St. Petersburg, Russia SPB Tours

[nybumpkin]

FYI:

It was one really bad review about SPB company on TripAdvisor - a tour in St. Petersburg, dated May 14, 2013 under the heading " Avoid SPB Tour of St. Petersburg".

When I use reviews, whether here on CC or on a site like TripAdvisor, I always discount one really bad review if it's a "loner." There's always someone who is going to be unhappy. There is a bed and breakfast where I have stayed fairly often that generally gets very good reviews - but then there was one family that didn't enjoy the experience and panned it. It hasn't stopped me from returning. I look for trends when I use reviews.

[school nurse]

We used TJ tours and loved them. We had a group of 15 on a 16 passenger bus with a driver and excellent tour guide for our 2 day tour. I put together the group via the roll call board on this site which was great. We had people from Texan, New York, New Zealand, Canada, Illinois and New Hampshire. We did the active tour which involved a lot of walking but most of the tours will. Have fun!!

[zzzztravel]

I want to say thank you to SPB for the best tour of all 5 cities with, 2 days in St. Petersburg. We figure we saved about $700 by going with SPB instead of the cruise ship.

Just Germany was $210 and St. Petersburg would have cost us $439 from the ship.

We were with a group of 15 people give or take a few in different ports. The cruise ship had full buses of 43 people and we saw more because we got in and out of the bus fast.

SPB has a much better tour planed and we feel like we saw so much more, with them. The tour guides were very good and easy to understand.

 

So, if you are on the fence, don't be it couldn't have been a better tour company to be with. In fact our bus wasn't full because if anything happens to one of the buses, we had room for them to come on ours. They

were really GOOD!!!!! I couldn't be happier with SPB!

[zzzztravel]

One more thing, on Cruise Critics we joined up with the 16 people so we were always together with the same people. It made it even more fun.

 

Just an idea, you may want to do the same.

[travelhappy2000]

We are booked on the 12 night Scandinavia/Russia cruise on the Constellation leaving Amsterdam on May 9. We would like to join a cruise critic group for tours of St Petersburg, Stockholm or Copenhagen. Please advice.

[LHT28]

We are booked on the 12 night Scandinavia/Russia cruise on the Constellation leaving Amsterdam on May 9. We would like to join a cruise critic group for tours of St Petersburg, Stockholm or Copenhagen. Please advice.

 

Join the Roll Call for your cruise there may be others with tours & have space to share if not you are cutting it close & may have to do ship's tours in SPB

 

roll call

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1865073

[ontheweb]

We used Alla in 2007. Our guide, Viktoria, confided in us that she had successfully navigated all that was required to start her own company. That company is now SPB tours.

 

I would not hesitate to recommend Alla based on our experience, or SPB tours after having Viktoria as our guide.

 

I think I had read one bad review out of many good reviews of Alla. I did not let that influence me negatively.

[JP1320]

Be extremely careful taking SPB's Evening Fun Tour. You will arrive back at the ship very happy and drunk :D First hangover I've had in years :o SPB tours are fantastic!

 

Liked your comment regarding this tour. Question, did you do a 2-Day tour with SPB and if so what time did you arrive back to the ship. We are considering taking their Deluxe Tour but it arrives back at 18:30 and the Vodka Tour is 19:00, can you get food on board and will it suffice. TKU:cool:

[halcyon27]

:D We went on 5 excursions with SPB during our Baltic Cruise this month. They were all excellent. The Fairytale Schwerin goes by train from Warnemunde to Rostock and Schwerin and then back to Warnemunde. Lunch was German cuisine at a very nice restaurant. Susanna in Tallinn, Estonia was a fantastic guide - sharing her love and extensive knowledge of her country with us. Here too, we enjoyed a unique menu for lunch, having a meat pie and fruit pie in an inn that has medieval history. The tours in St. Petersburg and Stockholm were well organized and even though the tourist attraction areas were busy with tourists, our groups had easy access to the museums so we maximized what we could see in the allotted shore time. In Helsinki, as in Tallinn, our guide, George, gave us a sense of the people and country as well as showing us the important sites in the city. The vans and buses used were top quality and very comfortable. The outlines of each trip on the SPB website give very accurate descriptions, so you can chose the tour that suits your physical abilities and interests. Have a wonderful time!

[sayaguru]

We used SPB tours for a 3 day St Petersburg tour on recommendation from a friend.

We were disappointed and will be emailing them when we arrive home.

 

I won't go into detail until I speak to them. All the companies have good write ups. I see no reason to pay 50% more for the same thing in a ship tour (and with a very large group).

 

 

P.S. that's a very detailed and positive first post Hacyon27.

Edited July 26, 2014 by sayaguru

[dce85]

Just got back from the Baltics. We were extremely pleased with our TJ Tours in St Petersburg. We got lucky and ended up in a group of 7 . . .two families. The guide kept us moving and was willing to let us linger if we chose to do that. The two meals that we had were good and gave us a chance to sample local cuisine without having to convert money to rubles.

[heidean]

Fantastic tour. The tour guide Eugene and driver Peter were excellent. SPB Tours took care of the visas needed. We were in a 16 passenger van (there were 15 of us) which was very comfortable. The tour guide was very knowledgeable and the tour was paced very well. They were there at the port waiting for us on-time. In addition the 1st night we went to the folkloric show and had a good time. All activities are highly recommended.

[squadron]

Join the Roll Call for your cruise there may be others with tours & have space to share if not you are cutting it close & may have to do ship's tours in SPB

 

roll call

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1865073

 

Are you saying that tours for 2015 should be booked soon? I was waiting for final payment and also be aware of current sanctions.

[prish]

Are you saying that tours for 2015 should be booked soon? I was waiting for final payment and also be aware of current sanctions.

 

You can book now for next year, no advance payment required, you actually only pay in St Petersburg. We're on the Silhouette next summer and have already booked with SPB Tours, hopefully everything will go off well with no need to cancel.

[Giantfan13]

Are you saying that tours for 2015 should be booked soon? I was waiting for final payment and also be aware of current sanctions.

 

If you are looking to join a group or form your own group, the earlier the better. It doesn't cost anything to sign up and be part of a group right now. If you wait until final payment, which is basically 2 1/2 months away from your cruise, you could find yourself without people to form a group . If you want a private tour, you can probably book that just about anytime.

 

We also used SPB tours for our 2 days in St Petersburg. They are professional, courteous, always on time and will bend over backwards to assure you have a grand time in whichever tours you book with them. Victoria, the owner, is just a joy to work with and will help you in all or any problems you may have along the way.

 

Cheers

 

Len

Edited September 6, 2014 by Giantfan13

[spideygirl]

We went with SPB tours in summer 2013, they were excellent. The tour guide was very knowledgeable and we learnt so much from him. It was a 2 day tour and we got to see everything on the list. I would use them again when we return to the Baltics.

[cruisewithhank]

We are going on a cruise in September and are also deliberating between the SPB deluxe two-day tour or the Treasures tour. I'm wondering which you decided on, and if you were happy with your choice or spoke to others who made a different choice for comparison. Hope you had a good time!

[Bengun1]

Has anyone done SBP 3 day tour which includes Moscow?

Thanks