Private tour question

[swamom]

Hi fellow crusiers. We are going on our first Radisson cruise to the Baltics in June. My question is: I have seen some posts about private tours available through Radisson. Can those tours only be purchased aboard the ship? I have signed up for some excursions already but I haven't decided about St Pete, for sure. Anyone on the June 10th, Voyager?

[Call me Ishmael]

Hi Swa,

 

Gee, I thought we and our friends were going to be the only ones on board the June 10 sailing out of LeHavre. :rolleyes: We just learned yesterday of 6 others going who we know.

 

As far as St. Pete, I can't remember the specifics of private tours through RSSC. I don't see them listed on the website, although I can't currently get the details to open when I click on the titles.

 

If you look at the Baltics board, you will find quite a bit of info on Red October and Denrus, two outside tour companies for St. Pete that provide private tours. I've seen no complaints from people who've used them. So my group of 4 will be using one of them for the two days in St. Pete. The evening activity we will take through the ship.

 

I see on your other posts you are flying into London and then taking the train to Paris. Do you have the Paris to LeHavre leg figured out?

 

(don't) Call me Ishmael

[swamom]

It's nice to hear from someone on the cruise. We changed our plans about going to Paris. We will be heading to the Brighton, Portsmouth UK area for a couple of days and then take the ferry to Le Havre. Following the cruise, we are taking the train and spending a few days in Germany and Belgium. We are really excited about the cruise-it will be our first time to that area.

 

I don't know what we'll do about excursions. I checked with Red October because I want to do a canal cruise and don't know if we can work it out thru Radisson because of a tour we want to take. Anyway, RO told me we could not do the canal cruise without a group of 20.

 

Since the RSSC website doesn't tell the beginning, ending times of their tours, it's difficult to know if we can do the Petersburg, Peterhof...tour and still have time for the canal on the first day. It would be helpful in planning if they told approx. times.

 

We generally use ship tours and have been very satisfied, but I don't know about in St. Pete.

 

Too many decisions!!!

 

Thanks for your response

[Call me Ishmael]

You are right about too many decisions.

 

You can usually combine an AM tour and a PM tour with a quick lunch in between. The exception would the longer ones like the one you mentioned: Peterhof, St. Petersburg ... is listed as 8 3/4 hours including meal. So you can definitely forget about the afternoon listings.

 

It's always possible the canal cruise will be added to the second day.

[greygypsy]

On the ship you will find a concierge who not only has more detailed info about the excursions offered by RSSC but can provide info and in many instances book other tours or restaurant reservations/car rentals for you. My recommendation would be to sign up for something with the ship for St. Pete and then check with the concierge once aboard and if there is something else that strikes your fancy, you can cancel.

[JDRMYS]

We have taken a number of private tours arranged on board RSSC ships. These are arranged through the tour office and usually can be booked up to one or two days in advance. Usually we get a car with a driver and an english speaking guide. Unfortunately, with current exchange rates in Europe this option has become very expensive.

[swamom]

Thank you all for your responses. I will book a tour and make final decisions once on board. These travel forum really help in planning a vacation.