HELP - St. Petersburg tours, company reqired.........

Hi people. MY partner and I have just booked a Baltic trip on the P&O Arcadia, sailing on 25/07/2014.

I`ve been in touch with Red October, who were recommended as the best and cheapest way to see St. Petersburg. Unfortunately, as there are only two of us, it would cost $1,470 for a two-day tour, which does seen a tad expensive!

So are there any people out there booked on this cruise, who haven`t yet booked all their trips. As they say, two`s company, but a dozen is affordable.........

The local operators generally need to book 8 to 10 for std prices but as few as 6 for close-to-std prices.

Unfortunately the RollCalls for your cruise are really poor, we Brits don't tend to use them but I guess it's worth posting on them:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2014613

and

http://www.cruise.co.uk/forum/1495-2014-departures/40635-p-o-arcadia-25-july-2014-a.html

(you will need to register for that second one, but like CC it's free & reputable)

Since time is short I suggest you e-mail all the major players & express your interest - they all have excellent reputations - and book with one which already has (or with your booking will then have) the minimum numbers. You will find e-mail addresses on their websites & they normally respond within 24 hours.

We had exactly the same quandary a couple of years back on P&O's Aurora, but by using those RollCalls plus passengers who'd enquired direct with Alla we ended up with 20, spread over two minibuses !! So it can be done :)

These are the major players:

Alla Tours

TJ Travel

SPB Tours

Best Guides

DenRus

Anastasia Tours

(apols to any I've missed)

Their two-day tours are all similarly priced, most offer a choice of a "Grand tour", or a "Comfort tour" which misses out a couple of minor sights, most (all?) don't require any payment or even a card number until you are there, they all operate 16-seater minibuses, and as said they all have excellent reputations - just check back threads on this forum and on TripAdvisor.

If the worst comes to the worst, P&O now offer those small-group tours amongst their excursions. And I'd very strongly recommend a small-group tour, whether via a local operator or via the ship, over ship's large-group cattle-drives.

I wish you good huntin' - its well worth the effort.

JB :)

Whoiever you are, JB, thank you and bless you!

Hi. We're going early July, and have booked the Grand tour with Alla. The tour is a maximum of 16 people on a mini bus. The price, $300 (less than £160 each) is guaranteed even if the tour is not full! Visas etc covered. Alla came highly recommended!

http://www.alla-tour.com/

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Hi. We're going early July, and have booked the Grand tour with Alla. The tour is a maximum of 16 people on a mini bus. The price, $300 (less than £160 each) is guaranteed even if the tour is not full! Visas etc covered. Alla came highly recommended!

 

http://www.alla-tour.com/

 

 

Something wrong with your maths there ;)

$300 p/p for the two-day Grand tour will cost you around £190 each, but still excellent value.

Since prices are quoted in USD, we took cash dollars - it avoided any confusion over prices & exchange rates.

We also took some Roubles, enough to tip the guide. Not essential, street traders take all major currencies & souvenir shops also accept plastic, but we always like to have some local currency. Came in handy for beers with our lunch instead of table water - restaurant didn't accept foreign currency or plastic - and we made up the tip shortfall with euros.

Arcadia is a lot smaller than your Azura - she's a similar size to our Aurora and Alla & the others wouldn't guarantee a tour/price unless they got 8 to 10 pax.

BTW, the tour operators don't actually provide visas, these tours come under the Russian govt's visa-free concession on cruise visits for tours with recognised operators, incl all those listed & ship's tours. The tour ticket e-mailed to you by the tour operator (or for ship's tours the tour ticket delivered to your cabin) gets you through immigration without a visa.

Everyone will have to complete an immigration slip, similar to those given out on many international flights. Not to be confused with visas. Those slips are freely available from Guest Relations on-board, to avoid delay complete them before you go ashore. You need just the one - you don't need one for each time you go ashore.

JB :)

Something wrong with your maths there ;)

$300 p/p for the two-day Grand tour will cost you around £190 each, but still excellent value.

 

Since prices are quoted in USD, we took cash dollars - it avoided any confusion over prices & exchange rates.

We also took some Roubles, enough to tip the guide. Not essential, street traders take all major currencies & souvenir shops also accept plastic, but we always like to have some local currency. Came in handy for beers with our lunch instead of table water - restaurant didn't accept foreign currency or plastic - and we made up the tip shortfall with euros.

 

Arcadia is a lot smaller than your Azura - she's a similar size to our Aurora and Alla & the others wouldn't guarantee a tour/price unless they got 8 to 10 pax.

 

BTW, the tour operators don't actually provide visas, these tours come under the Russian govt's visa-free concession on cruise visits for tours with recognised operators, incl all those listed & ship's tours. The tour ticket e-mailed to you by the tour operator (or for ship's tours the tour ticket delivered to your cabin) gets you through immigration without a visa.

 

Everyone will have to complete an immigration slip, similar to those given out on many international flights. Not to be confused with visas. Those slips are freely available from Guest Relations on-board, to avoid delay complete them before you go ashore. You need just the one - you don't need one for each time you go ashore.

JB :)

Actually I hit the 6 instead of the 8, oops! The exchange rate is improving daily! The current business rate would make it just over £177. Obviously you would get a little less, but still under £180.

;)

Everyone will have to complete an immigration slip, similar to those given out on many international flights. Not to be confused with visas. Those slips are freely available from Guest Relations on-board, to avoid delay complete them before you go ashore. You need just the one - you don't need one for each time you go ashore.

JB :)

Hi John, I know this was the case right up to our leaving on our cruise on Legend of the Seas in May but when we arrived in SPB there were no immigration forms available. Panic! But we were told that the rules had changed and they were no longer required. There was a bit of disbelief and apprehension but we just had to go along with what we were being told and sure enough all that was required at immigration was a passport and a tour ticket. Sigh of relief!

So it appears the rules have changed and immigration forms are no longer required.

Cheers

Anni.

Hi John, I know this was the case right up to our leaving on our cruise on Legend of the Seas in May but when we arrived in SPB there were no immigration forms available. Panic! But we were told that the rules had changed and they were no longer required. There was a bit of disbelief and apprehension but we just had to go along with what we were being told and sure enough all that was required at immigration was a passport and a tour ticket. Sigh of relief!

So it appears the rules have changed and immigration forms are no longer required.

Cheers

Anni.

Thanks for the update, Anni.

Just shows how info can so quickly go out-of-date :rolleyes:

JB :)

Agree with John, thanks for the update Anni.

Great to know these new and helpful changes.

Cheers

Len

Just got my dollars to pay for the Alla trip. At today's rate the trip costs £178.57 each! Quite pleased!

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Just back from a cruise on Brilliance of the Sea, used Alla for a comfort tour also did a tour with them in Helsinki and Tallin ,total for the 3 tours was USD336.00 each.good value.In SPB 11 of us in a minivan,guide was very good (Catherine), was long days , and queues though as tourist you do get to skip lines, though 5 cruise ships in port so lots of other tourists.The lunches provided where excellent on day 1 at a replica of the summer palace with 4 courses on day 2 at a restaurant opposite the hermitage with 5 courses

Glad to hear that, Threetowner14. We`ve now booked with TJ Travel, after loads of humming and haaing, though I can no longer remember why we didn`t go with Alla!

We visited SPB last September. We had booked the 2 day Comfort Tour with Alla. When we arrived in SPB there were only ourselves and one other couple from our ship on the tour. It was excellent as it was just like having a private tour and the itinerary and timescales could be adjusted to suit the four of us.

Would definitely book again with Alla.

We originally planned to use Alla Tours for our three days in St. Petersburg in June 2014. I am so happy that we chose to use TJ tours instead. Our guide was amazing and very experienced. TJ limits their tour to 12 people. They use the hydrofoil to return to the city from Peterhof, which saves a lot of driving through traffic time. The small size of our group and the experience of our guide frequently allowed us to bypass long lines and to waltz directly into many major sites. We also were able to visit a subway, a farmers market, and some wonderful local restaurants along with all of the major sites. Our group requested a stop at the synagogue,which was not part of the tour itinerary, and we were accommodated at no extra charge. Please consider looking at TJ over Alla. I believe that you will be happy if you make the comparison.

We originally planned to use Alla Tours for our three days in St. Petersburg in June 2014. I am so happy that we chose to use TJ tours instead. Our guide was amazing and very experienced. TJ limits their tour to 12 people. They use the hydrofoil to return to the city from Peterhof, which saves a lot of driving through traffic time. The small size of our group and the experience of our guide frequently allowed us to bypass long lines and to waltz directly into many major sites. We also were able to visit a subway, a farmers market, and some wonderful local restaurants along with all of the major sites. Our group requested a stop at the synagogue,which was not part of the tour itinerary, and we were accommodated at no extra charge. Please consider looking at TJ over Alla. I believe that you will be happy if you make the comparison.

Ahhh, but have you toured with Alla? ;)

Or any other St Petersburg operator?

Our experience with Alla is that we could have copied your post word-for-word - but swapped TJ's & Alla's names :)

Elsewhere in the world, Cruise Critic & other forums like TripAdvisor give mixed reviews for different operators, as you'd expect.

But in St Petersburg both Alla & TJ are highly-rated by all forums - along with Best Guides, SPB, DenRus & the others

There's little difference in prices, itineraries, quality of guides, group sizes, vehicles, other transportation (yes, we took the hydrofoil. And the metro) & everything else, including "the extra mile"

I've laughed out loud seeing posts from cruisers who've put everything on spread-sheets trying to figure which is best. :D

So which of them is best?

Easy.

They all are. :).

JB :)

[quoteAhhh, but have you toured with Alla?

Or any other St Petersburg operator?

Our experience with Alla is that we could have copied your post word-for-word - but swapped TJ's & Alla's names

]

Let me add, we used SPB Tours and like John said, take out TJ and substitute SPB Tours and you could have been on our tour.

Unless one has been there more than one time and used different tour companies, we all rave about the one we did use and we really have nothing to compare with.

I am of the Jewish faith and when we asked if there were any synagogues that we could visit, our guide took us to the Grand Choral synagogue, even though it wasn't on the itinerary. I guess what one starts, all follow.

Cheers

Len

We originally planned to use Alla Tours for our three days in St. Petersburg in June 2014. I am so happy that we chose to use TJ tours instead. Our guide was amazing and very experienced. TJ limits their tour to 12 people. They use the hydrofoil to return to the city from Peterhof, which saves a lot of driving through traffic time. The small size of our group and the experience of our guide frequently allowed us to bypass long lines and to waltz directly into many major sites. We also were able to visit a subway, a farmers market, and some wonderful local restaurants along with all of the major sites. Our group requested a stop at the synagogue,which was not part of the tour itinerary, and we were accommodated at no extra charge. Please consider looking at TJ over Alla. I believe that you will be happy if you make the comparison.

So glad you enjoyed your private tour with TJ Travel....so did we...the difference was for us that it was just my DH, myself, guide & driver...talk about a VIP trip of a lifetime...AMAZING !!

A + for T J Tours in St. Petersburg Russia. We were a group of 23 aboard the Celebrity Eclipse visiting St. Petersburg for two days this Spring. T J Tours went beyond expectations in every phase of our tour with them. Using email and Skype, booking our group of 23 was easy. Tatiana and her staff were easy to reach, and responded quickly to all the arrangements and changes that came about as the dates grew closer.

By booking with them we did not need separate visas. They sent all paperwork ahead by email so we were good to go as soon as we docked. Passing through Russian Passport Control was a snap. The T J team was waiting for us in the cruise terminal. A large, comfortable bus was there, as well as two guides. The guides were absolutely first rate. Their English was perfect and their knowledge was spot on. They were very open to questions, and had a lot of personal stories to share that enriched our understanding of life in Russia today.

We were often split into two groups so those that needed to move a bit slower were accommodated, while the others were allowed to go forward at a faster pace. The use of wireless earpieces worked to keep everyone in the group able to hear, while allowing a bit of wandering off as well.

All the expected stops were made, and a few unexpected ones as well. The short ride on the subway was a real highlight. The visit to the synagogue, and the short performance by the Cantor was amazing, and enlightening.

The price for our group was less than the shipboard equivalent and much more personal.

T J Tours gets my highest recommendation.

Keep `em coming, people - all very encouraging!

We had an excellent tour with Alla last weekend. Our guide, Alexander, was first class. Excellent sense of humour too! Highly recommend.

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We went with Insider Tours

Fantastic. Would use them again if ever return.

Ahhh, but have you toured with Alla? ;)

Or any other St Petersburg operator?

Our experience with Alla is that we could have copied your post word-for-word - but swapped TJ's & Alla's names :)

 

Elsewhere in the world, Cruise Critic & other forums like TripAdvisor give mixed reviews for different operators, as you'd expect.

But in St Petersburg both Alla & TJ are highly-rated by all forums - along with Best Guides, SPB, DenRus & the others

There's little difference in prices, itineraries, quality of guides, group sizes, vehicles, other transportation (yes, we took the hydrofoil. And the metro) & everything else, including "the extra mile"

 

I've laughed out loud seeing posts from cruisers who've put everything on spread-sheets trying to figure which is best. :D

 

So which of them is best?

Easy.

They all are. :).

 

JB :)

I totally agree. I used SPB in St. Petersburg and Alla in Stockholm and they are both top notch. I am sure though that if I had used TJ I would probably be saying they are top notch. Competition is fierce in St Petersburg. The tour guides are high caliber. If a tour company has been around 7 plus years its because they are very good and use good guides. A lot of guides are self employed and do per diem tours for several companies. Prices do not vary much as the companies don't want to lose business and so will generally adjust to the going rate. Most companies will tailor the tours to meet your needs. I don't think you will go wrong with any of the top companies. Check their websites and see what appeals to you personally. But don't sweat it.:)

All in all, i do believe this has turned into a very successful thread - thanks all!

We used TJ Travel for a private 2 day tour for 3. Our guide was fabulous & so accommodating & attentive to our needs. I highly recommend them.

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Just returned from a Princess cruise to the Baltics. Checked with several tour companies for a private tour for the two of us in SPB (not our first time there). After all the emails and questions, Alla turned out to be less expensive (private driver and guide for two days) than the ship's bus tours as well as all the other companies we contacted before leaving the states. Alla was very easy to work with and we were allowed to decide where we wanted to go and for how long. We sort of winged it, you could say and fashioned our own two day tour. It was more than great, it was excellent and we have never had a guide (Olya) and driver (Alexander) more friendly and willing to go where WE wanted to go. We have four friends traveling to the same area next month and they, too, are already booked with Alla. In our book, you can't go wrong, especially for a smaller, personalized tour.