5CTcruisers

Our family of 5 booked the 2 day city tour through TJ Travel and the evening tour. At the end of the first day tour, our small bus of 18 dropped the 5 of us off in the city where we met up with another guide in a smaller bus. It ended up being a private tour - no one else joined us! It was amazing. We were able to do whatever we wanted. Our guide took us shopping, vodka tasting, dinner, siteseeing - it was incredible. You cannot get off the ship without a Visa or a tour booked, so since we probably would not be returning to Russia, we wanted to enjoy every minute of it.

Our family of 5 used TJ Tours and we LOVED it! It was a small group, about 18 total. We had one couple on our bus that was slightly walking impaired, and our guide made sure it didn't slow the rest of us down by having them wait in certain places or meet up with later. I did notice at the end of the tour when we were paying that the couple got a discount because they were not able to do everything that the rest of us did! I thought that was very nice. Our tour guide "Michael" was amazing! Be sure to get off the ship as soon as possible in St. Petersburg. It takes forever to get through the customs lines!!!!

Our family of 5 was in Copenhagen pre and post cruise in May last year. We stayed at the Imperial before the cruise. Very nice hotel and a great location. There is a restaurant in the hotel but it is not included in the stay price. We stayed at The Square three nights post cruise. Also, a great location! I think we liked The Square slightly better, but both were conveniently located. The Square also has bikes you can rent right from the check in desk.

We just got back from our NCL Baltic cruise and we used TJ travel and did their 2 day highlights tour as well as their optional night tour. Getting off the shop is crazy. You do have to go through passport control and it takes almost an hour to get off the ship! As long as you have a passport and a tour ticket, you are allowed off the ship. The tour companies know it takes a while to go through passport control, so they are prepared for the delays. But I do recommend getting out there early and get in line! As far as safety is concerned, I was completely comfortable and never once felt unsafe. St Petersburg is absolutely beautiful! Enjoy!

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We sailed on the Getaway Baltic cruise on May 16 and here is our review:

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=579657&et_cid=2861228&et_rid=16704163&et_referrer=Contest_Costa_June2013

Enjoy!

We were just on the October 24th sailing of the Summit and were in the Normandie the first night. The lifeboat drill was at 7:45 and we had just finished dinner. The wait staff said we could come back for dessert and coffee after the drill - which we did. The entire restaurant had to leave for the drill but were asked to return to finish their meal.

We did a private tour in Dominica through Levi Bumpiing Tours and it was the best excursion we've ever done. Check out his website (http://www.bumpiingtours.com/), he has many different tours to pick from. We did the "wet" tour - snorkeled champagne reef, swam in the Titou Gorge and visited Trafalgar falls. There were only 12 of us in his van and it was only $50 per person - much cheaper than the cruise excursions. If you are adventurous, this is a tour not to be missed!