Closing times for palaces in St. Petersburg

[blondie1234]

Do the Princess excursions go to Peterhof and/or St. Catherine's Palace even on days when they are "officially" closed? The May 25th sailing of the Star Princess will be in St. Peterburg on a Monday and Tuesday, and according to the websites for the palaces they are closed on both days!

[dileep]

We were in StP on a Monday on Celebrity last year and we toured the gardens and fountains at Peterhof and the small Catherine Block Palace with Red October. However, they did open for tour groups from the ship on that Monday. A Princess ship was in port right next to us.

 

We visited Catherine's Palace and Hermitage on Sunday.

[Juliadlf]

We are also sailing Princess.

 

What we have found is that some tour companies will have access to sites which may be closed to the general public on certain days. I couldn't imagine Princess offering a tour to a place that wouldn't be open unless something happened which would be beyond their control.

Bad press and no one would book with them in the future.

 

Also as a side note, recently during our process to get itineraries from various tour companies we had a bit of confusion as to what was actually open on what days. Website said one thing but the tour company we choose said it was open. It ended up being a mistake on the website.

 

Julia

[workerbees]

Hey Julia,

 

My friend and I will be in St. Petersburg Sunday and Monday. I have read conflicting reports as to whether Denrus can take us to the Hermitage on Monday so I wasn't sure if it was worth it to take the intro tour with Denrus Sunday and the HAL tour Monday to Catherine's palace and the Hermitage?

 

Also did you or anyone else go to the theater because I'm debating whether to go to the Mariinsky or the Mussorgsky?

 

Anyone gone on the Lapland side tour out of Helsinki with HAL?

 

Thanks for your help, I have learned an incredible amount from postings on this site.

[Juliadlf]

Hey Julia,

 

My friend and I will be in St. Petersburg Sunday and Monday. I have read conflicting reports as to whether Denrus can take us to the Hermitage on Monday so I wasn't sure if it was worth it to take the intro tour with Denrus Sunday and the HAL tour Monday to Catherine's palace and the Hermitage?

 

Also did you or anyone else go to the theater because I'm debating whether to go to the Mariinsky or the Mussorgsky?

 

Anyone gone on the Lapland side tour out of Helsinki with HAL?

 

Thanks for your help, I have learned an incredible amount from postings on this site.

 

workerbees: The issue we had was not with the Hermitage but with Peterhof and whether the group would be able to tour Montplaisir on a Monday. In the end, DenRus was right and we could tour it on Monday.

 

Advice/Lessons learned: When in doubt contact the tour operator directly for clarification and also include in your communication where you are getting the conflicting information from.

 

We sail later this summer on Princess so can't answer your theater question but I'm sure there are others on this board who have gone.

 

Enjoy your cruise.

 

Julia

[workerbees]

I've decided to do both days with DenRus. Thanks for the advice and enjoy your cruise too.

 

AA