city. This was certainly not what we expected If we had been on a larger ship would the situation have been different, I don’t know.

Alex in Moscow is an excellent guide in this trip. He is knowledgeable and good response to every question. I and my husband enjoyed this trip very much. I and my husband had visited some cities of Russia before this trip. We still knew little about Russia. But after this trip, we knew more about Russian and its history through their good guides. Especially Alex in Moscow. He is knowledgeable and good response to all of our questions. Sure, we will recommend our friends to join your wonderful Volga Dream program.

Fantastic Trip I took this cruise with my 82 year old mother. The experience was once in a lifetime! The guides were vey knowledgeable; the service on the boat was impeccable! The activity options on the boat were plentiful. The food was superb, like eating at a five-star restaurant every night. The tours in Moscow and St. Petersburg were slightly strenuous for my mom (it was hot in Moscow, over 85 degrees), but everyone in the group kind of "adopted" her and pointed out chairs for her to sit down in, etc. I would (and have!) recommend this cruise.