By Wendy Perrin

Question from a reader:

"We are Americans living in Moscow who expect to return to the U.S. in a few years.  We thought it would be symbolic and romantic to make the transition back to America slowly, by ship.  Do any cruise lines offer a trip from Eastern Europe to North America?  Any U.S. port, East or West Coast, would work for us.  Thank you."  Dore Meyers

I asked Mary Jean Tully of The Cruise Professionals to answer this question.  Mary Jean is a cruise specialist on Conde Nast Traveler's list of the world's best travel planners (a list that I and my team compile and update each year). Her response:

"There is currently no one ship that will take you from Russia to North America. You'd probably need to combine three sailings on three different ships. First you could take a seven-day river cruise from Moscow to St. Petersburg. The second leg of your journey would be from St. Petersburg to London.  From London you could sail for six days across the Atlantic on the Queen Mary 2 or, if it's late fall or spring, you could probably make the transatlantic crossing on Crystal Cruises, Regent Seven Seas, Silversea, Seabourn, or any others that are offering transatlantic repositioning cruises. Depending on the ship, it could drop you in New York or Miami.  You could even stay on the ship past Miami, transit the Panama Canal, and disembark in Los Angeles."

Dore, when you get ready to book your cruise, I advise you to call Mary Jean, and I also urge you to consider booking private custom-tailored shore excursions.