What to do and see in Russia, Russia: The Best Ferries

Reviewed By 464paulh - Peterborough, United Kingdom

Family of 4 with 2 teenagers. Traveled to Tallinn, then Helsinki to pick up the St Peterline Ferry to St Petersburg on the 72 hour Visa free. Booking Direct on the Moby website, really easy. Note, if you dont book your accommodation through St Peterline booking system they may refuse boarding the ship for the 72 hour visa free option. They asked us about our accommodation at check-in, and when I asked they would have turned us away if I did not have a booking with them. We Chose the Rachmaninov Boutique Hotel, but 2 days later Moby came back to say the room we wanted was not available, so offered 2 rooms in the same hotel. So its clear that the Moby accommodation is shown in their booking system but does not mean its available. And yes I'm afraid its does cost more than booking direct with the hotel and booking.com. The hotel was in a great location, close to everything, you can walk to the Winter Palace (Hermitage) in about 10- 15 minutes. Nice people, nice rooms and very arty decor. Cabins- Lux 2 person Go for Commodore or above, its worth the money as you will be first off the ship, or if you go cheap them you may be queuing for a number of hours. We were through passport control with 15 minutes. Our cabins were 2 Lux ones on Deck 8, they are roomy, the shower is great, 2 large portholes, dressing gowns and slippers and the bonus was a mini bar with complimentary beer, wine and soft drinks. Lets not forget the bowl of fruit. With the Lux we had breakfast in the New York restaurant, which was a really nice buffet. Down side to Deck 8 is that there is a bar close to the cabins and it got noisy, but at 12 it went quiet. I would probably book a similar Lux cabin but select another deck. Check-in. At Helsinki it was straight forward, you go to the departure lounge, show you passports and booking details. They in return give you your boarding pass, Arrival & Departure cards for Russian immigration, and your breakfast vouchers. Go onboard have a pic with the captain and then go and find your room. we arrived at 3pm so we could relax on board, have a drink etc. We ate before boarding so just took a load of goodies to eat. We had a couple of drinks, the girls had cocktails, about €5 a beer so not too bad, after we looked round the ship and then went back to our cabins for the night so cannot comment on entertainment, buy that night it was a Ballet. We got up early, went to breakfast which was really nice, we packed and then thought about arrival in St Petersburgh(we heard all the horror stories) If you go to reception on deck ship they will give you a full details on what is available and the all important dis-embarkation details. As we were in Lux we were told to meet in front of the reception desk, not on deck 4 with everyone else. There were about 80 people there waiting, the cruise director took us from deck 6 to deck 4, passed everyone that was waiting as soon as the ship was docked, there are 7 passport windows so we were officially in Russia within 15 minutes. Order of Priority 1. Disabled and those with kids under 6 2. Commodore, Lux and Suite holders(They will check your boarding pass when getting off) 3. Those on a tour booked with Moby Then everyone else....we know 2 ladies in this category that were in our hotel and they took 3 hours to get off the ship. So Immigration were great, said hello and smiled, and welcomed us. St Peterline take care of the Arrival and departure card, and that's all you need. (they will keep the arrival card) but look after the Departure card as you may hot issues when you return. We were on a private 2 day tour that I arranged direct with toursinstpetersburg.com , Valeria was amazing so read my other review. we were picked up at the port and were away... After our 3 days we came back to the port in a taxi, very cheap. Being Lux we had a separate check-in to others, and one done we were escorted to the customs & immigration skipping the large line of people. Its kinda weird to walk past a queue, but you get what you pay for. Gave the passport & Departure card showed the boarding pass and we were through and back on the ship. Went for dinner in the Italian restaurant, had Pizza and drinks, very nice and about €60 for 4 persons. Same rooms, noisy again late evening, but soon quietened down. I spoke to staff and they closed the door that isolated the run of cabins, it was so much better. Woke up, went for the same breakfast, all nice. Arrived in Tallinn, same process to get off, but this time we met in the Sports Bar and were off really quickly again. Top Tips 1. Book Commodore, Lux or Suite(great breakfast and you get off quick) 2. Perhaps choose a lower deck due to the bar 3. Book a private tour of St Petersburgh, I would not hesitate to do it again