To those who have taken the St. Pete’s Denrus Value Excursion –? Re tips + lunch

[orchid72]

Hi,

 

Just wanted to pose 2 questions to those who have previously taken the Denrus *Value Excursion* Tour (please note I am NOT referring to the private customized tour):

 

 

• How much tip did you give your guide and driver? I’ve been searching the boards but have been getting varying answers. I think most of the information I’ve gotten relate to the private customized tour. I’ve read in the DenRus website and on some posts that tipping should be based on the western standards (recommended: 10% for the guide and 5% for the driver). If this were the case, tip would cost another $45US/person for the 2 days. At the risk of sounding cheap, I consider this quite excessive considering that a value excursion group could quite possibly consist of as many as 24 people. On the other hand, I’ve also read somewhere (I can’t remember where, though) that at the end of each day, the group should tip the guide about $60, and the driver, about $30. If you are a group of 20, that works out to be about $3/person/day for the guide and about $1.50/person/day for the driver (works out to $9/person for 2 days). As you can see, the difference in the recommended amounts is so huge that I am getting really confused as to what I should do. Please help!:confused:
  

 

 

• How did your group pay for your guide’s lunch? I also read in the DenRus newsletter that it is customary to invite your guide to join you for lunch. Again, I do not know if this is only applicable to the private customized tour, or if this is also applicable to the Value Excursion. If this is applicable to the Value Excursion as well, I am curious as to how everyone in the group chipped in to pay for the guide's lunch considering that lunch is included in the price of the tour. Again, please help!:confused:
  

 

Thanks in advance for your help. We leave in less than 3 weeks, and I just want to know the answers so that I can budget for our trip properly and have enough cash on hand. :)

[Drifting Happily]

We took the DenRus Value Excursion last July and loved it.

 

I was also very confused about how much to tip. My notes said we paid $20 per person for the guide, and $5 per person for the driver. That said, we did seem to be tipping more than anyone else. Others were tipping $20 for their group to the guide, and $5 per group for the driver, or less. Our group included a few families. We were extremely pleased with the quality of our tour, so were happy to tip well.

 

As far as the lunch, we did not pay for the guide and driver. I think that's just for private tours. They ate lunch with us, but at a separate table. Lunch was included, so no one paid for anything.

 

Enjoy your trip, and especially St. Petersburg!

[sunshine nana]

I read on another site that a nice crisp $10 bill per couple for the guide and $5 for the driver was sufficient. The tour is already expensive.

[orchid72]

thanks for the info, drifting happily and sunshine nana!

 

That clarifies things for me. Much appreciated.:)

[dfwguy62]

Everyone's tipping standards are different. I took the Value Excursion and believe I decided on $40 for the guide and $20 for the driver and I am a single person. I priced it based on the perceived value I got out of the two days. I had a fantastic time and thoroughly enjoyed every word the guide spoke during our time together. To me, $60 wasn't going to break my bank so that's what I settled on. But a couple things to note... if things unfold the way they did on my cruise, no one will need to know how much you tip. Even the recipients. They did not stop to look at what I handed them and the guests were somewhat lined up to get a moment of the guide/driver's time to say goodbyes and to quietly slip them the tip money. Give them what you're comfortable with, but no one will cause a scene if it is more or less than average. Secondly, lunch was included in the price for both days, so there was no money changing hands by anyone, including the guide as far as I could tell. I think DenRus had pre-paid or was billed later. We did not even tip the waiters or anything. Also, prior to leaving for the cruise last year, Denrus emailed me a document that I could print out and bring with me. It was sort of a user-guide/reminder of what would happen. One of the pages in that book made a reference to how much it might be appropriate to tip. It wasn't an outright amount, but some form of a hint (I suspect). I can't find it anymore to see the exact wording, but I used that as a guide for the amount in advance (and had crisp US bills based on that amount). You might look for this document if they still send it. I believe I then increased the amount after enjoying my two days. Have fun. It's a great city.