Alla Tours - New 2016 St Petersburg Comfort Tour

I have just booked the New Comfort tour with Alla Tours (http://www.alla-tour.com ) Detail below.

I just clicked the contact button said what I was looking for and within 24hrs Anna had contacted me and set up my account.

2016 St. Petersburg New 2 day Comfort group tour

Day 1

8.30 Meet at the ship

Peterhof summer estate

Grand Peterhof palace.

Tour of the Lower Fountain Park and Upper gardens.

Lunch in a local restaurant

½ drive tour of the City highlights

Visit to Kazan Cathedral

Walking/shopping on Nevsky prospect

17.00 Onboard

19:00 Optional evening program

Day 2

8:30 Meet at the ship

½ drive tour of the City highlights through the historical downtown etc

Hermitage museum (early entry)

Lunch in a Stolle pie shop

Church on the Blood

Boat ride: City tour from the water angle

Payment for the tour

17:00 Onboard

Cost of the Tour is USD 240 per person. (includes all entry fees, cost of lunch, photo permission in museums, electronic headsets and a bottle stilled water each day. Also in included are all taxes and Visa waivers – Waiver is in the ticket that is emailed to you – just print off before you leave home.

Max. group size is 16 pax

How far in advance of your cruise did you book? We will be there next May/June.

Alla tours are great. We managed to join a private group in July organised by someone on our roll call - it was 8 people for the same price. We also booked a day trip to Berlin and they gave a discount on that one as we had booked two trips.

Loads better than larger ships tours

We booked the 2 day Comfort Tour with Alla in September 2013. There were only 2 other passengers from our ship on the tour with us. It was great, as it was like a private tour. Can thoroughly recommend Alla.

I also recommend the comfort tour after doing it with Alla in June 14.

We booked the 2 day Comfort Tour with Alla in September 2013. There were only 2 other passengers from our ship on the tour with us. It was great, as it was like a private tour. Can thoroughly recommend Alla.

Hello LondonTowner. We are on a Viking Star cuise September 16. Just send an e.mail and they will help you.

How far in advance of your cruise did you book? We will be there next May/June.

Sorry Emmandjay please see note to LondonTowner. New to CC and Nexus pad too small to see. I think it is time I went for some glasses

Thankyou so much for posting this. DH and I are just about to book Arcadia for August next year and realise that we need to book tours in order to even get off the ship because of the visa situation.

How does this tour compare with what P and O offer?? and is there a comparable difference in price?

Thankyou for any further information, I like to be prepared! :)

I did have a tour booked with Alla but then saw this which is much better for wheelchair users...http://www.spbguides.com/#!disabled-friendly-tours/cvx0

Jasperado we are on the Arcadia cruise in August come on over to the roll call..

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2234272

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

I have been looking long and hard at this tour, but been holding back to see what the ship has to offer, and at what price. My Baltic cruise is beginning of June and the ships excursions are not on offer yet on personaliser

Out of interest what is the optional evening programme? At what extra cost?

I also recommend the comfort tour after doing it with Alla in June 14.

So did we. Excellent

I did have a tour booked with Alla but then saw this which is much better for wheelchair users...http://www.spbguides.com/#!disabled-friendly-tours/cvx0

 

Jasperado we are on the Arcadia cruise in August come on over to the roll call..

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2234272

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

We had a lady on our tour Alla tour who took a lightweight scooter. Really looked after her.

I have been looking long and hard at this tour, but been holding back to see what the ship has to offer, and at what price. My Baltic cruise is beginning of June and the ships excursions are not on offer yet on personaliser

 

Out of interest what is the optional evening programme? At what extra cost?

If its anything like Princess its almost double the price of Alla.

On our Alla Tour I took a manual wheelchair. The coach driver always tried to stop in places that were more convenient. The guide arranged special entry points so they were accessible and we also missed the queues.

In the Peterhof gardens the guide also chose the most accessible paths and helped to push me up an incline.

I had advised them beforehand I was taking a wheelchair and they sent me lots of information on every place we were visiting before I booked the tour.

The excursion was cheaper than the ship's tour (as is normal) and included a lot more.

We did not book an evening tour and we were pleased we hadn't as the two days were long and full, so we would have been too tired

I would love to revisit SPB and would definately book again with Alla Tours.

On our Alla Tour I took a manual wheelchair. The coach driver always tried to stop in places that were more convenient. The guide arranged special entry points so they were accessible and we also missed the queues.

 

In the Peterhof gardens the guide also chose the most accessible paths and helped to push me up an incline.

 

I had advised them beforehand I was taking a wheelchair and they sent me lots of information on every place we were visiting before I booked the tour.

 

The excursion was cheaper than the ship's tour (as is normal) and included a lot more.

 

We did not book an evening tour and we were pleased we hadn't as the two days were long and full, so we would have been too tired

 

I would love to revisit SPB and would definately book again with Alla Tours.

Doing the tour designed for wheelchairs does not inconvenience able bodied and we have more time at fewer places, and it's got a lift on the minibus.[emoji106]

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I have been looking long and hard at this tour, but been holding back to see what the ship has to offer, and at what price. My Baltic cruise is beginning of June and the ships excursions are not on offer yet on personaliser

 

Out of interest what is the optional evening programme? At what extra cost?

I did this cruise in 2012 with P&O. The two day tour was £230.

In the evening there were three options:

Folk dances £46

Ballet £66

Evening at the Hermitage £126

2014 prices with Cunard were similar but they had 3 two day excursions varying between $290 and $440

Over the years I have done all the evening tours. If you want a good tour of the Hermitage, the evening tour is very good as it was opened just for P&O when I went. About 2 hour tour in groups of 20 followed by an hour concert.

Did the Folk show with Cunard and it lasted around 90 minutes with a break half way through - chance to buy souvenirs at very good prices.

All evening excursions had Russian "champagne" included. They left the ship around 18:30 - 19:00 and returned around 22:30 - 23:00

I have been looking long and hard at this tour, but been holding back to see what the ship has to offer, and at what price. My Baltic cruise is beginning of June and the ships excursions are not on offer yet on personaliser

 

Out of interest what is the optional evening programme? At what extra cost?

We did the P&O two day package last year, cost £210. We were split into groups of maximum 16 people, and we had an excellent local guide and driver with mini coach. As I recall the programme went -

Day 1

Sightseeing Tour

Early Entry Hermitage

Lunch in a local restaurant

Canal Boat Ride

Yusupov Palace

St Isaacs Cathedral

Church of The Spilled Blood

Day 2

Drive to Tsars Village

Catherine Palace and Amber Room

Hydrofoil Ride

Peterhof Palace Park

Picnic Lunch

Subway Ride

Peter and Paul Fortress

Souvenir Shopping

I thoroughly enjoyed it

We did the P&O two day package last year, cost £210. We were split into groups of maximum 16 people, and we had an excellent local guide and driver with mini coach. As I recall the programme went -

 

Day 1

Sightseeing Tour

Early Entry Hermitage

Lunch in a local restaurant

Canal Boat Ride

Yusupov Palace

St Isaacs Cathedral

Church of The Spilled Blood

 

Day 2

Drive to Tsars Village

Catherine Palace and Amber Room

Hydrofoil Ride

Peterhof Palace Park

Picnic Lunch

Subway Ride

Peter and Paul Fortress

Souvenir Shopping

 

I thoroughly enjoyed it

Thanks for the detailed info and price, Seagreen, really helpful.

Ive been into the Alla site and the more expensive Grand Tour seems to be comparable with P and O's offering. This is $285 ( approx £187 ) as opposed to the Comfort Tour costing $240 ( approx £157 ).

The Comfort Tour does not call at the Ss. Peter & Paul, Yusupov's Palace, Catherine Palace, St Issac's or offer the hydrofoil trip.

Alla tours seem to be a good alternative to P and O.

I'd better book the cruise tomorrow :)

Thankyou so much for posting this. DH and I are just about to book Arcadia for August next year and realise that we need to book tours in order to even get off the ship because of the visa situation.

How does this tour compare with what P and O offer?? and is there a comparable difference in price?

Thankyou for any further information, I like to be prepared! :)

Hi jasperdo I have spoken to a number of friends re cost of P&O tours in St Petersburg they all said it is cheaper to book your own. Alla and all the other tour operators in SPB know that their clients need to be on board by a certain time so they have everything organised to make it possible to see the best highlights of SPB. If you would like to do a more comprehensive tour Alla do a Grand Tour for $285pp (approx). Tips for Driver 5% and for guide 10%

Mr Piano, Evening Options Ballet or Folk night $100pp Faberge Museum $45pp

Slightly unrelated to the tour itself and could apply to many ports of call but - please be careful of your wallet especially around the palaces and gardens. I saw spotters scouring the queues of tourists picking victims with obvious wallet shaped bulges (so to speak) one man on our trip lost all his credit cards and £1000 $ - yes you read it right pick pockets hit the jackpot. Also it's human nature to check the place where you keep your wallet when told to be careful - this gives away where your valuables are. The incident happened at the fountains at the folly at one of the palaces where there are lots of distractions. I'm not wishing to cause undue worry but forewarned is forearmed [emoji106]🏼

Florry

You need to be aware of your surroundings in any busy place. We have 2 different CCs with no charge for foreign transactions, but tend to take one out with us. There is no way I would be carrying around £1,000or USD in cash. That is just asking for trouble.

Florry

 

You need to be aware of your surroundings in any busy place. We have 2 different CCs with no charge for foreign transactions, but tend to take one out with us. There is no way I would be carrying around £1,000or USD in cash. That is just asking for trouble.

Yes it applies to everything but it is particularly prevalent there so an extra reminder can't hurt. I was quite astounded that anyone would be carrying that sort of cash but clearly people do. My husband uses a money belt and I have a great security travel bag by Travalon but even so we are careful what we take.

Just another quick question regarding Alla tours in SPB. How and when do you pay? and in what currency? I see they quote in US Dollars

Just another quick question regarding Alla tours in SPB. How and when do you pay? and in what currency? I see they quote in US Dollars

We paid by credit card at lunch on the first day. Easiest as sitting at tables. Charged in roubles. Our guide gave us the exchange rate on the day. Other travellers paid in US$ cash. According to the website they had to be in pristine condition. We paid our tips in $.

If you go to the same restaurant as us, its beautiful.

Hope this helps.

Thanks for the detailed info and price, Seagreen, really helpful.

Ive been into the Alla site and the more expensive Grand Tour seems to be comparable with P and O's offering. This is $285 ( approx £187 ) as opposed to the Comfort Tour costing $240 ( approx £157 ).

The Comfort Tour does not call at the Ss. Peter & Paul, Yusupov's Palace, Catherine Palace, St Issac's or offer the hydrofoil trip.

Alla tours seem to be a good alternative to P and O.

I'd better book the cruise tomorrow :)

We did the comfort tour in June. Did far more than the programme for 2016. Visited the Catherine Palace, Peter & Paul etc. Did some shopping but probably about 30 minutes each day. Think 2016 is a bit disappointing compared with ours, but still very worthwhile.