Red October and Denrus guides

[2dogcarol]

I just got back from the Baltic Cruise and our group had Nadya from Denrus. She was so awesome I can't even begin to tell you. She spoke perfect English and was so knowledgable. She made history come alive for the 8 of us and we all wanted to read up on Russian history when we got home. She answered any question we threw at her-even personal one's about herself and her family. We were all teary eyed when we had to leave her at the end of our three days.

 

Andrew-Our group had all read about Ludmilla. We were in Peter's Palace and there was a tour guide behind us named Ludmilla. She was with an agency I had not heard of. This Ludmilla had shoulder length blond hair and was probably in her late 30's or early 40's. We all got the impression the other Ludmilla was older. Could this have been the infamous Ludmilla?

[cadreamer]

No, that was not our Ludmilla. She is in her late 50s and does not have shoulder length blond hair. It was not a Ludmilla sighting.

[luvzcruzn]

I recently used Denrus in St. Petersburg (mid-June) and there were eight of us. Ludmila was our guide. I guess I'm in the minority because I thought she did a great job. She definitely has a strong personality, but she was professional and is highly intelligent. Ludmila is opinionated and not afraid to speak her mind. I didn't take it personally, rather I saw her as an independent Russian woman who was not concerned about being politically correct. She freely shared her experience and views on life in the pre and post-Soviet Union. Was she abrupt if someone asked what she thought was a less than intelligent question? Sometimes, yes. But I don't think anyone took it personally or was put off by her. I do not think for a minute that she would intentionally offend someone. Most of us were amused by her impassioned responses.

 

I didn't go on the tour to be charmed. I went to see the sights, and to learn about the culture and the people. Ludmila doesn't sugar-coat history, life in Russia, male-female cultural issues, the economy, or her opinions. Again, I didn't experience the other guides to really make a comparison and clearly there are more pleasant and equally knowledgeable guides out there. But I don't at all regret having Ludmila as my guide and frankly, I found her to be honest and interesting. As for her flexibility, I have to say that I thought she went out of her way to be accommodating. Perhaps she has been counseled on this. Anyway, since there were only negative and no positive comments about Ludmila, I thought I should weigh in to say that I liked her!!

[Rick_VA]

We used Denrus in Mid-June and specifically asked not to get Ludmilla based on the preponderance of reviews on this board.

Although I did see Ludmilla on the pier (a Ludmilla 'sighting')...we had a 30-40ish red-haired gal named Olga -- she was absolutely fantastic. What I appreciated most about her was her absolute love for her city, knowledge of its history and art, and concern for her group. We had asked for an ambitious itinerary...and she got us through all of it, albeit rushed in a couple of spots. She was very knowledgeable on art and architecture. While some of us thought she had been schooled in one of those areas, she told us she had actually been a physicist. She was honest about parts of their history not to be proud of, but what I walked away with was a new appreciation for the Russian people -- especially their tenacity in rebuilding their city post-WWII after the terrible siege of Leningrad.

Several times over the 2 days she took care to warn us about pickpockets in various spots. When an older woman in our group had trouble keeping up on the Peterhof tour, she made arrangements with Denrus to have her picked up seperately and returned to the ship (at the woman's request).

 

I hadn't seen anyone else mention her yet, so wasn't sure if she hadn't been at this for a while or not. I believe everyone in our group loved Olga and would highly recommend her.

[workerbees]

We used DenRus for two days two weeks ago. We had Elena and Dmitry was our driver. Both were excellent. Elena used to teach English. I talk about our itinerary more in the thread "Anyone back from the Amsterdam Baltic cruise?"

 

Svetlana was who I set everything up with and I paid through the parent company in Florida.

 

I also highly recommend "Gala Evening in Yusupov Palace" with HA.

 

Don't worry about getting back to the ship with this group, they know exactly how to read the traffic or get around it.

 

AAL

[jdangelo]

We were on the June 17th sailing of the Constellation and went on a 2 day tour with Den Rus. There were fourteen people in our group and our outstanding tour guide was Ludmilla. She was most likely in her fifties, does tours six or seven times a week and was very bright and extremely knowledgeable about all of the sights. All of the folks on our tour thought she was great and that the tour itself was very complete and a very good value.

[shopgirl1964]

Just got back, we had Natalya (Natasha) - she was awesome. She is a professor of English at the university and has been leading tours for 20 years. Would highly recommend her to anyone, she even knew enough English to joke around with us, which has to be hard in a foreign language. :)

Meredith

[Sea Day Cruiser]

We had Elena from DenRus and she was wonderful. Having a guide for just a small group and not having to waste time getting on and off buses really made St. Petersburg a great place to visit. We were able to see so much more because of Elena.

[Fairport]

We just got back last week. We had Elena, for our Den Rus tour. She is an independent agent so she works for many tour agencies. She was great, couldn't have had a better guide.

[cathy_kearns]

We also had the red-haired Olga fro Denrus, and we agree, she was fantastic.

[cherylakers]

We just got back on the 15th. There were 6 of us in our group. It seems like everyone had a female, but we had Boris from Denrus. He was wonderful. We told him we wanted to be back at the ship at 5 p.m. on the 2nd day and he still wanted to show us more. He was terrific and I would highly recommend him.

[raymac46]

I'm thinking about booking either Red October or Denrus for our upcoming Baltics cruise on the Constellation. I was wondering the name of the some of the guides people have used and if they were good. I read that some were very good, while others just okay.

We went on the June 17th cruise. We booked with Red October and had Polina. She is a fantastic guide - honest, very knowledgable about art, history and Russian life, funny, and she doesn't hesitate to speak her mind if her group is being delayed or pushed to the back of a line.

Our driver was Igor and he is also a careful and efficient person. We would not hesitate to recommend Red october and Polina.

[dottiedef]

Jsut got back from the Star Princess Baltic cruise and we were in St P's on July 8-9th. We took the DenRus 2 day value tour and had Ludmilla as our guide. I was somewhat miffed at first because we had 31 in our group and I had been assured by Stan over the phone that there would be no more than 20 in our group. But I got over that quickly and worried about the fact that we had the "infamous" Ludmilla as our guide. Well, NO WORRIES!!! Everyone that I was travelling with(8 of us) thought that Ludmilla was an excellent guide. She was funny, informative, to the point, flirty with the men in our group-(she took quite a liking to my DH),and semmed very well organized. She was very honest about life now and in the former Soviet Union. We saw all that we wanted to see and more. I cannot say enough good things about Ludmilla. Thought that maybe you would like to hear another opinion after all the Ludmilla bashing that has been going on. I think we got exactly what was advertised except for the size of the group. Except for being too HOT, we had a great time in St P. Could see that they were getting ready for the G8 Summit. Police everywhere and had to take a detour to Peterhof.

[boom_boom]

Hi - We're just back from our cruise and used Red October. Victoria was our guide and all 4 of my group recommend her highly. She knew how to get to the front of the lines and was very articulate in describing the art and architecture of Russia along with the daily life of the city. We would ask for her again if we ever go back.:D

[RKATZ1949]

we just returned from the 24 july sailing of the star princess. we used red october and had a guide names elena. she asked us to call her helen. she teaches business english in a college in st pete. we were very happy with her and think she's the best guide in st pete

[virgenia]

We just returned from two days in St. Petersburg and did the Value Excursion tour with Denrus. From things said earlier on this board, I had specifically asked not to have Ludmilla as the guide. So how miffed was I when we got off the ship and met our guide, Ludmilla! HOWEVER, we loved her. She is extremely articulate, knows English as well as any US person, highly educated, and knows her city inside and out. It was a busy two days, but I think we all enjoyed her. She definitely is outspoken and particularly about men. She has nothing good to say about Russian men, so if you are sensitive about comments such as these, you should request another guide. She was not rude to any men in the group, but her opinions came thru loud and clear.

[hiyall]

Hi,

We just returned from a wonderful Star Princess cruise of the Baltic, and we used Denrus for our Russian tour. It was great, and I feel that I have to defend the tour guide named Ludmilla. I had read some not so good reviews of her as a guide and so I was somewhat taken aback to find that she was our tour guide. Ludmilla turned out to be a very knowlegable, funny and organized guide. My husband and I thought that we couldn't have been assigned a better guide. There were four fellow Americans on our tour that were pretty loud and obnoxious, and she dealt with them with more tact than I would have. So please don't worry about either using Denrus or Ludmilla. Both the agency and the guide are topnotch.

[c-to-sea]

Second the motion about Ludmila. We enjoyed her for 2 days - Aug 4 and 5.

We, too, had read some earlier comments and were a little apprehensive

when she greeted us off the ship. She was WONDERFUL. Yes, she is a bit

of a character and has some definite opinions. This only added to the charm

of enjoying her for the entire tour. Great communication skills, vast

experience (40 years as a tour guide) and encyclopaedic knowledge of

St. Petersburg and all of the sites we visited. In all of this she was ably

assisted by our driver, Alexei, who wheeled us in and out of the horrendous

Friday traffic to get us everywhere on time. We even learned a few choice

Russian phrases from him as he interacted with other drivers.

The Denrus Value Excursion is just that - great value and Ludmila is a

charming and skillful guide who simply does not suffer fools lightly.

(unlike some that we heard of from others on the ship who had gone with

the HAL excursions)

Cliff, Diana, Jim and Joyce.

[sandyruth]

just wondered if anyone has had allyona as a guide with RO?comments please although i'm sure she will be great

[pennstatefan]

We are doing a 2 1/2 day private tour in St. Petersburg (just 2 of us) through Red October with a guide and driver, off a RSSC Voyager Baltic cruise.

 

How much should we tip Alanya/Helen and our driver?

 

Thanks.

[gratefulguy]

I was one in a group of 13 who toured with RO (Alanya/Helen and Vladimir) in a van for a two-day (19 hours) tour Aug 2&3. I had read that 10% tip, split 70/30, was the normal tip. After seeing how hard each of the RO people worked to give us the most complete tour possible, I decided that the bare minimum I'd be comfortable giving would be 15%. So, for a total invoice of $269.00 (including Gold Room, 2 boxed lunches, and the Choral Synagogue), I gave Alanya $35.00 and Vladimir $15.00 in U.S. bills. I didn't ask the others in the group what they gave. As a single traveller, I tend to tip a little extra, so this may not be applicable to you. Also, your total bill will be much higher than mine!

Perhaps some couples will respond to your post, but I hope you will be as pleased with the tour as I was.

[bpolan]

we just returned from the Aug 2 sailing of the Century, and in St. Petersburg booked a 2 day private tour with Den Rus. Our guide was Elena (Helen) and she was incredibly good. Her english was flawless, she was incredibly knowledgable, and we NEVER waited in line to get into any of the sites we visited. Our driver was wonderful as well. I can't say enough good things about Den Rus, and our guide and driver.

The cruise was incredible, the ship great and the ports wonderful.

bpolan

[dog]

Are you doing a trip report? Can you briefly outline what you visited during the 2 days & how long you spent at the major sites. Thanks, J.

[bpolan]

hi, i will post a review soon. still unpacking! in a nutshell we did:

day 1: city highlights tour, choral synagogue (special request, day of tour), drove out to pushkin to see catherine's palace and gardens there, drove back to st. petersburg, had russian peroges for lunch, then went to peter and paul fortress, followed by a canal cruise. Additionally, our tour guide, elena (helen) also made time for shopping at two stores and the market place outside of church of spilled blood. On the city highlights tour, we got to stop and take pictures as well. we left the ship at 7:30 with absolutely NO problem, and returned by 6pm. day 2 we left at 8:30 drove out to peterhoff palace, spent 2.5 hours there both inside the palace and in the gorgeous gardens, took the hydrofoil to the hermitage (half hour ride). spent 3 hours at the hermitage, then went to church of spilled blood (toured the inside and took pics) and then to st. Issac's cathedral (again inside for pics). Elena got us back to the ship by 4:45, we departed at 6. Needless to day we were exhausted, but had a great time. There were 11 of us on the tour and all of us couldn't have been happier.

Hope this helps.

bpolan

[gratefulguy]

Here is a summary of the 2 day St. Petersburg tour we did with Red October on Wed/Thur, Aug 2/3, 2006.

It was planned by our tour "leaders" Rick Tordon and Trish Law, using RO's framework and the rest of the group's input. You can tailor your tour by e-mailing RO back and forth about places you want to see and how long you want to stay, but remember they have vast experience about what days places are closed (very strange schedules), traffic considerations, and what times result in the least congestion in popular rooms of the palaces. No matter how much you can pack into the 2-3 days, you will have to leave some "unmissable" sights until next time!

Day One: 10+hours

07:30 Pick-up along side ship and drive thru some main streets and squares.

08:30 Drive to Peterhof

09:30 Arrival and begin tour of Grand Palace

10:45 Go outside to tour Cascade and Lower Park with fountains, gardens, pavillions.

11:45 Board Hydrofoil to return to City--boxed lunch on way

13:00 Tour Hermitage--selected rooms and periods

(we included Gold Room)

15:45 Visit inside Sts. Peter and Paul Cathedral

16:30 Pay for tour and shop at RO office/Shop.

17:00 30-minute drive back to ship. (Constellation docked at Cargo Port--smaller ships dock closer in)

 

Day Two: 9 Hours

08:00 Depart ship for Pushkin (Tsarskoye Selo)

09:00 Arrive for inside visit to Catherine's Palace, including Amber Room

10:30 Stroll in Park

11:00 Drive back to City, more sightseeing on way--boxed lunch in van (was to be in Park, but a few sprinkles)

13:00 Inside visit to Church on the Spilled Blood.

13:30 Walk along Nevsky Prospect, Kuznechny Market, and inside visit to Kazan Cathedral

15:30 Special visit to the Choral Synagogue

16:30 Return to ship (totally thrilled and exhausted!)

Other groups reported being pleased with their trip to the Ballet (Swan Lake), and happy they chose private tours.

The cruise line was very accommodating of our early debarkation for the tour, giving us none of the hassle some posters had reported about last year's season. In fact, I was totally pleased with Celebrity's handling of all our port visits--very organized, polite, and helpful. I took two Celebrity tours (Tallinn Kadriorg Palace and Oslo Viking Heritage) because the time in those ports was short. Both were fairly priced and saved a lot of time.

Besides St. Petersburg, I thought the Vasa Museum in Stockholm was the most unique place of my trip. The museum itself is so well-planned and full of interesting ways to present the information, that you feel you have a good idea of what it would be like to be on that ill-fated, maiden voyage. It is also a great antidote to the glitz and glitter of all the treasures of the Palaces we had seen before. It may also be one of the few places on this itinerary where 5-17 year olds will be happy.

Hope you have a great time!