SPB tours, Best Guides, Alla etc… any difference

[andybfk]

Sorry, I hit Submit too quickly without finishing. Here is the rest of the review-

 

I have been very hesitant to write this review for a number of reasons. Mostly because, in general, I greatly preferred our experience with private tours to what I heard from groups on the ships tours. And I don't want to scare anyone or dissuade them from there decision. However, when we were researching private companies all I ever read were positive glowing reviews of the top companies. So much positive, we had no real way of deciding on who to go with. So, I want to provide another perspective. Like I said, overall, we would stick with our decision to use a private company over the ships tours. But, we were very disappointed with several aspects of one of the more popular tour companies. The company we choose was SPB and here is the reasons why

 

- Pre-cruise communication was very good and response time was extremely quick. Usually, the following day. However, we had to have our paperwork fixed 3 times (and you'll see later, it still wasn't correct). It felt like it was a very sloppy response, like in an effort to respond quickly, attention to detail was lost, and there were numerous mistakes each time.

 

- Incorrect Paperwork / Meeting Times. This was probably the biggest issue. Our paperwork had incorrect meeting times listed on them. For not just one, but multiple tours. Had we adhered to what our instructions listed, we would have been 2 hours late and thus missed our tour to Berlin. I hadn't noticed this before we left, because I honestly didn't look with that much detail to see when our boat docked in Germany. I assumed, the specific instructions that were sent to us included a specific meeting time. Only the night before did we really look at it and realized it seemed a little late. Our plan was to just disembark ASAP and wait around if we were too early. Thankfully we did that as our tour bus was full and ready to go 2 hours before the time on our tickets.

 

- False Advertising. 2 of our tours we felt were misadvertised. In fact, our own TOUR GUIDE agreed with us and felt as though SBP was misrepresenting the tour she was giving!!! I'll split it up into two reviews

 

1.) We signed up for the evening fun tour in St. Petersburg. While it was fun, we did not feel like it lived up to the description it was given. We spent a total of 15 min walking down Nevsky. Another 20 min was spent in some department store and that was it. This was the primary reason we signed up for this tour. To be able to walk around in the evening where the other locals spending their Saturday nights. We were told by our guide we were going to do a walking tour. But like I said, we walked maybe one block, spent time in a department store, and got back on the bus. Two other problems arose this evening. They then took us to a shop to buy souvenirs. This was not on the itinerary and would have been fine except we spent at least 45 min in this ONE store and we were taken back to the exact same store the very next day. Then we went on a canal cruise. While this was enjoyable, and probably a highlight of the evening, we found out the next morning we were immediately driven to the exact same spot to go on the exact same canal tour. Same boats, same captain, exactly the same. Overall, our guide was funny and entertaining, and hey we were drinking vodka the whole time, so we were happy. But, we just felt a little duped by the experience. It just wasn't what we were expecting and we felt that the double trips on the canal tour and to the same exact souvenir shop were misrepresented in their advertisements.

 

2.) Stockhom was very disappointing. A week before we left for our cruise we recieved an email and were told that they had "great" news and that they were adding an additional stop to our Stockholm itinerary all at "no charge." This additional stop turned into an HOUR in Stockholm city hall. Everyone was bored. This place needs maybe 20 min. But an Hour was WAY too long and no one in our group wanted to be there. We were told by our tour guide that we had to stay there the full hour, and they agreed that this was too long and not a worthwhile stop, but they weren't allowed to leave early because someone had complained about not spending enough time there. Well, now we're complaining. We felt like we were held hostage. Bored to tears, wanting to move on, and told we had to stay the full hour. Because of this, our time at the Vasa Museum was cut short and we literally had 15 min to run through this very exciting and intriguing museum. Also, we never made it to many of the stops they advertise on their description of this tour. I realize we are in port a very short time, and now I realize there just wouldn't have been time. But the description on their website leads you to believe you will see everything they list, and that just isn't the case. There were a few items we were very disappointed to have missed out on. I hope I don't get anyone in trouble, because our guide was FANTASTIC, but even she admitted that the tour is not properly represented in their advertisements, AND, she also felt the time in the city hall was excessive.

 

- Very disorganized and did not have us on their list. Stockholm was also extremely disorganized. It was pure mayham at the terminal and there was no organization what so ever. For a port with such a short timeframe, we spent at least 45 min after disembarking while they organized and figured out who was going in what group. Two people in my group were not listed in anyone's group. Phone calls had to be made and we had to sit around and wait additional time. When they did find them, they tried to put them on a different bus, but, we are a family traveling together and specifically requested to be on the same bus. We were told there wasn't room and someone had to volunteer to trade places with them. I realize these tours are promised to only be a certain size (24 people) but they had us on a bus that could've fit 60 people. To tell us there wasn't room, just really wasn't accurate. Two people on our assigned bus did not make the tour on time, and so we were all allowed on the same bus together, as we left without them.

 

- Waiting time. I also felt as though in St. Petersburg they should put you on a bus as you come off the ship and check in. We had no preassigned group, so we were assigned a group. We exited the ship as instructed (just get off right away and don't let the cruise tell you that you have to wait because you are on a private tour). We were off and through immigration within 15 min. We were seated on a bus, and had to wait an hour and fifteen min for the rest of our assigned group to arrive. We just sat there watching one van after another leave. Now, that's the fault of our fellow tour passengers for not getting off in time. However, we felt as though they should fill the busses up as you come off the ship to avoid us literally sitting and waiting almost 2 hours.

 

- More Waiting. I am sure Viktoria is a lovely woman. But they treat her like she is a celebrity and they expect us to fawn all over her too. Twice we were made to stand around and wait because she wanted to come talk to us. I appreciate the customer service, I really do. But, these are very short days full of things we want to do. The last thing I want to do is wait around so someone can come talk to us. I would appreciate a follow-up email after the cruise just as much. We probably only waited 15 - 20 min in Berlin, but again, when you're ready to go after a 3 hour long drive, you want to get going. Then, we had to sit and wait on the bus for her to come talk to us after our last day in St. Petersburg. Again, maybe only 20 min, but after a long exhausting day, that's the last thing you want to do. Also we were trying to get back to the duty free in time, and we only had 10 min left by the time we waited for her to come and give us her card. Again, just a little nit picky thing. Nothing to make me not recommend them. But, just annoying.

 

Positives- The guides were all fantastic. In every port we did, I can not say anything bad about any of them. The buses were all wonderful, very comfy, and brand new. We did enjoy ourselves and felt it was a great value especially compared to the mass cruiseboat tours. But, we were a little disappointed with the above items. Specifically, the incorrect meeting times which would've caused us to miss our day in Berlin (and all of our other stops as well, we just wised up after Berlin and realized the real rule is just get off the boat right away), and really the whole experience in Stockholm, from the disarray at the port, to them not having my parents listed in any of the groups, to what we felt like was a wasted day.

 

I am not saying don't book with them. But, just be aware of these issues that we had, and take it as food for thought when making your decisions. If anyone has any specific questions, please feel free to ask!

[pomgit]

I posted this on the Oceania board as someone was looking for recommendations .....

 

We were in St Petersburg a couple of weeks back. We (four of us) did a private 2 day tour with SPB. The itinerary that we had designed with Viktoria got some 'last minute' readjusting. We were unhappy with this because it essentially reduced our time at Peterhof to 30 minutes (it was unfortunately a spectacular sunny day) so we could make an early lunch and we didn't get our promised 8.30 AM early entry to the Hermitage - we got in at 09.45 AM instead. This meant our time to stroll around town was cut to zero.

 

When time is tight to maximize sightseeing a reputable company is worth it's weight in gold. When we passed on feedback about the tour to Viktoria she became really defensive and said that because it was so busy it was difficult to secure tickets to the Hermitage and that we were, in fact, extremely lucky to see Catherine's Palace. She could have easily managed our expectations with a short email to say that things had to be rearranged, instead of leaving it up to the guide to let us know the unhappy news.

 

I completely understand that prior planning is required to secure tickets to see these amazing sights, and that sometimes it just doesn't work out. I was just unhappy with the way changes to the itinerary were dealt with (like a the entrance to Peterhof) and the manner in which Viktoria responded. She did present us with a box of yummy chocolates the next day and instead of early-early entry to the Hermitage we did a canal cruise which was particularly enjoyable in the sunshine.

 

Just wondering if this is a new thing or it's been reported previously with the 'big' operators. Perhaps it would be wise to do some homework and go with a smaller operator that can guarantee a small number of tickets, unlike SPB/Alla how obviously can't satisfy the demand for tickets given the large number of people booking with them. It will be interesting to see reports as the season progresses.

 

I also forgot to add on that post that we did the walking tour in Tallinn as well. We had paperwork to say that we would meet shoreside at 9 AM. So we get there at 9 AM and it was hard to find someone with a complete list of groups. The guy with the list had wondered off, when he returned fifteen minutes later we found out that we were actually on a 10 AM tour - frustrating because we had to hang around to leave. The tour was fine, few too many ghost stories for our liking.

 

Completely agree it seems they have lost their edge and they seem a big too big to maintain previous levels of service.

[aussie cruzer]

ANDYBFK has a valid point here,we toured Saint Petersburg with Spb last month.

 

We had a group of aprox 14 on two day deluxe Saint Petersburg tour,we were assigned a meeting time and all of our party arrived on time and we had to wait for over a hour for four others,who were added to our group,without our knowledge.

 

I went and spoke with Victoria and expressed my displeasure in the strongest terms and told her the tour should leave now.

 

She agreed and the others met up with us later on.....the two day tour was first class and the guide was superb.

 

Spb was the largest private tour operater on Ncl Star that day....over two hundred were doing tours thru them.

 

Victoria did give some compensation to our group and apologized as well.....she was the only tour owner at the pier and we were well pleased with her response.

 

Hopefully the tours are better organized in the future....I think the buses should fill up and go......no waiting around for others....we saw all the things promised on our tour and would highly recommend there tours.

[Keith1010]

Thanks for sharing.

 

Keith

[John Bull]

Experiences of SPB & the other St Petersburg operators are overwhelmingly positive.

But this thread demonstrates that even the best organisations can screw-up, & I'm sorry for those on this thread who've had negative experiences.

 

And (Andy), Murphy's Law says that if there are several screw-ups they'll all happen to the same punters.

 

As acknowledged by the posters, the late show-up of fellow-cruisers isn't the fault of the organisers. Our group (a mix of RollCall members & Alla-recruited cruisers) got together on a sea-day & went through the plans, particularly to arrange to leave the ship mob-handed - Alla had kindly provided us with contact details of the others & our tour was problem-free. But that wouldn't have helped the Aussie, who was screwed-up by unknown others added to their group.

 

Despite the multi-port discounts the other Baltic ports are very easy to DIY, except for those who want to make the long haul to Berlin.

 

JB :)

[mirsown]

Your posting has me a little concerned as we ,too, have booked SPB for tours to Berlin, SPB and Stockholm.I wondered if you could please give more details of what you actually did get to see whilst in Stockholm, having decided to book this tour because I wanted a stress free overview of the city!:confused:

[andybfk]

Your posting has me a little concerned as we ,too, have booked SPB for tours to Berlin, SPB and Stockholm.I wondered if you could please give more details of what you actually did get to see whilst in Stockholm, having decided to book this tour because I wanted a stress free overview of the city!:confused:

 

Let me say, that we absolutely LOVED Stockholm and had a fabulous tour guide. And really, we still can't figure out why the ships spend so little time there. (They tell you it's because of the long ride back to Copenhagen, but that is not true. The next day was a sea day and we were obviously making circles to fill up the time. We met with a lot of others who believe its probably the port costs to dock there, but that's a whole other story).

 

We saw quite a bit in a very short time frame, and there would be no way to do it all without an organized tour. We were just disappointed with time wasted in city hall, a place not originally in our itinerary, when everyone on the tour was requesting to leave. There was also a ton of traffic and some road construction which I think was another reason certain things were cut short. Not the fault of SPB, but it seems like they list a whole lot of things and don't really tell you they intend to just drive by them or hope to get to them if there is time. We're big fans of Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and chose to book this tour based on the description of going to the island and sights that wre filmed there. Only to find out afterward they don't do that anymore cause not enough people knew the books or movie. Yet they kept that in the tour description.

 

Our group collectively felt that Stockholm has too much to do in 4 or 5 hours. Instead of trying to cram everything into one tour, they should offer a few different tour options that allow you to see less sights but take more time in them.

 

Our tour guide told us Stockholm is new for them, this why the complete disorganization at the terminal and the ever changing itinerary.

 

Basically here is what we did

1 hour at the city hall

45 min at Vasa (total including getting in and getting out, maybe 25 min actually inside)

45 min in a brief walk around old town

The rest of the time was spent riding around on a guided bus tour

[mirsown]

andybfk, thankyou for your reply. It is always worth hearing different points of view and experience. Yours will help me to ask informed questions of the company so that I will hopefully be better informed as to what to expect. I hope these experiences did not detract too much from your overall enjoyment of your cruise.

[lost in translation]

We generally had a positive experience with SPB. The first day in St. Petersburg was a nightmare but can't blame that on SPB. I know our group had to wait a long time for us because my husband and I didn't get through immigration until after 10:00. This was through no fault of our own. We headed down as soon as the announcement was made and apparently just kept getting behind the wrong people in line. I think a lot of people didn't have either the migration/landing card or their tour tickets. We saw some couples up there for at least 15 minutes. When we finally got up there we got through in about a minute. I felt bad for the others in our group. It was suggested above that they should have just put us on buses as we got there but I think that would have been logistically impossible.

 

As for the evening fun tour, we thought about doing that but decided against it mainly because we knew we would be doing a canal tour the next day. Can't see how OP was surprised about that.

[MVPinBoynton]

We generally had a positive experience with SPB. The first day in St. Petersburg was a nightmare but can't blame that on SPB. I know our group had to wait a long time for us because my husband and I didn't get through immigration until after 10:00. This was through no fault of our own. We headed down as soon as the announcement was made and apparently just kept getting behind the wrong people in line. I think a lot of people didn't have either the migration/landing card or their tour tickets. We saw some couples up there for at least 15 minutes. When we finally got up there we got through in about a minute. I felt bad for the others in our group. It was suggested above that they should have just put us on buses as we got there but I think that would have been logistically impossible.

 

As for the evening fun tour, we thought about doing that but decided against it mainly because we knew we would be doing a canal tour the next day. Can't see how OP was surprised about that.

 

In Alla's instructions, it says that they will leave on time and take late people to meet the group when they arrive. Seems like a good way to do it.

[andybfk]

andybfk, thankyou for your reply. It is always worth hearing different points of view and experience. Yours will help me to ask informed questions of the company so that I will hopefully be better informed as to what to expect. I hope these experiences did not detract too much from your overall enjoyment of your cruise.

 

You're very welcome and that in fact was the only thing I hope one will get from my review. In the end there was both good with the bad, and overall it was a great trip. The biggest thing is that I hope people get the message

GET OFF THE SHIP ASAP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :D

Had we adhered to our instructions we would've missed out on Berlin, a highlight for those in my group, and would have been extremely disappointed.

[andybfk]

 

As for the evening fun tour, we thought about doing that but decided against it mainly because we knew we would be doing a canal tour the next day. Can't see how OP was surprised about that.

 

I don't think we were surprised as much as being disappointed. The majority of the "fun tour" was just this canal tour. Other items advertised were not done. We were very excited to take a canal tour, but I would've thought the experience would have been even slightly different from what they had us do the very next morning. Whether you can't see that or not, maybe someone else out there has booked this with a different expectation as we did and I am merely informing of our opinion of the tour.

[Got2Cruise]

This is why you read CC BEFORE you go. lol Did you join your roll call before you left? Were those folks on your tour. Because maybe it is too late for you, but the beauty of CC is that you can chat obsessively about your plans with the folks in your group. Our group formed a van of twelve, we knew the names of everyone in our group, and then we made a plan to meet on the ship, early and then all go down together through immigration at the same general time. As soon as we got through we met were directed to our guide, Maria, all got into the van, and off we went. We also met beforehand on the ship at the CC meet and greet. As for the Night tour, it used to be called the VODKA FUN TOUR. that should tell you something. That is why we choose the moderate tour, we didn't need a canal ride during the day.

You're very welcome and that in fact was the only thing I hope one will get from my review. In the end there was both good with the bad, and overall it was a great trip. The biggest thing is that I hope people get the message

GET OFF THE SHIP ASAP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :D

Had we adhered to our instructions we would've missed out on Berlin, a highlight for those in my group, and would have been extremely disappointed.

[dogs4fun]

So sorry to hear about your disappointing experiences with SPB tours andybfk and pomgit. It sounds like you still enjoyed the granduer of St. Petersburg in spite of your difficulties. It is a beautiful city, is it not?

Like John & MVPinBoynton, we toured with Alla Tours and got together with our tour group at our M&M aboard ship. Alla did not wait for 2 latecomers ... they joined our group later when our tour was already in progress.

And it does seem, like John stated, "Murphy's Law says that if there are several screw-ups they'll all happen to the same punters."

[aradvi2]

We'll be on Princess in July and found a great option Olga(TJ Travel) for $190

[lost in translation]

I don't think we were surprised as much as being disappointed. The majority of the "fun tour" was just this canal tour. Other items advertised were not done. We were very excited to take a canal tour, but I would've thought the experience would have been even slightly different from what they had us do the very next morning. Whether you can't see that or not, maybe someone else out there has booked this with a different expectation as we did and I am merely informing of our opinion of the tour.

 

I know we would have been disappointed if we had booked the evening tour, mainly because it was rainy the first day. In fact, we weren't all that thrilled with the city after the first day based on our experience getting off the ship and the weather but everything seemed much better the second day when we were able to get off the ship quickly and the sun was shining.

 

Did you do Helsinki with SPB? One of the guys in our groups in Berlin and St. Petersburg did Helsinki and was disappointed. Not sure why since my husband talked to him.

 

The price for their multi-city packages were great but we much prefer to do things on our own if possible and sounds like we made the right decision. Stockholm we just went to the Vasa and walked around Gamla Stan and had lunch at a place where my husband could get Swedish beer (the major disappointment for him in St. Petersburg was that we didn't have a choice in where to eat lunch and the places we ate didn't serve any Russian beers).

[lawblond7]

We used TJ Travel for St Petersburg and were VERY happy!

 

I contacted several companies to plan our 2 day tour and Olga at TJ answered very promptly and seemed the most willing to customize the tour for us. We were a group of four with some physical limitations so could not follow the set plan that all the tour companies do. They did the Visas for us so we had no problem at the passport control.

 

Our guide was Alla and she was fabulous - extremely informative, kept us on track and yet was considerate of our need to pace ourselves, she looked after all our tickets etc and even had rubles which we could exchange with her for US dollars so we didn't have to buy any currency. Alla even brought two little fold up chairs that we could squat on when we were in the Palaces, cathedrals, and Hermitage.

 

The place she took us for lunch was a local 'pie shop' that had the most delicious meat and fruit pies I've ever tasted!

 

TJ was very responsive, prompt, and answered as many questions as we had before hand. Highly recommended!

 

We are using TJ Tours when we are in St. Petersburg July 13/14 and also scheduled a private tour as my mom has limited mobility (she is 74) and my 3 boys have medical issues and tire easily. Also we have certain places we wanted to see - such as the Grand Choral Synagogue and a few other places that are not on standard tours.

 

There are also doing our tours in Berlin, Tallinn, Helsinki, and Stockholm all personalized.

 

Sharon

[andybfk]

This is why you read CC BEFORE you go. lol Did you join your roll call before you left? Were those folks on your tour. Because maybe it is too late for you, but the beauty of CC is that you can chat obsessively about your plans with the folks in your group. Our group formed a van of twelve, we knew the names of everyone in our group, and then we made a plan to meet on the ship, early and then all go down together through immigration at the same general time. As soon as we got through we met were directed to our guide, Maria, all got into the van, and off we went. We also met beforehand on the ship at the CC meet and greet. As for the Night tour, it used to be called the VODKA FUN TOUR. that should tell you something. That is why we choose the moderate tour, we didn't need a canal ride during the day.

 

Well it was definitely a vodka fun tour, and about that I have no complaints. It was absolutely a drinking event and that part we were expecting and thoroughly enjoyed.

I did join the roll calls and started to form a group, but, well you know, life and work and I didn't have time to devote to CC message boards then or putting a group together. But, I absolutely WISH that we did. It would have been well worth our time. Being in our 30's we were put with a group in Stockholm probably in their late 70's and 80's with wheelchairs and walkers. I didn't mention that, as it's my fault for letting SPB group us. But, the pace of the tour, because of that, was unbearable. Anyways, yes, I agree, we should've made our own group ahead of time.

[andybfk]

 

Did you do Helsinki with SPB? One of the guys in our groups in Berlin and St. Petersburg did Helsinki and was disappointed. Not sure why since my husband talked to him.

 

The price for their multi-city packages were great but we much prefer to do things on our own if possible and sounds like we made the right decision. Stockholm we just went to the Vasa and walked around Gamla Stan and had lunch at a place where my husband could get Swedish beer (the major disappointment for him in St. Petersburg was that we didn't have a choice in where to eat lunch and the places we ate didn't serve any Russian beers).

 

No we did Helsinki on our own. We had local draft beers both days at the SPB lunches. You had to go up to the bar and order them yourselves, but we had no problem (We always make it a point to have a local beer everywhere we travel too, so we drank beer in every port).

[dogs4fun]

No we did Helsinki on our own. We had local draft beers both days at the SPB lunches. You had to go up to the bar and order them yourselves, but we had no problem (We always make it a point to have a local beer everywhere we travel too, so we drank beer in every port).

Could I ask where you stopped for beer in Copenhagen? Just wondering if you stopped in Nyhavn for a brew?

[Loyal2RCCL]

Thanks. We too opted to go with Alla. Her box lunch is supposed to be actually quite nice (by Russian standards). We prefer the earlier arrival time as we have evening activities planned and her schedule allows us to do it.:D

 

Again, as long as you are happy with your choice, that is the main thing:D

 

The boxed lunch Alla provides on Day 1 was very nice and was uniquely Russian. It contained a warm crepe filled with Chicken, a bottle of water, fruit and a candy bar. It was very filling and delicious and by not stopping for a sit down meal we had more time to explore Peterholf Palace and fountain gardens. In no way was our tour with Alla rushed by having a boxed lunch. On Day 1 we left at 9am and didn't return to the ship until after midnight as Alla had arranged for us (at my request) to have dinner at a local restaurant.

 

The second day we had a sit down lunch which was also very nice, but on this day we didn't have to travel any long distances to see the sites.

 

I can't say enough good things about Alla and her operation. Our guide, Angie was FANTASTIC and one of the BEST guides we've every had on any excursion. Her knowledge of the city and its history was fantastic, but she didn't go into so much detail that you were bored, unlike the guide we had once at the Vatican where the guide felt the need to over explain everything. Angie was warm, friendly and funny. She was fantastic about getting us around the lines and crowds at the museums etc. and was very flexible with any special requests and modifications we asked for while on the tour.

 

Angie was also worth her weight in gold when we had an unfortunate incident at the Peterholf. One person in our group, despite being told to leave everything on the bus, kept his wallet in his pants pocket and of course was pickpocketed while at the fountain gardens. All of his credit cards and cash was in his wallet and he was quite upset. Angie used her personal cell phone to allow him to call the US and report his cards stolen. A few numbers could not be called from her phone, so she took us to a store that allowed us to use their phone and computers to notify the banks etc. She honestly could not do enough to help us/him out with this situation and refused to take payment for the use of her cell phone etc. It took well over an hour for us to get everything sorted out and Angie called ahead to the places we were yet to visit to amend our arrival times and the rest of the day went off without a hitch.

 

I would not hesitate to book with Alla!

[RJ2002]

For anyone who may be contemplating the pros and cons of lunch options, let me add my comments of our recent 2 day deluxe tour with SPB.

 

In summary, we thought the lunches which SPB offered were good to average.

 

On our first day, we had a more formal 3 course meal at a restaurant which had clearly been entirely reserved for SPB groups. We were the first to arrive. Tables were set with pitchers of a fruit juice, and a basket of rolls. We were served borscht, then a main course of beef stroganoff, followed by a dessert of pancakes with apple sauce. Coffee or tea was offered at the end of the meal. The food was good (not great). However, the staff was very inflexible. Our simple request for a glass of water was denied. We were in and out fairly quickly, but again, we were the first of the SPB groups to arrive.

 

On the second day, we had lunch at the more casual Russian "pie place". This restaurant was not reserved entirely for SPB. It was open to the public, yet there appeared to be several tour groups inside. As we walked in, we discovered that the restaurant's power was off. As a result, our pie options were extremely limited. We were, however, able to sample one savory and one sweet slice of pie. A choice of soft drink was offered. I would rate this place as average, and I don't think my opinion would change even if the power had been on and they had a more complete compliment of choices.

 

Overall, we thought SPB did a fine job. However, for those considering the pros and cons of a box lunch with Alla vs. sit down lunches with SPB, I simply would not let that be a major determining factor for your selection of tour operators. The lunches with SPB were not that special.

[dolfans0704]

For anyone who may be contemplating the pros and cons of lunch options, let me add my comments of our recent 2 day deluxe tour with SPB.

 

In summary, we thought the lunches which SPB offered were good to average.

 

On our first day, we had a more formal 3 course meal at a restaurant which had clearly been entirely reserved for SPB groups. We were the first to arrive. Tables were set with pitchers of a fruit juice, and a basket of rolls. We were served borscht, then a main course of beef stroganoff, followed by a dessert of pancakes with apple sauce. Coffee or tea was offered at the end of the meal. The food was good (not great). However, the staff was very inflexible. Our simple request for a glass of water was denied. We were in and out fairly quickly, but again, we were the first of the SPB groups to arrive.

 

On the second day, we had lunch at the more casual Russian "pie place". This restaurant was not reserved entirely for SPB. It was open to the public, yet there appeared to be several tour groups inside. As we walked in, we discovered that the restaurant's power was off. As a result, our pie options were extremely limited. We were, however, able to sample one savory and one sweet slice of pie. A choice of soft drink was offered. I would rate this place as average, and I don't think my opinion would change even if the power had been on and they had a more complete compliment of choices.

 

Overall, we thought SPB did a fine job. However, for those considering the pros and cons of a box lunch with Alla vs. sit down lunches with SPB, I simply would not let that be a major determining factor for your selection of tour operators. The lunches with SPB were not that special.

 

Alla offered the same 3 course meal on our first day on the Grand Tour and we felt the meal/experience was quite good! The staff serving us were very nice and we were able to purchase wine/beer/soda with our meal at an additional cost which was very inexpensive. We had heard from others from the SPB tours that there second day lunch was very informal and I feel it was very comparable to our Russian chicken crepe we had and enjoyed very much on our boat ride to Peterhoff. To be honest, we did not feel we missed out at all by not going to a second venue for lunch. We wanted to enjoy as much time at the sites as possible. One tip is that the snack bar at Peterhoff does not accept USD or credit cards do if you want to grab a snack/drink after touring the fountains, make sure you have Rubles with you. I have to say, this was one of the best cruises I have done and the tours with Alla were all top notch and worth every penny! :).

 

 

Dolfans from Miami

[Genessa]

Alla offered the same 3 course meal on our first day on the Grand Tour and we felt the meal/experience was quite good! The staff serving us were very nice and we were able to purchase wine/beer/soda with our meal at an additional cost which was very inexpensive. We had heard from others from the SPB tours that there second day lunch was very informal and I feel it was very comparable to our Russian chicken crepe we had and enjoyed very much on our boat ride to Peterhoff. To be honest, we did not feel we missed out at all by not going to a second venue for lunch. We wanted to enjoy as much time at the sites as possible. One tip is that the snack bar at Peterhoff does not accept USD or credit cards do if you want to grab a snack/drink after touring the fountains, make sure you have Rubles with you. I have to say, this was one of the best cruises I have done and the tours with Alla were all top notch and worth every penny! :).

 

 

Dolfans from Miami

 

totally agree with you!

our restaurant meal with Alla was delicious. We were in a restaurant with locals - we were the only tourists. I don't remember what we had besides borscht, but it was excellent.

and, we also had the crepes the second day - surprisingly good.

[Giantfan13]

We used SPB Tours and we thoroughly enjoyed our sit down meal immensely. WE have had borscht before, but eating the Russian version of it was a completly different experience. We are vegetarians so we had a fish meal and it was also delicious. Dessert we had some sort of pie with ice cream and again, we loved it.

 

To be honest, we didn't opt for this because we were concerned how the food would be. We are not eating in the ships dining room. it is a lunch and our main objective was to eat things the Russians would also eat in a Russian Restaurant, not sitting on a boat or bus, eating off our laps.

 

For some that is the way they wanted to go, fine, we didn't.

 

The pies on the second day were also very good. again, it was more the experience of eating things you may not get in your home country in the atmosphere of a Russian place.

 

Both my DW and myself are of the type that we take all our meals in the ship's Formal Dining room, we despise the buffets. Nothing to do with the food, we just enjoy being served and not running around carrying our food from here to there.

 

I am not condemning this for any one else, it's just not the way we like to do things on a cruise. So the restaurant was perfect. Having the food being very good was simply a plus.

 

Cheers

 

Len