Baltic Cruise- Eurodam- July 21, 2011

[vmcpa]

We will be sailing on the Eurodam and are trying to decide on excursions. Has anyone used another company besides booking with Holland America which are very expensive.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Have you checked with your Roll Call to see what others are doing?

Check here:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1176750

[RuthC]

In St. Petersburg, I highly recommend you book with one of the private tour companies. I went with Red October, but Alla, Den Rus, and others have also gotten great reviews.

The private tour might sound expensive, but I was able to see everything that was on each and every HAL tour. Besides that, we were able to cut to the head of the very long lines. The guide was right alongside our little group, so we were in front of the point of interest at the same time she was explaining it. We were able to ask questions easily.

[kazu]

definitely hit your roll call, check out cruise critic 'ports', trip advisor, etc.

When we did the Baltics in the old days you had to have a visa (which was very espensive) so we did the HAL tours.

Now that I much older and wiser :confused: I would have gladly paid the visa price and done a private tour. Don't get me wrong, Hal's tours were fine but I have seen the difference in private tours and I am now spoiled.

with an overnight stay you can't miss the boat. Just check if there are still visa requirements. I think have relaxed a whole lot since we went.

this is a tremendous opportunity and a wonderful cruise - one of the best - enjoy every second of it. one of our favourites inh all time. :):)

[iflyrc5]

Not sure where you are stopping. In Tallin we did a GREAT walking tour of the old city and surrounding with "Urban Adventures" Our guide was super - a native of Tallin who was going to fashion school in Paris - her english was better than many Americans and knowledge of area and history superior and the cost was $35 per person for a 4 hour tour . She took us to a local restaruant where the locals eat (not the tourist places) for lunch. Tallin is very hilly with cobblestones so good walking shoes are required.

In St. Petersburg we did a private tour (there were 6 of us) with Red October. This was again outstanding. Right to the front of the line in all the attractions - at Catherines Palace we were the first one's in the door that day. The highlight of the tour was our lunch with a Russian Family in their apartment. This was only $10 extra and a great addition to the trip. Here is a link to a youtube video of our lunch - the woman on the right at the end of the table was our guide.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ybCYpI48HdY
No problems at all with any of the tour and with Red October you actually work with their representative here in the USA. Cost is dependent on number of people but as I recall it was about $400 per person for 6 people for 2 full days of touring.

Recommend going to the Port section of the boards and looking around there - lots of good info.

[RuthC]

Just check if there are still visa requirements.
There are visa requirements for US citizens, but there's a choice between an individual visa and a group visa.
If you want to tour on your own, you need an individual visa. But if you are with a HAL tour, or an authorized Russian tour agency like Red October, Denrus, Alla, etc, you need a group visa. Either HAL, or the Russian agency, obtains the visa.

[Joy2Day]

We will be sailing on the Eurodam and are trying to decide on excursions. Has anyone used another company besides booking with Holland America which are very expensive.

Welcome! There are a couple of conversations going on about this in the Roll Call. Here is a link to that thread: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1176750

Feel free to join us over there.

[KirkNC]

As pointed out, you are in the right place as between your Roll Call and the Ports of Call section of CC you will find more info than you need. Use the search function and ask questions for anything you can't find.

To answer your question, we never use ship excursions. We either do private companies or do it on our own. You save big $$, have more flexibility and usually see alot more plus you are not in a cattle call.

Kirk