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Louis Group first became active in the field of cruise ship ownership and management in 1986, even though it had been involved in the representation of passenger vessels and cruise ships in the past. The period between 1989 and 2001 was a period of rapid growth for the cruise sector. During this time, the Group acquired in total 10 ships. In 1996, a cruise ship was chartered for the first time to Thomson Cruises, owned by TUI, the world’s largest tour operator. Following the growing trend in the cruise sector, Louis plc creates in 2014 a new brand, “Celestyal Cruises”. Celestyal Cruises has fast built an award-winning reputation and recognition as the number one choice for cruise travelers to the Greek Islands and East Mediterranean thanks to its regional expertise and exceptional hospitality. The company operates two vessels, each one intimate enough to provide genuine and highly personalized services. The foundation of the company’s philosophy is built on a unique Greek heritage which combines outstanding hospitality with genuine cultural destination immersion and provides authentic, lifetime experiences both onboard and onshore. Celestyal Cruises currently operates in 16 countries such as USA, United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, China, France, Germany, Turkey, etc. Celestyal Cruises passengers come from 140 countries. In November 2021, Louis plc announced that it has signed an agreement for the recapitalization of Celestyal Cruises Limited and the formation of a strategic partnership with Searchlight Capital Partners, L.P., a leading global private investment firm. Under the terms of the agreement, Searchlight will provide funding to Celestyal Cruises to support the development plans of the company, including its fleet renewal. Louis plc, through its subsidiary Louis Hotels Public Company Ltd, will acquire 40% of the limited partnership interests in the sole shareholder of a newly incorporated holding company. Searchlight will be the owner of 60% of the limited partner interests in the sole shareholder of such newly incorporated holding company. As a result of this transaction, Celestyal Cruises will no longer be considered a subsidiary company, but an associate of Louis plc. THE 2 CRUISE SHIPS BELONGING TO CELESTYAL CRUISES TODAY ARE THE FOLLOWING: 1. Celestyal Discovery 2. Celestyal Journey AWARDS Since 2014, Celestyal has received top honors in the Tourism Awards, one of the largest and most prestigious awards programs within the Greek tourism industry. These include one Platinum, 15 Gold, 10 Silver and nine Bronze awards covering Guest Experience Excellence, Solo Travel, CSR Initiatives, Contribution to National Economy, FAM and Press Trips, Communication Campaign and Multichannel Marketing Campaign.

In December 2022, Celestyal won a Bronze Award at the British Travel Awards in the ‘‘Best Operator for Mini Cruises’’ category and was named one of the top ocean cruise lines for ‘’Best Service’’ at the annual Cruise Critic Editors’ Picks Awards 2022, an award also received in 2018 and 2019. Ι n 2019 and 2020, Celestyal was recognized for its overall contribution and commitment to the development of the cruise industry in the Eastern Mediterranean region at the MedCruise Awards.

CORPORATE RESPONSIBILITY Celestyal is deeply committed to sustainability and ethical business practices. The company actively supports the local communities in the destinations it visits, particularly in the field of education. Additionally, Celestyal supports cultural NGOs to promote youth entrepreneurship, marine student development and child welfare. ISO CERTIFICATION The entire spectrum of Celestyal’s ship management, including technical, hotel and crew management, and offices, are certified in accordance with ISO 9001/14001 standards. The certifying authority is DNV, which is widely recognized as the biggest and most respected rating agency in the marine industry.

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Cruise packages. Email:  [email protected] Address:  8 Ant. Ampatielou Street Post Code:  185 36 PIRAEUS Telephone:  210 458.3400 Website:   www.louiscruises.com

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Leading Tourism Organization in the Southeastern Mediterranean.

Welcome to louis plc.

Louis plc, member of the Louis Group, is currently one of the leading Cyprus organizations engaged in the tourism industry in the Southeastern Europe. Louis plc mainly focuses on the hotel sector, through its subsidiary Louis Hotels Public Company Ltd (26 hotel units both in Cyprus and the Greek islands) and in the cruise sector, through its associate Celestyal Cruises Ltd.

The vision of Louis plc is to establish itself as the leading tourism organization in the Southeastern Europe, by offering high quality services to its customers and to its business partners and by upgrading the tourism product offered in both Cyprus and Greece.

The company further aims to strengthen and enhance its strategic alliances with major international tour operators, as well as to expand its activities by adding new hotel units and upgrading the existing ones.

Louis Hotels was established in the early 1940’s as part of Louis Tourist Agency and assumed a leading role in the tourism industry in both Cyprus and Greece.

Louis plc, launched its own cruising operations in 1986, even though it had been involved in the representation of passenger vessels and cruise ships in the past.

Hotels Sector

It all started when the late Louis Loizou, widely considered to be the “father of tourism” in Cyprus purchased the “Semmering” hotel and leased the “Grand Hotel” in the Cyprus mountains. He then purchased “Louis Hotel” located at Ledra Street in Nicosia and in 1969 the luxurious “Ledra Palace” hotel, a landmark of Nicosia.

Cruising Sector

The period between 1989 and 2001 was a period of rapid growth for the cruise sector. During this time, the Group acquired in total 10 ships. In 1996, a cruise ship was chartered for the first time to Thomson Cruises, owned by TUI, the world’s largest tour operator. Following the growing trend in the cruise sector, Louis plc creates in 2014 a new brand, “Celestyal Cruises”.

Company Structure

Celestyal Olympia

Hilton nicosia, amada colossos resort, kerkyra golf, althea beach, louis chris le mare villa, corcyra beach, creta princess aquapark spa, louis nausicaa luxury villas, imperial beach, infinity blue, ledra beach, paphos breeze, phaethon beach, plagos beach, st. elias resort waterpark, zante beach, lti louis grand hotel, nausicaa beach, primasol louis ionian sun, sofianna resort spa, the king jason paphos, the king jason protaras, mykonos theoxenia, the royal apollonia.

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• 02. Contents
• 03. Classic tours
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• 25. Island Hopping Myconos
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Louis Cruise Line

Louis Cruise Lines is a Cyprus-based shipping company that operates cruises from Cyprus, France, Italy and Greece (the operations from Greece were previously marketed under the name Louis Hellenic Cruise Lines, but as of 2008 there is no mention of the brand on Louis' website)[2]. The company also charters several ships to Thomson Cruises. Louis Cruise Lines was established in 1987 as a daughter company of Louis plc.

Louis Cruise Lines shares are quoted in the Cyprus Stock Exchange.

The Louis Cruise Lines fleet consist mainly of older second- or third-hand ships. One of them, the SS The Emerald, is the last ocean liner built in the United States still in service.

Louis Cruise Lines is the fifth largest cruise operator in the world.[3] Company history

Louis Cruise Lines is a subsidiary of the Cyprus-based travel and tourism group Louis plc, that was founded in 1935 as the first travel agency in Cyprus. During the 1970s the company began chartering ferries for short cruises Cyprus, which eventually led to the purchase of the cruiseferry MV Prinsessan from the Finland-based Birka Line for $4 million in 1987. Renamed MV Princesa Marissa, the ship started making cruises from Limassol to the Greek Islaes, Egypt and Israel under the newly-established Louis Cruise Lines band.[3][4] By 1994 the company had acquired three more ships, all of which were used in the short cruise market from Cyprus.[3] In the mid-90s Louis Cruise Lines entered the business of chartering ships to other companies, chartering MV Princesa Oceanica (renamed Sapphire) to the United Kingdom-based Thomson Cruises in 1996.[3][5] The following year the newly-acquired SS The Emerald was also chartered to Thomson.[6] In 1999 Louis chartered the 1998-acquired SS Ausonia to First Choice Holidays, one of Thomson's competitors in the UK market.[3][7] By this time the Louis fleet consisted of a total of eight ships. In 1999 Louis also acquired a stake in the Greece-based Royal Olympic Cruises. Royal Olympic was already in difficulties by the time Louis became involved with the company, and the September 11, 2001 attacks dealt a further blow, finally leading to the collapse of Royal Olympic in 2004.[3]

During the early 2000s Louis further modernised their fleet by acquiring MV Calypso in 2000, and chartering MV Nieuw Amsterdam from Holland America Line in 2003, immediately sub-chartering her to Thomson as MV Thomson Spirit. In 2004 Louis acquired MV Aquamarine from the fleet of the UK-based Sun Cruises (which had gone out of business).[3] Another former Sun Cruises ship, MV Thomson Destiny, was chartered from a Norway-based investment company and sub-chartered to Thomson Cruises.[8] The new acquisitions also made possible the sale of three of Louis' older vessels. Also in 2004, following the collapse of Royal Olympic Cruises, Louis Cruise Lines purchased two of their former ships at bargain prices and established their own Louis Hellenic Cruises brand for the Greek cruise market.[3]

Further espansion came in 2006 with the purchase of MV Orient Queen and MV Sea Diamond, another former Baltic Sea cruiseferry ppurchased from Birka Line, while Calypso was chartered to Thomson and Aquamarine (renamed Arielle) to Transocean Tours. Additionally Louis entered a franchise agreement with easyCruise to operate ships in the Eastern Mediterranean on behalf of easyCruise in the future. Disaster stroke in April 2007 when the Sea Diamond sunk off Santorini, Greece. All but two of the ship's passengers were safely evacuated, but the sinking resulted in a flurry of negative publicity for Louis.[3] MV Oceanic II and MV Ruby were chartered as temporary replacements for the Sea Diamond, until MV Cristal - former Silja Line cruise ship MV Silja Opera - entered service in July 2007.[3][9] In 2008 the Arielle was returned from her charter to Transocean Tours, reverted to her earlier name Aquamarine and entered service under the Louis Hellenic Cruises brand.[10] By early 2008 the Louis Hellenic Cruises brand appeared to have been abandoned.[2]

In April 2008 Louis Cruise Lines agreed to purchase MV Norwegian Dream and MV Norwegian Majesty from Star Cruises. The agreement at the time was to charter the ships back to Star Cruises/Norwegian Cruise Line until November 2008 and December 2009, respectively.[11] However, in September 2008 Louis cancelled the purchase of the Norwegian Dream due to "technical issues relating to the vessel".[12] In May 2008 Louis Cruise Lines purchased Thomson Destiny and Thomson Spirit that had previously been operated under charter. At the same time Princesa Marissa and Serenade were sold for scrap.[8]

* MV Aquamarine - Operates cruises from Greece. Previously chartered to Transocean Tours as Arielle.[13] * MV Coral - Operates cruises from Spain ;[10] previously Triton * MV Cristal - Operates cruises from Greece;[13] Previously Silja Opera * SS Ivory - Operates cruises from Cyprus.[14] previously Ausonia, The Ausonia, Ivory, Aegean Two. * MV Orient Queen - Operates cruises from France and Italy ;[13] previously Bolero * MV Sapphire - Operates cruises from Cyprus.[14] Previously Princesa Oceanica

Chartered ships * MV Aegean Pearl - Under charter to Golden Sun Cruises;[citation needed] previoulsly Perla (2004-2008). * MV The Calypso - Under charter to Thomson Cruises; previously Regent Jewel. * SS The Emerald - Under charter to Thomson Cruises until October 2008; previously Emerald * MV Norwegian Majesty - Under charter to Norwegian Cruise Line until December 2009.[11] * MV Thomson Destiny - Under charter to Thomson Cruises until 2011;[8] previously Sunbird. * MV Thomson Spirit - Under charter to Thomson Cruises until 2011;[8] previously Patriot.

Former ships

* MV Princesa Marissa (1986-2008) - Sold for scrap 2008.[8] * MV Princesa Cypria (1988-2005) - Scrapped. * MV Princesa Amorosa (1994-2000) - Scrapped. * MV Princesa Victoria (1994-2004) - Scrapped. * MV Serenade (2000-2008) - Sold for scrap 2008.[8] * MV Sea Diamond (2006-2007) - Sunk near Santorini, Greece, April 6, 2007. * MV Oceanic II (2007) - Since 2008 MV Mona Lisa for Lord Nelson Seereisen. * MV Ruby (2007) - Since December 2007 MV Ocean Countess for Monarch Classic Cruises.[10]

1. ^ "About Louis Cruise Lines". Louis Cruise Lines. Retrieved on 2008-03-22. 2. ^ a b "Cruises from Greece". Louis Cruise Lines. Retrieved on 2008-03-22. 3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Douglas Newman (2007-10-07). "Cruise Ship Reviews > Louis Cruise Lines". Cruise Critic. Retrieved on 2008-01-28. 4. ^ Micke Asklander. "M/S Finnhansa (1966)" (in in Swedish). Fakta om Fartyg. Retrieved on 2008-01-28. 5. ^ Micke Asklander. "M/S Italia (1967)" (in in Swedish). Fakta om Fartyg. Retrieved on 2008-01-28. 6. ^ Micke Asklander. "S/S Santa Rosa (1958)" (in in Swedish). Fakta om Fartyg. Retrieved on 2008-01-28. 7. ^ Micke Asklander. "S/S Ausonia (1957)" (in in Swedish). Fakta om Fartyg. Retrieved on 2008-01-28. 8. ^ a b c d e f Newman, Doug (2008-05-07). "Louis Sells Princesa Marissa and Serenade; Buys Thomson Destiny and Thomson Spirit". At Sea with Doug Newman. Retrieved on 2008-05-08. 9. ^ Micke Asklander. "M/S Sally Albatross (1992)" (in in Swedish). Fakta om Fartyg. Retrieved on 2008-01-28. 10. ^ a b c "Cruise Ship News: Aegean Shuffle". Maritime Matters (2008-01-25). Retrieved on 2008-01-26. 11. ^ a b "Louis acquires Norwegian Dream and Majesty". Cruise Business Review. Cruise Media Oy Ltd (2008-04-23). Retrieved on 2008-04-23. 12. ^ "No Dream for Louis Cruises". Cruise Business Review. Cruise Media Oy Ltd (2008-09-30). Retrieved on 2008-09-30. 13. ^ a b c "Cruise Ships". Louis Cruise Lines. Retrieved on 2008-01-26. 14. ^ a b "Cruise Ship News: The Aegean Shuffle, Updated: TWO For PEARL". Maritime Matters (2008-03-20). Retrieved on 2008-03-22.

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About Swan Hellenic

Swan hellenic.

To Be The World Leader In Cultural Expedition Cruising

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Constructed in the Helsinki shipyard, our expedition ships combine the latest polar ice-class technology with stylish, sophisticated interiors. Think high-end boutique hotel with contemporary sophistication. Chic, spacious and well-planned cabins feature generously sized bathrooms, comfortable in-room dining facilities and unobstructed views of the incredible destinations we visit.

Understated elegance might be another way of phrasing what awaits a Swan Hellenic guest. At the very heart of our brand is the onboard team with our guests’ personal wellbeing their foremost priority. The service on board embodies the same values, being attentive, personal and intuitive but discreet. There’s no fuss or formality, just focused dedication to understanding our guests’ preferences and anticipating their needs, always aiming to exceed and surprise expectations.

Swan Hellenic prides itself on taking its guests to see what others don’t, visiting small and lesser-known ports of special cultural, geographical or wildlife interest as well as bucket list famous cities. Above all, our guests visit many uniquely remote places beyond these ports of call, boarding Zodiac boats and exploring at sea level to come ashore in rich unspoilt areas of our planet that often cannot be accessed in any other way.

Ship Features

Swan Hellenic

OUR HISTORY

Our story begins in the 1950s when a British travel agent, Swan’s Tours, operated by a father and son (W.F. Swan and R.K. Swan), were invited to organise a tour of the antiquities in Greece. Following its success, a full programme of cruises was developed with writers, academics and clergymen invited to feature as guest lecturers.

A key difference to other commercial cruises was that Swan Hellenic cruises endeavoured never to repeat the same itineraries twice. It also landed frequently at unusual destinations affording guests the opportunity to explore first hand places that at the time remained unknown to the intrepid traveller. Initially these new lands, were primarily the classical sites in the Aegean sea, around the coasts and islands of modern Greece and Turkey.

Over time The Swan Hellenic brand became known for combining bold, intriguing itineraries with expert academic lecturers all the while enjoying a sophisticated on board experience.

Almost 100 years on the compelling mix of cultured luxury and trailblazing experiences continues to inspire our travellers.

SUSTAINABILITY

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Louis Hellenic Cruises Statement

• April 16, 2007

The Louis group has been providing tourist services for 72 years. The cruise, hotels and tourist services are provided by distinct companies with separate management. It is a reputable group which prides itself on its safety record over this period. The group wishes to emphasise its commitment to employing the highest calibre management and staff, providing safe equipment, training and complying with industry standards and legislation.

Louis Hellenic’s priorities over the last 6 days have been to ensure the safe evacuation and repatriation of the passengers on board the SEA DIAMOND on 5th April 2007 and safety of the crew. There have been a multitude of practicalities to deal with to ensure the efficient and comfortable return of the passengers to their homes. Payments to passengers and crew for lost luggage and other incidental expenses has also had to be organised.

Louis Hellenic’s efforts continue to focus on locating the 2 missing French passengers and the avoidance of pollution to the environment. The company needs to concentrate on these two important factors without distraction. At the same time the company needs to ensure that a full and proper investigation is carried out to ascertain exactly what happened and why.

The Company has taken a great deal of time to make information available to the press, sought to answer press enquires and has organized a Press Conference so as to answer to questions raised by the media.

Further announcements will be made as and when there are developments for the company to report.

Louis Hellenic Cruises continues to cooperate closely with the relevant authorities in Greece and is committed to fully investigating the causes of this incident.

Louis Hellenic Cruises categorically refutes any suggestion that the company stands to make any financial gain arising from the tragic loss of this vessel.

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• Regent Seven Seas Cruises

Best of Moscow by high speed train

By shuguley , February 15, 2014 in Regent Seven Seas Cruises

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Sure would appreciate someone who has taken "Best of Moscow by high speed train" from St. Petersburg could please share their impressions of this shore excursion. From the description this sounds like a very long day.

Wondering how the 4 hour train trip was in terms of accommodations, etc. Also what time did you leave the ship and what time at night did you return? Were both legs of the trip on the high speed rail (I read that slower trains also travel the same tracks)?

My wife and I are considering this excursion. We thought that if we are making all the effort to go to Russia then how could we pass up going to Moscow, walking in Red Square, seeing St. Basil, etc.

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If you are considering this on the 2015 June Baltic cruise on Voyager; my suggestion is don't. There is so much to do in St. Petersburg and although a train is one of my favorite ways to travel the time would be far better spent in St. P.

Thanks for the advice. Yes, this would be on the Voyager during the 2015 season but not yet sure exactly which cruise.

We did the Moscow excursion "on a different luxury line", but from your brief description it sounds very much like the same trip, so I will operate on that assumption. It is a VERY long day! We left the ship at 5:30 AM and returned at 12:30 AM. The highspeed train trip is comfortable, and while they call it "Business Class" it does not compare well to the equivalent class on say Rail Europe. When we did it in 2011, we did have highspeed both ways, and the trip back seemed much longer as the adrenaline and excitement had worn off!:D

Moscow itself is not that terribly different from any other big city in the world, but this Cold War kid never thought he would ever stand in Red Square, never mind walk the grounds of The Kremlin, or tour The Kremlin Palace, or see (but not visit) Lenin's Tomb, or visit The Armoury. But he did, and he loved every minute of it! Yes, it is a long day, and you barely scratch a scratch on the surface, but it is worth it. There is a tremendous amount to see in St. Petersburg, but every Baltic cruise goes to St. Petersburg, so you can go back if you choose to. Not every cruiseline offers you the chance to see Moscow.

I have not personally done this tour, but our last time in St Petersburg, the private guide that we hired for a day was leading the regent tour to Moscow on the high speed train the next day. He said it was way better than the previous alternative, which was flying to Moscow and back. He said that you actually got to Moscow faster because you didn't have to deal with airline checkin etc. it did seem like a very long day to me, and there is so much to see and do in st. Petersburg that I didn't consider doing it.

countflorida

We toured to Moscow from St. Petersburg via the hi-speed SAPSAN train last September, from a Baltic cruise on the Oceania Marina. You need to have a two-night, three day port call in St. Petersburg to take this tour because the tour typically leaves the ship around 5:00 - 5:30 AM and doesn't return until after midnight the next day. We didn't take the ship's tour; we made private arrangements with TravelAllRussia for three days of touring, the first and third days in St. Petersburg and the second day the tour to Moscow by train. Our cost for the private tour for three days was about the same as what the ship charged for the excursion to Moscow alone. There are a number of private tour agencies that operate in St. Petersburg and offer the Moscow train tours; we would strongly recommend them over the ship's tours.

All three days had private guides with car and driver. The second day, the driver picked us up at the ship and took us to the train, but we were alone on the train, and met in Moscow by the guide on the station platform. After our tour and dinner, we were brought back to the train and after the return train trip met by the driver and taken back to the ship. Because you are alone on the train you must have your own Russian visas.

If this is your first visit to St. Petersburg, I would agree there is much more to see there. We found Moscow somewhat a disappointment, particularly Red Square. The Kremlin and the cathedral in Red Square were also worth seeing. But the best thing we saw was the Moscow subway! I worked for the Washington Metro system back in the 1980s as it grew from 40 to 80 miles and although I was in the computer area, I learned a lot about the challenges of running a subway system. We used the Moscow system to get across the city from where we had dinner to the train station, and I was amazed at the cleanliness', speed of operation, the short headways maintained, and the courtesy of everyone involved. A very impressive experience!

We had been to St. Petersburg before, and so had the time to take a day and go to Moscow. Also, I really like trains, and the SAPSAN is a German train set running on Russian rails. Seats are like first class domestic air, spacious but not too plush or comfortable, but with enough room. Not too much recline, and almost 8 hours on the train in two shots is a lot for an old man. They come through and sell drinks, candy, etc. but the sellers don't speak English and no one around us helped, so we had just poor coffee once coming, and brought stuff with us for the trip back. Not too much to see from the train either, particularly on the return when it is night the whole way.

If you decide to go, take a private tour and avoid the overly expensive ship's tour. I'm glad we did it, but wouldn't bother to repeat the tour; we've seen Moscow.

Thanks so much to all of you for the thorough and thought insight. Yhe information you have provided is most helpful.

countflorida: Your detailed post is very helpful. We are not quite ready for a Baltic cruise but should do so within a year. Time enough to do our pre travel research, bookings and visa gathering.:) Thank you!

Emperor Norton

Sure would appreciate someone who has taken "Best of Moscow by high speed train" from St. Petersburg could please share their impressions of this shore excursion. From the description this sounds like a very long day.   Wondering how the 4 hour train trip was in terms of accommodations, etc. Also what time did you leave the ship and what time at night did you return? Were both legs of the trip on the high speed rail (I read that slower trains also travel the same tracks)?   My wife and I are considering this excursion. We thought that if we are making all the effort to go to Russia then how could we pass up going to Moscow, walking in Red Square, seeing St. Basil, etc.

I did this on Seabourn. IMO DONT. Take Aeroflop (er Aeroflot). The train has non folding seats where you are literally knee to knee with your fellow passenger (facing each other). Further they don't believe in air conditioning. It's also the worlds slowed bullet train. I think I would have found more enjoyment wandering around the St. Petersburg and Moscow airports.

Countflorida,

This is a little off topic,, however we had planned a river cruise in Russia but decided we would rather stay on land and have booked about two weeks with Travel-All-Russia using the private guide and driver. I'm curious as to how you found them as a tour company.

The guides they provided were fine. We had a different guide each of the days in St. Petersburg, but both were flexible, pleasant, knowledgeable and spoke English very well, as did the guide in Moscow, incidentally. She was a bit aloof, distant, not too friendly, but otherwise fine. In fact, she was the one who suggested taking the Metro, which unexpectedly became one of the highlights of the Moscow excursion. If I have a complaint with AllTravelRussia, it is with their plan and its execution (more later).

I had requested emphasis on World War II (in Russia, the Great Patriotic War) sites and info. In scheduling us, they weren't careful about dates and a couple of the sites we wanted to see were scheduled on the third day, after we'd been to Moscow. But both sites were closed that day of the week, and that info was readily available, right on web sites describing them. Also, the included meals (lunches in St. Pete, dinner in Moscow) were not what we asked for: light meals with some choices, so we could avoid things we didn't like and choose things we did like. My request was ignored; we were given full Russian meals with a fixed menu, no choice. On the first day, a fish dish was the entre, but I am allergic to fish. Fortunately, I had the e-mail I'd sent with me and showed it to the guide, and she was able to change my entre to chicken, which was very good actually. But we didn't want a 3-4 course lunches or dinner (in Moscow). We had the guide drop the lunch the third day, although we never got any credit or refund. But, particularly in contrast to the ship's tours, the prices were so reasonable we didn't worry too much about it.

The people who were on the ship's tour to Moscow saw us boarding the same train for which they were forced to queue up and wait on the way back, and asked us what we had done. I was candid and open so they were not happy when I explained what we had arranged and particularly what it had cost. Also, when we returned to the ship, we found they had laid on a late supper for those who had gone to Moscow, so up we went and had something. Well, it turns out the late supper was supposed to be just for those on the ship's tour, but we and others on 'independent' tours, there were a dozen or more of us, crashed the party, actually got there first, and they didn't realize it until the larger group arrived and there weren't enough tables/places set. By that time, the 'independents' had all gotten served and were eating; what could they do?

A couple from the larger group sat down with us and asked us about our tour, and they were the ones I told about our arrangement and its cost. They turned to others who’d been with them and announced the details, loudly enough so the whole room heard, which started a lot of bitching and complaining. I gathered they weren't very happy with the ship's tour to begin with, and this was the straw that broke the camel's back. We finished up and beat it out of there, but overheard later that one of the excursion staff came to check on something and ran into a real mess. I caught a cold on the trip, which forced me to bed the second day following in Tallinn, so by the time we reappeared we heard about the contretemps' but apparently no one recalled who started it, thankfully.

Because of what happened to us, I would probably not use AllTravelRussia if I were to go again, or if I did, I would be sure to get confirmation of every detail of the tour. They do have good reviews generally, and we were certainly helped by their visa department and liked the guides and drivers. Their weakness, I say now with full 20:20 hindsight, is that once the sales person who plans the tour, sells it to you and collects your money, he (or she) transfers the plan to their Russia office for implementation; there is no follow-up to make sure it gets done right. And that is where our problems arose; we paid for a custom tour but got a standard package with a few destinations switched, and no one checked them out, even to see when they were open the day we were scheduled to go. If you check every detail that’s important to you, it should be OK, but that’s a hell of a way to have to do business, in my opinion.

Thank you for the 20/20 hindsight observation on your Russian tour operator, and better priced than the ship's excursion cost.

Thanks very much for the feedback.

We had the same experience as you so far as price. We originally booked a Viking Cruise but, hearing some things about the river cruises that made us unhappy, looked into other options. T-A-R cost the same or less than a cruise and had us in hotels for 11 days. We opted for the private tour. They have three tour levels, based on hotels. We originally opted for the four star as it did not cost much more than the three star hotels. Finally we decided to throw it all in and upgraded to five star. In Moscow we will be at the newly opened Kempinsky which is two blocks from Red Square. In St. Petersburg it is the Grand Hotel Europe, one of the most vaunted luxury hotels in Russia. Location is important for us as the tours use up only part of the day so being in the center of everything for our independent touring is important. As with many other cities, the less you pay, the farther out of the center of town you are.

We have been working with our salesman in D.C. and he seems to get back to us with the changes we want. He recently returned from Russia so is up on everything. When I asked they said they paid the full TA commission if I wanted so I got my usual TA on board so he is watching our back and giving us that extra level of comfort. He also set up our air, which I know pays him little or nothing, and got us business class for much less than T-A-R wanted for economy, though it took working for a while with a consolidator. He's happy to get his 10 percent on this trip without having booked it. He also took care of the trip insurance. We've been doing a lot of research on the CC sister site Trip Advisor and will write a report there. We will, I guess, become a source of info for CC members after having spent 5 days in Moscow and 6 in SP.

• 4 months later...

scubacruiserx2

Anybody considering a day trip to Moscow from St. Petersburg on the Sapsan may want to look at our travelogue filled with pictures.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1927687

Very informative. Thanks dor sharing. Jeff

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