Grand Princess Baltic June 28

[KathyMG]

My husband and I will be visiting St. Petersburg Jul. 2 and 3, and planning a tour with Red October Tours, for Jul 3. Would anyone be interested in joining us for a 5-6 tour in St. Petersburg. We are interested in the Hermitage/Gold Room, St. Isaac's Cathedral, Peter and Paul Fortress, and Yusupov's Palace.
We're trying to lower the cost, if possible.

Thanks,
Kathy

[AZ Sunshine]

You know that you will need a tourist visa if you go off with local group .Check the price. Also are the guides adequate? I have been to St.Petersbug twice and am going with you on this cruise. I still would book the ships tour in Russia. Other places in the Baltic are another story .This will be my third cruise in the area.
Good luck whatever you decide to do. http://messages.cruisecritic.com/infopop/emoticons/icon_wink.gif

Make it a great day !

[Andee]

Red October is wonderful and has been recommeded a zillion times on a variety of travel message boards.

We spent an amazing two days with them in 2003. They sent us an excellent sample itinerary, and were very cooperative about tailoring it to our interests.

They provide a group visa, so you do not need to get one on your own. The limitiation (like with the group visas from the ship's shore excursions) is that you can't go off on your own. We didn't want to, so that wasn't an issue for us.

The cost (for four of us) was less than two all day shore excursions from the ship.

[KathyMG]

Sunshine,

Not only does Red October have a wonderful reputation, the idea of a small group is very appealling, and I've talked to many people on their tours that say they get into the major attractions much faster, even faster than the cruise line tours. To clarify, you only need a Visa if you go off by yourself. If you tour with a licensed Russian tour operator, you don't need a Visa.

Kathy