We got back last night. I hope to have the rest up soon...jet lag should help. I was up this morning at 4 am. On to St. Petersburg!!!
St. Petersburg Day #1—St. Petersburg is definitely a bucket list place. The ostentation and wealth of the czars is truly something to see. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen so much gold on and in buildings.
The problem with St. Petersburg of course is that it isn’t the easiest place to visit and is frankly a little scary. Visa’s are required to enter the country and you can be jailed if you are caught somewhere without one (the scariness of this was brought home at the end of day #2…but that is jumping ahead a bit). Roaming about on your own is pretty much out of the question, and you need to go with a DCL PA or use a private tour guide to get off the ship. We saw a man who looked like he’d tried to get his own visa have a really difficult time. Not sure whether he made it through or not.
I was especially nervous because of my special needs son who can sometimes have odd replies when asked questions or make spontaneous utterances that are off subject. Given the language barrier, I was even more nervous. We were instructed to say nothing and not smile, etc., as we went through. Fortunately my son went along with the plan and behaved appropriately, but it was a very stressful experience each time. ABD and Disney were weren’t able to provide any help in negotiating this process; you are pretty much on your own.
I’d heard nightmare stories about 2 hour waits for early cruisers. We didn’t have that, but in our six(!) exits/entries, we did have some painfully long waits that were unnecessary and seemed purposeful. With one side of the mouth they want the tourism, but with the other there is still vestiges of the cold war that undoubtedly comes from current leadership. One of my customs officers would have had a great career in Hollywood as a KGB agent. Humorless is putting it mildly. We did have one or two that smiled though
The first day, it took at least 45 minutes to go through customs to get off the ship, and then much to our guides’ surprise it took at least 30 to get back ON the ship. James kept promising that it would be “really quick” this time, and when it inevitably wasn’t, it became something of a joke. Only twice did we go through fairly quickly.
One of the big reasons we ended up going with ABD was the St. Petersburg days. It enabled us to hit the “big four” (Hermitage, Peterhof, Catherine’s Palace, and Church of Spilled Blood), which would have been difficult if not impossible with DCL Port Adventures due to timing of when the PAs’ were offered. We could have undoubtedly done even more with a private tour operator, but I wasn’t comfortable using one having not been there. Being with ABD also gave us a sense of security that alleviated some of my mild anxiety about visiting St. Petersburg.
One of the nice things about the days in St. Petersburg was that we broke up into two buses for the day, which gave everyone a chance to spread out for once. I heard it had something to do with Russian rules and the amount of people they allow on a bus. Whatever the reason, it was nice. The pace of the group was definitely faster those days as well.
After making it through customs, we headed to the Hermitage—the former winter palace of the czars which is now one of the biggest museums in the world—that had opened early for DCL. This was a huge perk (though not an ABD exclusive one). For the first half hour to 45 minutes the museum wasn’t that crowded—we bumped into other Disney port adventure groups and that was it. For the last 45 minutes to an hour it was really crowded, but nothing to what it can sometimes be like according to the guide. The crowds on the way out, however, were miserable and started to impact my enjoyment of the place. I couldn’t wait to get out of there. We were at the museum for about 2 hours and had the whistle stop tour—basically what was expected: a good overview of the museum but not long enough to really appreciate any one area. But it was a long day of going room to room listening through the earbud device to the tour guide. Not exactly fun but in this case unavoidable and what was to be expected.
[EDITED: I've been thinking about this "listening to tour guide" problem and I can't help but think that it could have been much better and much more engaging. I learned much more from the onboard historian (who was great) and Rick Steves than I did from any of the ABD tour guides. Frankly, I learned more from our cab driver in Denmark with whom we had a great conversation about their high taxes and how they don't mind paying for it with what they get, etc. Disney is know for their storytelling, yet there was nothing pulled together about these days. In Denmark their could have easily been more about Hans Christian Anderson that pulled the things we were seeing together (little mermaid and tivoli), and in Russia, we should have had much more context. The guide talked endlessly about Peter the Great and Catherine the Great, but never talked about WHY they were important. That I read from Rick Steves. Peter the self-styled Great was the czar who essentially brought Russia out of the dark ages and modernized the country. I think the kids (and me) would have been much more interested in hearing about what Russia was like before and after, and how all these buildings fit into that. Peter the Great visited other countries (like France and Versaille) and came back to build Peterhoff, etc. When looking at the rooms of the Hermitage, it would have been interesting to know how much they cost to build and compare it with the life of an average serf. Maybe the guide could have described what life would have been like for a child--that certainly would have engaged my kids. What part did buildings like this and the czar's excesses have in the later revolution? (Maybe even comparing it to France, and the excesses of kings/Marie Antoinette that fostered the French revolution over 100 years before the Russian revolution). I don't think I heard the word "Bolshevik" or "Revolution" the entire time I was there. Their was a brief mention of Anastasia, which given the popularity of that story seems ridiculous. We were seeing all these massive, heavily gilded buildings, and yet had no sense of how they fit into Russian history at all. There was also no mention of communism. I get that the tour guide might be limited on what they could say, but surely they could have mentioned some things?]
A short bus ride later we were at our restaurant for the day. The high marks for lunches continued. We had the salmon and it was delicious, as were the mashed potatoes, salad and soup. We also had champagne and vodka.
After lunch we took a 40 minute hydrofoil ride to Peterhof Palace, the summer palace of the czars. It is very reminiscent of Versailles if you’ve ever seen that. Unfortunately, when we arrived it started to rain. We had about a 15 minute walk to the palace, and by the end it had really started to come down. We took a few pictures, but weren’t given an opportunity to walk around the gardens, which was a shame as they were beautiful. I would have much rather enjoyed them (even in the rain) and have a truncated tour through the very hot and crowded palace. They warned us it could be hot in inside and boy were they right! With the rain it was like a sauna, and by the end of the tour, standing in the cool rain outside was welcome relief. Unlike the Hermitage, Peterhof still retains its furnishings and decorations so you could get a sense for how they lived. Quite nicely, from what I could see
Then came the frustrating part of the day… for some reason (to not pay for dinner?) ABD decided to bring us back to the ship for dinner before our evening canal boat ride, even though most of us would miss our late dining time and have to eat at Cabanas (or yuckanas as my kids called it after 18 days by this point). It would have been so much better to eat in St. Petersburg or take a canal dinner cruise instead. As it was, we left the ship again at 8:15 pm necessitating an additional two customs “experiences,” which reduced our “rest” time. Total waste of time and frustrating to have to go through 4 times in one day rather than 2—especially when we returned late from the canal boat ride after 11 and it took a half hour to clear customs (we had a really early meeting time the next day as well). I wasn’t back in my room until 11:45 pm.
ABD should really reconsider this day and have it go straight through, especially given the next morning’s early start. The canal boat ride itself, however, was an absolute blast and the highlight of the day for me. We had a mostly great weather, a beautiful sunset, champagne, and fabulous Russian entertainment. One of the lady singers was a riot, and a true entertainer. Be warned though that if you sit in the front near the aisle you might be brought to the front to dance
It was our friends’ anniversary, and they brought them forward for a really nice little acknowledgment and toast.
Bottom line: Today, I crossed two biggies off my list: the Hermitage and Peterhof. I felt like I should have been more impressed somehow, but everything was pretty much as I expected. Maybe I’ve seen too many pictures
Some things were pretty amazing (gold fountains for example), but I started to get desensitized to all that gold, LOL. My favorite were the gardens at Peterhof, which unfortunately we didn’t really get a chance to explore. The most frustrating part of the day was definitely customs, which obviously can’t be avoided, but ABD could have planned to day better to avoid having to go through twice each way—not to mention forcing us to eat on the ship when they could have provided dinner. The canal boat ride was the unexpected highlight and a ton of fun.
St. Petersburg day #2—The good feeling of the canal boat ride carried over to our second day, and I think I enjoyed St. Catherine’s Palace more as a result. Despite the fact that much of the building was a reconstruction (having been burned by the Nazis in the war), it was impressive. After about an hour tour inside the palace we split off into groups for a special visit to the amber workshop. Again, this was the kind of activity I expected from ABD that was otherwise lacking except for the graffiti. In the amber workshop, we had a chance to see whether the master artists work on recreating the magnificent amber panels that were stolen by the Nazis and have never been found. The other half of the group went to the shop and then we switched. I wasn’t alone in finding an amber souvenir to purchase
After another delicious lunch (beef stroganoff), we headed to the Church of Spilled Blood for a short listen to the guide through the earbud tour and some on your own shopping time. The Church of Spilled Blood was another surprise for me. It was probably one of the most beautiful churches I’ve ever seen on the inside. The mosaics were stunning.
I was really looking forward to the shopping time to find some matryoshka dolls. Unfortunately, I was shut out and didn’t find anything in the stores where we were set down to shop (although I did end up buying one on the ship pictured below, probably for a big markup, but I was just happy to find one I liked). We also made a quick stop at the local Starbucks, which was pretty funny to see in Russia.
When we returned to the bus, the added security of being with ABD was really brought home. We had seven extra passengers on our bus for the ride back to port. Apparently, they had been left behind by their Disney Port Adventure and were understandably terrified and panicked. I can’t imagine how happy they were to see a Disney sign or lanyard. Can you imagine? I have no idea what they would have done. I’m not sure they would have been able to find a taxi and not many people seemed to speak English. The reunion at the port with their very relieved family was tear inducing. They were so traumatized I didn’t want to ask them what happened or how late they were. I still can’t believe Disney left them. It wasn’t like we were pushing the all aboard time.
Bottom line: I enjoyed the second day in St. Petersburg much more than the first. I think the rain at Peterhof Palace on the first day was part of it, but it was probably also a function of so much listening to the tour guide time (who I really liked) on the first day. Definitely expected in this case (and necessary), but not exactly “fun.” By comparison, the second day felt much more relaxed. The Church of the Spilled Blood was also a really nice surprise. I’ve seen so many churches and abbeys in my travels, I didn’t expect to be so impressed. For the first time, I was really glad to be with ABD when our seven stranded passengers came aboard our bus.
St. Petersburg was definitely a big bucket list item, but it isn’t a place I will be rushing back to. I think my days of visiting palaces with tour groups are numbered—especially since I’ve seen the most impressive already. The listening to the tour guide as we went room to room really began to wear on me. I’d expected it for these days, but I didn’t anticipate how much the other “city tours” would impact these days. It was just too much. I just don’t enjoy it or get much out of it other than to be able to say “I’ve been there.”
