Den Rus tours St Petersburg

We are due to cruise the Baltic with Princess at the end of the month I have just read two member reviews which mention DenRus tours I was wondering if anyone had any information about them. We are particulary interested in St Petersburg.

We are first time cruisers and were wondering if we would be disadvantaged by not booking the ship tour which is much more expensive.

Thank you very much any advice.

Look in the Baltic section of CC. http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?s=&daysprune=-1&f=192

There are tons of info on this company. Most I had read are very positive.

IMO - you are far better off doing private tours.

Denrus has lots of positive reviews under the port section. We almost booked them but chose SPB which was terrific. Do private tours for sure in St Petersburg.

Warning!!! it is OK to take private tours, but if you read the info from Princess, if you are not on a Princess tour you have to get your own Russian visa, There were some people who did not read that and could not get off the ship for 2 days!!!

Warning!!! it is OK to take private tours, but if you read the info from Princess, if you are not on a Princess tour you have to get your own Russian visa, There were some people who did not read that and could not get off the ship for 2 days!!!

We toured with DenRus and can give them a very good recommendation. The information given by Princess is meant to give the impression you need to get an expensive visa. That's not true. We provided DenRus with our passport number and other information when we booked. They sent us the documents we needed to present to the authorities when we arrived. It was an easy process. The cost of the visa is in the tour price.

I don't know what happened to the people this poster wrote about. Perhaps they booked with a company that didn't work with the Russian government? The companies most people take are all able to provide the visa you will need. Double check to feel more comfortable.

We toured with DenRus and can give them a very good recommendation. The information given by Princess is meant to give the impression you need to get an expensive visa. That's not true. We provided DenRus with our passport number and other information when we booked. They sent us the documents we needed to present to the authorities when we arrived. It was an easy process. The cost of the visa is in the tour price.

 

I don't know what happened to the people this poster wrote about. Perhaps they booked with a company that didn't work with the Russian government? The companies most people take are all able to provide the visa you will need. Double check to feel more comfortable.

or maybe they thought they could just get off the ship and walk around on their own :confused::confused:

We are due to cruise the Baltic with Princess at the end of the month I have just read two member reviews which mention DenRus tours I was wondering if anyone had any information about them. We are particulary interested in St Petersburg.

We are first time cruisers and were wondering if we would be disadvantaged by not booking the ship tour which is much more expensive.

Thank you very much any advice.

We were on the Tahitian (Ocean) Princess last year & used SPB Tours. They were wonderful to work with. The company secures a group visa so it is included in the price of the tour. Don't worry about Princess notifying you that you are not able to disembark St. Petes early. We got off the ship at 7:30am and our guide was waiting for us just past immigration. Princess CANNOT hold you back. It was easy. The independent tour is much better, we only had 10 in our group. We were able to get into all the museums & palaces without a hitch. Lunches in local restaurants were the best. Good luck & have a wonderful adventure.:)

Elaine

We used them during our Baltics trip in 2006 and had a wonderful experience. If you arrange tours with a govt. recognized Russian tour company you do not have to get a Visa. This was my favorite cruise of the 19 we have taken and I would do it again in a heart beat.

We used DEN RUS in 2005 and cannot praise them highly enough. We had a wonderful tour guide - Oxana – (think that's how it's spelt) with a driver for 2 days. They were very punctual waiting for us as soon as we disembarked and as I use a wheelchair (although am not confined to it and can walk short distances) Oxana arranged a personalised itinerary which suited our requirements perfectly. She's a wonderful young lady, speaks excellent English, and it was a joy to have her with us for 2 days showing us around this beautiful city. She even booked tickets for the ballet for us and took us to a Russian restaurant for lunch. Unfortunately, we are unable to remember what the cost was at the time although we suspect it was probably more expensive than the ship's tours, but was a million times better than anything we'd have got with them as it was personalised for just us, not to suit the needs of a group of people. Being just 2 of us for 2 days probably worked out expensive but if my memory serves me right, they cater for larger groups, say a group of 4, for which the price is the same, which halves the price and then probably works out a lot cheaper than the ship's price. But to our mind, even if it does work out more expensive, it's well worth the extra in such a wonderful city to have such a lovelyl personal guide who takes you to some of the most beautiful places where she's able to impart her excellent knowledge of their history in such a charming and personal way. Something you don’t get with ship’s tours. They arranged all the official Visa stuff, we had no problems at all and another thing in their favour is that they don’t demand money up front, we just had to pay at the end of our 2 days. I’m sure if you do decide to book with them, you won’t be disappointed.

Warning!!! it is OK to take private tours, but if you read the info from Princess, if you are not on a Princess tour you have to get your own Russian visa, There were some people who did not read that and could not get off the ship for 2 days!!!

You DO NOT have to get a Russian visa if you take a private tour with an accredited company. Please don't spread misinformation, there is enough of it already. :cool:

Accredited companies, such as Den Rus, Red October, Alla, SPB, and others mentioned on the Baltics board, will be your sponsor, and you do not need to obtain any sort of visa. However, be aware that you cannot get off the ship and wander around on your own in St Petersburg without an independent visa (this holds true for those on ship tours or private tours).

We used Den Rus on our Baltic cruise on Star Princess and had an excellent tour. I highly recommend a private tour rather than a ship tour -- you will see much more, and have a more pleasant experience at what will probably be a lower cost.

(Note: we took the fully private Den Rus tour, not their "group tour".)

We used Denrus on a private tour with about 8 or 10 of us Sept 2009. It was, bar none,

the best shore ex we've ever taken, cruise ship or private. We got very detailed instructions about disembarking, our guide was waiting for us and we were on our way

before the Princess shore ex groups were off the ship. Denrus provided a wheelchair for

me.....there's an enormous amount of walking in the palaces and Hermitage. We were

able to set up an itinerary in advance, and saw and did everything we could have asked for.

It was a spectacular two days, and I would recommend them with absolutely no

reservations.

All of the major tour companies provide your visa, you don't have to do anything but

give them your info.

St Petersburg, by the way, is not only beautiful, but very well kept up, and the general

feeling was of a cosmopolitan city with a great atmosphere.

We also did the DenRus tour in September 2009 (from the Emerald Princess) and found it to be fantastic. We were able to see everything we wanted to, and get in and out of the majority of sights before the huge busloads from the cruise ships even got loaded, and due to the size of our group (10-12 people) we didn't have to wait for the people who think the time to return to the bus was just a suggestion. We all got together on our roll call so I highly suggest that you join your roll call and find out whether any of them have booked private tours and are looking for additional people. We payed less for the tour and got more for our money. Our driver and guide were great and helped us to maximize our time. Even though Princess said that the Princess tours were to disembark first we just went to the lower gangplank which was empty and got off at 6:30 -45 am without any questions or problems and were the first through the Russian immigration. Our guide and bus were waiting and we didn't return to the ship until almost 12 hours later. We left the same the next morning and were back on the ship in more than enough time.

We subsequently got together with most of the same roll call members for a tour in Poland.

DenRus took care of everything, visas included and couldn't have been more helpful or professional. We were able to avoid the worst of the crowds, see more than the Princess tour, customize the tour, and avoid having to be part of the hordes getting on and off busses. We also had earphones for our guid to describe what we were seeing.

It was the tour of a lifetime, and I will remember it always.

We also used Denrus last year in St. Petersburg and Berlin. We went on a group tour that was much cheaper than Princess. They were great and everything was taken care of with absolutely no hassle. You do not need a visa if you are on tour with a pre-approved tour group and we did not have any problem getting off the ship immediately.

Hope you have a great time. This was our second cruise to the Baltic and we loved it both times!

Dalzell, I should have mentioned that when I originally contacted Derus I had a plan for an itinerary. DenRus helped me refine it for the 1/34 days we were there and gave me a quote based on graduated # of people. I then went to the roll call board for our cruise, posted the tour itinerary I had decided on and ask if anyone was interested in joining us. I posted that I was looking for no more that 6-8 people besides us. I quickly received responses from 3 other couples and we held the number there. Our future tour group quickly started e-mailing before the trip, met up the 1st day of the cruise and enjoyed running into each other at various occassions during the trip. Our group size turned out to be perfect for us and helped keep us on track to see all that we had planned.

Thank you very much all the information - I think I will go ahead and book with with DenRus

warning!!! It is ok to take private tours, but if you read the info from princess, if you are not on a princess tour you have to get your own russian visa, there were some people who did not read that and could not get off the ship for 2 days!!!

THIS IS AN ABSOLUTE LIE WHICH PRINCESS CONTINUES TO SPREAD DESPITE NUMEROUS POSTS ON THIS BOARD SHOWING THAT IT IS COMPLETELY FALSE!!

The licensed tour companies which are mentioned (and advertise) on this board issue group visas to their passengers which are totally accepted. You only have to show your tour voucher to immigration and you whisk through. ONLY if you want to tour on your own without a licensed tour company do you need an individual visa. Princess has, for years, refused to make this clear and continues to SPREAD THIS LIE!

We had an absolutely wonderful tour with DenRus, and they furnished the group visa and we had no problem whatsoever.

Check out our trip report and pictures at http://www.bully4.us/stpete.html and see what DenRus can do for you.

Have a GREAT cruise!

You DO NOT have to get a Russian visa if you take a private tour with an accredited company. Please don't spread misinformation, there is enough of it already. :cool:

 

Accredited companies, such as Den Rus, Red October, Alla, SPB, and others mentioned on the Baltics board, will be your sponsor, and you do not need to obtain any sort of visa. However, be aware that you cannot get off the ship and wander around on your own in St Petersburg without an independent visa (this holds true for those on ship tours or private tours).

We used Den Rus on our Baltic cruise on Star Princess and had an excellent tour. I highly recommend a private tour rather than a ship tour -- you will see much more, and have a more pleasant experience at what will probably be a lower cost.

(Note: we took the fully private Den Rus tour, not their "group tour".)

MercedMike: THIS IS AN ABSOLUTE LIE WHICH PRINCESS CONTINUES TO SPREAD DESPITE NUMEROUS POSTS ON THIS BOARD SHOWING THAT IT IS COMPLETELY FALSE!! The licensed tour companies which are mentioned (and advertise) on this board issue group visas to their passengers which are totally accepted. You only have to show your tour voucher to immigration and you whisk through. ONLY if you want to tour on your own without a licensed tour company do you need an individual visa.

Cynthia summarizes things very well. She also hits a vital and key difference. Some of the better companies have a "group tour"' date=' while others will offer and focus on more a totally custom and personal, private tour. [b']There's a difference in quality and approach![/b] It depends on your interests, budget and needs. And, Mike makes some key points very well.

It's good that to have time to consider your many options and plan ahead. Here are my suggestions.

Price is important, but you will find when you really compare closely, apples to apples, that the cost differences are not that huge among the major, most experienced firms in St. Petersburg. It's about quality and responsiveness! First, outline, in detail, what you need, like and want in what you will send as a request to each potential tour firm. Ask questions, etc. Make it personal and custom to your interests and needs! Don't grab the first firm you write to and assume "that's it" after reading a couple of positive reviews for only one firm. We used Anastasia after contacting the top five firms, seeing what they said, how flexible they were, etc. She would e-mail back a detailed spreadsheet that outline showed the various detailed costs and options. Some folks will "low-ball" you a basic, lower cost and then hit you later with added fees and extras that you assume were included. If you have a group of four, those total costs over two days are going to be better or about the same as doing a tour through the cruise ship. The key advantage with a private tour is having a tour focused on YOUR personal needs, going at a pace that works best for your interests. The better firms are great in making adjustments like an early admission to the Hermitage, dealing with two people who like to take lots of pictures, adjusting for one person with a healing hip and finding the right shop to buy a Russian-style military hat, etc. Details do make an important difference! You get what you ask for and seek! Contact several of the key firms. Get what you need, not just what's easiest and normal for them.

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

For more details, great visuals, etc., from our July 1-16 Norway Coast/Fjords/Arctic Circle Silver Cloud experiences:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1227923

Warning!!! it is OK to take private tours, but if you read the info from Princess, if you are not on a Princess tour you have to get your own Russian visa, There were some people who did not read that and could not get off the ship for 2 days!!!

Agree with what the other posters wrote, you need a company that gets you a visa waiver. If you read the small print on the Princess website it does actually imply that you can get tour without a visa otherwise but (in my opinion) they word it in such a way that if you do not have further knowledge you will not realise it!

Couple looking to share 2 day private tour in St Petersburg on June 24 2014 cruise.

Couple looking to share 2 day private tour in St Petersburg on June 24 2014 cruise.

You need to click on the top level link here (Cruise Critic Message Board Forums), then find the Roll Call boards, then find the roll call for your cruiseline and your cruise and post there. That's where you'll find folks on your ship.

Anyone concerned about USA canceling travel to Russia? Also looking to share Denrus Or SBP 2 day tour of St

petersburg.

Anyone concerned about USA canceling travel to Russia? Also looking to share Denrus Or SBP 2 day tour of St

petersburg.

A: No. Read the other (locked) threads on this subject

B: Find the roll call here at Cruise Critic for your sailing to find folks to share your tour with.

We have used both denrus and red october.Both great companies.Red October was more expensive but our son wanted to see Lenins office and they were able to arrange a visit for the 5 of us.

Private is the way to go.One our last trip the ships tour had a 3 hour wait for someone lost in the Hermitage and had to skip Catherines palace because of one missing tourist...

Enjoy your cruise.

When cruise ships first started sailing to St Petersburg, Denrus and red Oktober were basically the only choices one had if you didn't want to do the ship's tour. Little by little, guides started leaving them and forming their own tour groups. Now you have about 6-7 major players in St Petersburg, with several other offshoots, that personally, I wouldn't book with until they become well established.

When we were looking, I emailed most of the major players, but was very disappointed with Denrus in that I got a basic form letter, while from several others, I received personal replies. That impressed me and we ended up choosing SPB Tours and loved every minute of our tour.

You have to remember, whichever tour group people use, they all come back and say they had a fantastic time. If you, or anyone is interested, you must contact a few on your own and whichever one you feel comfortable with, then choose that one.

Cheers

Len