ducklite Posted January 5, 2020 #1 Share Posted January 5, 2020 With our original cruise canceled due to the dry dock backup, we've re-booked on a Baltic cruise. We plan on taking only one shore excursion (to the Soviets ICBM silos in Lithuania) because it "seems" that most ports we can easily DIY. In St. Petersburg we are hiring one of the private tour guides for a two day tour for just the two of use so we can move at our own pace (which is typically pretty fast) and add in a few things not on typical tours. We've reached out to Alla, Red Sun and TJ--if you did a private tour with them with just your small party I'd love feedback. I do have a few questions for anyone who has been on Windstar (specifically) in the Baltic. Do you remember exactly which docks/piers you came into? This makes a big difference for some of our plans. In St. Petersburg did they have an earlier dinner option for those going to the ballet (leaving before the normal 7:30 dining room open), or was it a room service night? I'm sure I'll have more as I dig deeper into the planning, but if anyone can help, that would be great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruisencrazy Posted January 5, 2020 #2 Share Posted January 5, 2020 We used SPB tours and we were very impressed. TJ was the other tour company that many people used. It's a lot to see in just a few days. Enjoy your time. We skipped the evening ballet as it was just too much to do in one day. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davekathy Posted January 6, 2020 #3 Share Posted January 6, 2020 (edited) deleted... Edited January 6, 2020 by davekathy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CruiseOrLand Posted January 6, 2020 #4 Share Posted January 6, 2020 Perhaps Windstar is not comparable with a River Cruise, but our Viking River ship had to suddenly move piers during the White Nights Festival opera we had the cruise director book privately for us. So we were glad the cabdriver assigned knew how to find out where the ship was. I consider one year’s pier location to be an unreliable predictor of a future pier. There’s a reason cruise companies are so closed-mouth about precise pier assignments. Yes it is annoying. I am pretty sure that we once came back from a Windstar official excursion (not in Russia) and the ship had moved. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Second seating Posted January 8, 2020 #5 Share Posted January 8, 2020 We were on Windstar in the Summer 2018 and used Alla Tours for a private 2 day tour. We gave them the places we wanted to see and they set it up. It was wonderful to have a guide and driver for the two of us we never stood in line! The dock I have no idea the immigration is slow! Second seating Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wing Posted January 8, 2020 #6 Share Posted January 8, 2020 We had a 2 day private tour with Red Sun Tours when we were on a Baltic cruise. It was fantastic. Our guide was Lena and she was great. She shared some amazing stories of past and present life of locals what we liked so much. We never waited in lines and had an easy access to all attractions which was impressive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tc54edge Posted January 20, 2020 #7 Share Posted January 20, 2020 Our group of 4 used Dancing Bear Tours in Summer 2017 and they were fabulous. Owner Julia is very easy to deal with. Guide and driver were excellent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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