Our Travel All Russia tours off the ship were the highlights of our trip

Barbara and I want to thank you for personal attention and sharing experiences with us of your two beautiful and remarkable cities: Moscow and St. Petersburg!

The best part was where the Travel All Russia booked the guides, the hotels and the small tours. We gained incredible knowledge from the guides. Each was totally conversant in English, shared with us their stories and made the trip very comfortable and fun.

We stayed at great, centrally located hotels in St. Petersburg and Moscow. This fact enabled us to walk to sites on our own, try out different restaurants and pick up supplies at the drug store when I came down with a cold.

I am glad we booked the flight on Aeroflot direct from JFK, and I am glad we upgraded to business class (thank you very, very much). The service and courtesy reminded me of the days of flying in the US in the 60’s.

The day trips gave us insights, particularly the one to the stave church on Kizhi was a special treat. We missed Gority and Uglich because of high winds prevented our departure from Kizhi, but I am NOT complaining. Much better to be safe than rocked about and worried about a successful transit.

The MS Tolstoy ship itself was just fine. We enjoyed our upgraded accommodations. The crew did a fine job of keeping us informed. We had a super day guide and the captain and crew said “hello”, the waiters and bartenders showed care and concern for the customers.

Overall:
1) Glad we did the cruise!
2) Would love to have spent at least 2 more days in St. Petersburg and 2 more days in Moscow. Would have wanted to take a tour of the Bolshoi Theater, see the Mariinsky, take in more of the night life and performances in both Moscow and St. Petersburg.
3) The up close performance of Swan Lake at the Hermitage was incredible! So glad you made it possible. We arranged a car and driver through the hotel and the hotel made sure we were delivered and picked up without any problems.
4) The transfer from the airport to hotel in St. Petersburg was right on time and the same from the hotel to Moscow airport.

Summary:
The Travel All Russia portion 5 stars. The Cruise ship 4 stars.
I can state that our Travel All Russia tours off the ship were the highlights of our trip. Barbara and I have posted every day on Facebook with pictures and our comments about Russia. I hope our notes will encourage our US and Canadian Facebook friends to experience Russia, especially with today’s exchange rate of the dollar against the ruble.

We deeply appreciate what you did for us and sharing your cities with us. I know we only saw a very, very little part of each of the two capitals, and we want to return and experience much more, this time with family. Thank you again. We had a wonderful time.