Curious about Denrus 2 day St Petersburg Complete Tour

My wife and I are interested in the Denrus 2 day complete tour on June 9th & 10th as we will be traveling on the Emerald Princess ship that leaves Copenhagen on June 5th for 10 days. We have tried to find out from Denrus if anyone from the ship has signed up for the value excursion 2 day complete St. Pete. tour but Denrus won't give us a straight answer. My wife is worried that if we don't get back in time from the tour on the second day and no one else is on the tour from the our ship, we'll be stuck in Russia all by ourselves! Is there anyone from the Emerald Princess that is taking this tour on these dates ? Has anyone ever heard of someone missing the ship on the second day ? Thanks in advance.

We did the Denrus value tour last August. We thought it was excellent value, the guide was very knowlegdable. We did not wait in any queues everything worked out perfect.We were back in plenty of time on the second day.

Milben,

We are on the 6-5-09 cruise on the Emerald Princess and have booked with Denrus for the 2-day "Complete St. Petersburg" tour. I hope it helps you to know that you will have company if you take this tour. We are really looking forward to it.

Laurie

W3 used Denrus in June of 06 and did the full 2 day tour. It was wonderful. Our guide was Boris. There were 6 of us with a large van, private driver and Borus. We never waiting in any lines. Borus took us each day to a nice Russian restaurant where the locals eat for lunch. If we wanted to shop a little in between stops at museums, castles, etc. he found us what we wanted. He even got us some Russian rubles so that we could ride the subway. Make sure you ask to do this. You would not be able to do this with a group of 40-45 people.

Boris was waiting for us when we got off the ship around 7 a.m. the first morning and again the next morning. We stayed with him until 6 p.m. the first day and then he got us back to the ship about 1 1/2 hours prior to departure the 2nd day. With a private guide, you tell them when you want to be back to the ship and they will accomodate. It was wonderful.

Have a great cruise.

Cheryl

Hi LeeAnn

The 6 of us on the Denrus tour were all traveling together so when I emailed Denrus I asked for a private tour for just the 6 of us and a private van, etc. I knew up front what I was getting. Our van only held 8 people plus the driver and tour guide. We would not have been able to have a large group. Maybe that's what some people are experiencing, they didn't ask for a private tour for just them. I was quoted a price and we could have up to the 8 people with the price being the same. For 2 people it would have been quite expensive.

The 6 of us also had private tours when we were in Rome with the same size van and it worked out great too.

We hope to do this again next year when we cruise the Greek Islands. I really prefer doing the private tours over the ships tours. In the Greek Isles when the island is small and no other ships are in port, we might consider a ships tour around the island, etc.

Happy cruising.

Cheryl

My wife and I are interested in the Denrus 2 day complete tour on June 9th & 10th as we will be traveling on the Emerald Princess ship that leaves Copenhagen on June 5th for 10 days. We have tried to find out from Denrus if anyone from the ship has signed up for the value excursion 2 day complete St. Pete. tour but Denrus won't give us a straight answer. My wife is worried that if we don't get back in time from the tour on the second day and no one else is on the tour from the our ship, we'll be stuck in Russia all by ourselves! Is there anyone from the Emerald Princess that is taking this tour on these dates ? Has anyone ever heard of someone missing the ship on the second day ? Thanks in advance.

I asked the same question with you to Denrus and they also did not give me an answer, but they assured me that only people from my cruise will be joining us for the tour. We are only a party of 3, my parents and I, and either of them speak or understand English. I got a quote from Anastasia for a private tour and the price was beyond our budget, so I opted for the Value Tour. They promised that no more than 25 people will be in the group and if it ended up with less than 25 they will not 'combine' several groups together to make one large group. I know this tour is nothing compare to a private tour but as far as I've considered this would be my choice (hope not a bad one!).

We did the DenRus Value Tour last summer and absolutely loved it! They are extremely professional and there will be no problems getting you back to the ship. It's a huge problem for them if you're still in the country when your ship has sailed because you're there as their 'guest.'

Also, DenRus will send you a list of passengers on your ship that are taking their tour after the final payment is made. They had a tour maximum of 30 people on this tour last year, but I think they've reduced it for this year. There were 40 people on our ship last summer taking the Value Tour, so they split us in two groups of 20. It was great! We are not a talkative group, and would not have asked as many questions if it was just us and a guide. The group was small enough that we got on/off the bus quickly, entered museums easily, and we got early entrance and skipped the lines. They use headphones so the guide can talk to you in museums, and you can wander and look but still hear. We took the metro, which I thought was great.

I thought it was an outstanding tour. If this is what your budget allows, or just what you prefer, I don't think you'll have a bad experience.

Could someone give me the DenRus web address? I had it , but lost it. Thanks

Could someone give me the DenRus web address? I had it , but lost it. Thanks

Here's the website:

http://www.denrus.ru/

Thanks, NAJNLA. I'm going to contact them today.

Just got back from a fantastic Baltic cruise on the Celebrity Century (May 21 - June 2). We had perfect weather the entire trip, something the cruise director said they had never seen.

Wanted to provide some feedback on Denrus. Like most of you, I was quite nervous before the trip - not only about gaining entrance into Russia but also making sure we got back to the ship in time.

I highly recommend Denrus.

I emailed Denrus on several occasions before the trip and received prompt responses (within 2 days). Ali, in particular, is particularly sensitive to the fear of American passengers and went out of his way to provide detailed and thorough responses to my question.

Here's how everything went:

We booked the 2 day complete package.

Celebrity indicated that people on independent excursions could leave the boat when we cleared customs. Though we were scheduled to arrive at 7:30, we only cleared customs at 7:45. Celebrity hedged themselves by saying that things can change last minute. They gave an example that on the prior cruise the Russian authorities had asked Celebrity to hold the independents in a room. Not sure why it happened, but I guess the Russians did not have enough passport control booths open. It ended up taking hours to get everyone off the boat.

Fortunately, we did not have this issue on our cruise. I recommend trying to be one of the first people to line up to leave the boat so you won't have to wait in a long time at passport control.

After leaving the boat, we walked to the new customs terminal. There, there were several booths open. One booth had a sign for "traveler's with visas", another booth was labeled "independent travelers", and four booths were segmented for "Celebrity excursions". I believe these signs were put up by the Celebrity folks and there was a Celebrity person there pushing people into one line or the other. I didn't try to switch lines as I was at the front of one of the lines.

We had our Denrus ticket, tourist card (provided by cruise ship), passport, and copy of passport. The agent at the desk didn't take our copy of passport, but I am glad I had it. They barely glanced at our Denrus ticket. Once we left the agent, Denrus was waiting right outside the door.

There were a total of 60 people on Denrus that day. They took the first 30 of us and put us on a bus and we were off. Since our group was one of the first off the boat, we waited around 30 minutes for the first bus to fill up and leav.e The second bus had to wait for everyone to arrive before departing.

Without going into detail about the actual sites (amazing sites - though many sites were CRAZY busy), I can't imagine touring St. Petersburg without a guide and driver as there are so many logistical and bureaucratic issues. Our guide (nickname "Lana") did an amazing job keeping our group of 30 together (though we were a very attentive group and did not wonder far). She was able to get us into sites easily and effectively managed time in order to fit a ton of stuff into our tour. The headphones are fantastic as they help keep the group together. This is critical in crowded places like the Hermitage where it is easy to get separated from the group.

The first day is spent mostly in the suburb seeing St. Catherine's palace and other places. Spent a lot of time on the bus. Second day was all in the city which included a boat cruise (we had a beautiful day), Hermitage, etc.

Second day, they asked us to be on the bus by 7:30 (versus the 8;00 in the schedule). Some people were a bit late, held up by the long lines to get through customs (advice - get in line to get off boat early)

We also went to the ballet and saw Swan Lake - I had only seen Nutcracker in Boston in the past - and I must say that Swan Lake was amazing - great costumes, dancers, and orchestra. The theatre was only half full and it was apparent that almost everyone in the theatre was a tourist or cruise passenger.

I **highly** recommend Denrus. Our party of six had a great experience. I also highly recommend Lana.

Hope this helps those out there.

Thank you so much for the info. We are with Century on June 14th. soo excited. Was wondering how our Denrus tour would work. One question..what is a tourist card, and how do I get one and do I need it? What time should we be ready to leave the ship on the first day? Thanks again. any more hints?

What was the cost per day for your tour?

We will be in St. Petersburg Aug. 8 and 9. We are in our early 70's. My husband has stamina problems when it comes to climbing stairs. He also does not walk fast. Do you think he could manage the DenRus 2 day Value Tour? How strenuous was it?

Thanks for any info.

Lynda

Independent tour guides in any port know that their FIRST obligation is to get the pax back to the ship in time! I have NEVER heard of any problems in St. P.

In Russia it is even more important, because you are covered by the group visa issued by the tour company. Hence Denrus is responsible for you to the Russian authorities! They positively are not going to make you late back to the ship. Their license depends on it.

Their group tours get great reviews, but we were even happier with our small group tour. We were able to design it to our specifications and get personal attention. It only costs a bit more, and is well worth it.

Check out our review and pics at http://www.elite.net/~thehalls/baltic.html

Have a GREAT cruise!

Thank you so much for the info. We are with Century on June 14th. soo excited. Was wondering how our Denrus tour would work. One question..what is a tourist card, and how do I get one and do I need it? What time should we be ready to leave the ship on the first day? Thanks again. any more hints?

The tourist card is a pre-printed document that the cruise ship will print out for you. It kind of looks like a landing card that you fill out when flying internationally. Yes, you need it. The Russian authorities keep one half of it and the other half goes back to you.

I was the first line at 7:10 on the third floor of the Century. Around 7:20 a whole gaggle of people showed up at the same time.

We will be in St. Petersburg Aug. 8 and 9. We are in our early 70's. My husband has stamina problems when it comes to climbing stairs. He also does not walk fast. Do you think he could manage the DenRus 2 day Value Tour? How strenuous was it?

 

Thanks for any info.

 

Lynda

You should talk to Ali @ Denrus (denrus@denrus.ru) directly. However, I would tend to say that I would avoid this tour if having stamina problems. The tourist sites in russia are very very busy and you have to keep track of your guide and manage to stay near him or her. I know that several people on our tour commented that the reason everything went so smoothly is that everyone was able to keep together. If you have serious concerns about keeping up with the group, then you may want to consider something more private. It's only fair to the other folks in the group.

Regarding stairs, there was very few to climb. We climbed some stairs at the Hermitage on the last day. I have never seen a museum as busy as the Hermitage, though others said that the crowds in the museum were similar to Italy. I can only imagine how much busier the museums will be during peak season.

What was the cost per day for your tour?

$295/person. See http://denrus.ru/valueexcursion.html

Until I went on this tour, I never realized what a good value this is. As I mentioned in my prior post, it covers the visa, bus, guide, all the museum entry fees, boat ride, and lunches.

I am certainly glad I didn't go on the cruise tours, and I would never ever ever go out in St. Petersburg by myself.

Just wanted to make one more comment from my prior (long) post about our experience with Denrus on the Celebrity Century. The cruise line indicated that on the prior cruise, the Russian authorities asked that the cruise line passengers disembark before the independents. From my understanding, the Russian authorities could care less who disembarks when. My guess is that the cruise line just wanted to get the people who booked the cruise line tours off the boat quickly so that they could start their tours.

At the end of the day, the folks on both the independent tours and the cruise line tours are sponsored by their relevant tour agency and thus require the same documentation to get through passport control. The only difference seems to be that the cruise line passengers are hand-held through passport control.

Fortunately, on our cruise, we were able to disembark with no problems.

I think in general there is alot of fear going to St. Petersburg. As long as you book through one of the agencies or the cruise line, you won't have any issue getting through. You can certainly see the fear on the these boards, and even with the cruise line messages while on board. I think the major reason why this occurs is that all the other ports in the Baltic do not require one to go through passport control. However, going into Russia is like entering the unknown and it makes people fearful.

I remember waiting in line to get off the boat and watching the immigration officials board the boat. Instantly, everybody in line was quiet and nobody smiled. Even going through passport control was a little like watching the soup episode of seinfeld (Remember where each person in line is scared of the soup man and are unsure of their interactions with him)

anyway, i hope this information helps a bit.

dear atdnorth, thanks so much for your review of st. P. we are on the century going to st. P on aug 7 & 8. right now i have it between viktoria and anastasia. we're only 2 people so i'm looking for others to share a private tour. also, which nights are the formal nights on the century? and did you go to the specialty restaurant, murano?

thanks,

There were three formal nights on the Century. I believe the first one was on the night of the first sea day (evening before arriving in Germany). I believe the last one was the night before arriving in Copehagen (two nights before the cruise ended). I don't remember when the second formal night was. On a twelve day cruise, everything begins to blend together.

Didn't go to Murano, but from what I heard, the food there was excellent. The food in the main dining room was quite good and the staff made a huge effort to accomodate - if you order the night before, you can pretty much have whatever you want at dinner, whether it's on the menu or not. We even had Indian food one night in the main dining room after the waiter suggested it the evening before.

Incidentally, our waiter Henry was excellent.

Dear Atdnorth,

Thanks for the info! Do you remember, on the night you are in St. P. does the ship have any kind of russian entertainment on board? We're thinking of staying and seeing the folk lore show, but it comes with a buffet and i'm not sure I want to go to that, would much rather eat dinner on the ship. Let me know , ok?

Thanks.

We went to the ballet in St. P. Don't know what happened on board that evening.

We just returned from the 6/2/09 Eurodam Baltic Cruise. We did the St. Petersburg value tour as well as the Berlin tour. Both tours were great and I recommend Denrus highly.

Our gude in Berlin was Timo and he was very nice, knowledgable and a really pleasurable person to be around. On this tour you will see the outsides of a lot of different places, including the park that now sits on top of what was once Hitlers bunker. This was a real photo-op type of tour. Lunch, which is included in the price of the tour, was at Lindenbrau. This restaurant was completely destroyed during the war, and rebuilt. The outside is part of a beautiful, very modern glass building, but inside, the restaurant was restored to it's orginal condition, including it's own microbrewery in the middle of the place. The meal included sauerkraut, sausages and a beer. Try the spicy mustard in the red packets on the table. It's great. It's approximately a 3 hour bus drive from Warnemunde to Berlin with one rest stop. This tour was active, but not overwhelming so.

The St. Petersburg value excursion I do not recommend for anyone who is not quick on their feet! This is an extremely fast paced tour. You will get to see quite a bit, but because it is such a fast paced tour, it will be hard to take all the photo's that you want. This is especially true inside of the Hermitage.

I was impressed and overwhelmed at how much we saw and did on these 2 days! Maria, our tour guide, really knew her stuff and got us through everything while giving out a lot of interesting information. We chose this tour because it was the best way to see the 3 main sights we wanted to see, those being Peterhoff, the Hermitage and the metro (subway). All three of these places are utterly fantastic and shouldn't be missed. There was no way to cover these with the ship's shore excursion schedules, but Denrus did all this and more besides. Tour groups on the ship's shore excursions paid for their lunches plus 3-6 dollars (american) at all museums and palaces to take pictures. These were all included in the price of the Denrus tour, a real value! The restaurants served great food. Denrus provided us with complimentary bottled water on the bus (don't drink the water in Russia).

One note of warning...on the 2nd day of the St. Petersburg tour, we did have to go approximately 4 hours without a rest stop. If you take this tour, I recommend you have very little to drink the 2nd morning.

There were 3 short shopping stops and plenty to purchase. If you are like me and looking specifically for fabrege style eggs, the last shopping stop is the place to get them. It was a flea market across the street from the Church on the Spilled Blood, (unbelievably beautiful inside and out). Maria told us the vendors wouldn't take American money or charge cards, but they took rubles, euro's and the greenback in addition to Discover, M/C and Visa. Few places on this trip took Discover. Since this is an outdoor flea market, you can haggle with the vendors and talk them down. Don't be afraid to try.

In conclusion, if you want to do some great tours, you're fairly physically fit, you want to see a lot and you want to see everything at a more reasonable price than you wil pay for a shore excursion from a cruise ship, then Denrus just may be for you.

Did your tour also include a visit to Yusupov Palace? And what about Peter & Paul Fortress?