Baltic Shore Excursions: Silversea versus private?

Hello, I've read a lot of suggestions about good private tour groups especially in St. Petersburg, and lots of folks mention avoiding the otherwise long lines. Has anyone done the Silversea shore excursions in the Baltic? Can you please comment on their quality? I've not cruised Silversea but would think that they are a nice enough line that their shore excursions would be better than, say, HAL's. Am I being naive? I will appreciate any insight--thanks!

PRIVATE. PRIVATE. PRIVATE. Why would you want to sit in a bus with forty other people, have to return to the ship between excursions and pay more for the privilege???? Check out companies online like Denrus, Red October or Alla and see what they are offering. You will have your own car and guide, set your now agenda, be able to change at will, go to the head of the line at all sites. The guides are all excellent and you will not need a visa. They provide everything.

We've taken SS excursions and have been generally pleased. That said we've not done any in the Baltic (we did Baltic cruise on Regent prior to their "included excursions" strategy). What wripro says about St Petersburg is spot on. However, we found Stockholm, Copenhagen, Visby and Tallin are all quite doable on your own. So I think a Baltic itinerary presents you with a range of options:D from SS tour (probably most expensive; but you may have OBC you have to use somehow:p); to a private/semi-private guide (these range from full service like Red October or Denrus to transportation with commentary for an itinerary of your design (like Tours by Locals) with associated range of prices; to on your own with a map/Rick Steves walking tour guide/guide book of your choice. We even did an "on our own" driving tour of the Golden Circle in Iceland. Much less expensive than ANY guided alternative.

The nice thing about this part of the world is that it has a developed tourism industry and associated conveniences; so, DIY and private tours are IMHO low risk.

It really is about what you want to do, how much you want to drive the boat, and how much you want to pay. As an aside when we've set up private tours we've always found another couple or two that were willing to share the tour/costs.

Greg

We only felt we needed a guide in St Petersburg and Berlin so we booked private tours with SPB. The service was outstanding and the guides were excellent for far less money than SS. Some friends did take the Back to the USSR tour in Tallinn and had a blast.

Hello, I've read a lot of suggestions about good private tour groups especially in St. Petersburg, and lots of folks mention avoiding the otherwise long lines. Has anyone done the Silversea shore excursions in the Baltic? Can you please comment on their quality? I've not cruised Silversea but would think that they are a nice enough line that their shore excursions would be better than, say, HAL's. Am I being naive? I will appreciate any insight--thanks!

I am an owner of a small tour company offering private shore excursions/ tours in Tallinn. Though I cannot comment the quality of private shore tours in Tallinn vs. Silversea shore excursions in Tallinn (I haven´t done the latter); I would point out the following:

If you decide to do a private tour, check out the local Estonian companies first. You can see the list of the local tour operators in Tripadvisor, and the quickest/easiest way to find the list is to search for “things to do in Tallinn Tripadvisor” in /Google/Yahoo/any other engine; then click “Sightseeing Tours” as the attraction type in the menu in left. You´ll have access both to the webpages (given under each specific tour operator) and to the reviews.

There is no reason to worry about the quality, dedication, enthusiasm… - the existence and growth of those locally owned companies depends on your opinion and feedback: one single negative feedback would harm a lot.

We used TJ Travel in St Petersburg and would again. Teamed up with a couple from Israel. Had a roomy air comditioned van and we were able to determine what we wanted to see and what we didn't. Highly recommend. P..S. They were also very reasonable.

We are Alan and Chris from Bristol UK and interested in joining private tours.