Jokate Posted March 30, 2010 #1 Share Posted March 30, 2010 First message and first cruise. We are on Voyager Baltic cruise in August 2010 and will be in St Petersburg for 3 days (Aug 24, 25, 26). Regent offers an excursion to Catherine's Palace only on the Tuesday 24th , but my guidebooks and research indicate Catherine's Palace is closed on Tuesdays. Can anyone advise/confirm if these shore excursions have special visiting arrangements during this peak season? We would hate to miss Catherine's Palace and feel confused about Regent offering this as a shore excursion only on this day. Thank you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poss Posted March 30, 2010 #2 Share Posted March 30, 2010 Hello Jokate-- I always feel bad when someone asks a question, a number of folks see it, and no one responds, so here goes my attempt. First of all to say that our first cruise ever was with Regent (Radisson) some years ago to the Baltics. We weren't sure we'd enjoy cruising (we've been long-time cruising sailors, but on our own boat). We fell in love with cruising and with Regent and have taken a cruise with them virtually every year since. I hope you have the same wonderful initiation. We've twice experienced something similar to what you describe (something being closed on a day that Regent had scheduled an excursion). What I did was call Regent to discuss the problem. They then get in touch with that part of operations and get back to me by phone or e-mail in a couple of days, sometimes the same day. They've been good about that. In fact, on our upcoming Med cruise this year, one of the excursions I was much looking forward to mysteriously disappeared from the offerings. (Delos, on the Mykonos stop). I telephoned Regent with a strong wish to please please reinstate that important tour-- et voila (or however it goes in Greek) in a couple of weeks, the Delos excursion was up and running (though I don't think any of us will be running in the 100 degree heat on that shadeless island). Good luck to you, and may your first voyage be in every way as delightful as ours was. We loved the Baltics. (I'd taught Dostoevsky for many years, so it was a special kick for me to visit all those haunts in St Pete.) Tallinn was probably our favorite port, Helsinki least. But we very much enjoyed them all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JPR Posted April 1, 2010 #3 Share Posted April 1, 2010 On the August 4-11 Voyager Baltic cruise, Peterhof Palace tour is scheduled for a Monday, when I had understood it's closed. We're double-checking... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ChatKat in Ca. Posted April 1, 2010 #4 Share Posted April 1, 2010 If you have not been to that part of the world - that cruise is very port intense. You go from morning until night. While I have been happy with all the excursions on Regent for the most part, St. Petersberg is best done by private tour from either Denrus or Red October. We walked right into the museums and palaces while the cruise excursions all waited in long lines. We were done early with lunch and our guide was able to get us right into Yupsovs (Spelled Wrong) Palace during their lunch time and we had the whole place to ourselves. Our private guide took such great care of us for three straight days from 8am to 8pm. We didn't go shopping where there were kickbacks either. And we got to see places (we rode the subway - which is BEAUTIFUL) and the hydrofoil that the Regent and cruise tours don't see. You can only do two or three small tours daily with the Regent Tours that are included. We saw absolutely everything and more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jokate Posted April 1, 2010 Author #5 Share Posted April 1, 2010 Thank you 'poss' for your helpful comments and kind wishes. We do hope we will enjoy our first cruise experience and all the Baltic ports. Thanks Kathy, we realise this cruise is very port intensive and will be more than happy to go 'from morning to night'. As we are usually independent world-wide travellers this will be a new experience. We now assume Regent has an arrangement for shore excursions even on days when palaces/sites are listed as closed to the public. Does anyone know which tour company has the contract for Regent shore excursions? Thank you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poss Posted April 1, 2010 #6 Share Posted April 1, 2010 Jokate: Your assumption about Regent having special access to places may be incorrect. E.g. on our upcoming visit to Malta, the single thing that I most wanted to see was the inside of the St John Co-Cathedral church (the mosaics, the Caraveggios, etc). That's really just about everyone's Must See thing in Malta. I was super-disappointed to learn that the ship is in port on a Sunday and that the Cathedral is CLOSED to visitors on Sundays. I was hoping that Regent had some special access, but learned that, no, absolutely not. A big disappointment. Btw, the Regent excursions actually listed the famous Cathedral as one of their excursion options that day; it is NOT. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Travelcat2 Posted April 1, 2010 #7 Share Posted April 1, 2010 We had a similiar experience in Cadiz. . . . we were there on a Sunday and the whole town was shut down. I've heard of Regent (and other cruise lines) having special access to places -- generally in the evening -- but, not on a day when a place is typically closed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LauraA Posted April 1, 2010 #8 Share Posted April 1, 2010 JoKate - checking with regent about this tour is probably a good idea...you may be pleasantly surprised! I am on the 8/4 sailing of the voyager that has an excursion to Peterof planned for a Monday, when the palace is closed. I checked with Regent and did confirm that the grand palace will have a private opening for Regent customers on that date. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poss Posted April 1, 2010 #9 Share Posted April 1, 2010 Laura-- oh, wow-- how great! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Travelcat2 Posted April 1, 2010 #10 Share Posted April 1, 2010 That is good news. In our case, it was Sunday and the town was shut down for religious reasons. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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