Ship Excursions in St Petersburg

[acruisefan]

Has anyone taken the ship sponsored excursions in St Petersburg? We will be on the Spirit this summer for a Baltic cruise with 3 days in St Petersburg. I planned to book at least some of our tours with an outside company - either small group or private. However my DH is very worried about taking an independent tour there - he is not a very adventurous traveler & says "But we will be in Russia!" .

We have a lot of onboard ship credit to use so I had planned to book at least 1 day or evening event with the ship. My main concern is relative quality of the ship's tour and trying to avoid waiting in long lines which the smaller tours apparently can do. 

For anyone who has taken the ship's tours in St. Petersburg - what did you do and what was your experience with them? We do not plan to go to Moscow - maybe next time!

I'm also interested in what night time event you did ( ship sponsored event or not)  and how you liked it. Thanks! 

[Tothesunset]

We used SPB Tours for the 3 days that we were there in 2016.  They were excellent and as a registered agency you don't need a Visa unless staying for more than 3 days. The tours over the 3 days included all the must sees - Hermitage, Faberge etc etc but with the advantage of jumping the often very long lines. 

 

We paid somewhere in the region of $350US for the entire 3 days which is less than half, more like a third, of putting the same itinerary together from SS cruises. 

 

SPB do many different tours and schedules. They respond very quickly and comprehensively to email enquiries. 

[drron29]

Another vote for SPB tours.Excellent.In 3 days we saw everything we had on our list but they managed to fit even more in.Certainly you get in quicker.At Peterhof we arrived at the queue about 2 minutes before the doors opened and were taken to the head of the queue-first in.

no hassles.fantastic guide and absolutely no problem in arranging.

[Bullswood]

We're on the cruise ex Copenhagen 11 July and after a lot of research, we'll be opting for a local tour company - very good reviews for Anastasia,SPB, TJ and Best. Friends have used several of these and worked fine at a fraction of the SS price (and with a greater range of options/customisation). Not going to Moscow - seems a very long day in the train!

Edited April 26, 2019 by Bullswood

[MHF]

We too had a lot of OBC to use and elected 4 ships tours, 2 per day.  I thought they were very well done.  We were the 2nd tour in with early admission Hermitage and that was very important.  The Peter the Great house and gardens with canal boat tour was surprisingly good and included a short stop at a Russian souvenir shop.  The Cathedrals tour was our favorite:  our tour guide did not hurry us through like we saw some do.

 

We were late leaving for Peterhof because of immigration issues and we could not take the hydrofoil back because of G8 summit being in town but it was still a good tour.  Some free time at the end to tour the gardens.  We got lucky with beautiful weather.

 

Take some water from the ship and maybe a snack if you elect back to back tours; we did not have time for lunch 1 day.  And if you have some rubles, bring them for the vending machines on shore for more waters.

 

Missy

[acruisefan]

Thanks for the replies. Since we have so much on board credit that we won't use up otherwise and DH is nervous about St Petersburg with an independent tour, we will be doing the ship tours at least for that stop. 

MHF- What happens when you do 2 half day tours? Do you return to the ship and go through immigration again? Or is there a wait area outside the ship between tours? 

We are waitlisted for early entry Hermitage & Faberge tours. I hope we can do that one. Our back up that day is St Petersburg in depth. Day 2 is Catherine's Palace, Parks & Pavlovsk Palace. All 3 of these are all day tours. Day 3 I have only booked an afternoon tour of St Petersburg cathedrals which I will cancel if we don't get the Hermitage tour on day 1. I'm thinking of adding a morning tour if the logistics work out on it.

 

[Tothesunset]

Whichever way you choose to see the sights of St Petersburg one thing you won't be is disappointed. It's an astonishing city. 

[MHF]

On 5/5/2019 at 12:31 PM, acruisefan said:

Thanks for the replies. Since we have so much on board credit that we won't use up otherwise and DH is nervous about St Petersburg with an independent tour, we will be doing the ship tours at least for that stop. 

MHF- What happens when you do 2 half day tours? Do you return to the ship and go through immigration again? Or is there a wait area outside the ship between tours? 

We are waitlisted for early entry Hermitage & Faberge tours. I hope we can do that one. Our back up that day is St Petersburg in depth. Day 2 is Catherine's Palace, Parks & Pavlovsk Palace. All 3 of these are all day tours. Day 3 I have only booked an afternoon tour of St Petersburg cathedrals which I will cancel if we don't get the Hermitage tour on day 1. I'm thinking of adding a morning tour if the logistics work out on it.

 

On the first day, the ship was late clearing immigration making everyone late starting tours, and thus late getting back.  We walked off the bus, got bottled water, and walked on the next bus.  We had brought snacks with us to eat on the bus.  I asked the tour guide if we would miss the second tour and she replied that the guides do back-to-back tours so they have to be back on time too.

 

On the second day, there was time to go back to the ship.  Rather than lunch, we ate fruit in the room and rested a bit.  Immigration was very easy...hand over passport, get it stamped.  Didn't get any smiles or any talking from the officials but that's OK.

 

The cathedrals tour was fantastic.  The interiors are spectacular.  Highly recommend.  Peterhof's Palace was wonderful with all the gold, fountains, and gardens.  It was sunny all cruise until the last two days when we left Amsterdam and hit one heck of a storm.  Missed Bruges.

 

Missy

[acruisefan]

Thanks for the reply Missy! We will be sure to bring some snacks for the day that we have 2 tours. We got cleared off the waitlist for the Hermitage/Faberge museum on our 1st day in St Petersburg so I'm excited about that! 

[Stormingsal]

We are doing this cruise in July and I have booked a 2 day shore excursion with T J Travel - it was very reasonable and had excellent reviews.

 

[torst]

I am not about to read through all the responses but a two day tour booked and customized through Dancing Bear Tours was the highlight of our Baltic Cruise.  We were so much happier touring as a couple instead of as part of a group.  Highly recommended

[philw1776]

On 6/7/2019 at 12:45 PM, Stormingsal said:

We are doing this cruise in July and I have booked a 2 day shore excursion with T J Travel - it was very reasonable and had excellent reviews.

 

We used TJ on our Viking cruise there.  Beyond fantastic. The Mercedes van is very mobile.  Much better than a tour bus.  We saw more sites and at a better pace than if we'd booked with the cruise line and at half the price.  Guide was fantastic. A 26 yr old PhD working at the Hermitage.  No Russian accent  (grammar school and onwards english & free internet to watch Amerikanski TV shows & movies). Lots of interesting side stories.  Wife had the hots for him.

Wife opted for the ballet. Although she was just one person.  Same price. Personal guide. Young lady took her to supper where she usually ate. Loaned her her sweater because she was cold.  Funny story after the ballet, TJ driver taking her back to the ship near midnight brought her towards the Viking River ship docks. We were on Viking Ocean.  Hilarity ensued!

 

Russia photos start here...

 

https://www.flickr.com/photos/seacoast_nh/34538270073/in/album-72157682140797852/

 

Edited June 8, 2019 by philw1776

[Bullswood]

We've also booked TJ 2 days for July 14. Does anyone know whether there is any paperwork problem with combining their 2 day private tour with a ship's tour on day 3?

[Bullswood]

....also, can anyone pls advise which dock Silversea Spirit uses in St Petersburg?

[MHF]

7 hours ago, Bullswood said:

....also, can anyone pls advise which dock Silversea Spirit uses in St Petersburg?

It depends...usually they are very close to "downtown".  When we were there with the G8, it was further out but still closer than most.

 

If you are an early bird, open your curtains and watch the sail up the river.  Tons of tanker traffic and such.  I kept saying "I'm in Russia!" as we went along.