Navigator Baltic Trip July 27

[ethical]

We would like to know if some other couple/couples who are sailing on this date would be interested in joining us with a guide in St. Petersburg who has been very, very highly recommended. I have all the information about what she feels we should do for the two days there and prices per person, etc. If you wish to join us, let me know. It would be great if we could get 4-6 people together which would not only bring the cost down, but also be fun to do things together. I have the itinerary she suggests and would be glad to post it if I get any feedback from anyone. Let me know.

[Suzy Sales]

Hi! We are two couples going on the July 29 trip to the Baltic on the Navigator. We are very much interested in the side trips to St. Petersburg that you have information on--we are trying to figure out which ones we want to go on now. Any info you have would be greatly appreciated! Thanks, Suzy S

[ethical]

We have the following information and would like to know if you're interested in have maybe just the 6 of us use this highly recommended guide. By the way, where are you from. We're from New York. Here is what the guide suggested. If you are interested, please send me an email and I'll give you further information I received from her about "moderate" rather than "easy" and also "strenuous" tour. We may decide on the latter. My email is mengel@zbi.com

 

July 31st, Monday

9 – 1pm

Meet at the ship; General sightseeing tour of the historic part of the city, including visits to the Peter and Paul Fortress, Church on the Blood and St Isaac Cathedral (Choral Synagogue upon request).

12:30 – 1:30pm

Lunch

1:30 - 5pm

Travel to Peterhof. Guided tour of the Fountain Park and Garden.

Visiting an underground metro station/s.

5 – 6:30pm

Rest; shopping; coffee break; stroll on Nevsky prospect

7 pm

Either return to the ship or optional evening program (in which case return is 9:30 pm).

Second day

9 am

Meet at the ship; Visit to a local food market. Travel to town of Pushkin (Tsarskoe Selo - Tsar's Village). Excursion in Catherine’s palace.

1 pm

Lunch

2-30 - 4pm

Visit to the State Hermitage Museum

5 pm

Return to the ship

 

This itinerary is an "Easy activity" type. It covers the best of St Petersburg and its suburbs. However, it is not a compulsory one and if you have some particular interests, have some ideas on what to see and where to visit I shall change the tour to your request. Besides the "easy activity" tour I have a "moderate activity" and "strenuous activity’ ones.

Moderate activity – additionally walk in Catherine’s place’s park + Gold room in the Hermitage;

Strenuous activity - additionally walk in Catherine’s place’s park + Gold room in the Hermitage + excursion in Cottage palace (private palace of Empress Alexandra, wife of Nicholas I).

Actually, I provide customized tours and the sample itineraries shown on my web site serve to show what could be seen in two days. As the practice shows, they are fairly good and often we change nothing. But, once more, if you want to see something different, you are welcome.

 

2. Cost.

Cost of the tour depends on the size of the group. If there is one couple they pay all expenses (actually the most expensive ones) – driver with vehicle, guide and port fees charged on per vehicle basis, not per person basis. If there is another couple, these costs are divided and the tour gets less expensive. Cost of the above easy activity tour is $440 for the group of 2 persons. Price is quoted in US dollars on per person basis. Thus, for the group of 2 it will be in total $880.

 

Price includes:

1. guide for two days

2. driver for two days (Mercedes mini van with A/C)

3. admission fees to all museums/sights shown in the itinerary

4. All port fees

 

Price doesn’t include:

1. Cost of evening entertainment (tickets for theatre)

2. Cost of lunches

3. Permission for picture/video filming in museums

There are some additional details on the tour:

Visas.

Visas are not required for the tour. I’ll supply you with visa waivers which are your pass through the customs/immigration offices without any problem. Actually this document in different sources could be translated to English differently. For example, blanket ticket; tourist ticket; booking confirmation… But it is the same document even for those tourists who attending the cruise company sponsored tours.

Meeting.

Your ship will be docked in the commercial port which is a customs zone what explains why the access to the port area is strictly limited. However, you will be met by me together with your driver and vehicle inside the port, just few steps from the ship. I will have a sign bearing your name. It will help to recognize each other very fast. After meeting we’ll drive to the city’s centre (some 20 minutes) to start your tour.

Touring.

Your driver and I will be with you throughout the entire day and at the end of the tour you’ll be driven back to the ship. The tour is very flexible and if some changes would be required during the tour (shortening time in a museum, expanding time in a museum, excluding/replacing museums, desire to go to a restaurant on the evening or attending a folk show without prior notice – everything is possible).

Booking.

I don’t require any deposits. It will be enough to e-mail to me e-mail expressing your firm intention to book the tour. After that I book the time of the guide and it is absolutely firm that you have professional fully licensed guide with excellent command of English waiting for you on the day of arrival.

Payment.

The payment is welcomed on the last day of the tour (July 9th) in US dollars cash.

 

Evening entertainment.

1. Ballet/opera performance in a theatre.

We have many grand, old or very nice theatres in the city:

Mariinsky (former Kirov theatre) is the best in St Petersburg and equal to Bolshoi theatre in Moscow. Actually, these two theatres are most famous and widely known when one talks about classical ballet (which is basically Russian ballet). The building where the theatre is accommodated is also very impressive edifice from outside (we are going to see it during our tour) and inside. Saying all these nice things about Mariinsky I must mention one negative point about it – it is most expensive theatre in the city. Prices depend on the quality of the seats and could vary from $70 to $140 per seat. I was told that it is usual price for ballet performance in the US either, but when you are in Mariinsky you’ll understand that you are getting more value for the same money here in St Petersburg if compared to an American theatre.

 

Musorgsky theatre is the second theatre in St Petersburg. Prices vary from $40 to $80 per seat.

 

Theatre of musical comedy (for ballet performances) - $30 to $60 per seat

 

Conservatorium theatre is the less expensive - $20-30 per seat.

 

For classical music we have two places – Big and Small Philharmonic halls. Price will be from $30 to $50 per person

 

Operas could be performed either in the theatres mentioned above or in special theatre St Petersburg Opera. It is a small theatre (former private theatre). I was once there and found the singers there have very good voices. The opera was very good, so I can recommend it either.

 

If you have a desire to attend a ballet/opera performance, please let me know because tickets for our theatres could be purchased in one month advance. Somewhere in the middle of June I’ll let you know the play list of the theatres and you could choose what you’d like to see. Of course, if you decided to skip a theatre performance but changed your mind in the last minute when you are actually have arrived, I’ll try to accommodate you in any case but in order to escape additional worries and risks it would be better to have everything organized in advance.

 

2. Folk show.

There are several places where one can see a folk show but the best in the city is in Nicholas palace (former private residence of Grand duke Nicholas, son of Nicholas I). The actors/dancers/singers are truly professionals and I have no one guest who was disappointed with the show. The show itself consists of two parts with intermission between them. During the intermission the guests are offered two sandwiches (but very-y-y small, though!) with black and red caviar and glass of Champaign/wine or shot of vodka. It is not really a buffet (as they call it in the palace) but a sampling. However, it is very pleasant to have some snacks offered. The cost of the tickets for the folk show is $40 per person.

In case with the folk show, I can arrange the tickets in the last minute.

 

3. Dinner in a local restaurant.

We have restaurants with Russian, European, French, Italian, Mexican, Australian cuisines… Most likely if you decided to have a dinner in the city you’d prefer a Russian restaurant. In some Russian Restaurants could be a gipsy band singing…

It would be better to book the table in advance, but it is not a big deal to arrange the dinner in the last minute.

 

4. Stroll along the central streets of the city.

When the tour is over, you can stay in the city – to walk along the streets without hassle, to seat in a sidewalk café having a cup of coffee/tea or beer (the last is very good, by the way) and to pass your evening in leisure.

 

Please, note, it is persistently advised by the customs to return the passengers to the ship not later then 11pm. The tour itself is usually over not later then 7pm so, till 11pm there are at least 4 hours left for your evening activities.

It seems I described all details. Please let me know if something is missing or if you have any questions.

 

Look forward to hearing from you.

 

 

 

[Suzy Sales]

Thanks for getting back to me with the info on St. Petersburg. My husband and I live in Mandeville, La.-across Lake Ponchartrain from New Orleans and my sister and her husband, who are travelling with us, are from Baton Rouge-65 miles down the road. We love New York! I'll get in touch with my sister about these ideas and will email you if we are able to join you. It sounds like a wonderful two days, and we did not want to be in a big group. Talk to you soon! Suzanne