SPB-Tours Flat Rate Groups Size

If you have done tours with SPB-tours, do the flat rate groups reach their maximum size(16)? Or on average do they end up being smaller 8-12. Of course, it's hard to predict future groups, but just wondered what experience people had with their flat rate groups.

Admittedly a few years back ...............

.... because they were concerned that they wouldn't get the numbers, the local tour operators wouldn't sell seat-in-bus for our ship, they would only accept bookings for a van. Vans have 16 seats.

Alla and SPB said that if we got a minimum of eight together it would be at the same rate per person as their regular seat-in-bus price, DenRus said they needed ten for that price.

So we registered with a couple of them, sought sharers via our RollCalls & asked those operators to let us know of any others from our ship who enquired direct. We found some, Alla found others, and between us we ended up with 22. Such is the value of RollCalls. :)

So we ended up with two vans through Alla, one for their " Grand Tour" & the other for their "Comfort tour".

Everyone in both vans was very pleased with their tours.

At the time no deposit (or even credit card number) was required, we all paid individually mid-tour.

Nowadays apparently some operators, including Alla, require payment (?deposit? ?payment in full?) with booking, which might make that a little tricky.

Many comments that I've seen on CC have been from folk who booked seat-in-bus and the numbers have varied from 8 to 16.

JB :)

If you have done tours with SPB-tours, do the flat rate groups reach their maximum size(16)? Or on average do they end up being smaller 8-12. Of course, it's hard to predict future groups, but just wondered what experience people had with their flat rate groups.

SPB is quite a large independent company. On average, I would assume that their flat-rate tour buses are at or near capacity. Of course, this would depend on your ship. The larger ships (RCL, NCL, Celebrity, Princess, HAL, etc.) tend to have more bookings. If you are on a smaller ship (Viking, etc.) your chances of a smaller group would, I assume, be greater. It is impossible to predict.

On my most recent cruise to St. Petersburg, I noticed that the SPB buses departing the port appeared to be full. I believe that John's ship was not one of the ships mentioned above - I was on Oceania's Marina (with Alla) and we had 12 in our group.

If you are interested in a smaller group, why don't you post on your roll call and form a smaller private group?

At the time no deposit (or even credit card number) was required, we all paid individually mid-tour.

Nowadays apparently some operators, including Alla, require payment (?deposit? ?payment in full?) with booking, which might make that a little tricky.

 

JB :)

Only SPB now requires a deposit on all of their flat rate tours (20% deposit). Alla does not require any deposit whatsoever on her flat rate tours - you pay in Saint Petersburg. Same with TJ - no deposit on flat rate tours. Both of these companies (like most other private operators) require a deposit only on their private tours.

When we ´ve been with SPB they had a few "flat rate" buses and every bus was filled. I think less than full capacity isn´t the norm. We were 16 and I had nothing to complain - it is a decent group size, no problem to understand the guide (they have headsets at the Eremitage and at Pushkin for example). Seating at the bus was comfortable enough, service at lunch was fast, guide itself was exceptional.

Thanks for the replies! I am debating between forming private tours or doing the flat rate tours. So most likely the flat rate tours will be full but the group size isn't all that bad.

Hey Spencer, we have booked a private tour through Tours by Locals. Six people, two days including a evening folk dance show and price is 440.00 per person which includes the tourist visa and all admissions to the places we wanted to see. And we were able to pick where we wanted to go and where we wanted to spend more time. Communication was excellent over a two week time period while our group asked questions, made minor changed and confirmed. A 20% deposit was required. Good luck in finding what works for you.

actually we have a private tour booked for TJ with 5 of us and no deposit required

actually we have a private tour booked for TJ with 5 of us and no deposit required

Interesting - my BIL just booked a private tour with them and here is the message that he received:

Regarding the payment, we ask for 20% prepayment for the private tours that should be made at least one month prior to your arrival. This amount is non-refundable if you cancel the tour less than 72 hours before its start. The amount for the tour will be charged in rubles according to the exchange rate of our Central bank on the day of payment. No transaction fee is taken.

And, copied directly from TJ's website:

Payment issues, cancelation policy and discounts

1. IS THERE A DEPOSIT TO BOOK WITH TJ TRAVEL?

Group tours: We do not charge any penalties for the cancellation of a group tour and we do not ask for prepayment. But the only thing we kindly ask you to do is to inform us about your cancellation as soon as possible.

Private tours: If you book any private options, we ask for 20% prepayment of the package cost. The payment must be made at least one month before your arrival.

Baltic tours: If you don't book St. Petersburg tours with us but choose any Baltic tours (either group or private) we require 100% prepayment. The payment must be made at least one month before your arrival.

Train and theatre tickets: we ask for 100% prepayment for the train and theatre tickets.

Interesting - my BIL just booked a private tour with them and here is the message that he received:

Regarding the payment, we ask for 20% prepayment for the private tours that should be made at least one month prior to your arrival. This amount is non-refundable if you cancel the tour less than 72 hours before its start. The amount for the tour will be charged in rubles according to the exchange rate of our Central bank on the day of payment. No transaction fee is taken.

And, copied directly from TJ's website:

Payment issues, cancelation policy and discounts

 

1. IS THERE A DEPOSIT TO BOOK WITH TJ TRAVEL?

Group tours: We do not charge any penalties for the cancellation of a group tour and we do not ask for prepayment. But the only thing we kindly ask you to do is to inform us about your cancellation as soon as possible.

Private tours: If you book any private options, we ask for 20% prepayment of the package cost. The payment must be made at least one month before your arrival.

Baltic tours: If you don't book St. Petersburg tours with us but choose any Baltic tours (either group or private) we require 100% prepayment. The payment must be made at least one month before your arrival.

Train and theatre tickets: we ask for 100% prepayment for the train and theatre tickets.

 

 

we booked last year for tour this year and have our tour tickets

this must be a recent change

I'm with all of you that the number of people in a group is an essential factor. Check the spreadsheet I made to compare flat rate tours run by top local operators - how many people in a group, the prices, what sightsare on the itinerary, etc. The link is https://drive.google.com/file/d/1BgxA9lzzPpaV58Rhh-11N-JrsPu9vya7/view?usp=sharing

Thanks for sharing your hard work!

Check flat rate tours with Best Guides. They don't require any deposit and limit the number of people to a maximum of twelve. We did their Best of the Best tour. Had eight people in the group and paid on the second day. The tours, the vehicle, the service were excellent.

I haven't considered Best Guides but they deserve a look for sure!

Hey Spencer, we have booked a private tour through Tours by Locals. Six people, two days including a evening folk dance show and price is 440.00 per person which includes the tourist visa and all admissions to the places we wanted to see. And we were able to pick where we wanted to go and where we wanted to spend more time. Communication was excellent over a two week time period while our group asked questions, made minor changed and confirmed. A 20% deposit was required.

We considered guing with ToursByLocals, too. But then my DH said that if they fall to show up, what will we do? We'll have nothing left other than just stay stuck on the ship:loudcry::loudcry: You don't want that to happen. Local tour operators are absolutely reliable and will never fail you because they depend on their reputations. We contacted a few local companies and chose to book with Best Guides. We had fabulous time :hearteyes: The cost was reasonable and no deposit required, and the guide was just outstanding.

Jess