Manda F

We have just (23/9 - 2/10) completed a Baltics cruise with NCL.  Our Alla tours started at 9.00am and we were Group 2 to leave the ship.  Perhaps because we were so late in the season (our ship had only 2 more cruises to do before heading to the Caribbean) meant we were off on time, through customs quickly and with our bus with 15 mins to spare.  We did the 2 day grand tour with Alla.  Booking from Australia, via a Russian company, online... spooky!!!! Not something I would ever do otherwise. But purely due to the reviews on THIS site I was 95% confident.   I chatted via email with Eugenia (excellent), don't pay til you arrive in StP (that's very reassuring). About a month out from cruise date they advised they could now do credit card payments online - which would save time on the first morning (oh, of course! 20 people all waiting for credit cards to process? ewwww) so I paid online just before leaving Aus. It sounds like all companies are similar: little white buses that hold about 25, groups limited to about 16.  Our Alla guide (Svetlana) was excellent, 20 years as a tour guide, knowledge was incredible - and she didn't stop talking for 2 days so the knowledge just kept coming. Our driver (Serge) was brilliant and had us arriving at a few sites early, which meant extra time for bathroom breaks / photos / gawking.  We saw absolutely everything you could want to see in two packed days.  Only once did we have "down time" and that was the 40 min ride out to Peterhof palace - our last stop at the end of 2 action packed days and I think everyone appreciated the time to gather thoughts, catch their breath and review their photos.   Had we been cruising earlier in the season we may have left the entire Baltics region with a different perception (busy, packed, queues, etc) but September / October proved an excellent time for so many reasons (including: being the only group in a room at the Hermitage on several occasions). We cannot speak more highly of Alla, the tour was cheaper than the ship's.  As a comparison, we had to book the ballet through the ship as Alla's allocation was booked out.  Since returning home I've found I could have bought ballet tickets for AU$115 each - the ship was $270 each, which made that a very expensive bus ride but it was a non-negotiable night not to be missed.  As mentioned in the original post: you do NOT need a visa if you go with the tour companies mentioned, they WILL get you back on time.  This is their job, their business, their everyday routine - they know what they have to do and what your time limitations are.  They ask, upfront, which ship and dates you're on - they work everything else out around that.  Trust them, they know what they're doing and they do it very well.

We've been home a week from our own Baltics cruise and embarked at Ocean Quay.  If your friend could get themselves through an airport check in (ie bags from their transport, to the check-in desk and onto the conveyor belt there) then they will be absolutely fine at this port.  If not, I don't recall seeing porters but there are a lot of staff around directing people.  Copenhagen people are wonderful - I'll guess, and say they would help even if it wasn't their job. But let's wait and see if others can provide an exact answer.