Value/set tours with private companies

[Jolynn2262]

I am looking into one of the tours by Alla or Denrus that are considered the value tour or regular shore excursion, not a private one where you set the itinerary. I'd like to do a private one but being solo, I don't know if it's feesible unless I meet people on roll call. Anyway, my questions are:

 

1. If you do their preplanned tour, are you in a big bus like all the rest of the cruise ship passengers? I have read over and over that the private tours are so great because you aren't with a hord of people. Has anyone value toured with either company? Was it in a van also or a smaller bus

instead of a large tour bus?

 

 

2. Also, I read one nightmare story about trying to get off the Princess ship because of being with a private company. What do the rest of you say about it from Princess who have gone the private route? Did they seriously discriminate against you (only one unorganized line, much waiting, wasted time) or was this an isolated incident?

 

I'll be on the Crown Princess and it isn't until next July but I love to do my research so I can make the best of my vacation time.

[jstducky]

I believe that only DenRus has value tours. I do not believe that Alla does. I took Alla's tour this past July and I know she wasn't offering Value Tours.

 

I haven't taken the DenRus tour, but I believe that the size of the tour depends on how many people book the Value Tour, so you're never quite sure what the number will be. But I've read reviews before where a couple booked the Value Tour and they were the only ones, so the tour was conducted with just the two of them and it basically was like having a private tour but paying for a value tour

[thehen]

Just returned from the Baltics and did the Denrus Value Tour. We were a group of 16 in a mini-bus. This was a great tour, and the guide, Nadya, was a gem. No problems disembarking the ship. We were told that anyone using a private tour in St Petersburg needed to leave the ship prior to 8 am (when the ship's tours would begin to leave), or wait until 9:30 am (after they had departed). No problem!! We had been told to meet Denrus on the pier 30 minutes after the ship had cleared. From the promenade deck, I could see the guide and driver waiting for our group. We were all off and on our way to tour before 8 am.

 

elaine

[GuideDiva]

I am looking into one of the tours by Alla or Denrus that are considered the value tour or regular shore excursion, not a private one where you set the itinerary. I'd like to do a private one but being solo, I don't know if it's feesible unless I meet people on roll call. Anyway, my questions are:

 

1. If you do their preplanned tour, are you in a big bus like all the rest of the cruise ship passengers? I have read over and over that the private tours are so great because you aren't with a hord of people. Has anyone value toured with either company? Was it in a van also or a smaller bus

instead of a large tour bus?

 

 

2. Also, I read one nightmare story about trying to get off the Princess ship because of being with a private company. What do the rest of you say about it from Princess who have gone the private route? Did they seriously discriminate against you (only one unorganized line, much waiting, wasted time) or was this an isolated incident?

 

I'll be on the Crown Princess and it isn't until next July but I love to do my research so I can make the best of my vacation time.

I would like to offer a few comments;

I do not know of a fixed price set itinerary other than the DenRus Value Excursion option but most of their tours are private custom tours. The Value excursions are limited to 30 people so if 34 sign up there will be two 17 member groups.

They introduced a new feature this year that is popular with visitors, wireless guides radio system so everyone can hear even a whisper by the guide. I wish I had that with the tours to the Hermitage or canal cruises.

 

There have been recent reports of Princess hiring a security guard to intimidate passengers who are not going on their tours, telling passengers they could only use one line but that is against immigration office rules and a complaint was filed by one of the immigration officers. I doubt if they are allowed to do that again. There are 6 lines and only one has a sign for Independent Visitors. There must be some confusion with what that means. Independent visitors are those with visas which must be processed just like in an airport. Only a few people in the entire ship passenger list have visas so this one line is also used for anyone else with or without visas also. All 6 lines can be used by anyone that does not have a visa, because they are not Independent Visitors, they are sponsored by a tour company. That includes the name tour companies and ship tours because they are all the same, tour conducted by Russian tour companies hosting their clients as either individuals or a bus load from the ship. All visa free tours are conducted by private companies including the tours sold by the ship.

 

If Princess does this again, ignore the security person, the one I saw did not speak English and so was not listening to anyone. The correct response would have been to ignore his directions(he has no authority since is was not working for the government but was hired by Princess, which also has no authority in the matter) and do as the immigration officials request, get into the shortest line. If this procedure is followed the wait is only a few minutes, the lines move very quickly compared to airports.

[dog]

Cruise Diva,

Thanks for the information on the Immigration lines. Very helpful.

 

OP---I'm touring with R.O. which will put together groups for you with the number of people you want and visit where you want.

I used the Russia office, not the US one.

They have been great getting back to me by email within a day or two.

 

dog

[In Toronto]

We sailed with Celebrity Century this July and ran into the same problem in St. Petersburg.

 

First of all, we were told that if we were on a Denrus tour, we had to meet in the Rendez Vous lounge and wait to be escorted off the ship after the ship's tours were on their way. Because of reading the advise of Cruise Critic members, we ignored that and started making our way off the ship directly from our cabin.

We were stopped by an officer of the ship who wanted to know which tour we were on. After responding "Denrus", we were again told that we had to meet in the lounge. We just waved at him and continued. He then called to us that we would not be allowed through immigration. When I asked who would not let us through, he said "The Russian Immigation people". After an exchange of "Yes, they will." and "No, they won't.", we walked off the ship.

 

Then, as 'GuideDiva' said we were also told we must wait in a huge lineup while 5 other lines moved rapidly. After 5 minutes or so of not moving, we joined 1 of the other lines and were through in a couple of minutes.

Really leaves a bad taste in our mouth about Celebrity ethics.

 

By the way, our Denrus Value tour was excellent. Our guide was Anna. We travelled in a small bus with 15 people total. We had no problem getting into the palaces and museums. Waited at the most 5 minutes at Peterhof. They also used the wireless guide radio system. Works very well.

Highly recommend Denrus Value Tour

[geekybiker]

First of all, we were told that if we were on a Denrus tour, we had to meet in the Rendez Vous lounge and wait to be escorted off the ship after the ship's tours were on their way. Because of reading the advise of Cruise Critic members, we ignored that and started making our way off the ship directly from our cabin.

We were stopped by an officer of the ship who wanted to know which tour we were on. After responding "Denrus", we were again told that we had to meet in the lounge. We just waved at him and continued. He then called to us that we would not be allowed through immigration. When I asked who would not let us through, he said "The Russian Immigation people". After an exchange of "Yes, they will." and "No, they won't.", we walked off the ship.

 

Totally agreed. Ignore what your cruise people say and just walk off the ship, and get in whatever line in the shortest. The Russian immigration people couldn't care less as long as you have the right papers.

[cms55]

Hi,

 

We were on Star Princess this past July and did the Denrus tour. We were on a full size bus but had only 17 people. It was wonderful and our guide Eleana was a prize. It was a fabulous tour and since we were a small group we were able to stop at a couple of other churches since we had extra time. They did take us to THEIR shops for souvenirs, the first being very pricey but the second was reasonable enough to buy their wares. :) Well worth the money. The ship told us that we could not leave until THEIR tours left but Denrus sent us an email telling us that they could not do that. Therefore, we walked off at the assigned time that Denrus gave us which was much earlier than the ship tours so we got to see so much more. They also told us that we could not disembark in Helsingor, Denmark if we were not on a ship tour. I wrote to the tourism bureau there and was told that we could disembark any place we chose. The ship said we had to get off in Copenhagen. We had a railpass for pre and post cruise touring, so we wanted to get off in Helsingor, tour and then take the train to Copenhagen for our last night on the ship.

 

If you have any further questions, you may email me at:

mothernatureofindy@Insightbb.com

 

Happy planning:) ,

cms

[2ptu/000]

We did a Denrus Value tour this August. It was the best decision we made. We were on Holland America's Veendam. Holland America gave us no trouble getting off the ship. We were off the ship by 7:30 and on our way shortly after that. No problem going through Russian Immigration. Looked at our passports and tickets and we were through. We were on a large bus with about 22 people. Guide was wonderful. She was independent and works for Denrus and other companies too. We had ear pieces so we could here her perfectly in the Hermitage and Petrahof. Would have loved to see inside of church of spilled blood and Catherine's Palace but you just can't do everything. We saw so much more then people on ship's tours. Denrus was so easy to deal with. Charge wasn't put through until just before our trip. I would do this again! They had us back early so no sweat about missing the ship.

[Jancruiser]

We just got back from our Jewel of the Seas Baltic cruise and a few days in London. We did a Denrus tour in St. Petersburg, and have absolutely no complaints. Getting off the ship was no problem; we DID have to wait til they let off the four or so groups who were headed for Moscow, because they had a flight to catch--that was understandable and not a problem---the staff wasn't quick enough to explain why those people were allowed ahead and there were some aggravated folks, but it all was ironed out in the end. The tour itself couldn't have been better. We were with fifteen in a clean van, with a quiet driver and an excellent guide, Olga. We seemed to have beaten the crowds and had no problems at any of the various stops. The cruise on the Neva River was so beautiful. I would recommend DenRus without any qualms. Two lunches were included in the tour, and even these were great--beautiful restaurants, good food, and a glass of champagne and a shot of vodka. The ONLY complaint we had on the tour had nothing to do with DenRus. We had a man on our bus who made us embarrassed to be associated with him, if only by nationality. He was loud and rude to Olga; I was holding DH back from taking him aside but it got to the point where I could see that EVERYONE in the group felt the same way we did--then I gave him the go-ahead to "take him out," but the man seemed to settle a bit after that. Talk about The Ugly American. On the second day, at lunch, we noticed him gathering up the vodka and champagne that others didn't want and assume that perhaps the alcohol was what unleashed his mouth. I think each of the other 14 people on that bus apologized to Olga, assuring her that in general, American mothers raise their kids with more manners than that!!