Question about tour guides hired by Celiberity

[american gal]

We are going on the Baltic cruise with celebrity silhouette In August 2017. we will be having many long ship sponsored excursions that will be long days. We have been on cruises before where the guide walks so darn fast that she almost lost 10 people and few bathroom breaks. We are early 60's but in pretty good shape but still not real fast walkers. Your thoughts, experiences with this Baltic cruise tour. Thanks,

[TMLAalum]

Join your roll call and see if you can join private tours or book your own, especially in St. Petersburg. If you are committed to booking Celebrity excursions, look for those that are designed for those with limited mobility.

 

When we did the Baltic Celebrity cruise we were in our 60's and booked our SPB tour with SPB tours- no worries about fast walking or lack of bathroom breaks. All other ports we DIY'd so could go at our own pace.

 

You might post your query on the Ports-of-Call and/or Celebrity forums for more detailed replies.

[easyboy]

In all the Baltic ports, it was only in St. Petersburg where there were some of our tour mates got left behind, mostly due to taking pictures and was unnoticed by the guide due to the crowds. It happened at the Hermitage Museum where some got lost because of turns while walking inside. The other was at Peterhoff Palace, where some got busy, again, taking group pictures, in the garden by the exterior stairs.

Overall, none in our tour were left behind due to being a slow walker. It was more of getting lost in a crowd. In St. Petersburg, we had SPB tours who only used a van with a maximum 16 persons. I guess it is more difficult for a tour guide to take care of a bus load of passengers.

[cruisemom42]

You don't have to take tours in most of the Baltic ports. It's quite easy (and safe) to get around on your own, perhaps with the occasional ship shuttle to get you into town. Almost everyone (except in St. Petersburg) speaks very good English.

 

I really enjoy deciding what I want to see and where I want to spend more or less time. When I did a Baltics cruise with my (then) teen-age son, the only tour we took was a private tour in St. Petersburg. All the rest -- including Talinn, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Gdansk, Helsinki and Warnemunde -- we did on our own using local transportation.

[Scrapnana]

I had this happen to me walking down the Stroget in Copenhagen. The tour guide was very tall with impossibly long legs. I was towards the rear of the group and we got into a swarm of people. When I finally emerged, the rest of the tour was gone. I never could find them but knew how to get back to the ship. I actually got back to the ship at the same time as the rest of the group and saw the guide (who was talking to my traveling companion), he apologized profusely. I didn't have any problems on any of the other Baltic excursions and we took all Celebrity ones. Since then I make sure I look for the "less strenuous" tours.