brian_uk Posted March 1, 2013 #1 Share Posted March 1, 2013 Do you have to be part of a Tour or can you get off Ship and tour on your own ? Brian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DeanoNorthPerth Posted March 1, 2013 #2 Share Posted March 1, 2013 Probably can do it on your own but you need to get a visa beforehand (I think) so much easier to do a tour. Plus all the sights are spread out, especially Peterhof. Wife and I went last year and used SPB Tours- http://www.spb-tours.com/st-petersburg/en/node Could not recommend them more highly. Only 9 of us on the tour and the guide was exceptional. Even organized some last minute ballet tickets for us. St. Petersburg is an amazing place and so you need to do it properly. Do yourself a favour and if not SPB Tours book some other tour company. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andee Posted March 1, 2013 #3 Share Posted March 1, 2013 You have three choices: ship's excursion, private tour company (we loved Red October) or getting your own visa. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
computerworks Posted March 1, 2013 #4 Share Posted March 1, 2013 Wife and I went last year and used SPB Tours- http://www.spb-tours.com/st-petersburg/en/node Could not recommend them more highly. We have used them as well and double-down on the recommendation... they are top-notch. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
orchestrapal Posted March 1, 2013 #5 Share Posted March 1, 2013 Agree with the recommendation. You really need to be able to speak Russian in order to function there on your own. Between the two of us we have Central and Western Europe covered so far a speaking the languages of the countries. Eastern Europe on the other hand not so much and the level of English spoken can leave you shaking your head and buying bananas when you really wanted shaving cream. Stick with a tour. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pacheco18 Posted March 1, 2013 #6 Share Posted March 1, 2013 Another vote for SPB - first class operation in every respect Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kathy with a K Posted March 1, 2013 #7 Share Posted March 1, 2013 My TA recommended Alla Tours. Anyone have any experience with them? Thanks, Kathy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cbb Posted March 1, 2013 #8 Share Posted March 1, 2013 Alla Tours were awesome (we had Julia) but I think there are about 3-4 tour companies that all do a fine job. Using the "search feature" type in St Petersburg and you'll find lots of good info. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mura Posted March 1, 2013 #9 Share Posted March 1, 2013 Red October is another private tour group that has been highly recommended by users here. Mura Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pacheco18 Posted March 1, 2013 #10 Share Posted March 1, 2013 They are all recommended by cruisers and I am sure they all do a good job. The one comment I can make is that we used SPB and fellow cruisers used Alla and when they saw our vehicle (which was much roomier and more comfortable) they commented. I do not know if that is true of all of Alla's vehicles but it was an observation made. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
calvin81 Posted March 1, 2013 #11 Share Posted March 1, 2013 We used Alla three years ago and were satisfied. Not thrilled however. We were there during a heat wave (100!) and the a/c in the 8 passenger van was totally inadequate. Unless you were in the front row it was hot and miserable. And we had an uncomfortable experience at Catherine's Palace. We were told one of the benefits of the tour was skipping long lines. It was practically a mob scene of tourists crushing towards the entry here and our guide clearly did not have any special entrance tactic, as she had at a couple other places. We sort of snuck in with another group, who were angry with us and we all felt awkward and uncomfortable. The guide, Viktoria, was knowledgable, but not very personable or engaging. We had a guide in Gdansk who was charming and warm, and the difference was obvious. Perhaps try another recommended company. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CintiPam Posted March 1, 2013 #12 Share Posted March 1, 2013 I also endorse SPB-Tours, whom we used in June 2011 for two days in St. Petersburg (4 people) and a tour I arranged to Berlin from Warnemunde (18 people). A visa for Russia from the US will cost more than $200, which covers a lot of the cost for a good private tour there. I do not know the cost for UK citizens. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Smbruner Posted March 2, 2013 #13 Share Posted March 2, 2013 My husband and I were there in June 2012 and you cannot even get through passport control without a visa not to mention there are no taxis outside or easy transportation into town (not that you'd find it!). You need to do a tour for sure! We used Anastasia and it was flawless! 2 days private and 1 day to Moscow with 4 others on the train. Best trip ever! Have a wonderful time! Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tansy Mews Posted March 2, 2013 #14 Share Posted March 2, 2013 Just to emphasize - you don't need to get a visa yourself if you are using a tour company or going on a ship's tour. They organize it for you. If you are going on your own, you need to get a visa yourself. Just something to factor in when comparing costs. Additionally with a tour, you get into the Hermitage before it opens to the general public. We used SPB Tours - very pleased with the guide and the driver and our dealings with them before the tour too. They have a roll call that you might find helpful. http://www.spb-tours.com/st-petersburg/en Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CintiPam Posted March 2, 2013 #15 Share Posted March 2, 2013 Just to make it clear: the tour companies do not obtain a visa for you, but issue you with a tour ticket, documentation with their name and yours on it which you produce with your passport at the immigration booth at the dock for the Russian authorities. Registered tour companies can do this in accordance with an exception to the Russian visa requirements for those arriving by cruise ship and staying in port for up to 72 hours maximum. (Yes, you guessed it: I am a recovering attorney!) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mura Posted March 2, 2013 #16 Share Posted March 2, 2013 I will add a few comments of my own (a recovering person who thought she'd go to law school but didn't): We were in St. P. on Renaissance in May '01 and had our own visas. We also had hired a private guide at the vast rate of $60/day. She wasn't in a position to get us a group visa so we got our own. Red October, Alla, SPB weren't yet in operation at that time. (Well, I know that Red October started up the following fall and that is the outfit I heard about first after our trip.) We were lucky to have our own visas because the R7 changed ports at the last minute and so our guide didn't get the information in time. I did email her at 9am but she was to meet us at 10am. We had to present passports and visas about three times from the time we left the ship and passed passport control. While we were waiting for her two crew members came out and offered to drop us off at the Hermitage, so we went with them. Of course, our guide arrived about 10 minutes later. So we spent the entire day at the Hermitage, took a cab back to the ship (got ripped off because he charged twice what we paid the next day when our guide negotiated the rate with the driver). Still, it worked out fine for us. Fast forward to Sochi last summer when we had a group visa for a tour. Michelle who organized the tour presented the tour group with a list of the participants with passport numbers, etc., and we went through passport control with no problem at all. When we did that Renaissance cruise we didn't know about CC (although we did know about the Renaissance message board) and so we didn't have access to a private tour group. We just didn't know they existed -- IF they did. We did do a Renaissance tour to the ballet one night which was interesting but not fabulous. It was a second or third rate level company of the Kirov that did Swan Lake in a theater NOT built for ballet. The others on the tour loved it but we didn't, simply because it was the wrong place to do a ballet. The stars were indeed excellent, the other dancers -- well, not so wonderful (but also not awful). But we were glad to have seen it even so. Originally we'd been planning on seeing Otello at the Kirov Opera but the production (a new one) was postponed at the last minute, so we settled for the ship's tour to the ballet. For the people who asked about night time entertainment, there is indeed ballet in St. P. but also opera -- depending on the time of year. Probably not in the summertime. Oh dear, this got rather longer than I anticipated ... Mura Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paulchili Posted March 2, 2013 #17 Share Posted March 2, 2013 Agree with the recommendation.You really need to be able to speak Russian in order to function there on your own. Between the two of us we have Central and Western Europe covered so far a speaking the languages of the countries. Eastern Europe on the other hand not so much and the level of English spoken can leave you shaking your head and buying bananas when you really wanted shaving cream. Stick with a tour. Never mind not speaking Russian; you won't get far if you can't at least read Cyrillic (aka acrylic :D) alphabet. In other countries you can at least read the street signs even if you don't speak the language- no so in Russia (or China, Japan, etc). Another vote for Alla tours - loved them in 2006 & 2008. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mura Posted March 2, 2013 #18 Share Posted March 2, 2013 Well, I can read the cyrillic but my capacity for speaking the language is very limited. Let's say that I sing in Russian, that doesn't mean I can speak the language! Mura Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brian_uk Posted March 2, 2013 Author #19 Share Posted March 2, 2013 Our last trip there was independent from UK and we had our own Visas. Our guide met us at airport delivered us to the hotel and we were free to roam around till they met us next morning. We found that many Russians spoke fair English and we had no problems getting around as long as we went in straight lines. We were in a party of 4 and had a great time. We are really looking for something more relaxed this time. I think we used Red October/September and our Driver was an MD looking to supplement his income. Brian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sitraveler Posted March 2, 2013 #20 Share Posted March 2, 2013 You did start this thread. Why? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Emperor Norton Posted March 2, 2013 #21 Share Posted March 2, 2013 Do you have to be part of a Tour or can you get off Ship and tour on your own ? Brian Our last trip there was independent from UK and we had our own Visas. Our guide met us at airport delivered us to the hotel and we were free to roam around till they met us next morning. We found that many Russians spoke fair English and we had no problems getting around as long as we went in straight lines. We were in a party of 4 and had a great time. We are really looking for something more relaxed this time. I think we used Red October/September and our Driver was an MD looking to supplement his income. Brian So you've already been and know how it works but you're asking what you already know the answer to?:confused: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brian_uk Posted March 3, 2013 Author #22 Share Posted March 3, 2013 The last time we went to St P was via Aeroplane direct to St P and we had to obtain our own Visas to enter Russia. This time we are on Marina and entering Russia without our own Visa. My enquiry was simple enough, to ask whether we could get off the ship independently assuming maybe there was a blanket cover Visa and travel on our own. Clearly this is not the case and I am greatful for the advice given to what I thought was a simple and clear question..........oh well !! Brian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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