Lunch with Russian family in St. Petersburg?

[kinghw]

I was just curious if anyone had done this during their cruise visit to St. Petersburg, and, if so, how was the experience and was it worth the time invested?

[kinghw]

Well, it pays to use the search function. Yes, I now see that there have been several recent threads on this topic...so "never mind" unless someone has something new or additional. The consensus seems overwhelmingly positive.

[Princess Di]

I have also read all the good feedback from previous cruise pax for dining with Russian Families. :cool:

 

I am very interested in lunching with the Families also; :D

 

however, I have never been able to get a RATE from anyone - including e-mailing some of the cruise critics, as well as Ro and DenRus. :rolleyes:

 

Does anybody know how much this adds to the cost of the shorex? :confused:

[rnjoel]

We just got a quote for the lunch from RO for our June cruise. They quoted us $18/pp extra for that.

 

Happy Sailings!

[alpal1993]

That sounds very reasonable for a once in a life time experience.

[alpal1993]

That sounds very reasonable for a once in a life time experience.

[Princess Di]

That cost probably includes the driver and guide, as well, I should think. :confused:

I would go for it - a restaurant would probably be more and not as good. :rolleyes:

And I like the idea that I am helping out a poor family that is willing to work and supply a service and product for me. :D

[scluvsrain]

We paid $15 pp in 2003 and that was added to our cost of our 2 day Red October tour. The food the family served was really good and they fed us a lot!!! I could hardly move after....But keep in mind, they use the same families over and over again, and they get a nice little cut of the fee, so don't feel too sorry for them. However, they still live a lot differently than we do with less amenities, so I was more than happy to pay my fee to Red October and experience what it is like to be inside a typical Russian's home. Very nice people.

[kinghw]

I got prices right away from both companies: $18 pp extra from RO and $33 pp extra from DenRus, which seems high to me for lunch. We're still e-mailing both and will pick one soon based on the total 2-day itinerary.

[mikenmar]

I just got an itinerary from RO and they have quoted me $15 for the lunch with a family. Has anyone been on this tour? How is it? I can not get the right email address for DenRus. Does anyone have this?

 

I am on the Aug 13th cruise. Is anyone else on this one. We are not getting a lot of responses on the roll call nor for the CC party.

 

Thank you.

Marion

[shoshona2]

Hi Princess Di,

 

On our RO tour of St. Petersburg, we did both -- lunch in a restaurant and lunch with a family. We didn't look at it as helping them financially -- we looked at it as an interesting experience. Our tour guide was our interpreter and it became a fascinating experience. There were six of us who used RO and we thoroughly enjoyed eating lunch with the "family" much more than eating in the restaurant.

 

Sheila

[NancyIL]

I was also quoted $15 from Red October US and $33 from DenRus. That's quite a drastic difference!

[NancyIL]

I just got an itinerary from RO and they have quoted me $15 for the lunch with a family. Has anyone been on this tour? How is it? I can not get the right email address for DenRus. Does anyone have this?

 

I am on the Aug 13th cruise. Is anyone else on this one. We are not getting a lot of responses on the roll call nor for the CC party.

 

Thank you.

Marion

I have been emailing Olga at DenRus: OlgaT@denrus.ru

[Princess Di]

Thank you, Sheila,

I think that is the best of both worlds - to Lunch with the Family and also try the Restaurant. :D

However, because one of my travel mates is diabetic, they have nixed the Family Lunch. :o

That's o.k. because I now have a bargaining chip and so they will have to give up something else in my favour that I prefer. :p

Actually, I would rather save the cost, but moreover, the time, in not eating out. We plan on taking food from the Ship Buffet, enough for our guest hosts, as well, the Guide & Driver, to eat in the van. :cool:

I understand that the Castles are 45 minutes to an hour away, plenty of time to picnic in the van while watching the scenery go by.

I prefer to spend as much time in the Castles, Palaces, and Parks as possible.

Thank you so much for your input.

[Princess Di]

Sometimes, pax come aboard on the threads quite close to sailing. They either just become aware of cruisecritic lately, or perhaps they booked their cruise close in. :eek:

Just keep bringing your Roll Call to the top, or start a new one when it gets closer in. ;)

That is what I am planning to do.

As well, Olga at DenRus said she will hook me up with others on our date, as she accumulates other pax. :cool:

[mikenmar]

Thanks Donna.

 

I just posted for a group on the Baltic Thread. I have been trying to keep up with the Celebrity Roll Call.

 

With DenRus, are you including a visit to the Gold Room at the Hermitage? I was wondering if it is worth it. Ilya at Denrus did not answer my question about adding others he is dealing with. He did say that he will add others at any time.

 

Marion

[dbh62ark]

I'm not sure about the gold room, and I need to ask Denrus about that. I think it's $15 per person extra, so I'm not as concerned about the cost as I am about the time. We're going to ask about eating lunch in the van the first day to have and extra hour at the Hermitage, so we will have 3 and 1/2 hours or so. I could go either way, so I think it will just be a group decision for our tour. My Denrus message came from Olga, and she said she didn't have any inquiries for the 8/27 Constellation sailing but that she would be in contact with us as soon as she does. I think since it's still several months before sailing, some passengers just haven't gone that far in planning. I think we'll probably be able to form a group from our posts here, so we may not need Denrus's assistance, but it was nice that they offered because Red October USA refused to assist in forming groups, despite the fact that we asked for a pretty basic itinerary with just the major sites.

[Princess Di]

Yes, Marion, Arc is correct. It is $15 extra to visit the Gold Room and I believe it adds about 15 minutes more to the Tour (they do have to make it worth the $15). :p However, unless there are 10 pax, they won't open it up for less people. I would Love to see the Gold Room. :D

I would like to have no more than 10 people on our tour. ;)

Yes, we do have choices here, to hook up with the other DenRus-derived pax or the cruisecritic-derived pax. :cool:

They are probably all about the same types as us, except that WE like to plan waaaaay out. :eek:

[SteveS]

We had lunch with a Russian family on the second day of our RO tour last summer. I would do it again! But I would spend more time at the Hermitage and eat lunch in the van on the first day. You can't have enought time there. The folkloric show was more than expected. Red October was excelent and our guide Elena was wonderful.

[dbh62ark]

Princess Di,

 

Thanks for the info on the amount of time for the Gold Room at the Hermitage. I was concerned about fitting that into the schedule, but it doesn't sound like it's an issue.

 

Donna

[Princess Di]

daBRO paZHAlavat, Donna. ;)

 

Stan taught me, You are welcome. :cool:

 

Now, I have to practice pronunciation. :eek:

[Dbedros]

We will be using DenRus or Red October for August 27th. They do not have us for this date as the initial inquiry was for July 30th. We have changed to the August 27th sailing. I have contacted them since the change was made.

 

We are looking for one or two other couples to join us as we truly want a private tour. We are considering additions/changes such as a canal tour and visit to a procelain factory. As far as the Gold Room, some of the other boards had poster that stated the agencies would book this tour even if there were not enough people in your group. They did this by having more than one of their groups arrive at the same time for the tour.

 

We are planning on purchasing the box lunches and not taking a chance on bringing food due to the regulations. A couple of years ago I had fruit in my carry on bag that I forgot and was stopped coming through customs in the US. This was not fun and we are afraid to take the chance! We thought previous posters had the right idea to eat lunch during the drive to/from the large palaces each day.

[Dbedros]

Sorry,

 

I have NOT contacted them since the initial inquiry.

[stanj]

We are looking for one or two other couples to join us as we truly want a private tour. We are considering additions/changes such as a canal tour and visit to a procelain factory.

 

If you are referring to the Lomonosov factory, tours of the factory are not given anymore, not since they opened the beautiful annex of the State Hermitage Museum porcelain collection on the 4th floor of their factory admin building. The museum is quite interesting and brand new and so far visited by very few. The last time I went there, in the late summer, I was writing an article about the life of Lomonosov and was hoping to get a tour of the factory as well as visit the newly opened museum. I was not allowed to tour the factory even though the Deputy Director proposed it but I did receive a personally guided tour of the museum by Lomonosov upper management. The only issue with visiting the museum is that it is out of the way, around the corner and down the street through a park on the river near...you guessed it...Lomonosov Metro station (actually Lomonosovskaya metro). Note than some of the most spectacular items in the Hermitage porcelain collection is still in the Hermitage for public display while the bulk has been transfered to the new annex at the Lomonosov factory.

 

The canal boats are fun and reveal another side of the city not seen from the streets. Those rides and the river boats show clearing that many of the most interesting buildings were designed primarily for water access back when the canals were the thoroughfares, supply lines and means of commerce for the city.

 

Stan

[Dbedros]

Hi Stan,

 

Thanks for the information. Glad to see that you agree with the canal tour.

 

I think I read that someone took a hydrofoil to Peterhof and the driver met them there. This was suppose to take less time. Do you know anything about doing this?

 

I enjoy reading your post as they are very informative and helpful. Looking forward to any other suggestions that you may come up with.

 

Again thank you for your insight.

 

Norma