juliasails4fun

Hi I’m guessing you might be home now how was the tour ?

We arrived back home last Saturday.

The 2day Must See tour with Alla was very good - extremely well organised with a very knowledgable guide, Vladimir, who spoke excellent English. Passing through immigration was very straightforward, taking only about 10 mins on day 1 (as we got there ahead of the ships tours) and a little longer (about 15 min) on day 2 as there was more queuing.

We were a small group of 6 in a minibus, which made getting around really easy. The 2 sit down lunches were very good and made a welcome rest. We opted not to do anything in the evening, which I think was the right decision for us a we were very hot and tired!

We were also there the end of June and the free shuttle buses were very well organised. We did a canal cruise independently, which was easy to book on the day, paying by credit card which gave a good overview of the city. We then walked through one of the parks to the fish market and then to the Haga area before walking back through the city centre to the shuttle bus pick up point.

I think the comment was a general one in their FAQ section - they run tours in several of the Baltic ports. We have booked the 2day Must See tour, which is just a bit less intense than their Grand Tour. There is a one hour boat trip on day 2. The full intineries for their tours are listed on the web site

https://alla-tour.com/tours/

Hope this helps. The have been very quick to answer any questions via their message system.

The tour ticket which is sent via the message system for you to print acts as a visa. You need to provide passport details when booking for this. I see you are from the USA, so I'm not sure about non British passport holders.

Thanks very much. It sounds good!

Just a quick query - does anyone know how much time we should allow to clear the Russian immigration authorities? I think we meet the tour at 8.30 on day one and was wondering what time we need to disembark by.

Taken from the FAQ section on their website

The guide uses a microphone in the van and riverboat. If your group is larger than 7 people, you will get earphones and receivers to make it easier for you to hear everything your guide is saying. For groups less than 7 people, earphone sets can be arranged upon request.

Thanks, it's reassuring to hear from someone who has had a similar cabin with no problems. I'm really looking forward to the cruise - first time for us doing a fortnight and with a balcony cabin. All our previous trips have been fly cruises in a deck 3 or 3 outside cabin.

Thanks for your reply. We are reluctant to change cabins at this stage - I think we will have to see how it goes and ask to move if it is a real problem. I just hope there isn't too much late night noise from below!

We have already booked cabin 6626 for the Baltic Capitals cruise June 23rd. This is the first time we have had a balcony cabin and we booked the aft cabin for the views and larger balcony, however I'm a bit concerned about the comment re noise and smoke from the crews recreation area below. There was no way of identifying this on the deck plans. Has anyone else experienced this?

We have also just booked the 2day Must See tour for the Baltic Capitals cruise ( in SPB on 28&29 June). Alla tours do offer an evening program of either a folk show or the Ballet, but I understand from Irina that there is no time to return to the ship after the daytime tour. They will take you to a cafe in the city where you can get something to eat and change clothes if you wish.

We have also decided to keep the evening free as we will probably be too tired, especially with another full day of sightseeing the next day.