Russian River Cruises

CruiseMapper's "Russian River Cruises" hub provides detailed information on ships, itineraries, tours and prices on cruises along rivers and lakes in Russia. Here you'll also find concise info on the largest Russian cruise companies, including Vodohod, Mosturflot, Infoflot, Doninturflot-Orthodox, Imperial River Cruises Russia.

In the "Fleet" section you will find an extensive list or Russian cruise ships. By following each ship link you will find the ship's review, deck plans, scheduled itineraries and cruise pricing information. Live ship tracking is also provided on a digital map. It shows the vessel's current location, cruising speed and course.

In the "Itinerary" section you will find maps and day-by-day scheduled activities planned by Europe's largest cruise companies, also operating in Russia via chartered riverboats.

Volga River Cruises in Russia

Volga river cruising in Russia places you in another time. The longest and largest river in Europe stretches from Ivan the Terrible to Catherine the Great. Today, live along the central artery of Russia looks like it always has - the villages, the churches, the people, just like an old painting you have seen in a gallery.

The Volga flows through central Russia into the Caspian Sea and is often called the national river of Russia. 11 of the 20 largest cities of the country, including the capital Moscow, are in Volga's watershed. Some of the world's largest reservoirs can be found along the river, which has a symbolic meaning in Russian culture, referred to as Mother Volga (Volga Matushka) in Russian folklore and literature.

Explore the land of the Tsars while sailing down the historic Volga river, typically between Moscow and St Petersburg, the traditional homeports (of embarkation and debarkation). Tour landmarks are the Red Square and Kremlin in Moscow, the Hermitage and Catherine Palace in St Petersburg.

Once unthinkable as a cruise vacation destination, Russia is today more accessible than ever, with stops along its largest European lakes and rivers. For river travel lovers accustomed to European itineraries, the Russian experience will be quite different. Russia has a special feel of uniquely designed riverboats. Built to handle larger lakes (Lake Ladoga for example, is the largest European freshwater body of water), these vessels usually feature larger size and capacity (up to six decks), deeper draft, and most of them are refurbished instead of being newbuild.

The itineraries offered are activity-intensive in Moscow and St Petersburg, with long periods of cruising and less ashore time in the middle. Smaller "Golden Ring" cities (so named due to their historic significance) are full of icon-riddled monasteries and Orthodox churches. Most cruise lines hire local experts and fill the days of sailing along the river with lectures on country's history, cooking demonstrations and language lessons.

Most of the tours offered by the companies sailing along Volga River are identical, so customers choosing between the different itineraries should look at how the river ships spend the time within Moscow and St. Petersburg. Some lines have their guests stay onboard, which can be as far as 1 hour out of both cities. Others put their clients up at hotels near the center of the city, with several meals at customer's expense.

Compared with other river routes, Russia features a short season, between early May and late October, with high season in June (known as White Nights because of the endless daylight), July and August. Even if the weather is chilly, there are some advantages to sailing early or late: you'll beat the crowds which can make a visit to the Hermitage a bear. Most Russian museums lack air-conditioning, and while the climate is generally temperate, in the summer Moscow often experiences high humidity heat waves.

Remember to think about your Russian visa at least 2 months before your voyage, to have enough time to fill out the paperwork, including a lengthy online application. And don't forget that the Russian language uses the Cyrillic alphabet. Even in the cities, you'll rarely find signs in English, so learning some letters and a few phrases will help you get around.

List of largest Russian river cruise companies

Vodohod

Vodohod ("ВодоходЪ", 2004-founded) is Russia's largest river cruise line, and a fully-owned subsidiary of "Volga Shipping Company". It has headquarters in both Moscow and St Petersburg. To its fleet were added all vessels of the company "Volga Flot Tour", to a total of 50+ ships. Regions of operations include the rivers Volga, Don, Kama, Moscow canals, Volga-Don canal, Volga-Baltic Waterway, the lakes Onega and Ladoga.

• Volga Shipping Company ("Волжское пароходство") was founded in 1843 as a steamship freight and passenger shipping company operating exclusively on River Volga. The company was restructured in 1994 and currently owns a fleet of over 300 ships (including Vodohod's fleet) with an annual capacity of approx 6,7 million tonnes (cargo) and around 400,000 passengers.
• In 2016, Vodohod's passenger capacity was 497,000. The reported revenue for 2015 was RUB 2.6 billion (USD 42 million).
• In 2018, the company introduced to the fleet 4 fully-refurbished ships - MS Chernishevsky, MS Fedin and MS Kronshtadt.

In May 2020, Vodohod (via Algador Holdings Ltd) acquired Helsinki Shipyard Oy (fka Arctech Helsinki Shipyard Oy, with all its assets). With Helsinki Shipyard Vodohod placed 3x shipbuilding orders for expedition cruise ships to be operated by its travel brand Swan Hellenic Cruises. The newbuilds were scheduled for deliveries in 2021 (SH Minerva), 2022 April (SH Vega) and 2022 November (TBN).

In October 2020, Vodohod signed a strategic partnership agreement with Tam Wing Kun Holdings Ltd (1977-founded, Hong Kong-based) to provide the company with a direct presence in Asia. Tam Wing Kun Holdings represents in Asia many of the world's largest airlines and logistics companies through its offices (or partners) in China, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, Vietnam, Indonesia, The Philippines. As of 2021, Vodohod's fleet included 26 vessels (11 of which dedicated to international passengers).

In February 2022, Vodohod inaugurated its Lake Baikal cruises (in Siberia) with the newbuild hovercraft BIRYUSA. The 28-seat vessel was specifically designed and built (at Parma Shipyard) for the company's Baikal Lake tours. The unique vessel has max speed 50 kph / 31 mph (on calm water) and 60 kph / 37 mph (on ice), air cushion height 1 m (3 ft), premium leather reclining chairs, LED screens, restroom, luggage storage room. The boat can navigate/hover over water, ice and land.

The 10-day itineraries are between homeports Irkutsk (Russia) and Ulan-Ude (Buryatia's capital city).

• Irkutsk-Taltsy-Lystvianka-Irkutsk-Maloye More-Ogoy Island-Sagan-Khushun Cape-Shaman Rock-Olkhon Gate-Khoboi Cape-Ust Barguzin-Barguzin Bay & Valley-Ulan Ude (2 days)-Steppe Nomad ethno-complex-Ivolginsky datsan-Tarbagatai-Ulan Ude.
• Vodohod's Baikal cruises are offered during summer and winter, with fares inculsive of all excursions/tours, meals and accommodations.

Mosturflot

Mosturflot (Мостурфлот / Moscow Tourist Fleet / "Московский туристический флот") is subsidiary of Moscow River Shipping Company (established in 1857).

• Mosturflot owns pleasure boats and cruise ships and is also licensed as a river cruisetour operator.
• The company provides its own ship repairs and technical maintenance, as well as shipping security, pilotage, escorts (boat assistance).
• Mosturflot's cruise tour services include inland cruises (on its own boats) on the Russian rivers Volga, Neva, Kama, Don, Oka, as well as on the lakes Beloe, Onega and Ladoga. Itineraries (a selection of over 300 routes) have durations between 1-day (mini cruises) and 22-day. The list of over 50 call ports features Uglich, Kostroma, Yaroslavl, Ples, Nizhny Novgorod, Murom, Kazan, Ufa, St Petersburg, Moscow, Astrakhan, Rostov. Main departure ports are Moscow and St Petersburg.
• Mosturflot also operates as a travel agency for Russian (river- and sea-going) and international cruises.
• The company organizes private cruise ship charters (for leisure and business meetings) with passenger capacity 8 to 300, optional staterooms, shipboard catering and entertainment, custom-made excursions (in port cities).
• Mosturflot's fleet includes the ships Rossia, Knyazna Victoria, Knyazna Anastasia, Sergey Obraztsov, Nikolay Karamzin, Andrey Rublev, Leonid Krasin, Gleb Krzhizhanovsky, Mikhail Bulgakov, Ilya Repin, Vasily Surikov, Sergey Yesenin, Alexander Grin, Valery Bryusov, Ivan Krylov, Russ, also the pleasure boats Maxim Gorky, Soyuz, Mir.

Infoflot

Infoflot (Инфофлот) is a Russian cruise and tour operator company founded in 2003 and headquartered in St Petersburg.

• Infoflot's fleet includes the boats Lebedinoye Ozero (Swan Lake), Lunnaya Sonata (Moonlight Sonata), Dmitry Furmanov, Nekrasov, Karl Marx, Alexander Benois, Vasily Chapaev, Solnechnoy Gorod (Sunny City).
• Company's annual passenger capacity is about 100,000. It also serves as a travel agency for Russian and international river and ocean cruises.

Doninturflot-Orthodox Cruise Company

Orthodox Cruise Company operates a fleet of USSR-design large river ships and serves mainly foreign tourists. The parent company Doninturflot (established in 1992) is the shipowner and manages the fleet.

• Doninturflot started operations with the ships MS Maxim Litvinov, MS Mikhail Sholokhov and MS Sergei Dyagilev.
• Since 2002, Docturflot charters Akademik Glushkov (currently MS Igor Stravinsky) owned by OOO Rosflotinvest.
• In 2004 was acquired MS Anton Chekhov from Yenisei River Shipping Company (Russia).
• In 2006 were acquired MS Peter Tchaikovsky and MS Ivan Bunin from the Moscow-based cruise shipping company "Passenger Port".
• In 2008 was bought MS General Lavrinenkov from "Ukrrechflot" (Ukraine).
• In 2011 was bought MS Marshal Koshevoy (from Ukrrichflot, Ukraine) but in April 2013 the ship was sold to Viking Cruises (now operates as Viking Akun).
• In 2016, was purchased MS Tikhi Don from the UK-based Grand Circle Travel company. In 2017, the ship started operations for Orthodox Cruise Company serving international tourists.

Imperial River Cruises Russia

"Imperial River Cruises Russia" was founded in 1992 and operates on inland waterways in both Russia and Ukraine. Company's chartered ships navigate on the rivers Volga, Don, Neva, Svir, Dnieper (also on the Danube) and the Russian lakes Onega and Ladoga.

The most operated itineraries are between Moscow and St Petersburg (visiting Uglich, Kostrom, Yaroslavl, Goritzy). Specially designed itineraries visit Vladimir, Suzdal, Zagorsk, Solovki Island. Also offered are itineraries Moscow-Volgograd and Moscow-Rostov, roundtrips from Kiev, and even grand voyages connecting two seas - Baltic and Black. Also offered are themed cruises - especially on food and music, with live performances by grand orchestras and choirs.

Imperial River Cruises Russia has an exclusive partnership with "Orthodox Cruise Company" - one of Russia's largest tour operators. As their names suggest, both companies target mainly foreign tourists - booking in the USA, Canada, UK, Australia. Ships' capacity varies between 180-250 passengers. English (or German) speaking licensed tour guides are provided on all excursions. The daily onboard entertainment program offers live musical performances, folk shows, enrichment lectures.

Russian river cruise deals

• Departure port (dock/berth), check-in, boarding and landing times are indicated on the company's website and on passenger boarding passes. Ship's exact departure time is clarified on the website the day prior departure.
• Kids discount ticket prices are offered for children up to 14 years of age (14-yo including), the age being fixed on departure day.
• Kids from 2 to 5 years of age (5-yo including) travel free of charge, but without providing an additional bed (if there are no free beds in the cabin). Shore excursions are also free of charge.
• Toddlers (kids under 2) travel free of charge, but the bed, food, and tour services are not provided. Extra beds in staterooms (baby cribs, cots) are not available on the ship.
• TWIN (double cabin) single supplement rate is 75%.
• Ticket prices are inclusive of 3 meals a day. Onboard dining includes Breakfast (buffet style, drinks - cocoa, milk, juices, hot-cold dishes), Lunch (buffet style) and Dinner (waiter-served, 1 Starter, 1 Main course (choice of 3 / meat-fish-vegetarian), 1 Dessert (choice of 2 or fruits). Water in pitchers is always provided. Tea/coffee is served.
• On embarkation day and disembarkation day (at the end of the voyage) meal times depend on landing times. If a land tour coincides with a meal time (lunch), passengers are provided with complimentary food at a local restaurant (cafe) or given "dry rations".
• Ticket price inclusive onboard events are Welcome Aboard ("bread and salt" ceremony), Welcome Cocktail (complimentary 1 glass of champagne or juice per person), "Tea Ceremony" (with traditional pies), "Vodka Show" (blini and vodka tasting), Cocktail Party (once per cruise, complimentary 1 cocktail per person), Captain's Dinner (gourmet menu, once per cruise), mulled wine or ice tea (weather-depending / upon returning from excursions), complimentary Coffee Station (coffee, hot water, packed tea, milk, cocoa, cookies), 1 bottled water (0.33l pp per day in cabins). Tickets are also inclusive of foreign language speaking guide services, onboard entertainment (language class, singing lessons, live music, nightly dancing music, Wheelhouse tour).
• Complimentary excursions are detailed in the ship's cruise itinerary program. Optional tours are available for onboard booking. For excursion services, foreigner passengers may be charged with additional fee pp per day (varies by cruise tour length).
• Cruise tickets don't include land transfers (excepting foreign travel agency bookings), beverages and snacks (in onboard bars-lounges), phone calls, sauna visits, optional excursions, travel insurance, gratuities, personal spendings. Ticket prices include 18% VAT.
• Smoking on the ship is allowed only in designated areas (marked with "Place for smoking" signs). Smoking is prohibited in all interior spaces and on open decks (except at designated areas).
• On most ships are available health gymnastics and morning exercises (led by a certified physician/ship's doctor), oxygen cocktail, dietary food.
• On most ships are provided (free of charge) the following medical services - emergency medical care (assistance required for sudden acute illnesses, conditions, exacerbation of chronic diseases), measurement of blood pressure and body temperature, primary treatment of wounds.
• Boarding starts 2 hours prior to departure. All passengers must be boarded at least an hour prior to departure. Late passengers missing their cruise tour are not refunded.
• Russia's main river cruise departure ports are Moscow, St Petersburg, Astrakhan, Nizhny Novgorod, Perm, Samara, Kazan, Volgograd, Rostov-on-Don, Saratov.

Russian cruise ships

Currently, in Russia is operated a huge fleet of over 200 river cruise ships. All these vessels were built during the USSR (Soviet Union) times, roughly in the period between 1950-1990. Depending on class and series, these boats differ in terms of size, equipment (different engine designs), passenger capacity, onboard facilities and venues, cabins (types and number). Amenities additionally differ by shipowner (cruise company).

All these old-design Russian ships were completely refurbished and rebuilt for their new shipowners, Some of these ships are operated (via partnerships or under charter) also by foreign companies (like Viking, CroisiEurope, Uniworld, AMAwaterways, Grand Circle, Nicko). During their multi-million-dollar drydock refits, vessels passenger capacities were considerably reduced to improve travel comfort and safety.

Most boats are of the following classes:

• "Rossiya" (Project 785, 36 vessels built 1952-1958)
• "Baykal" (Project 646, 15 units built 1953-1956)
• "Rodina" (Project 588, 49 vessels built 1954-1961)
• "Oktyabrskaya Revolyutsiya" (Project 26-37, 14 units built 1957-1962)
• "Dunay" (Project 305, 47 vessels built between 1959-1964)
• "Kuybyshev" (Project OL400, 9 units built 1975-1983)
• "Vladimir Ilyich" (Project 301, 22 vessels built between 1975-1983)
• "Dmitri Furmanov" (Project 302, 27 vessels built between 1983-1991)

Regardless of their age, all these motor ships undergo regular drydock refurbishments, machinery and safety checks, scheduled repairs (including annual surveys). Drydocks are every 5 years and include repairs, hull inspection, propulsion-steering inspection, general maintenance works.

Each ship is equipped with life-saving appliances (lifeboats and rafts) in amounts exceeding the boat's max passenger and crew capacity. Each cabin is equipped with lifejackets with illustrated instructions in several languages. All ships are equipped with modern fire-fighting systems. Crew and staff are experienced and highly professional certified employees.

New Russian cruise ships

In August 2016, at Lotus Shipyard (Astrakhan Russia) part of USC (United Shipbuilding Company) started the construction of the first Russian passenger ship after the USSR times. Support for the new PV300-class cruiser came from Russian Federation's President Vladimir Putin.

The Marine Engineering Bureau office engineers developed the PV300VD cruise ship design, the first of which was completed/launched in 2019 (Pyotr Velikiy/Пётр Великий). The project belongs to Saint Petersburg team of Marine Engineering Bureau SPb, working in Russia since the year 2000. Its other branch is in Odessa Ukraine.

The first USSR-built river cruise ships (MS Soviet Union, and MS Lenin) were constructed at Gorky Plant in 1959-1960. As with its ocean ships, the Soviet Union bought foreign-built riverboats - until 1989-1990. However, these were not entirely foreign as they were created to order and developed for operation in Russian conditions only (seasonal navigation on large/wide rivers and lakes). These vessels were built mainly in Austria, East Germany, and Czechoslovakia. After 1990, Russian riverboats were no longer ordered and the business was carried on for years utilizing old tonnage. The same happened with the Russian passenger fleet as the ships were banned in North America after Russia's invasion in Afghanistan (1979-1989).

Russia's new passenger ships are planned to be "river-sea" cruisers. The PV300 class was specifically developed for waterways with max waves 3 m (inland seas and large lakes). The new Russian cruisers are much more powerful than the typical Danube and Rhine deployed riverboats. Dimensions for the new 310-passenger ships are 141x17 m (463x56 ft). The PV300VD concept emerged in 2010-2015 by order of Russia's Federal Marine Agency. Program's state customer and coordinator was country's Ministry of Industry and Trade. The shipbuilding cost varies between RUB 2,5-3,5 billion (USD 37-52 million) with payback period 5-20 years. Next photo shows the design of Mosturflot-Vodohod's new project PV300VD.

Next photo combo shows the design of Mosturflot's PV300 ship project.

The routes foreseen for the new Russian ships are in season (May to October) between Moscow and Saint Petersburg, then taking travelers from Moscow to Samara and Rostov-on-Don. In the winter the ships cruise in the Eastern Mediterranean (and even further south to Red Sea), with call ports like Rostov-on-Don, Taganrog, Novorossiysk, Sochi, Trabzon Turkey, Istanbul Turkey, Alexandria Egypt. Also scheduled are Black Sea cruises visiting the largest ports in Crimea (Sevastopol, Yalta, Feodosia, Kerch, Yevpatoria), as well as ports on Azov Sea and Caspian Sea.

The newbuilds could carry about 500,000 passengers annually, of which about 100,000 foreign tourists. The number of foreigners declined by nearly a half in 2014 as western tour operators cut Russian programs and westerners stayed away. According to the Ministry of Industry and trade, buyers of the new ship would be operators like Mosturflot (GK Sea and River shipping company), Vodohod and Orthodox. Given the high cost of the vessels, it is planned to lease them to operators. The main difference of this 4-deck ship is that it will be able to navigate not only rivers but seas as well. The vessels will also be more luxurious than past ships and will include western amenities, such as French balconies and comfortable large suites.

Volga River cruise port terminals

Next are shown VODOHOD's ship terminals (dock sites / berths) adresses in ports:

• Moscow - North River Station (Metro "Rechnoy Vokzal", Leningradskoye Str 51) - Северный речной вокзал, метро "Речной вокзал", Ленинградское 51)
• St Petersburg: - Utkina Zavod pier (Oktyabrskaya Naberezhnaya Str, 31 (free shuttle bus service is provided from Proletarskaya metro station to the dock) - причал "Уткина Заводь", Октябрьская набережная, 31
• Nizhny Novgorod - Nizhne-Volzhskaya embankment (berth 14) located in front of "The Hero" monument, Markin Square, 15A, berths 5-6 (Нижне-Волжская набережная, причал 14, площадь Маркина, 15А., причалы 5-6), "River Station" (berths 5-6, Markina Square 15A) - Причал "Речной Вокзал" 5-6 (пл Маркина 15А), Причал 14
• Samara - Maxim Gorky Str, 82 (berths 3-4) - Максима Горького, 82 (причалы 3-4).
• Kazan - Devyataev Str, 1 (Девятаева, 1)
• Astrakhan - River Station berth (Admiralteyskaya Str, 1, pier 17) - Причал "Речной Вокзал", Адмиралтейская 1, пристань 17)
• Perm - River Station berth (Ordzhonikidze Str 2) - Причал Речной Вокзал (Ул Орджоникидзе 2)

Note: You can see the CruiseMapper's list of all river cruise ships and riverboats in the "itinerary" section of our River Cruises hub. All river passenger shipping line companies and their fleets are listed there.

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