Rci-private Car Tours St. Petersburg

[Longin2cruise]

Anyone ever use the private car tours offered by RCI in St. Petersburg? In May 2005 I'll be on Jewel of The Seas & am exploring different options for tours. I'll be traveling solo, so a private car would be expensive, but I want to get the most out of the short time we'll be there. Another reason is that I'm having sporadic lower back problems which sometimes makes walking difficult. From reading these posts I take it that you have to make your own arrangements for using Red October or Denrus & hopefully RCI might be able to help me find someone to share expenses on one of their private auto tours. Thanks for any information anyone has.

[little flower]

I will be sailing on the Jewell of the Seas 5/1/05 - 5/26/05 and am looking for someone to share a tour with either Red October or Denrus. let me know where to contact you if you are interested.

Irene

[NancyIL]

I looked on RCI's site today for the private car/van tours, but they were not listed. I know they were available last year.

[NH Cruiser]

I printed the RCI 2004 excursions from their website before they took them down. The prices shown include a driver and English-speaking guide.

 

Car Half Day - 4 hours - $375 (1-3 people)

9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.

1:30 p.m. to 5:30 p.m.

 

Car Full Day - 8 hours - $700 (1-3 people)

9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.

 

Van Full Day - 8 hours $1,100 (4-10 people)

9:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.

[Longin2cruise]

Little flower,

 

I responded to another post from az.kuenh. They also are looking for someone to share private tour expenses for a van on the 5/15/05 Jewel sailing. Perhaps we can all get together. My e-mail is fawalton@aol.com. Hope to see you in May.

[realproperty]

We did a private tour for a group of 8 using the private tours arranged through Royal Caribbean. It was very easy, convenient and involved very little prior planning. We prebooked the guide and driver just like any other excursion. The excursion people then hold a meeting on the ship seeral days before you get to SP and find out from each group what you want to do. We had done some investigating of what SP has to offer and then we told the excursion people on the boat what we wanted to see. Frankly, in 2 days in SP, you will be seeing pretty much what everyone wants to see so there is no huge magic to it. We got off the boat, met the guide and off we went. The guide was ours for 2 full days (which is what we booked) but you can also book full and half day sessions and it involves tours for up to 4 in a car or mini-busses that hold up to 10 or 12. The beauty of the private tour is you can get to the 2 palaces first thing to avoid the rush and the bus tours. Catherine's and Peter's palace, first thing, one on each of the 2 mornings, restaurant lunches, Hermitage for as long as was reasonable, Coral synagogue, ride on the subway, a few churches, a supermarket, and some drives through some real neighbourhoods and that was 2 full days. The advantage for us was no visa arrangements (which when we went were needed if you did not use a ship excursion) and we were free to set our own pace and beat the bus tours to the 2 palaces which in my view is THE most critical thing. Especially if you have walking and back issues, you may well will want to set your own pace rather than be bound by the bus tours' pace and route.

 

If you are going solo, you probably have time to try to set up a small group for the private tour or alternatively go the other way with Red October or whomever. We know that people went to the meeting who had not prebooked and set up their own groups on the ship so prebooking was not essential and you don't necessarily need to have a group. Some people just latched on to existing groups that were not full. The ship excursion people then just arranged for more private tours. The cost (including guide and driver tip) when divided among the participants should not be much more than the cost of 2 full days of bus tours and the convenience made it very worthwhile.

[stanj]

.... The advantage for us was no visa arrangements (which when we went were needed if you did not use a ship excursion) and we were free to set our own pace and beat the bus tours to the 2 palaces which in my view is THE most critical thing.

 

I wanted to clarify this comment that could cause some confusion. The registered tour and excursions companies also bypass the requirement for a visa if you are accompanied by their official guide. That program has been in effect for a number of years. It might end in the near future however so everyone will need a visa but the final decision has not been made yet by the Duma. While these companies also offer large contract bus tours for the ships, most of their excursions are small private groups. By cutting out the middleman, the ship, visitors get a better deal than accepting the program offered by the ship. These ship excursions are conducted by the same tour companies which offer the non-ship private tours at a savings equal to the commission the ship receives for booking your tour. The large bus tours are another topic, I could not see myself visiting such a city on a bus with 43 other visitors, not exactly an intimate connection with such an otherwise accessible city. The biggest problem with the private tours is narrowing down the hundreds of open palaces and grand estates, cathedrals, 120 museums, dozens of galeries, parks and theaters to a small number to fill up 2 days. The Hermitage alone ought to take a museum hound several weeks of exploration. I wrote a story for a local St Petersburg English language newspaper last summer where I researched the palaces in the area. I found out that there are 5,600 palaces and grand estates in the city and surrounding area.. by far more than any other place on earth. Some are in disrepair but most have been restored to perfect condition and all have a facinating story to tell. I've spent my free time for years exploring this city and still not come to the end of new discoveries.

Have a great trip

Stan