Baltic Cruise

Two of us booked on Jewel of the Sea Baltic cruise, summer 2012.

Is it better to do St Petersberg tour with the cruise line or book our own private tour? If the latter, any suggestions? Thanks

This should be posted on the Ports of Call section to get more answers, but rather than simply direct you there, I will give you some thoughts.

We did all private tours in St. Petersburg (3 days). There were 8 of us, and the company we used TJ Tours used a small van that had seating for probably 14, but that was just fine. There are lots of good tour companies in St. Pete.

Private tours give you the ability to add things that you will hear about (on the Ports of Call boards and elsewhere) (hint here, ask to see some subway stations), move around more nimbly in traffic, get a more intimate tour, and not be held up by the slowest person out of a group of 40 or more. We were able to go into a small pie shop for lunch one day, and a bus could not have done that. Our guide took care of helping us order, paid in rubles and let us pay her back, etc. The same at the summer palace -- we ate in the restaurant there, but a busload would not have been able to do so.

If you go on your Roll Call (see the Roll Call section) you can try to find others that will be interested in sharing the tour with you. Just two people on a private tour will be expensive, but by the time you get 6 or 8, you are ahead of the game, and will have a much better time.

You will hear possibly from the cruise line that if you take a private tour, you are the last to get off the ship, and they might claim that that is Russian procedure, but this simply is not true. When the times comes, they will not restrict you from leaving.

You do need to be very sure that you have your tickets for each day -- they will be emailed to you -- as you need those to get through Russian immigration each day in order to get to your tour. Each day's ticket assures the authorities that a proper tour company has arranged for your visas. They will also put a small piece of paper in your passport, and you have to return that each day when you go back through passport control. You will go through the same procedure each day, or each time you go ashore.

We did use a ship's tour to go to the ballet one evening, as that was simply the easiest way to do that. That day, we got back from our private tour a little early to give us time to get a few minutes' down time, get an early dinner, and get on our way.

There are always a few people who pass along dire warnings about private tours, and the ships won't wait if you are late, etc., etc., etc. We have used private tours almost everywhere we have gone. Private tour companies would go out of business if they allowed their customers to miss their ships. It happens so rarely as to not be worth discussing, and private tour companies will arrange to get you to the next port should that happen. Almost everyone who is late is out on their own, and not on a private tour.

While we have done a few ship's tours, by and large the private tours are better, more enjoyable, more instructive, and usually cheaper. St. Petersburg has a ton of things to do and see, and the faster you can move and the more you can cram in, the better off you are. There more than many ports!

Have a great time. But head over to the Ports of Call section, ask a lot, read a lot, and get some ideas.

A private tour !!! We also used TJ Travel for our 2 days in St Petersburg (Aug 2010) onboard the Jewel..Just DH and myself with a driver and guide..An experience of a lifetime and worth every $$... ENJOY !!!

Two of us booked on Jewel of the Sea Baltic cruise, summer 2012.

Is it better to do St Petersberg tour with the cruise line or book our own private tour? If the latter, any suggestions? Thanks

Welcome to Cruise Critic.

Here is a link to the Northern Europe Ports of Call Board where I would recommend posting this question.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=192

Keith

Two of us booked on Jewel of the Sea Baltic cruise, summer 2012.

Is it better to do St Petersberg tour with the cruise line or book our own private tour? If the latter, any suggestions? Thanks

We booked excursions via the ship, and I will say that St. Petersburg was the absolute highlight of the cruise. I was skeptical that I would enjoy Russia, but would love to go back. We took what was called the "through the eyes of the Russian people" tour and found it outstanding. Did a grocery tour and an underground subway tour. (Don't miss the SUBWAY in my opinion) !!!! Also stopped at a market to sample the stuffed breads. Again awesome!!!

Load up the camera - I took zillions of photos, (and kept a little notepad to make photo/notes of some of the more difficult places to remember).

What others have said about having documents for Russian inspection is right on, and while the inspectors are not very cordial or speedy, it was not a bad experience at all.

I am sure you will enjoy it !!!!!!!!!!!