St Petersburg - Tour Company Options

[tinkerfenwick]

We are a couple in our 40's and have booked a last minute Baltic cruise on Jewel of the Seas in July.

 

There seem to be soo many forums threads about tour companies.

 

Appreciate if someone can list the companies as we understand we wont be able to get off the ship without a visa and do our own thing - need to be with a recognised 'tour' company.

 

Thanks

[sbhdmh]

Here is a thread about the Can't Miss Places to see in the Baltics. In post #6 I discussed St Petersburg including website info for the 7 tour companies that are most frequently mentioned here on cc.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1154378&highlight=can+miss+petersburg+masha

 

You will need to either get a visa or book a tour with a company that provides "visa free" tours. (These companies will cover you under their blanket visa.) The ships' tours provide these visa free tours too but they are usually more expensive and will put you on a 50 passenger bus rather than a 10-18 passenger van so almost everyone who comes to cc ends up arranging a private tour. A few intrepid souls have reported getting visas and exploring on their own but unless you speak Russian and have had the time to research this option in advance it is probably not the best way to go.

 

Hope this helps. Post again if you need more info.

[LHT28]

We are a couple in our 40's and have booked a last minute Baltic cruise on Jewel of the Seas in July.

 

There seem to be soo many forums threads about tour companies.

 

Appreciate if someone can list the companies as we understand we wont be able to get off the ship without a visa and do our own thing - need to be with a recognised 'tour' company.

 

Thanks

If you have not done so already check the Roll Call for your cruise people may still have room on their private tour

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=263

 

Suggest check with SPB tours ..Viktoria may have room on one of her tours

http://www.spb-tours.com/st-petersburg/en

http://www.spb-tours.com/formular2/index.php?c=spb&m=7&y=2010

[Giantfan13]

I agree with LHT, first thing you want to do is check the roll call for your ship. If it is a last minute crusie, I'm sure many, who post over there, ahve already booked tours, either independently or thru the ship. see what's up there and then you can try and approach this that way. If you favor joining a group, I'm sure there is always room for 2 more.

If not try and contact any of the major tour groups and see if they can add you on to a pre existing tour. There may be several ships in town that day and you might be able top join a group made up of people from several ships.

We also used SPB tours,and Viktoria will work with you to ensure your visit to St Petersburg is memorable. If you contact her, tell her Len said she should try and help you in any way possible.

 

Cheers

 

Len

[tinkerfenwick]

Thanks everyone - something to keep me busy of the next few days....!

[Harry Cane]

OK, guys, I think I'm going to go with Anastasia for the two-day Majestic St. Pete. So far I haven't seen anything bad about them. Anyone know anything that would make me change my mind?

[LHT28]

Harry most of the top tour companies are very good & do the same tour (unless you customize) for the about the same money ;)

I do not think you can go wrong with any of them

 

Enjoy SPB

 

Lyn

[greyhound101]

We used SPB Tours, the guide provided by Viktoria was great. He was knowledgable, and knew his Russian History, his Art Work and everything else you could imagine about the city. Also we attended an opera performance one evening at the Mikhailovsky Theater, this was not possible without the help and cooperation of SPB tours to provide us with transfer from our tour to the opera house and then a return to the ship. When I was researching tours I asked other companies about the opera and either received no response or they were not sure how it could be done. Well Vika and SPB did it.

 

Check your ship roll call and the roll call on the SPB website in order to join other established tour groups in order to save some money as well.

 

Greyhound 101

Was in SPB on June 11, 12, 13 2010.

[crazycraftymama]

My husband and I just booked with Red October for the 2 days we are in SPB. They were super helpful and super attentive. We wanted to change up a few things about the standard itinerary and they were very helpful. Then as soon as we made a decision they had our tickets in the mail and they are already here. I was very concerned because I didn't even initiate communication with any of the companies until we were only about 30 days out from our sailing. I didn't know if they could negotiate and respond and everything that quick but they did. Hopefully the tour will be as good as the service up front has been.

[tonyd285]

We were in St Petersburg last week (cool and rainy) and had arranged a private tour with Alla-Tours. It was a wonderful experience. We had a superb guide, Veronika, and were able to get in ahead of the crowds in several museums. We also visited Orthodox cathedrals, the Choral Synagogue, the Aurora battleship, Peterhof and Pushkin and the palaces in both towns. Instead of large lunches at tourist places we were taken to little neighborhood cafes that our guide was familiar with. Enjoyed pleasant meals and got a taste of how the locals take their noontime meals. The subway ride in St Petersburg was awesome. The trains were old but they and the stations were spotlessly clean (unlike NYC or Phila., or for that matter London). The cost for each of us (there were five) was $340 per person for two days. Had we seen everything we saw using the cruise line tours it would have been perhaps $40 or $50 more. I strongly recommend using private tours in St Petersburg based on our experience.

[eetonaee]

Here's the nice little bus that we used in St. Petersburg last week with SPB Tours. We were able to negotiate narrow streets and make u-turns to avoid traffic jams which would not have been possible if we were in the big buses used by the ship tour companies.

It's also a lot faster loading and unloading 10 - 16 people than the 52 or so on a ship's tour bus.

[Travel Tramp]

My hubby & I are just back from Baltic cruise on HAL Eurodam. Our 2nd trip to St Petersburg so we had already seen many of the "first time" sights. Wanted to spend more time in the Hermitage, go to Pavlosk, ride the Metro and see both the palace & grounds at Peterhof. No problem.

 

Anastasia took care of "customizing" our 2 day request and the complicated sounding "visa" issue. They just emailed a voucher that we printed out and presented at the passport control - couldn't hardly have been any easier.

 

Our guide, Irina, and driver, Mikael, were great. When we would get ready to leave a place, Irina would call our driver and we would step out to the curb and there he would be. Really saved time and energy.

 

I'm pretty picky and I thought they did an excellent job. I definitely recommend them and would use them again.

[tally10]

We also used Anastasia tours last month in St. Petersburg. We self-designed our tour (we had been there twice before and used the cruise line tours). There were 3 of us plus 2 more couples joined us. My only complaint was that it was unseasonably hot and the a/c did not work on our minibus. It was almost unbearble (we are from AZ and the other 4 were from FL so we are used to dealing with the heat). We asked for a different minibus for Day 2 but they sent the same one saying tha the a/c was fixed. It wasn't. Other than that issue, it was MUCH better than what we had experienced before. We saw and did so much more. We also included the subway, a supermarket (where our guide interpreted and told us what was good and what things not to bother with as far as candy, cookies, beer, etc.). and the Alexander Palace (where the Romanovs spent their last days before Siberia and execution), plus all of the usual stops. I would definitely recommend Anastasia and hopefully, that a/c was fixed.

[Harry Cane]

Thanks, guys, for the recommendations.

[Nogalert]

I have used Tour de Force in the past and they are terrific. Bella and her staff are wonderful and will show you all the sights with great professionalism and knowledge.

 

When we go again I will call on Tour de Force to take us around. They are great to work with and fun to travel with.

[Nogalert]

Any one try Tour de Force? I think they are great and will show you the sights in style. They are very professional and reliable.

[tctravelgirl]

we just booked for the Princess Star on July 11 - just 12 days away. My travel agent had just returned from St Petersburg and used Port Promtions 2 day tour and said it was wonderful. I hope it works out. I haven't seen anything on them!

[catalyst2006]

Any one try Tour de Force? I think they are great and will show you the sights in style. They are very professional and reliable.

Actually I've made a booking with Tour De Force. We are going to be in St Petersburg on Aug.14th going on MSC Opera.

There communication is good and their cost seems to be very reasonable.

I could not find anybody who used them.

[myr1234]

We are a couple in our 40's and have booked a last minute Baltic cruise on Jewel of the Seas in July.

 

There seem to be soo many forums threads about tour companies.

 

Appreciate if someone can list the companies as we understand we wont be able to get off the ship without a visa and do our own thing - need to be with a recognised 'tour' company.

 

Thanks

 

Hi Did you book your tour in St Petersburg? My husband and I have not and would like to take a tour with a smaller number of people. Any interest?

Thanks

Myriam

[bardstowntraveller]

OK, guys, I think I'm going to go with Anastasia for the two-day Majestic St. Pete. So far I haven't seen anything bad about them. Anyone know anything that would make me change my mind?

We used Anastasia July 3rd & 4th and can't say enough good things about them. We had Christina as a guide and she was great -- very knowledgable and passionate about her city.

[Sominex]

Hi Did you book your tour in St Petersburg? My husband and I have not and would like to take a tour with a smaller number of people. Any interest?

Thanks

Myriam

We booked with RedOctober - http://www.redoctober.ru/products.html and Laura was more than helpful arranging our tour.

Som

[TLCOhio]

We used Anastasia July 3rd & 4th and can't say enough good things about them. We had Christina as a guide and she was great -- very knowledgable and passionate about her city.

 

We used Anastasia in late July 2008 and had a great experience. Worked perfectly for our two days in St. Petersburg with two couples. Jane was our wonderful guide. Super job by her.

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

For more details, visuals, etc., on our July 1-16 Norway Coast/Fjords/Arctic Circle Silver Cloud experiences:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1227923

[marlin48]

We have just returned from the Baltic and had 2 full days in St Petersburg with Red October and their guide Victoria was brilliant so knowledgeable and helpful whereas some of the ships tour guides were not too good.

I cannot praise her or her company enough.

[Sominex]

We have just returned from the Baltic and had 2 full days in St Petersburg with Red October and their guide Victoria was brilliant so knowledgeable and helpful whereas some of the ships tour guides were not too good.

I cannot praise her or her company enough.

 

I booked with Red October based in Russia; did you book with them or with Red October in the US?

Som

[J18ktleo]

We just returned and had booked with Tatyana at Travel to SPB (http://www.travel-st.petersburg.com).

The tour was fantastic!

Two days and we selected the 'everything tour' (not sure what it's really called but we did indeed see EVERYTHING!). Our guide was Alex and she was amazing. Great personality and easy to follow, answered every question with real knowledge and was so informative, throughout the entire 2 days!

We had a group of 8 from our cc board and it was an amazing experience. Price was really good and we even did an evening canal tour with just the 8 of us on a boat to ourselves, with Alex...was one of the highlights (well, most everything was a highlight!).

She got us to the front of some very long lines, had lunches on the run that were perfect and local and the driver really knew how to get around the traffic jams and put as much time into the tours as possible.

I can't recommend this company enough...they met us at the ship as soon as we got off (first thing after docking) and we were on the run all day but never really felt rushed.

If we do this cruise again we would definitely choose this company but maybe a more relaxed tour schedule but this was the best way to see this incredible city!