Excursions for a Baltic Cruise

[Whentocruise]

We are booked on Celebrity for Scandinavia and St. Petersburg, leaving May 14, 2022.

Looking for information of anyone who may be on this cruise and what excursions are not to be missed.

[Bruin Steve]

First, go to the "Roll Call" boards and see if there's a roll call for this sailing...That will put you in touch with others on your precise sailing.  And where you will find anyone who may have scheduled a private tour in any port and looking for others to join...or where you can find others to join you in a private tour.

 

One big note:  For St. Petersburg, make sure you get onto a small group private tour...beats the heck out of the big bus cruise line shore excursions,  Last two times there, we used SPB Tours...they were very good.  We had very complete two-day private tours for eight that were less expensive than the cruise line excursions.  You can actually hear your guide in a small group and they move faster and get to more sights in the same time.  Very well organized...they provide group visas and pick you up at  the ship.

 

Good luck.

[Denny01]

Welcome! 

 

CruiseCritic has a section called Roll Calls that has threads for specific cruises. Go to the Celebrity Roll Call, then your ship and use the date and you’ll find a whole lots of members on your cruise right there.

 

to answer your question about excursions, we did the Baltic and signed with a private tour, SPB Tours (St PetersBurg Tours) which provides tours for many of the ports Baltic itineraries cover. We did the Berlin tour, lead by an American woman who was getting a PhD in German history; did the St Petersburg tour which was 2 days.

 

Edit: Bruin Steve just posted what I was typing……so it Must be correct!!!

 

Den

Edited February 7, 2022 by Denny01

[txtechmk]

Following along as we will be on a Baltic cruise later in the year also....for the first time.

[Lastdance]

We also used SPB for a two-day private tour in St. Petersburg with just 2 of us a guide and driver.  Best tour we have ever taken because we saw so much and we're treated like VIPs.  We even had a private lunch in a restaurant all to ourselves.  My DH was very leary about this tour and the price, but said it was so worth the cost.  No lines to wait in and sometimes used different entrances.  

Edited February 7, 2022 by Lastdance

[Emmandjay]

Another vote for SPB tours.  They were so efficient right from the first booking.  We were in a small group of 12 so it was easy to get in and out of the sights without having to wait for a coach full at each venue.  The guide was so knowledgeable and friendly.  The tour was for two full days but it was really worth it.  The ride on the underground was amazing!

[TeeRick]

Please note that in St Petersburg you need a Russian VISA to go out on your own.  It is expensive and generally not worth the time and effort.  So most people use a private tour company like SPB  (and several others) that are all excellent and handle everything for you including the temporary tourist VISA.  

 

Check out this specific board on Ports of Call for northern Europe and Baltics.

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/116-northern-europe-amp-baltic-sea/

 

[Denny01]

Be aware, you’ll need a formal tour for St Petersburg, either ship’s or a tour company providing it. Go on your own requires an expensive Visa to be on your own. 

 

By the way, with the current issues with Russia threatening Ukraine and so on, I’d be Very aware of what’s going on and how it could impact travel. Could get tricky. 

 

Edit: Boy, I keep typing too slowly and others get the info out before me!!

 

Den

Edited February 7, 2022 by Denny01

[Mr. Click]

As others have said, join your roll call, it is well worth it.  We used TJ tours in St Petersburg and they were great too. Just 10 of us and we could move quickly and not get stuck on lines.  They did a lot of custom tailoring for our group, no problems at all.  

 

No sure where else you are going but there is a great walking tour, self guided  for Tallin, email me if you want the pdf. Tallin is a great walking town.  

 

If Stockholm is on your trip be sure to see the Vasa museum.  The Vasa is a sailing ship that sat on the bottom of the river there for over 300 years when it sunk on its maiden voyage.  They finally recovered it intact and it is a great story.

 

Also in Stockholm, the sail in/sail out  through the archipelago is a must see from the ship, just find and since place outside and enjoy the vies.  The same for in and out of Amsterdam, again if that is a stop.

 

gbphoto at aol if you want a copy of the tallin guide

[TeeRick]

Some of these tour companies are throughout the Baltic and offer multi-port discount packages too.

[Mirage]

With respect to St Petersburg, we have been there quite a few times.

We have both obtained Visa's and have used SPB tours.

Viktoria, the owner of SPB tours, has great staff, and they arrange the required Visa.

The expertise of the SPB tour guides we have had are all outstanding.

 

If its your first time to St Petersburg, then I would highly recommend SPB. There are numerous other tours companies in St Petersburg to investigate as well.

https://www.spb-tours.com/

 

We have been to all the cities on the Baltic cruises quite a few times, as my children lived in Sweden.

In addition we have taken SPB tours to other locations as we were friends and they just wanted a tour and not go on our own. We went along just to share their company. We chose SPB for Berlin, Viktoria's husband was on that tour managing it.

 

Mirage

 

[1025cruise]

Welcome to Cruise Critic. Please look at the Ports of Call section for information on your ports.

[Oceansaway17]

2 hours ago, Whentocruise said:

We are booked on Celebrity for Scandinavia and St. Petersburg, leaving May 14, 2022.

Looking for information of anyone who may be on this cruise and what excursions are not to be missed.

for Baltic cruising, I would stick to the ship excursions because if a port is cancelled, you will get refund immediately.  Also, I know yes folks like to save money and want a smaller group, but I did all the ship's excursions and we were along side all the smaller groups in each port and saw the same things,

AND, the ship will not leave without you if you are on one of their own excursions which is the best reason.

I do not fool around when overseas with prices as I prefer to be safe and protected by the ship.

And the excursions are vetted as well.  So do not think saving money as the best reason to take private tours.   Especially in Russia.  My tour guide opted to reverse the tour and got us to the Hermitage early before the crowds.  she was very good.

 

So do not miss the hermitage and do not miss seeing the Vasa museum in Stockholm.

 

[Purplsmurf]

We are also on this sailing and there is a roll call for it. We are doing our excursion through Celebrity. We are guaranteed to get our $ back if it gets canceled and they take care of the visa. If we run Late the ship won’t leave without us either! Also, we have a LOT of OBC to use so made sense to go that route 

[Bruin Steve]

Let me pass along a few extra notes here...

 

We've done FOUR cruises to St. Petersburg...

 

On our first visit (and our first cruise in Europe) we decided to stick with the ship's excursions...Now, we've learned better...

 

First of all, the ship's excursions do NOT take you to "all the same places"...there are some sites they simply cannot visit with 40+ people...and getting 40+ on and off the bus at each site takes time...On our shorex, we had only an outside photo stop at St. Isaac's, for example...it was supposed to be 10 minutes, off the bus for a quick photo...then some woman asked about rest rooms...next thing we knew, there were a couple of dozen people headed for the rest room...the stop ended up being about 45 minutes of the rest of us just standing around by the bus!

 

Second, in 60+ cruises, in which we've done a large number of private tours, we have NEVER missed the ship.   These recommended private tour companies are VERY good at timing their tours and knowing when the ship sails.  We were once on a private tour in Panama and one woman was concerned about our timing getting back to the ship.  Our guide assured her there was no problem...she said, first of all, our driver was monitoring the ship's CB radio with which it was communicating with the shorexes...and then she said "look behind our van...see those 4 or 5 large tour buses??  Those are the ship's shorexes!"  Especially nowadays with traffic-equipped GPS, there is very little reason for concern.

 

As to cancelation if something goes wrong with the cruise or ports, EVERY company I have communicated with regarding our upcoming cruises/ports has installed a very fair cancelation policy and will put it in writing.

 

Private tours beat shore excursions for a great many reasons...not just cost.  Smaller groups, more comfortable vehicles, better communication with your guide, ability to customize your tour.  Shorter wait times.

 

A couple of things SPB has done for us:

On one tour, we were there on the anniversary of the assassination of Nicholas and Alexandra.  When we visited St. Peter and Paul's they cleared the church of all of the tourists to close it for a special memorial service limited to families related to the Tsars...Our guide got us admitted!  The chapel only had about 30 people inside--the relatives...PLUS the 8 of us in our tour group and one other van of 8 on another SPB tour from our ship....It was absolutely COOL!!!

 

Also, along with the standard sites, we really wanted to include a visit to the Grand Choral Synagogue--something none of the cruise line shorexes visit...SPB fit it into the itinerary for us...

 

When we did the ship's shorexes, we did a night time visit to the Ballet...it was TERRIBLE--no AC, bad ballet...Yeah, some people just have to do that...and the private companies can do it too.  When we went, those private tours all had better seats than we had...But, on one of our cruises using SPB, we went on their night time canal boat ride and vodka sampling tour--incredible FUN!

 

Having done BOTH the shorexes AND private tours with SPB and with another company (Red October), I can tell you without reservation, that the private tours are FAR better.  I will NEVER take another shorex in St. Petersburg.

 

 

 

Edited February 7, 2022 by Bruin Steve

[Denny01]

I agree with Steve Bruin. we’ve done many private tours and Never got close to missing a ship departure, and many do not require prior payments and those that do have refunds if you don’t make it into port. And as to getting late into a port, the tour guides are well aware of any changes and make accommodations. Had one modify the tour because we got in 4 hrs late and still saw what we had set up. 

 

Going into a major port such as St Petersburg and especially overnight isn’t a worry about late tours and so on. Go with established tour companies and all goes well. they’d lose all business if they didn’t get you back on board. The people who miss ship departures are the ones who go wandering on their own or find some taxi ‘guide’ to take them around, in almost All cases. 

 

Den

[eetonaee]

We used SPB in St.Petersburg and Berlin in 2009.

Great to hear that Viktoria and company are still doing well.

just want to add my thumbs up to previous comments about SPB and private tours in general for Baltic cruises.

 

[BourbonNBluesLuvr]

Hi,

 

Another shout-out for SPB Tours ! We used them both in St P and in Germany, and had excellent guides both times. After our day tour in ST P, the owner Viktoria greeted each of us as we got out of the van, and enquired about our experiences. This was on top of the great service we experienced when we first contacted them before our trip…always prompt, professional and receptive to our needs and wants. After the cruise I contacted Viktoria to offer a suggestion that I thought would improve the tour we took in Germany…and a few weeks later she got back to me and advised that she had implemented my suggestion !

And the Vodka Canal Tour with them in the evening was superb…well I think so…perhaps my mind was a bit fuzzy !! 🤪🤪

 

A couple other suggestions of excursions you can arrange in other ports…although several ports are quite easy to walk and discover on your own.

 

In Copenhagen we did an e-bike tour that was a fantastic way to see quite a bit of the city, and then the guides and us all stopped at a favorite coffeeshop of theirs for coffee and pastries, and talks about their city and lives. Was a gorgeous morning, and helped us decide where we wanted to go and explore further in the afternoon…great fun !

 

In Stockholm for something completely different and exciting we did the Rooftop Walk Tour. Although I tried to book this myself, I had to book it through Celebrity, and as I found out, that’s because the Company was only offering it to Celebrity on that day. After the roof top walk the fantastic guides took us on a brief walking tour on the “ground” this time…and once again took us to their favorite coffee and pastry shop ! (Yes, besides being a bourbon, blues and beer luvr, I am a coffee addict) 😜

 

Enjoy…whatever you decide to do ! Great trip !

 

BBL

Edited February 8, 2022 by BourbonNBluesLuvr
Spelling

[Kathy53]

22 hours ago, Whentocruise said:

We are booked on Celebrity for Scandinavia and St. Petersburg, leaving May 14, 2022.

Looking for information of anyone who may be on this cruise and what excursions are not to be missed.

We will be on this cruise as well.  We booked the 2-day private tour (Premium Tour) with TJ TOURS, in St. Petersburg with 2 other couples who cancelled.  TJ Tours is attempting to include us with another tour so if you wish to be in a small group, we can chat to see if you are interested.

[kwokpot]

1 hour ago, Kathy53 said:

We will be on this cruise as well.  We booked the 2-day private tour (Premium Tour) with TJ TOURS, in St. Petersburg with 2 other couples who cancelled.  TJ Tours is attempting to include us with another tour so if you wish to be in a small group, we can chat to see if you are interested.

Just a shoutout for TJ Tours. Have used them AND SPB Tours and both are equally excellent!

[TeeRick]

We used Alla Tours in St. Petersburg for two days.  One of our best touring experiences ever.  Look at Trip Advisor for reviews and ratings for all of these tour companies.

[Oceansaway17]

On 2/7/2022 at 3:11 PM, Denny01 said:

 

 

Going into a major port such as St Petersburg and especially overnight isn’t a worry about late tours and so on. Go with established tour companies and all goes well. they’d lose all business if they didn’t get you back on board. The people who miss ship departures are the ones who go wandering on their own or find some taxi ‘guide’ to take them around, in almost All cases. 

 

Den

I only had one day in port and chose the safey of taking the ship's excursions of which many were fully booked. I can see if on an overnight perhaps a private tour, but really in this day and age, Russia is not some place I want to play around with.  I stick to the ship tours and they have always been great. I use my OBC too.

Private tours in some places of the world might be fine, just not Russia.

[Oceansaway17]

On 2/7/2022 at 11:30 AM, txtechmk said:

Following along as we will be on a Baltic cruise later in the year also....for the first time.

 

 

well just know that the decision between private tour vs ship tours can be quite the hot topic.

But for Russia, I played it safe and did ship tour and got to see the same things as other who went on small groups.  we were not rushed and it was great.

I hope your ship gets to dock in Stockholm proper as it is a rather neat view of the city.]

Tallin can be quite crowded but the upper area tour was worth it.

And any place in Norway is great.  I also like Helsinki which had a different vibe.  Make sure you get to the Rock Church too.

[Oceansaway17]

On 2/7/2022 at 2:26 PM, Bruin Steve said:

Let me pass along a few extra notes here...

 

We've done FOUR cruises to St. Petersburg...

 

Also, along with the standard sites, we really wanted to include a visit to the Grand Choral Synagogue--something none of the cruise line shorexes visit...SPB fit it into the itinerary for us...

 

I will say two things that I did love about my ship tour, first being high up on a bus I got a great view for photos.  Then the guide had a script that she stuck to with many interesting facts and stories. she also was aware of all the smaller guides and beat them to the hermitage and we got in first.

And when I was in port, they let the ship tours go out first and all the busses were full.

 

So while I am sure you liked your private tours, those who travel solo feel safer on the large buses that do a very good job and provide the same sights for first day touring.

 

I just hate hearing how folks do not like ship tours but they do sell well and I like sitting up high in a bus with a guide that has been vetted by the cruise line.

[Denny01]

I mentioned this early and no one has commented. But there is a high chance of conflict/war with Russia invading Ukraine. I realize that is a bit far from St Petersburg and the Baltic States, but the US, UK and EU have been threatening major restrictions being placed on Russia if it does invade. Also, Russia has made big talk on how it use to ‘own’ Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. We are all very concerned about how the Pandemic has impacted our cruising and so on and many including me have canceled cruises, but no ‘concern’ over visiting a country on the very of engaging in a conflict that the US and EU and UK all condem and will take actions against if it occurs???

 

I’ve been in war zones and it ain’t pretty; I’ve been in countries that are fighting wars and not in the actual combat zone and it can be very dicey especially if you are Not considered supportive. 

 

Just something to think about. Hopefully this all just a bluff by Russia to get concessions and they will pull back………but Russia has already invaded a few of it neighbors. We did a Black Sea cruise and were probably one of the last to get to go to the Crimea before Russia took it…….you aren’t missing much by the way. Enjoyed Bulgaria and Rumania stops more.

 

den