Captain Hughes

Hi

 

Can anyone reccommend and/or give me some information about the tourist train please. How much the ticket is, can you hop on and off, where does it take you etc?

 

Cheers

Hi

 

We are in Piraeus in September on the Oceana and do not want to go into Athens but would like something more leisurely to do, possible beach resort, just something other than the temples and museums as done before. Can anyone offer any suggestions please?

 

Thanks

Hi

Just wondering if any-one has any experience of booking a rickshaw tour in Copenhagen ( Copenhagen or Flying Tiger Rickshaws)

 

I am thinking of booking for pick up from Langelinie for tour of centre to gain our bearings, dropping off in town and then taking a stroll back to port

 

Any advice/Information would be much appreciated

Cheers

I'd love a copy of the walking tour if you would be so kind ? k.hughes@epcdirect.co.uk

 

thanks:)

This is our itinerary. We have elderly parents with us so did not want anything to strenuous and wanted to be able to do things at our own pace with the added flexibility that gives, hence booking for just the 4 of us. We can tweak the times and places as we go along

 

Day 1, May 23 Friday

8:00-8:30am - meet your guide and our tour coordinator at the St Petersburg sea passenger port

 

8:30-11:30am – City - tour (see the Old city, Nevsky Prospect, Square of Arts, The Winter Palace, Bronze Horseman, Strelka, stop on St. Isaac's square. You will also see Cruiser Aurora (the battleship that signaled the Bolshevik Revolution) and Peter the Great's Log Cabin.

 

11:30am-12:30pm – visit the Artillery Museum.

 

12:30-1:30pm - lunch time.

 

1:30-3:00pm - visit Peter & Paul Fortress with cathedral and Trubetskoy bastion (the prison).

 

3:00-4:00pm - visit the Museum of Leningrad Siege.

 

4:30pm - back onboard the cruise ship.

 

Optional evening excursion if required

 

 

Day 2, May 24, Saturday

9:30am - meet your tour guide, payment.

 

10:00-12:30am – tour The Hermitage museum. You will explore treasures of one of the richest world art museums, see the Royal collection of European masters(Leonardo da Vinci, Rafael, Michelangelo, Rubens, Titian, Rembrandt etc.), a collection of French Impressionists and Post-Impressionists that is only second to the collection in France. You will also take a special tour of The Winter Palace and view royal living rooms and gala halls.

 

12:30 - 01:00pm – free time, shopping.

 

1:30pm - onboard the cruise ship or optional extra excursion

 

Note, the tour sequence may vary depending on traffic conditions and overcrowding at venues

 

Price includes:

• Admission fees to all museums in the program

• services of a friendly, and a highly professional guide for 2 days

• Driver’s services for 2 days (Comfortable (Mercedes) mini van with A/C)

• Photo and video permissions at the museums

• All port fees

• the cost of blanket visa,

• all local taxes

• Bottled water for each day

I would definitely tell them your specific interests. I had a quote from a company called Guide Guru who laid out a tour for me including the places we wanted to visit. I asked TJ Travel to match the quote and they did. As TJ appear better known by cruise critic members I opted to go with them and they have been very good to deal with so far. Definitely press for what you want as you may never be in SPB again :)

Hi

 

Ours is a 2 day tour but finishing at 1.30pm on the second day with option to extend with other activities should we wish. We thought we would wait until we know what the weather is like and if good we may book a city cruise before heading back to the ship. We also get early entrance with nearly 3 hours at the Hermitage and all entrance fees, photo/video permits etc etc included. Very happy :)

Hi

 

We are on Arcadia Baltic cruise in May and have booked a private custom tour for the 4 of us with TJ Travel after having seen good reviews for them. We asked them to provide a tour that took in our specific interests i.e Siege of Leningrad museum and Artillery museum as we found the other tours a little to Palace/Cathedral dependant for us. We are also going to the Hermitage and Peter and Paul Fortress and having a detailed 3 hour sightseeing tour of the city. Price per person $235 which I thought was excellent as it is a private tour for just 4. All correspondence with TJ was quick, efficient and organised and we already have our tour tickets emailed to us ready for our trip.

Hi YoungDubFan

So looking forward to our cruise to the Baltics in May too. It's good that you have had a positive experience with Alla and I am sure we will both have a wonderful time on our trips. Unfortunately I could not consider Alla as an option as they failed to respond to any of my enquiries. TJ Travel on the other hand were extremely prompt and efficient with their replies, as were several other companies I contacted also, so these were the only one's I considered when making my final choice.

Have a great cruise, we will be back before you go so will post my review on here :-)

We have chosen to book a custom 2 day tour for the 4 of us through TJ Travel as they have been very helpful and accommodating. I emailed Alla twice and received no response, nor from my message to them via Facebook. Disappointing as I had seen good reviews for them.

Anyway really looking forward to our trip now :)

Hi we are looking to book a tour in St Petersburg in May, we are on the Arcadia J405. I have checked out all main companies, Alla, SPB, TJ, Dancing Bear and Guide Guru and so far Guide Guru are coming out best on price and response, with TJ a close second. We have asked for a custom tour for the 4 of us taking in different sights to those offered on the standard tours. Does any-one on here have any knowledge of Guide Guru or information that may help me make the final decision ?

All opinions and information would be gratefully received :)

Hi Bluegirluk

Thanks for your advice and information. Guide Guru are coming out top of the offers I have received so far, just checking a few things before we make our final decision :)

Hi thanks for your information. I think you probably mean TJ Travel and I have now received a quote from them also. We were not that bothered about doing Peterhof but I can certainly check on timing for the Hermitage as per your suggestion, thanks. The 2 day complete tours are now substantially more than $200 pp and as the price quoted by Guide Guru was for a private tour for just 4 of us I thought it was good value for money compared to larger group tours. We have asked for a custom made tour not heavily reliant on Palaces and Churches but leaning more to the history of Leningrad and the war years as opposed to the standard tours.

Just received this quote from Guide Guru if any-one is interested in joining us, price for 4 of us is $245 pp with $10 discount for over 70's. Price will reduce if numbers increased and itinerary can be tweaked to suit other interests

 

Day One

8:00-8:30am - meet your guide and our tour coordinator at the St Petersburg sea passenger port terminal next to the Immigration control.

8:30-11:30am - Comprehensive city sightseeing tour (see the Old city,

Nevsky Prospect, Square of Arts, The Winter Palace, Bronze Horseman, Strelka, stop on

St. Isaac's square. You will also see Cruiser Aurora (the battleship that signaled the Bolshevik Revolution) and Peter the Great's Log Cabin.

11:30am-12:30pm – visit the Artillery Museum.

12:30-1:30pm - lunch time.

2:00-4:00pm - tour The Hermitage museum. You will explore treasures of one of the richest world art museums, see the Royal collection of European masters

(Leonardo da Vinci, Rafael, Michelangelo, Rubens, Titian, Rembrandt etc.), a collection of French Impressionists and Post-Impressionists that is only second to the

collection in France. You will also take a special tour of The Winter Palace and view royal living rooms and gala halls.

4:30pm - back onboard the cruise ship.

from 6:00pm - check out our evening entertainment programs (ballet, folk dance show, circus, etc.).

Day 2 (9:30am-1:30pm)

9:30am - meet your tour guide and tour coordinator, payment.

10:00-11:30am – visit Peter & Paul Fortress with cathedral and Trubetskoy bastion (the prison).

12:00-1:00pm – visit the Museum of Leningrad Siege.

1:30pm - onboard the cruise ship.

Tour sequence may vary depending on museum days-off, or to avoid overcrowding at venues.

BOOKING TERMS & CONDITIONS

Hi

we are booked on the Arcadia Baltics cruise leaving Southampton 16th May 2014. We are 2 couples, myself and my husband and my parents. We would like to hear from others on this cruise who would be interested in joining a group for a private tour of St Petersburg. We have found that most tours are heavily based on palace and church visits and we would like to visit more war memorial sites such as the siege of Leningrad museum, the battleship Aurora, Victory Memorial etc as well as some of the renowned sites The Hermitage, Peter and Paul Fortress etc.

 

If you would be interested please let me know, I am looking at Alla or TJ Tours presently but am open to suggestions.

 

Cheers

Well booked today, 2 x balcony cabins C205 and B167 if any-one has any info on these I would love to know. Got a great deal with Cruise 118, per cabin we got £640 OBC, free meet and greet car parking plus additional £40 per cabin discount....no admin charges or credit card fees on deposit:):)

Well bitten the bullet and booked today, Arcadia Baltic J405 balcony cabins C205 and B167. If any-one has any info on these cabins I would be most grateful. Got a great deal with Cruise 118:)

Hi, can any-one give some advice on which tables are located near the windows in the dining room on Arcadia? We want ideally a table for 4 in a nice window location and were lucky enough to get our request for a specific table on the Oceana honoured and not having any knowledge of Arcadia all advice would be welcome.

Thanks for all your advice so far, it really is interesting. So far I am thinking we will book a ships tour for Bruges and Gdansk, do our own thing in Tallinn and Copenhagen, and the Alla tour in SPB. Any ideas for Klapedia ?

Hi, we are cruising the Baltics in May next year on the Arcadia and would like some advice on what to do in ports, mainly what is possible to do on your own with ease rather than booking ship excursion. We will be booking a 2 day tour with Alla for SPB but would like some information on how close the other ports are to the main attractions if any-one can help? The ports we will be visiting are:

 

Bruges

Gdynia

Klaipeda

St Petersburg

Tallinn

Copenhagen

 

Thanks for your help :)