gate 1 travel groupon

• Moscow Tourism
• Moscow Hotels
• Bed and Breakfast Moscow
• Moscow Holiday Rentals
• Flights to Moscow
• Moscow Restaurants
• Moscow Attractions
• Moscow Travel Forum
• Moscow Photos
• All Moscow Hotels
• Moscow Hotel Deals
• Things to Do
• Restaurants
• Holiday Rentals
• Travel Stories
• Add a Place
• Travel Forum
• Travellers' Choice
• Help Centre

Gate 1 Travel and Moscow - Moscow Forum

• Europe    
• Russia    
• Central Russia    
• Moscow    

Gate 1 Travel and Moscow

• United Kingdom Forums
• United States Forums
• Europe Forums
• Canada Forums
• Asia Forums
• Central America Forums
• Africa Forums
• Caribbean Forums
• Mexico Forums
• South Pacific Forums
• South America Forums
• Middle East Forums
• Honeymoons and Romance
• Business Travel
• Train Travel
• Traveling With Disabilities
• Tripadvisor Support
• Solo Travel
• Bargain Travel
• Timeshares / Holiday Rentals
• Central Russia forums
• Moscow forum

We thoroughly enjoyed Moscow - so modern and vibrant and so many things to see and do. Can't give enough accolades for the Metro system - clean, efficient, beautiful - and cheap. One-way ticket anywhere on the vast system cost about $.85!!!

Based on your help in booking and the trip itself, I am confident we will be looking into using Gate 1 Travel in the future.

> Based on _your_ help in booking and the trip itself, I am confident we will be looking into using _Gate_1_Travel_ in the future

Let me guess: Gate 1 gave you this link and asked you to write a review, and you think you're posting to the Gate 1 own web site now, right?

This topic has been closed to new posts due to inactivity.

• travel to moscow 04 May 2024
• Planning trip to Russia 28 April 2024
• Train Booking Moscow to St. Peter 24 April 2024
• SIM card. Russian SIM cards, do they still work in the UK? 09 April 2024
• Union Pay debit card 27 March 2024
• Russian trying to book a hotel in Jerusalem 14 March 2024
• Dual Citizen Arrested in Russia 12 March 2024
• about clothes 27 February 2024
• NOTE - border crossing from Finland into Russia closed 09 February 2024
• Snow boots in Red Square 04 February 2024
• Travelling to Moscow & Murmansk with toddle in winter 02 February 2024
• Anyone traveling from London to Moscow this week ? 27 January 2024
• Booking accommodation 11 January 2024
• Traveling friends (Designers preferred) :) 05 January 2024
• Moscow to St Petersburg train or air?? 32 replies
• How do you purchase Bolshoi Ballet tickets at a great price? 2 replies
• Just Go Russia Tour Company 43 replies
• Moscow 2013 World Athletics 5 replies
• 3 days in Moscow - Where to stay and what to do? 7 replies
• The Sleeper Train St Petersburg > Moscow 13 replies
• Select-a-room.com Are they legitimate? 3 replies
• New Sapsan Express Train from Moscow to St Petersburg 18 replies
• Best area to stay in Moscow 29 replies
• Moscow New Years Eve for 2011/2012 6 replies
• Where can I get initial answers to ANY question?

• Moscow Tourism
• Moscow Hotels
• Moscow Bed and Breakfast
• Moscow Vacation Rentals
• Flights to Moscow
• Moscow Restaurants
• Moscow Attractions
• Moscow Travel Forum
• Moscow Photos
• All Moscow Hotels
• Moscow Hotel Deals
• Things to Do
• Restaurants
• Vacation Rentals
• Travel Stories
• Rental Cars
• Add a Place
• Travel Forum
• Travellers' Choice
• Help Centre

MS Russ through Gate1- Cruise Moscow to St. Petersburg - Moscow Forum

• Europe    
• Russia    
• Central Russia    
• Moscow    

MS Russ through Gate1- Cruise Moscow to St. Petersburg

• Canada Forums
• United States Forums
• Europe Forums
• Asia Forums
• Central America Forums
• Africa Forums
• Caribbean Forums
• Mexico Forums
• South Pacific Forums
• South America Forums
• Middle East Forums
• Honeymoons and Romance
• Business Travel
• Train Travel
• Traveling With Disabilities
• Tripadvisor Support
• Solo Travel
• Bargain Travel
• Timeshares / Vacation Rentals
• Central Russia forums
• Moscow forum

Based on some of the reviews I had read I expected a rust bucket. Actually, I was pleasantly surprised that the ship was in very good shape. Well painted, no obvious rust, carpets good and furnishings in decent shape. The ship was built in 1987 and refurbished in 2007.

First, if you understand what you are buying you won’t be disappointed. Don’t expect a AMA Waterways, Avalon, or even Viking. I bought the package, with air and transfers, from Gate 1. When compared to the same date, itinerary, length of trip, air, and airport transfers, I saved about $4,000 over Viking. With that said, the cabins are tiny at 97 to 113 square feet. That compares to a typical Avalon cabin of around 200 square feet. There are two separate beds that can not be put together. The beds are small at about 2.5 ft wide and 6 ft long. If you are big or tall this is an obvious problem. The bath is private and a study in reduction of space. The toilet is on one side and the sink on the other. The shower is a wand connected to the sink and you shower between the sink and toilet. There is a shower curtain that can exclude the toilet area from spray. It takes some getting used to but it was adequate. The walls are very thin so sound is a problem. The bath is a fiberglass insert and when the light, in the next cabin, is on you can literally see a glow of light though the fiberglass. Hall noise was also and ongoing issue. The room A/C fan can compensate for the noise when turned on. In the cabin, an adequate hanging closet and several cubbies for stuff. There is a mini fridge.

There is no TV or telephone in the cabin. All cabins, except the lowest deck have a nice sized window that provides a nice view. Each cabin has individually controlled heating and cooling. We did not use the A/C but the heating was more than adequate. The window opens. There is a deck outside the window so leaving the window open when you are not in the room creates a security issue.

Gate 1 sells space on this ship and provided an onboard tour manager specifically for Gate 1 passengers. The ship (and many others) is operated by Vodohod. Vodohod does sell direct but I did not investigate to compare prices. The Gate 1 tour manager was Russian and spoke English very well and was attentive. Minor differences between Gate 1 passengers and others were minor. Gate 1 had their own coaches, that were the same as non Gate 1 passengers, and Gate 1 passengers got bottled water at dinner and others did not.

The staff was pleasant, mostly young, and attentive. Most could speak and understand enough English to get by. There were English, French, Spanish, Dutch and Italian speaking people on the ship. Announcements were done 4 or 5 times to cover everyone.

The dining room was very basic, but okay. The food also was basic but they put dill on everything and presentation was good. For lunch and dinner you had two or three choices except when in port in Moscow and Saint Petersburg where there is a fixed menu. Usually choice of fish, meat (chicken, beef, lamb etc) plus a vegetarian option and borscht a couple of times. Breakfast was buffet.

The bars were adequate and prices were reasonable by today’s cruise standards. Draft beer was 90 RUB ($3) and house wine was 140 RUB ($4.60). I don’t know what the problem was with the beer but every single draft that I had way too much foam. I thought this was something that they should have been able to fix in the 10 days we were on the ship. The Gate 1 tour manager made it clear that it was okay to bring your own drinks onboard. But you could not take your own into the dining room or bars. In Moscow I found Chilean wine 750 ml for 190 RUB ($6.30). In Moscow there was shopping in easy walking distance of the ship. In St. Petersburg Vodohod provided a free shuttle to the Metro and some shopping.

The Metro in Moscow was an experience. Unlike Europe or China there are no signs in English or even roman letters in the station or on the trains. It is all in Cyrillic letters. I had a Metro map provided by the ship which was in roman letters but no translation. I would suggest having the map with roman letters and a Russian map, in Cyrillic, so you could count stops. We relied on the help of people in the Metro to translate. Although a good Samaritan, or somebody with a warped sense of humor, got us on the right line but going the wrong way. Some trains have the route maps with corresponding lights. Others do not. Tickets are a bargain at 28 RUB ($1) one way no mater the distance.

The Metro in Saint Petersburg there are some differences. There are signs with roman letters in both the station and trains. Beware, on some cars on the train, at some stops, you can not see the station name from the train. Again, counting stops is important. However, if you get off at the wrong station you can just get back on the next train with no additional cost. As long as you don’t exit the station you can change trains without cost. I saw no automatic lights indicating where you are on the route.

I had read that toilet paper was a problem on the Russ. It is not. We always had a roll plus a spare. I had also read that soap was some strange brown soap bar… it’s Lux soap… it’s fine. If you’re particular bring your own. There is unlimited hot water and it’s melt glass hot. There are no temperature regulators like on newer ship so be careful.

The included tours were very good. The guides all spoke very good English. The coaches were all very nice and fairly new with the exception of Uglich. In fairness, Uglich is pretty remote and the trip was short. Only at the Hermitage did we have radio receivers to hear the guide. Without the radios you have to be close to the guide to be able to hear. We were told that next year radios should be in wide use.

There were several optional tours offered that ran from 650 RUB ($21) to 2330 RUB ($75) per person. We only purchased one optional tour, the canals and rivers of St. Petersburg. If you tour on your own via the Metro, on free days, you won’t feel like you missed something.

Tips are recommended at $8 to $10 per person per day for the crew and an additional $6 to $7 per person per day for the Gate 1 tour manager. That is $308 to $374 per couple so don’t forget that in your trip budget.

I have been on AMA Waterways, Avalon & Viking and the tours on the MS Russ were on par with each of these lines but the ship is not. But, with the $4,000, I saved over Viking, I got over the tiny cabins. I was not really expecting the tours to be as good as they actually were.

Next year Gate 1 will be using the MS Zosima Shashkov (also a Vodohod ship) and not the MS Russ, according to their brochure. This is a sister ship to the MS Russ. Built in 1985 and refurbished in 2002. I was not aboard the MS Zosima Shashkov but believe it similar to the MS Russ.

We were happy with our cruise and would recommend the MS Russ and Vodohod. This is a extremely good value for the money.

Thank you, very interesting post. I have never heard of a post about Gate 1 before. Most all you here is of/about Viking etc. Glad to here you had a great time. AIM.

Thanks for your detailed and valuable info. Iti is the reason that i submit and use Trip advisor for all trips prior to booking.

That's very practical and helpful. Thanks for taking time to write. We are going to do this tour in 2013 - we just have to decide whether to spend the extra money for an upgraded vessel.

Thank you so much for the great information because we are thinking of booking the same trip for Sep 6 2013 with Virgin vacation ( they are exactly the same as Gate 1 but Virgin offered 300 USD discount vs Gate 1 is not)

How far from ports to city and airport to port? Do you take taxi or express train or metro? There will be 4 of us. Any advice would greatly appreciated.

How long did it take for you to apply for Visa and how much it cost? I'm from USA.

When you were there. did you see the " white night"?

Thank you very much

Thank you so much for your post. I am leaving on May 13 2013 on the MS Zosima and I have been a little nervous. This has help me very much. Sandy

• travel to moscow 04 May 2024
• Planning trip to Russia 28 April 2024
• Train Booking Moscow to St. Peter 24 April 2024
• SIM card. Russian SIM cards, do they still work in the UK? 09 April 2024
• Union Pay debit card 27 March 2024
• Russian trying to book a hotel in Jerusalem 14 March 2024
• Dual Citizen Arrested in Russia 12 March 2024
• about clothes 27 February 2024
• NOTE - border crossing from Finland into Russia closed 09 February 2024
• Snow boots in Red Square 04 February 2024
• Travelling to Moscow & Murmansk with toddle in winter 02 February 2024
• Anyone traveling from London to Moscow this week ? 27 January 2024
• Booking accommodation 11 January 2024
• Traveling friends (Designers preferred) :) 05 January 2024
• Paveletsky railway station and Paveletskaya metro station. 7 replies
• Moscow to St Petersburg train or air?? 32 replies
• Select-a-room.com Are they legitimate? 3 replies
• Applying for a Russian visa in Toronto 14 replies
• New Sapsan Express Train from Moscow to St Petersburg 18 replies
• Moscow and St. Petersburg weather in May/June/July 3 replies
• Hop on Hop Off Bus Tour 5 replies
• ATM Access 12 replies
• Transaero from Toronto to Moscow 5 replies
• How much does stuff cost? 3 replies

Moscow Hotels and Places to Stay

• Where can I get initial answers to ANY question?