Seeking previous clients of SPB tours in Berlin and St. Petersbug

[rdnpdx1]

Hi

 

Can't say enough positive about SPB in St. Petersburg. The number of positive reviews on their excellent service is amazing. I have never heard of Alex so cannot comment. I know dozens of posters on this board would agree with my recommendation. As I said earlier, there were eight SPB tours of varying types on our sailing in June of this year and all were very, very satisfied. I don't see how you can go wrong with them. Viktoria is ther to greet you each day and to make sure all goes well. She runs an outstanding service with which you will be very pleased if past experiences as recounted on this board are of any indication.

[canadarocks]

We just came back from our cruise and we did 3 tours with SPB Tours in Tallinn, St. Petersburg, and Helsinki (we got rained out and couldn't dock - or else we would have done one in Berlin as well).

 

I would recommend them to anyone! :D

[Got2Cruise]

I have never heard of this Alex person you are referring to after months of researching. Not saying he is not good. But you should not settle for something you are not happy with. What is different with Alex's tour itinerary than SPb? I know that SPb gives a discount if you book book SPB and Berlin. Who are the others on your rollcall using? I was on the July 9th sailing and we had quite a few CC groups using SPb both moderate and active. Everyone was very happy.

Hi everyone! Well, SPB has cancelled the 4-port tour, the one for $399 pp which included Talinn and Helsinki. So now we're down to deciding between SPB or Alex's Tours (love Alex's e-mails and itinerary) for Saint Petersburg, and SPB for Berlin (Alex and co. don't do Berlin). If anybody cares to weigh in... late as it is :) that'd be much appreciated! Counting the days here, either way!

[joebeth]

Hey guys! So finally made a decision tonight... and I want to pass along the following info. I realize time is short, but here's the deal: SPB offers an evening Fun Tour (their name, not mine), and it doesn't require you to have done any of their day tours. The pick up from the ship is 7 p.m. and there's a private vehicle and driver for four hours plus a guide for - are you ready - a canal boat ride with free vodka and juices, folklore performance somewhere in this, walking along Nevsky Blvd and shopping (something about going "behind the facades" with this guide). We didn't want to miss an evening OUT in Russia by spending it on the ship, so we were thrilled to find this. They need 10 people. For all we know, they've already got that. No idea, but we wanted to pass this along. Oh, it's $55 USD per person for all. One week from today we'll be AT SEA!

[gdayhoff]

You can't go wrong with STB and Viktoria--She's one of a kind

[Got2Cruise]

We did the "fun" tour, and you made the right decision.:D;) We had a bus full of Cruise Critic folks,we had the time of our lives. When the tour guide gives you the vodka, just drink it. LOL. And the folkshow was was great. Make sure you go down to participate.

Hey guys! So finally made a decision tonight... and I want to pass along the following info. I realize time is short, but here's the deal: SPB offers an evening Fun Tour (their name, not mine), and it doesn't require you to have done any of their day tours. The pick up from the ship is 7 p.m. and there's a private vehicle and driver for four hours plus a guide for - are you ready - a canal boat ride with free vodka and juices, folklore performance somewhere in this, walking along Nevsky Blvd and shopping (something about going "behind the facades" with this guide). We didn't want to miss an evening OUT in Russia by spending it on the ship, so we were thrilled to find this. They need 10 people. For all we know, they've already got that. No idea, but we wanted to pass this along. Oh, it's $55 USD per person for all. One week from today we'll be AT SEA!

[barbeau]

We toured Berlin with SPB on our August 6 cruise with NCL. Although I had some misgivings about spending so much time on the road to and from, I will say that this was one of the most enjoyable and educational tours I've ever been on. Heather, who was our guide, is absolutely fantastic! She is American, but has lived in Berlin for five years, and made us truly appreciate the city's past and present. Berlin was one of the highlights of the trip and I wasn't expecting it to be.

[rdnpdx1]

We toured Berlin with SPB on our August 6 cruise with NCL. Although I had some misgivings about spending so much time on the road to and from, I will say that this was one of the most enjoyable and educational tours I've ever been on. Heather, who was our guide, is absolutely fantastic! She is American, but has lived in Berlin for five years, and made us truly appreciate the city's past and present. Berlin was one of the highlights of the trip and I wasn't expecting it to be.

 

Great to hear you had an excellent experience with SPB in Berlin. Our had several who did the same tour and had a marvelous tour as well.

[CintiPam]

Heather provided probably the best all-round private tour we ever have taken. She did a fantastic job for my roll call group of 16 in June in Berlin.

[HomeLover]

i cannot believe I did not give my opinion on my experience!

Last July, I booked the 2 day St. Petersburg and the Berlin tour for my group.

This had been my 6th trip to the Baltic, and I was very impressed with Viktoria and Anthony and SPB tours. Along the way I had multiple special requests and questions, and they always answered within 24 hours and were very accommodating.

In St, Petersburg, our tour guide was Elena, and everyone was overwhelmed with her knowledge and her ability to get everything done, despite traffic problems.

Berlin was a nice tour. Our tour guide was Heather, an American who lives in Berlin. She was very knowledgeable, and friendly.

I would recommend the company very highly

[lizandpea]

Hi,

I know this thread has been dormant for a while but I was reading it while researching our upcoming trip (thank you for all of the great info!) and noticed that there was some discussion/questions about maximum group size as well as which St. Petersburg itinerary one might receive with the special multi-city packages (called "Baltic Pearls" packages) offered by SPB Tours.

 

Because I was slightly confused (I manage to do that to myself quite often!) after hearing that some posters recalled having groups as large as 20 with SPB, I contacted SPB directly to get the bottom line, and they confirmed that (as stated on their website): they limit their groups to 16 pax in St. Petersburg. This holds true also for their package tours (a maximum of 16 pax in St. Petersburg), though there's a max 24 pax in Berlin and Tallinn and a maximum of 32 pax in Helsinki and Stockholm.

 

Also, as to itinerary, both of SPB's package tours (called "deluxe" and "classic") follow the same itineraries in Berlin, Tallinn, Stockholm and Helsinki; however, in St. Petersburg, the Deluxe package is identical to the Deluxe tour itinerary, and the Classic package follows an itinerary similar to the Moderate tour.

 

Just wanted to share this back on this thread (even though b/c of the time that's elapsed, it's not necessarily going to be relevant to the original discussions back in 2010 and 2011) and I hope this might clarify things for anyone else who might have been wondering about group size limits and itineraries.

[fishydeduction]

Just back from may 4th NCL Baltic cruise. Had arranged private tours with SPB tours. For Berlin, had 4 adults with 2 80 year old seniors. Minivan was comfortable, water provided and tour was very informative. guide and driver made everyone feel welcomed. It's a long day but worth the ride and history making memories. For St Petersburg, SBP handled our group of 6 with minivan/bus that could carry the folding wheelchair that one of our seniors needed. Tour guide was very aggressive at getting us in through reserved channels and navigating with a wheel chair. SPB is not handicap ready so "lifts" are small and really made for those with disabilities. Something different that here in the States. We did the Hermitage with wheelchair but it was tough. Could not do Catherine's Palace with wheelchair given the flow of visitors and stairs involved. Would definitely recommend the folks with SPB tours for your visit in St petersburg.

[Giantfan13]

Glad to hear you have a grand time on your cruise and your tour in St Petersburg. Most here know that SPB tours is a class outfit and will do everything possible to ensure that you and your party has the best time possible.

 

Any pics??

 

Cheers

 

Len

Edited May 21, 2012 by Giantfan13

[WestTexasTraveler]

My wife and I were on the Celebrity Constellation May 20, 2012 Baltic Cruise, and our CruiseCritic roll call had two groups of 16 members book the "Four Baltic Pearls" tours with SPbTours. I can highly recommend SPbTours. Their owner, Viktoria, was quite helpful by email before the tour and quite gracious when we met in person in Berlin for the first of our four tours. All four of our tours were exceptional, and all of our guides were quite knowledgeable, personable, friendly and spoke understandable English.

 

Our guide in St. Petersburg, Masha (translated to Maria), was exceptionally knowledgeable and personable and made our trip so enjoyable. We traveled in a large van carrying 18 people including the driver and guide. The price was less than the ship's tours, and on the ship's tours we would have traveled in a big bus of 50 or so people. (All of SPbTours' clients did travel together to and from Berlin on a single large bus. But when we arrived in Berlin we were split into our predetermined tour groups, each with their own guide and van.) I recommend SPbTours without any reservations.

 

--Robert

[suncityga]

Our guide in St. Petersburg, Masha (translated to Maria), was exceptionally knowledgeable and personable and made our trip so enjoyable. We traveled in a large van carrying 18 people including the driver and guide. The price was less than the ship's tours, and on the ship's tours we would have traveled in a big bus of 50 or so people. (All of SPbTours' clients did travel together to and from Berlin on a single large bus. But when we arrived in Berlin we were split into our predetermined tour groups, each with their own guide and van.) I recommend SPbTours without any reservations.

 

--Robert

 

We just returned from our Scandinavia & Russia cruise on Jewel of Seas and most of our roll call used SPB Tours in St. Petersburg. We were in a group of 10 and we did their 2 Day Deluxe Tour... our driver was Andrew and our guide was Masha. It was without a doubt, the highlight of the cruise.

 

Agree with Robert's comments... Masha was also our guide in St Petersburg. Masha spoke English very well, was very friendly and was also very knowledgeable about the city, culture, art and the history of the Romanov family. She also answered a lot of questions from our group about life in Russia today and in the past.

 

Since we had a group of 10, she used the portable microphone and we all had audio headsets... we highly recommend this arrangement because you do not have to be physically close to your guide all the time (something which is difficult to do as a group of 10 and at very busy sightseeing locations).

 

We found SPB Tours to be a very professional tour company... they responded to all our email and personal requests very promptly. We would highly recommend SPB Tours and their 2 Day Deluxe Tour of St Petersburg.

[mattie00]

Thanks for the very timely review of SPB Tours. We will be using them on our upcoming June 27th Baltics tour on the Sun.:)

[gosport11]

We used SPB on our cruise,1/6/12-2/6/12,had a very good guide Helena,its was a lovely incite into the tsars and st petersburg,if we ever go back they will be on the top of the list well organised and friendly :)

[Got2Cruise]

I'm glad Vika is still using Masha as a guide. We had the pleasure of having Masha last year. Her English is impeccable and her Russian history knowledge blows your mind. All of us on our van were Americans from CC, and we teased Masha by saying Masha, Masha, Masha. . .like on the Brady Bunch. She had no idea what we found so funny.

That's the one thing we loved about Vika, she has you fill out a survey after the tour, and she takes those things very seriously, and makes adjustments as the season progresses.

 

Has anyone had the pleasure of having Alex on the Fun Tour?:)

[SandG]

Has anyone had the pleasure of having Alex on the Fun Tour?:)

 

Alex was our guide for our tour with SPB on May 20-21 just last month. His English was wonderful, his knowledge amazing, and you could tell he had such a love of history! (And he was quite funny.) We enjoyed having him as our tour guide very much.

 

We'd thought about doing the fun night but there were not enough people signed in our group to do it (there was a min. of 10) and so we ended up going to the "Feel Yourself Russian" folk show which was actually very nice.

 

Sue

Edited June 15, 2012 by SandG

[xengineer]

We just returned from the Baltic cruise on HAL ms Eurodam. Without a doubt the highlight of our trip was visiting St. Petersburg (June 27-28, 2012) with the expert guidance of SPB Tours' Katya Volodina. Her English rivals that of most native English speakers, and her detailed knowledge of Russian history and art is admirable. During our Deluxe 2-day tour, she and our driver, Slava (?) organized our group's visit professionally and without a hitch. Our one minor negative comment is about our first day's lunch in the "Cafe" of a Hotel (green building). Thank you again, Katya!

[kely53]

We have the SPB Berlin tour scheduled in a few weeks. Can someone tell me what stops it makes in which you actually get out and tour a site? We are not doing a Jewish heritage related tour....just the Classic Berlin tour.

 

thank you

Karen

[kprincess]

We just returned from the Baltic cruise on HAL ms Eurodam. Without a doubt the highlight of our trip was visiting St. Petersburg (June 27-28, 2012) with the expert guidance of SPB Tours' Katya Volodina. Her English rivals that of most native English speakers, and her detailed knowledge of Russian history and art is admirable. During our Deluxe 2-day tour, she and our driver, Slava (?) organized our group's visit professionally and without a hitch. Our one minor negative comment is about our first day's lunch in the "Cafe" of a Hotel (green building). Thank you again, Katya!

 

Hi I was wondering how you paid? By credit card or cash in person? I'm wondering if they are going to charge a convenience fee for credit cards? Would you reccommend this tour? I'm planning to go in Sept.2012

[xengineer]

Hi I was wondering how you paid? By credit card or cash in person? I'm wondering if they are going to charge a convenience fee for credit cards? Would you reccommend this tour? I'm planning to go in Sept.2012

 

SPB Tours will send you detailed messages about the payment options. We paid by US$ cash the morning of the second day. Our friends paid by VISA at the end of the first day, and SPB Tours charges 3% fee extra for credit cards. We also gave tips by US$ cash (10% to the guide and 5% to the driver) at the end of the second day, which we felt was well deserved. We immensely enjoyed the trip and highly recommend SPB. There is no other way to use your short time in St. Petersburg so efficiently and conveniently.

Edited July 20, 2012 by xengineer

[Giantfan13]

Hi I was wondering how you paid? By credit card or cash in person? I'm wondering if they are going to charge a convenience fee for credit cards? Would you reccommend this tour? I'm planning to go in Sept.2012

 

Most people pay in cash on the second day of the 2 day tour. They prefer newer type bills with no writing of any kind on them. they do NOT have to be crisp, right off the press type of bills, just no real old bills that have lost their crispness. If memory holds, SPB sort of advertises a price for cash that is kind of a discounted price, so when they charge a % more for a CC, that is supposed to be the real price. Anyway you want to figure it, you will be paying more for using a CC. Now if you have a card that charges no foreign transactions fees (Like CapitalOne) and you can earn say 2% cash back, then you are only paying a slightly larger amount than for cash if you prefer to go that route.

Some people question the carrying around of that amount of money in cash, but you are only carrying it for the second day of the tour. the rest of the time, store it in your room safe on the ship. No big deal, and, as I said, most people go that route.

 

We also used SPB Tours and you will NOT be sorry you booked with them. They do a spectacular job of making each and every tour person go home feeling that they had the time of their lives. Just a professional organization from top to bottom.

 

Cheers

 

Len

[kprincess]

Thanks for your help!

Can't wait for the tour!!!!!!!!!!!!!