St Petersburg Private Tour

[keep on cruising]

I posted this originally on the Europe Port of Call but then found this site. I'm new to Cruise Critic and am finding it is a great source of information. Wish I had found it years ago.

 

My question is:

 

Four of us are considering taking a private tour in St Petersburg rather than the ship's tour when we dock the first week of July. Two companies have been recommended - Red October and Odyssey Tours. Has anyone had experience - good or bad - with Odyssey? It may also be know as Travel in Russia.

 

When I do a google search and follow the links I end up on the Travel in Russia website.

 

Thanks for any help

[keep on cruising]

We will be there July 5 and 6th. Good luck in finding someone to share your tour. The tour suggestions we got from Red October were really full days - much more than we would see on the ship's tours

[stanj]

The two main independent tour companies are Den Rus and Red Oktober. Of these I recommend Den Rus based on personal knowledge of those involved and knowing how having a very good tour company can enhance a visit to my adopted city of St Petersburg. If you have any questions about the city, tour stops or history, I would be happy to answer them from my experience since I moved to St Petersburg a couple years ago from my native San Francisco. There so so much to see and do, that a flexible tour guide or tour company can really make a difference in how much you enjoy and learn about the city on your visit.

The more you learn about the city the more facinating it becomes and it becomes evident that it is the jewel of the Baltic region and all of Eastern Europe. Depending on your interests, you might be one of us who thinks it is the most beautiful and romantic city in the world, although a lot of people hold out for Paris receiving that title.

I've posted lot of long messages about dining, sights and culture of Russia and St Petersburg over the last few months so check out the prior posts for additional information.

Have a great visit.

[ekp]

I am going on the Westerdam Aug. 29 cruise. I contacted Red October and they are matching us up with some other cruisers for two days of touring. The price for 4 people or more is the same or better than the Holland America charge for a busload. Looking forward to 2 exhausting days in St. Petersburg.

[keep on cruising]

Stanj

 

Thanks for the information and the offer to answer more questions. I may take you up on the offer after I have done some more research. I have read more of your posts on other threads and find them very informative.

 

Thanks again

[japiscopo]

My husband and I went to the Baltic last August on Voyager. We had a great time. I would recommend Red October. They were very accomodating with the things we wanted to see.

 

I post a review of our cruise and is on this board. If you want to look it over, it is titled "NEW! Baltic Cruise" If you have any questions after you read it, I'd be glad to answer them.

 

Mary Lou

[SteveS]

We used RO and were very happy with our tour. Opt for a box lunch and spend more in the Hermatage!

[sammyjo882]

We are going in June 2006. We don't want to do this ship's tour & are leaning toward DenRus. Since there are only 3 of us, it is a little pricey. Does Denrus match you up with others? What is the max. you would suggest for a "private tour"? With a van, is one person allowed to ride in the front with the driver, or is there a separate tour guide? How do you go about getting up a group of 7 or 8?

 

Thanks for any input.

[Princess Di]

It seems that in SPb, you will have 2 DenRus or Red October employees with you. There is no such thing there as a Driver-Guide such as in Alaska or the rest of the U.S.A. :D

You will have a Driver of the vehicle who will know all the Ins & Outs of the "Special" traffic situations in the city, as well as a very highly educated Tour Guide, who is a college graduate with classes in: language, the arts, history, geography, and politics. :cool:

These Guides are much more highly educated than those tour guides in other parts of the world.

 

Which cruiseline are you with? Have you been to the Roll Calls for your particular cruiseline? That is where you can search for others on your date or make a new post. If there are others that already have a thread going, they can give you a Link to direct you to meet your other pax. ;)

[DON M.]

We are going in June 2006. We don't want to do this ship's tour & are leaning toward DenRus. Since there are only 3 of us, it is a little pricey. Does Denrus match you up with others? What is the max. you would suggest for a "private tour"? With a van, is one person allowed to ride in the front with the driver, or is there a separate tour guide? How do you go about getting up a group of 7 or 8?

 

Thanks for any input.

On our July cruise on the Jewel, we had 6 people but wanted to add 2 more to further reduce the costs. Around Dec., I asked if anyone was interested in joining us on this Denrus tour. I received many e-mails and have found another couple who will be with us.

Unfortuntely, this type of "advertising" is no longer allowed on this board. You must use the "meet and mingle" forum for your ship and date( or start one yourself)

I have read in the past year that Denrus has been able to get some people together to form a larger group. I definetly would try this if asking on these boards is not successful. The difference between 3 and 8 for a 2-day Denrus tour is about $110.00 per person.

I cannot answer the question concerning the seating configuration in the van. Really haven't given it much thought.

[Princess Di]

The van sizes are:

 

6 pax, 14 pax, 20 pax and 40-pax coach

 

These are the usual van sizes; however, Stan may have more information.

[keep on cruising]

My husband and I went to the Baltic last August on Voyager. We had a great time. I would recommend Red October. They were very accomodating with the things we wanted to see.

 

I post a review of our cruise and is on this board. If you want to look it over, it is titled "NEW! Baltic Cruise" If you have any questions after you read it, I'd be glad to answer them.

 

Mary Lou

Thanks for the reply. I did go back and read your posts and they were very informative.

 

We're from the suburbs of Chicago also and after the weather this weekend, I am really looking forward to this vacation.

[stanj]

We are going in June 2006. We don't want to do this ship's tour & are leaning toward DenRus. Since there are only 3 of us, it is a little pricey. Does Denrus match you up with others? What is the max. you would suggest for a "private tour"? With a van, is one person allowed to ride in the front with the driver, or is there a separate tour guide? How do you go about getting up a group of 7 or 8?

 

Thanks for any input.

 

A party of 3 can be expensive but still a LOT lower than the private tours with ship contracted agents who need to give the shipline 40-70% of the fee they charge. So many people on this board group up with others to lower the per person price. I can on speak for any operator and don't but from personal experience, Den Rus will suggest like minded visitors to share a van. They get lots of people asking the same question from the same ships, so it would be logical to ask them. I am sure R.O. does the same thing. The vast majority on any ship simply goes with the big bus tours probably out of ignorance or lack of interest in getting to know the ports. People on this board have already demonstrated more than casual interest in their destinations so the majority have choosen small personal tours of 2-10 people.

The vehicles used are late model AC'd vans that are larger than the ones we think of as family vans in the US, often they handle up to 15 passengers so limiting a group to about 10 people means lots of room and easy entry/exit. There is a driver who stays with the van at all times and your guide/interpreter. This is one item not discussed often but her task is not just to discuss the sights and history of what you are visiting, her interpreting skills are also for your more direct interaction with people on the street, shops, performers as your interpreter. Use this skill, it will open up the whole society for you.

When using her a an interpreter, which is probably a new experience, speak in standard English, not slang terms or phases so a quick direct interpreteration can be made(many will know western slang but it is hard to convey the meaning directly into another language), and do not use double negatives( that can be confusing for a non-native speaker to translate on the fly) and use sentences that have fewer subjects and verbs, so the answer is more direct to your question or comment. When an idea or question is complete, pause silently for a second while she interprets. You would be surprized how many people have a hard time with this last part, since most of us speak at the same time when talking to friends. My suggestion is to ask lots of questions and not just wait for your guide to give a presentation. She will if you do not show interest in any one topic but when it becomes more like a conversation between friends instead of a lecture, the real joy of interacting with the unique culture and a very well educated, (sometimes brilliantly educated in history, languages, the arts, sciences, and geography....it is amazing how many really well educated people I meet every day. I know of very few people who do not have at least a B.S. of BA degree. Recently I spoke to the woman who runs the dry cleaner I use and found out she was a professor of solid state physics by training and passion but working as G.M. for a laundry due to its higher income) population. That is one of the real advantages with the small 2-8 or so groups, the visitor gets a much more intimate and interest experience of the city and its people.

Can you imagine what experience a visitor on large bus of 50 people gets when just listening to a canned speech by a tourguide over a loudspeaker? No thanks, I would rather stay on the ship and enjoy the spa alone;>)

 

So a long answer to a short but important question: write or call Den Rus and ask them for additions but explain what interests you have and your pace and style of exploring the city. You would not want to be paired up with me for example if you like to move fast....I am a museum hound and look and think about every exhibit...but I do like to be very flexible and do whatever looks interesting along the way. That is the beauty of the small personal groups. When you talk to them tell "Hi from Stan". I haven't talked to anyone there for a while because they are into their busy season of preparing for their summer passengers to arrive.

Have a Great Trip

[ekp]

I emailed Red October in St. Petersbury re. a tour when we are on the Westerdam August 29 cruise:) and asked them if they could put together a group for us. So far they have come up with two people to join us. The cost is equivilent to the ship's tour. If we add more people it will go down.

[sammyjo882]

Actually, my name is Sherryl (go figure!). Thanks so much for all the info - you are such a huge help! We're on the Star Princess 6/14/06, so I figured it was too early to think about a roll call, but never too soon to start planning. I definitely plan on using Denrus, but will aim for a group of 10. Will also be asking a million more questions, once I've read enough on these boards to know what I still need to find out!

[BOGOman]

Wife and I are also looking at independent tours for the August 29 Westerdam, but are presently leaning toward DenRus over Red October. Saving money, however, might tip us toward Red October, or maybe those presently thinking October might be persuaded to switch to DenRus. How do people who participate in these forums get together to work out mutually appealing tour arrangements?

~ Bill

[Host CMLA]

How do people who participate in these forums get together to work out mutually appealing tour arrangements?

Ask others on your roll call. Or ask the tour company if they can hook you up with people.

[SCDH]

We're taking a RO tour with a group of 10. We got together on the Roll Call board for our cruise. One couple was referred to us by RO. Some other people were referred to us after our group was full. I think they may have started a second group. We communicated by email concerning the tour. RO has a suggested itinerary, and we made the changes we wanted. There is one time when some of us will be taking a canal cruise while the others visit the Yusopov palace. We're doing everything else together, except at night--some are going to the ballet and some aren't.

 

Eileen

[buncho'travel]

How do you contact Denrus? I have been trying for over a month to get RO to answer me with no response to email or fax.

[Phoenix cruiser]

E-mail Ilya at fit@denrus.ru. He has always replied overnight, or in worst case on the 2nd day. he has been fabulous and I have badgered him endlessly setting up our customized tour.

[Wirral]

My son and I have booked a tour through Travel in Russia. However being British our visa application was a lot simpler and we got our visas back in under a fortnight and only 1 sheet to fill in. Travel in Russia emailed us the necessary documentation and gave us the necessary information to fill in. We are going on the Constellation on July 30th so will let you know how it was when we got back.

 

I have only just joined Cruise Critic but have read your posts for a very long time and would like to thank everyone out there for their great and interesting information which has helped so much in all our planning.

[SUEB126]

There were 2 of us that did a 2 day tour with Denrus the end of May. We had good response time from Olga. Everything was professional and because we were small, we stayed longer at some places and left earlier than the scheduled time. We wanted to do a canal tour and RO said we had to have 15 people. There are regular cruises for individuals and we had a great time. Bring along a bottle of vodka and you will make instant friends!!! That was our guide's idea.

 

Good luck. It's a great city.

 

(We had a lot of trouble getting responses from RO and not very accomodating.)

[cadreamer]

We just returned from St. Petersburg and we used Alla-tour. She was terrific and extremely flexible. Since we had been there before we wanted to see some of the less visited places and she accommodated us, including a jazz club in the evening. She also arranged for us to go to Moscow on the train, since we had 3 days in port, and be met by a guide in Moscow. For this we needed a visa. But for touring with her you do not need a visa. She does all the standard tours and much more. We highly recommend her and I spoke to others who were in St.Petersburg for the first time and also praised her - contact her at info@alla-tour.com

[Ready4cruz'n]

There has been an ongoing volley of comments about the merits of both RO & DenRus on these boards. I am sure RO is fine, but I must relate that our experience with DenRus was exceptional! I corresponded with Olga to make our arrangements and she was patient, informative and helpful. It didn't matter how many questions I asked or how many times I "tweaked" our itinerary - she continued to advise and accommodate, pleasantly and promptly.

 

Our guide, Nadya, was extremely knowledgeable, personable and professional - we couldn't have been happier! We were the first party to disembark in St. Petersburg, and there waiting for us was our clean & modern van with Nadya and driver, Slava, standing by to greet us. We toured for 2 full days, including a one night outing at a Cossack show. We were pleased with every aspect of our tour.

 

One thing was for sure, the tour was worth every penny we paid. In fact, it was a downright value to have toured in our own personal group of 6, on a tailor-made tour that maximized every minute in this intriguing port.

[bobgads]

I am traveling with my 2 college age sons that will tire of the traditional museums...any suggestions would be appreciated. I was thinking of adding the Vodka museum to our private Denrus tour. What would you suggest for the one evening we have? Thanks for your input...it has been invaluable!