Red October US questions??????

[BLS]

Has anyone used the US contact for Red October to arrange tours in St Petersburg?

Any problems? How was the service?

Any reccomendations?

 

Thanks,

[lovetocruise815]

We Emailed Mike At Red October U.s. And He Did Get Back To Us. We Would Like A Tour With 12 People And He Couldn't Arrange It So He Sent Our Information To Red October Russia And We Have Been Dealing With Galia Who Is Really Great. We Booked With Them For July 26th And 27th.

[stanj]

Has anyone used the US contact for Red October to arrange tours in St Petersburg?

Any problems? How was the service?

Any reccomendations?

 

Thanks,

"Don't waste your time" is the general concensus of those have tried to use the US web site. Apparently the person who wrote the web site took a tour with R.O and offered to sell tours on his own web site. The site just processes your credit card but does not have live person who can answer questions or make schedules so if you need information or special considerations you are out of luck with the sales rep in the US. If you have decided on R.O., contact their SPb office directly. Be sure to get quotes from the other tour operators also, you might get more, or at least more for your money if you want anything outside the standard tour. Whoever you select, independents provide a better program than the ship contract tours.

[dbh62ark]

Mike, the owner at Red October U.S., refused to help us form a group and was not very helpful. Also, it's my understanding that if you book through the U.S. office, you are required to pay a 10% fee in advance that is nonrefundable; I believe that is the commission paid to the U.S. office. Red October U.S. also gave me some misinformation about tour options in St. Petersburg. Since I had been there on a previous trip, I knew I had been given misinformation, but it concerned me to think that those who had not been before would have no way of knowing that his information was inaccurate. Basically, I believe the Red October U.S. service was very poor. As Stan said, I believe the U.S. office is just concerned about sales and does not have a lot of expertise on St. Petersburg. That's fine, but I got the impression that the U.S. office couldn't even be bothered to at least send an e-mail to the Russia office to get correct information as opposed to just giving out incorrect information.

 

I did have a good experience when I contacted Red October Russia directly to work with Olga. She was very friendly and helpful.

 

However, we decided to book with Denrus for many reasons, but the most important are that Red October required a minimum of 20 for a canal tour; Denrus suggested that they hate to take our $$ for a tour option that might not work out well in bad weather, so they advised that we should decide on that day due to the unpredictability of the St. Petes weather and we worked out an alternative itinerary that is also great for that day in the event that the weather is bad. Red October said that they require 10 as a minimum for the Gold Room at the Hermitage, and we may only have 8 in our tour group; Denrus said that they will take as few as 2 passengers to the Gold Room if you select that option.

 

My opinion from reading the boards and from my personal experience is that Red October is not as flexible about making changes to the standard itineraries and that Denrus is very flexible about customizing tours. We added the metro ride and several other options too (we're eating in the van to save time to add extra tour options).

 

I was very interested in booking with Red October because I had been on a tour with that company (I did not organize that tour but am organizing the tour this year) in the past and thought the tour was very good. So I was pleasantly surprised to find that Denrus was even better than Red October.

 

Another matter that I didn't like with Red October is the shopping issue. We will be shopping during our tour at some venues, but I don't like the idea of being pressured to shop at Red October stores. A review of their sample itinerary will indicate that Red October plans stops at their stores on both days, and I just don't want to spend 2 hours in St. Petersburg in a Red October store.

 

This is just my experience, and if others have had a good experience with Red October U.S., then that's great if it worked for them. Stan always gives great advice, and I also think that the private tours are the best option in St. Petersburg.

 

Happy travels to all,

Donna

[CA traveler]

We are a group of 12; I have been emailing Galia in Russia and she has been very responsive. She has made a number of changes to our itinerary at our request. There is no deposit. Based on my limited experience - Red October seems great. I cannot wait to take the 2 day tour. I only hope it is as good as everyone on these boards has said it is.

[DON M.]

From a personel planning experience the last 8 months, I can't imagine better service, more flexibilty,and timely e-mails, than we have received from Denrus.

For example, I sent them the information needed for our party of eight.

One week later,I received our tickets for the tour. And this is coming from RUSSIA.

But as others have stated, weather its Denrus, Red October or another professional tour company, the ships tours do not compare as far as seeing the most in the limited time available.IMO.

[BLS]

Thanks for the great advice and opinions. I did e-mail Red Oct in Russia, but to date have gotten no reply.(how long do they usually take to reply?)

How do I contact Denrus?

In addition to everything else, we're interested in the gold room.

 

Happy sailing,

Bev

[DON M.]

Thanks for the great advice and opinions. I did e-mail Red Oct in Russia, but to date have gotten no reply.(how long do they usually take to reply?)

How do I contact Denrus?

In addition to everything else, we're interested in the gold room.

 

Happy sailing,

Bev

Try this e-mail for Denrus- fit@denrus.ru. I have sent about 7 emails the last 8 months and except for 1 time where i think there e-mail got lost in cyberspace have always had responses in 3 days or less.

[ElleninNY]

We have been working with RO in Russia for several months and are thrilled with our experience thus far. They have modified our itinerary several times, always polite and pleasant. We will be stopping at their store for just 15 minutes, at which time we will pay them for their services. The reason they require 20 people for a canal tour is that they will not use the small boats, they say they are too dangerous. I absolutely disagree with anyone who said they are not flexible.

[dbh62ark]

Don noted one e-mail address for Denrus that I have used, and Olga's direct e-mail is OlgaT@denrus.ru. I think some passengers also work with Ilya.

 

The information I noted above regarding Denrus being much more flexible than Red October is just two examples of the differences between the tour operators. Denrus came out on top in 8 areas, including price (there wasn't much difference considering the overall cost of the trip, but the other differences in flexibility were very significant).

 

So I'm speaking as someone who worked with both companies (3 if you count Red October USA) and then selected the best option for our limited time in St. Petersburg so that we could have the best experience possible.

 

Hope you have a great time,

Donna

[JodiBB]

dbh...I wanted to let you know of my experience with RO (SPb) so far as I'm also planning a trip with them...We started right from the beginning with RO-SPb, and Olga has been nothing but responsive from the beginning...

 

We've already received our tickets and no money has been required from us.

 

We have been able to reserve a "tentative" canal tour based on how many others are interested in taking the tour on the same day. If we are able to do this, fine, if not Olga is begin flexible in making alternate arrangements for us.

 

RO has been EXTREMELY flexible with making changes toour itinerary...we were originally contacting Olga almost daily to make changes and she's been able to oblige us on most of them. One of which is to be eating in our van so that we save time as well...

 

I haven't asked about the shopping venues, but I believe we've made a change on one of those as well...it's been a couple of months since I've looked at our itinerary, so I'll have to check on that one.

 

Hope this gives everyone another look at RO...Granted, this ISN'T RO-US, but SPb...my feeling is why deal with the US when we're going to SPb!!??

[dbh62ark]

I'm not disputing anyone else's experience with Red October (either location), but what I'm saying is that I believe that those who have compared the two tour companies head to head are in the best position to judge which is more flexible. And as previously stated, I started with a preference for Red October.

 

I think that a post to "absolutely disagree" with my experience in comparing the two companies is inappropriate because I am the only one that can make a determination or judgement about my communications with both companies. If you do a search on these boards, you'll see several comments about Red October being inflexible, and it seems that this is a change that was noted this year. I saw one earlier today stating that they believe that since Red October has gotten so big, the personalization is gone.

 

I do agree that the Red October Russia office is much better than Red October USA. Both tour operators offered to let us eat in the van, which we are doing. However, Red October Russia was reluctant to make several standard changes to the itinerary (metro, etc.) along with the other issues noted.

 

I have set up private tours many times in Europe, and I have always found the tour operators to be very flexible and accomodating but Red October Russia was not willing to change the standard tour for several items. It worked out great with Denrus, and we will be able to see and do a lot more than we would with other options.

 

If Red October worked for you, that's great. I still give two thumbs up to Denrus over Red October. Denrus earned my business, and I'm glad to give it to them. Olga is a true delight to work with and so sweet, and we're very excited about our tours.

 

Hope you have a great time,

Donna

[BLS]

Am I correct in my understanding that we do not have to put any money up front for either Company? (Red Oct or Denrus)

Any suggestion for "must see" sights?

 

Thank you everyone!

 

Bev

[dbh62ark]

As long as you don't book through Red October USA and use either Red October Russia or Denrus, no deposit is required.

 

We're hitting all the highlights and then some and have worked it out so that we have extra time at the Hermitage too. Having visited St. Petes before, I would say that the must-sees for visitors are Peterhof, Catherine's Palace, and the Hermitage. Everything else is just icing on the cake, but there's lots of icing to be had in St. Petersburg. And of course individual interests vary greatly. I know that a lot of passengers of Jewish descent want to see the synagogue, and some passengers like to visit the grocery store.

 

One tip that I have is to make sure that you go inside the palaces because some of the standard tours don't go inside. The outsides are magnificent too, especially the fountains at Peterhof. The very best source of information on these boards is StanJ, who is a California native that moved to St. Petersburg several years ago after falling in love with the city. He has very generously shared information with all of us.

 

It's kind of a long list for the other sights that we will be seeing, but I would be glad to e-mail our itinerary to you if you would like to e-mail me at dahillark@yahoo.com.

 

:)

Donna

[DON M.]

Am I correct in my understanding that we do not have to put any money up front for either Company? (Red Oct or Denrus)

Any suggestion for "must see" sights?

 

Thank you everyone!

 

Bev

No money is sent prior to your tour when booking with Denrus ( I think Red October is the same). They will send you an invoice which you can pay your 1st day. Both companies will send a "suggested itenirary" which are very similar and cover the "must see" sights in 2 days. We changed the Metro ride to a boat ride, added the Synagogue, eliminated the restaurant stops (will picnic or eat on the Van.) and the rest as they stated.

Go with the company that will be flexible and do basically whatever you reasonably want to do. I'am sure if you wanted to spend 8 hours at the Hermitage or 8 hours shopping both companies would accomadate that.

[kona1234]

Interesting comments. Absolutely NO problem with Mike and the US office. He has been quick to repsond and extremely helpful for a party of 4. I would recommend using him to anyone who inquired. We are on the Westerdam in early August and are looking forward to the itenerary he helped create.

[stanj]

Am I correct in my understanding that we do not have to put any money up front for either Company? (Red Oct or Denrus)

Any suggestion for "must see" sights?

 

Thank you everyone!

 

Bev

Hi Bev

There is certainly a difference in opinion between the RO crowd and the DR crowd but the main elements are similar and the details are a matter of style differences.

Both will give a good overview of the city, neither require a deposit unless you book through the sales agent in the US for RO. Both have a helpful staff who speak English well. And both will provide a much better tour than any ship tour that uses big tour buses. If your interest is getting a quick overview of the culture, history and people of St Petersburg and Russia, the ship tours might be well considered a rip-off. Many of the same venues and activities are included in both but one, the large GreyHound style buses are very restricted in catering to the interests of the group, or providing person interaction with the guide/historian and of course the pace of the large 45-50 person groups will be determined by the slowest person of the group.

 

What to see? I would suggest looking at posts over the last 3 months. I have posted a lot of specific information that is more current than guide books could hope to be. In addition there are many good posts by members who visited in the last year or two. As an alternative, look at my past posts by clicking on my name and you are given a choice of viewing my past posts.

 

What to see or request to see is primarily dependent on what interest you bring with you. Some, like me are museum hounds. I've been to 120 museums in the city and have not seen them all, but probably more than any other American. The center piece is of course the Hermitage one of the top 3 museums in the world.

Others place history or palaces at high priority. No city in the world has as many palaces and grand estates, many of which have been carefully restired to the original design intended by their designer in the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries

Some would place walking around interacting with everyday people while sight seeing as top priority, those people will be thoroughly pleased also.

Still others want to cram as much culture and performance art into their 72 hours as possible. World Class ballet, concerts, theater and opera are held every night in many different theaters so these last people will also be delighted.

 

The shoppers will find St Petersburg is a fashion center with many boutiques and salons in addition to bargain hunting in open air markets.

 

What are your primary interests?

 

Have a great visit, you'll love it....but probably not as much as I do;>)

If you have specific questions just post or ask privately if you wish.

[Princess Di]

BLS,

Thank you for starting this thread. Other than seeing 'Stan in SPb', I think this will be my favourite Palace:

 

http://www.peterhof.org/info.html

 

All the fountains function from May to mid October, daily, 11:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.

 

Just look at the wonderful photos on the website.

[lior]

BLS,

Thank you for starting this thread. Other than seeing 'Stan in SPb', I think this will be my favourite Palace:

 

http://www.peterhof.org/info.html

 

All the fountains function from May to mid October, daily, 11:00 a.m. - 5:00 p.m.

 

J ust look at the wonderful photos on the website.

 

Thank you -the photos are wonderful- it was very enjoyble and we had lots

of pleasure just looking .

lior

[JodiBB]

I think that a post to "absolutely disagree" with my experience in comparing the two companies is inappropriate because I am the only one that can make a determination or judgement about my communications with both companies.

Donna

 

Oh gosh Donna!!

 

No where in my post was I "absolutely disagreeing" with you and didn't say as much...I'm sorry if you took it that way....I was just letting you and others know that to date, I've had nothing but the best experience with them in planning our tour and agreeing with you in that using RO-US isn't the best plausible way to go....

[dbh62ark]

No, it was another post in this thread; I was just explaining my post and apologize for the confusion. Your post was not disrespectful. I didn't say your post, I said "a" post if that makes sense.

 

I enjoy reading various viewpoints as long as they are submitted in the friendly spirit of the boards. I don't have any use for anything else. I receive e-mails daily thanking me for the information I provide, so I was not discouraged anyway.

 

Best wishes to you,

Donna

[ElleninNY]

I am the guilty party that disagreed with Donna but it was certainly not meant to be a personal attack on her integrity! All I was saying is that we had the exactly opposite experience with RO, in terms of their flexibility and service. I'll have to watch my words on this board - obviously some very sensitive people here! I apologize if I have offended anyone.

[BLS]

We will have but 2 days to explore this fabulous City (sigh)

Am very interested in the Museums, history, culture and people.

I'm sure we'll ned to do some shpping too. Cannot go to Russia and return to Hawaii without a momento of our stay:)

I look forward to your suggestions

 

Aloha,

Bev

[stanj]

We will have but 2 days to explore this fabulous City (sigh)

Am very interested in the Museums, history, culture and people.

I'm sure we'll ned to do some shpping too. Cannot go to Russia and return to Hawaii without a momento of our stay:)

I look forward to your suggestions

 

Aloha,

Bev

Hi Bev...everyone is headed to Hawaii and you are headed away to a COMPLETELY different culture which is one of the reasons westerners find St Petersburg so faciniating.

Museums could fill not just the two days but well into two decades;>) I wrote earlier that there are 120 museums in the city center, most within walking distance from Nevsky pr, the heart of the old city. The entire center IS a museum, a living museum we just love to be specimens in;>)

The crown jewel if of course the Hermitage with its historical location, spectacular collection of 3,800,000 items. Unfortunately it can get crowded in the summer but if you take one of the independent tours you will be allowed to enter before normal open hours. I have no idea of how many times I've been there but I always discover something new, possibly 100 visits. The second "must see" museum for both its residence but also its collections is the State Russian Museum housed in 4 palaces or grand public buildings. The Russian Museum is the largest collection of Russian art and icons. Another favorite of mine is the Artillery Museum since I am a history buff. It is the largest military museum in the world. Just across the street and a moat is Peter and Paul Fortress with its many museums within a museum. P&P Fortress is very popular with locals, particularly in the summer because its beach is a haven for city dwellers who crave sun bathing. Peter and Paul Cathedral, the rocket and space museum, the Mint and historically significant prison which held famous radicals and royalty, and the burial place of the Tsars. Directly across the Neva River from the Winter Palace/Hermitage is the Spit of Vasilevskiy Island the has within a short walk the Academy of Science, The Twelve Colleges( the first university)m the Naval Museum, the Zoological Museum, Menshikov Palace, the Kunstkammer( Peter the Great's collection of biological oddities) and many more sights of interest. All this is within sight of each other and walk from one to another along the river and canals.

The city is called by some "Venice of the North" because it is made up of 44 islands and 600 bridges. One of the ways to learn about the city is take canal cruises. Many of the canals have boat trips originating from them, the boats are of all shapes and sizes. You'll have a better time if you select one of the smaller boat

Walking the streets impart a sense of the history and understanding of the life and times of this city The street to walk on due to the sights to see along its 3.5km length is Nevsky pr, the most famous street of Eastern Europe. I've written in detail about these areas in post over the last 3 months so click on my name and select view posts

I will continue this later because I have an errand to run now.

Bev, I hope you have fun planning your visit, it will be an exciting 2 days.

Have a great visit!

[Live the good life]

 

I was very interested in booking with Red October because I had been on a tour with that company (I did not organize that tour but am organizing the tour this year) in the past and thought the tour was very good. So I was pleasantly surprised to find that Denrus was even better than Red October.

 

... Stan always gives great advice, and I also think that the private tours are the best option in St. Petersburg.

 

Happy travels to all,

Donna

 

Donna, thanks for your very helpful input...We will be joining another family who had booked Denrus; I actually have been corresponding with Ilya from Denrus as well and find them very accommodating to my many requests...I am thinking of booking a tour with them as well for my mother and her friends who will be on a later Baltic trip this Summer.

 

Kim