P & O Azura Baltic St Petersburg Shore Excursions

[60notout]

I'm really new to this, so please be patient :o We are not sure which shore excursions to do in St Petersburg. Can anyone recommend any in particular please? Some of the excursions sound like just a lot of walking and looking at palaces from the outside or with very little time inside. We are going 5 - 19 June and have two days in St Petersburg. :confused:

[Bacardi..]

Yep don't do a ship tour. Book with someone like alla tours. You can get off in st petes if you have a pre booked tour.

 

Do there 2 day tour, I did it was superb. We went all over, walk straight into the hermitage past people from the ship in the que on a p&o tour. They did not want any money till halfway through the second day.

 

 

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[RJHNorthyorks]

We used Alla and joined their 2 day Comfort tour. We had a fantastic time and visited all key sites in a small group, we had early access to the Hermitage before the crowds and even had a short trip on the underground so we could see the architecture.

Alla were highly professional and efficient, they organise Visas and we were able to pass through immigration without any problems. They do not ask for any money up front.

[60notout]

Thank you for the quick replies. Just had a quick look at Alla tours and they look really good, and cheaper that P & O. Someone told us the Ballet was a 'must-do' but we think we would be took tired after a full day :eek:

[gadabout60]

Thank you for the quick replies. Just had a quick look at Alla tours and they look really good, and cheaper that P & O. Someone told us the Ballet was a 'must-do' but we think we would be took tired after a full day :eek:

 

We did the ballet on our first visit to St P, and while we were tired it was a lovely thing to do. It is quite touristy though and I believe there are several ballet shows every night.

 

I agree with those who recommend alla tours - on our first trip we went with the ships tour, second time Alla and we experienced so much more in a small group

[jh1809]

I'd recommend choosing a tour that will take you inside the Church on the Spilled Blood. The outside of the building is brilliant, but the inside is perhaps the most amazing thing I've ever seen.

[spideygirl]

We used SPB tours excellent service small mini bus of 12 people. Far better than the big coach tours that the ships run.

[ann141]

If you decide to book alla tours see if there is a roll call for your cruise because if you mention a cruise critic roll call you will usually be given a discount.Enjoy your cruise:)

[60notout]

If you decide to book alla tours see if there is a roll call for your cruise because if you mention a cruise critic roll call you will usually be given a discount.Enjoy your cruise:)

 

Thank you for the tip, I'm struggling with this site at the moment. I've had a look for a roll call, but gave up! Thank goodness for email notifications or I wouldn't know where to find these replies :mad:

[ann141]

Just looked and there is a roll call for your cruise.At the top of the page where you click on Forum to get on this page there is a tab called Roll Call.Click on this and then the tab that says find your roll call.You then fill in the details i e sailing with P and O on Azura scroll down to June and your cruise starting 5th June should come up.Hope this helps:)

[jwren]

I'm really new to this, so please be patient :o We are not sure which shore excursions to do in St Petersburg. Can anyone recommend any in particular please? Some of the excursions sound like just a lot of walking and looking at palaces from the outside or with very little time inside. We are going 5 - 19 June and have two days in St Petersburg. :confused:

 

We booked with TJ tours and they couldn't have done more for us, we saw everything single sight in the 2 days that was listed on all the ships tours (except ballet) and we went inside places not just viewed from outside. On our boat trip along the river we had the whole boat to ourselves, only 8 of us. Vehicle was new, driver very good and guide spoke very clear English. We were admitted to Hermitage early before the hundreds gathering outside and we did not pay any money until the afternoon of the second day. Payment has to be in new, clean, unfolded notes, which is the usual thing in St Petersburg and $US are accepted. The visa is included in the price of the tour and all done via e mail and very easy. Highly recommended.

[60notout]

Thank you. I've found it. On a learning curve.....

[heathcharnock]

We did one of the the P&O two days tours in a small group by minibus. Absolutely brilliant though we were too tired at the end of day 1 to go out again in the evening. Also there would have been very little time between getting back and going out again. The itinerary was probably just the same as Alla who we did research as we had many good reports about them. However whilst when we were there there was an apparent difference in the headline price when we worked it all out with various issues like I think tips but also our 10% discount from P&O it was marginally cheaper to go with P&O than with Alla. We didnt however approach Alla for discount and of course our 10% off was a factor. Whichever you choose I would say that you MUST go on a small tour in a minibus rather than a coach with 60 others. Early access to highlights, and much quicker to reassemble after a visit and move on to the next stop. This was our second visit to St Petersburg. The first was with the now defunct Orient Lines when we did do a coach tour and the minibus is infinitely better.

[jasperado]

We did one of the the P&O two days tours in a small group by minibus. Absolutely brilliant though we were too tired at the end of day 1 to go out again in the evening. Also there would have been very little time between getting back and going out again. The itinerary was probably just the same as Alla who we did research as we had many good reports about them. However whilst when we were there there was an apparent difference in the headline price when we worked it all out with various issues like I think tips but also our 10% discount from P&O it was marginally cheaper to go with P&O than with Alla. We didnt however approach Alla for discount and of course our 10% off was a factor. Whichever you choose I would say that you MUST go on a small tour in a minibus rather than a coach with 60 others. Early access to highlights, and much quicker to reassemble after a visit and move on to the next stop. This was our second visit to St Petersburg. The first was with the now defunct Orient Lines when we did do a coach tour and the minibus is infinitely better.

Hello

Thankyou for posting this. DH and I are due to go to St. Petersburg on Arcadia in August and have done extensive research for trips. we have looked in depth at Alla but were wondering about the new "small group tour" with P and O and yours is the first comment I have come across.

Pricing including fluctuation exchange rates and suggested tips of 10% for the guide and 5% for the driver, do actually bump up Alla's $285 price point. I did a comparable "sight for sight" checklist and the P and O Splendour of St Petersburg compares with Alla's Grand Tour. The price is £252.

I know that P and O require payment far in advance and that Alla collect payment on the second day, would there be a problem cancelling the trip with P and O due to problems nearer the date??

Alla require a 7 day notice email to cancel then no payment will be due, but what about P and O?

Thankyou

[tom_uk]

We also did a 'small group' tour with P&O in a minibus. It was excellent. Our guide was superb - a St Petersburg native who had 10 years or so in the US but had moved back in the early noughties. He spoke excellent, colloquial english and his time in the US had given him an interesting perspective on the history of St Petersburg, Russia and the Soviet Union.

 

I'd echo the comments about it being hard work - we were on our feet most of the day, at one place or another (and we certainly did get inside most of the places we visited). Those in the group who headed out to the ballet in the evening were very tired the following day, especially as that second day started at 7:30 or so.

[Scriv]

I echo everyone's comments about the 2 day minibus tour. We went P&O and also had a fab guide - but also heard very good reports about Alla.

[Sea Green]

I also did the P&O 2 day tour after comparing the various tours on offer from the local companies. It was about the best of the packages on offer and on a par with the Alla tour. There was only about £20 difference in price and we had the security of being booked with the ship.

 

We had a small max 16 person minibus, but I think there were only 12 or 14 in our group, and yes we did have early entry to the Hermitage. I was very impressed with the tour, there seemed to be a minimum of queuing and travelling and most of the time was spent in the venues themselves.

 

Our local guide was excellent and spoke for two days without using a single note.