Royal Caribeans 3 day St Petersburg tour vs Alla/ SPB

I'm looking at three day tours in St Petersburg and I'm looking for a more detailed description/ itinerary of the tour offered by Royal Caribbean. It seems the prices are about the same ($385 for Alla/ SPB vs $390 for RCCL) so I'm wondering what Alla/ SPB offer that Royal's tour doesn't.

Thanks all.

(BTW, How do I keep these &*%&*)$ adds (video and audio) from constantly playing over and over again?)

Does the RCI description mention the size of the group?

Most, though not all, ships' tours In St Pete's are in full-size buses - thus slow through traffic, sometimes excruciatingly slow while 50 people board or alight, "follow the paddle", inflexible timetabling & the various other disadvantages of large groups.

Tours by local operators are in 16-seat vans (minibuses), each with a guide and a driver - thus more-friendly and more-accessible guide (many with wireless earphones so you can hear the guide clearly even if you wander away), more-flexible itinerary, side-streets to avoid traffic snarl-ups, things that can't be done by large groups such as a trip on the subway and one-way to Peterhof by hydrofoil rather than van, and I'm not sure whether large groups have the same facilities as pre-public admission at the Hermitage & line-busting at other stops.

Probably all or most of the same sights for both ships' and local operators' tours but the latter a much more pleasant experience than the inevitable cattle-herding that comes with large groups.

BTW, you'll find that those who've used Alla enthuse about Alla, those who've used SPB enthuse about SPB, and this forum is full of folk enthusing about the other local operators.

But there can't be many who've used more than one, so comparisons can be difficult. Suffice it to say that in St Pete's you'll be very happy whichever local operator you use.

For those who prefer the sense of security of a ship-sponsored tour, there are good and poor ships' tours everywhere in the world - but in St Pete's I've heard only praise for ships' tours. If you don't take a local operator's small-group tour you won't know what you're missing, but you too will be happy with your tour.

Had the same noisy ad grief a few weeks back, got some great advice about ad-blockers on this thread

https://boards.cruisecritic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=2537044

uBlock Origin wouldn't load on my Internet Explorer system, but Ad Blocker Plus did, and I've not been troubled by ads since. And since installing it, some of the websites I visit load more quickly - which kinda shows how ads can slow down a computer.

JB :)

The fewer the people in your group the better. We were 6, with Ulko Tours, for less per person with a ship's tour. Fab!

Thanks JB. There is no mention of group size so it is probably large and you are probably right that smaller is better. It does seem that many/ most seem to recommend Alla or SPB and as a bunch of people from my Roll Call are booking Alla I'll probably go with them.

I'll check out ad blocker plus. Never had such a persistently annoying add as I did last night. It was actually the same ad above and below playing tag team and they just kept loading over and over again.

I'm looking at three day tours in St Petersburg and I'm looking for a more detailed description/ itinerary of the tour offered by Royal Caribbean. It seems the prices are about the same ($385 for Alla/ SPB vs $390 for RCCL) so I'm wondering what Alla/ SPB offer that Royal's tour doesn't.

 

Thanks all.

 

Agree with John - smaller groups on independent tours.

Thanks JB. There is no mention of group size so it is probably large and you are probably right that smaller is better. It does seem that many/ most seem to recommend Alla or SPB and as a bunch of people from my Roll Call are booking Alla I'll probably go with them.

Since you mentioned that you will probably go with Alla ... I have used Alla & her tours are great. She has a toll free number that you can call from the USA or Canada (1-800-317-7060) - excellent client centered customer service. The US rep should be able to answer you question(s) regarding the difference between Alla's tour and the RCCL tour. I believe that you will see more and get a bigger bang for you buck if you go with Alla or another independent operator. :)

In addition to a smaller group, and overall more pleasant experience, as noted above, most of the major local tour operators do tours in other ports on the Baltic itinerary. If you book multiple tours through the same operator, they usually offer a discount. We did SPB (3-day St. Pete, LOVED IT) and also a few other ports through SPB. The discount was nice.

Also, many of the local operators will give an additional discount if you mention Cruise Critic! I know SPB does this.

Also, many of the local operators will give an additional discount if you mention Cruise Critic! I know SPB does this.

Right! I forgot to mention the Cruise Critic discounts. I know that Alla, Spb & Tj all offer discounts to cruise critic members and they offer multiple city booking discounts as well.

For those who prefer the sense of security of a ship-sponsored tour, there are good and poor ships' tours everywhere in the world - but in St Pete's I've heard only praise for ships' tours. If you don't take a local operator's small-group tour you won't know what you're missing, but you too will be happy with your tour.

I'm looking at three day tours in St Petersburg and I'm looking for a more detailed description/ itinerary of the tour offered by Royal Caribbean. It seems the prices are about the same ($385 for Alla/ SPB vs $390 for RCCL) so I'm wondering what Alla/ SPB offer that Royal's tour doesn't.

I'm a fan of small group private tours but in the interest of completeness, there will be one advantage beginning in 2018 for taking a ship's sponsored tour. The new company in charge of port operations in St. Petersburg says it will allow passengers on ship's tours to disembark first on the first day in port when the passport control process is slowest. (You won't be surprised to learn the reason behind this. The same company that will be taking over general port control has a sub-division that contracts with cruise lines for -- wait for it -- ship's sponsored tours. Clearly a case of conflict of interest. Equally clearly, a situation where the port control folks don't care what I think!)

The independent licensed tour companies are not going to let their reputations suffer as the result of this new policy. Alla, SPB, TJ Travel, White Night Travel, Best Guides, etc are all going to find a way to handle this change. At the least, the smaller groups typical of independent companies make for a more efficient touring experience and that, alone, will likely make up the difference of the later start. Perhaps more standard tours will include the Faberge Museum which is at its best starting after 6:00 PM for small groups. At any rate, I'm confident the independents will figure out how to keep growing their satisfied customer base.

For all I know, the independents are working to clarify the one big uncertainty about the new policy: Whether or not independent cruisers can exit before ship's-tour cruisers even assemble in the lounges. Typically, there's a half hour delay between the time the ship has been cleared to disembark passengers and when tour folks assemble in the lunges. Once there, a fair amount of time gets spent simply checking folks off and organizing. Eventually, the ship's-tour folks head towards the gangway. Under the new system, does that really mean that cruisers on an independent tour will be blocked from the departing before the ship's tours have even begun to assemble? Perhaps the independent companies are negotiating about that half-hour.

I have no inside information, but there are two people who occasionally post who likely know something. Perhaps those two St Petersburg residents will chime in and give us an update on 2018 port matters.

Even after having identified this advantage for touring with a ship's excursion in St Petersburg, I'd always book with an independent company.

I'm looking at three day tours in St Petersburg and I'm looking for a more detailed description/ itinerary of the tour offered by Royal Caribbean. It seems the prices are about the same ($385 for Alla/ SPB vs $390 for RCCL) so I'm wondering what Alla/ SPB offer that Royal's tour doesn't.

 

Thanks all.

 

(BTW, How do I keep these &*%&*)$ adds (video and audio) from constantly playing over and over again?)

We could go on for 3 more pages why the private tour agencies are much better than any ship's excursion. I'll give you my main one, that I have been repeating for several years. The private tour companies want your recommendations on sites like this and Trip Advisor etc.

The private tour companies can and will alter your tour because of traffic, weather or anything else, ship's excursions will not. Basically the ship really doesn't care if you have the time of your life, while ANY of the private companies will usually bend over backwards to insure you DO have that time of your life. As I said, they want and need you to come back here and say, "I used SPB, or ALLA, or TJ and they were the best EVER.

So if you want people, who care if you have a great time, to show you around St Petersburg, go private.

Cheers

Len

I'm a fan of small group private tours but in the interest of completeness, there will be one advantage beginning in 2018 for taking a ship's sponsored tour. The new company in charge of port operations in St. Petersburg says it will allow passengers on ship's tours to disembark first on the first day in port when the passport control process is slowest. (You won't be surprised to learn the reason behind this. The same company that will be taking over general port control has a sub-division that contracts with cruise lines for -- wait for it -- ship's sponsored tours. Clearly a case of conflict of interest. Equally clearly, a situation where the port control folks don't care what I think!)

 

The independent licensed tour companies are not going to let their reputations suffer as the result of this new policy. Alla, SPB, TJ Travel, White Night Travel, Best Guides, etc are all going to find a way to handle this change. At the least, the smaller groups typical of independent companies make for a more efficient touring experience and that, alone, will likely make up the difference of the later start. Perhaps more standard tours will include the Faberge Museum which is at its best starting after 6:00 PM for small groups. At any rate, I'm confident the independents will figure out how to keep growing their satisfied customer base.

 

For all I know, the independents are working to clarify the one big uncertainty about the new policy: Whether or not independent cruisers can exit before ship's-tour cruisers even assemble in the lounges. Typically, there's a half hour delay between the time the ship has been cleared to disembark passengers and when tour folks assemble in the lunges. Once there, a fair amount of time gets spent simply checking folks off and organizing. Eventually, the ship's-tour folks head towards the gangway. Under the new system, does that really mean that cruisers on an independent tour will be blocked from the departing before the ship's tours have even begun to assemble? Perhaps the independent companies are negotiating about that half-hour.

 

I have no inside information, but there are two people who occasionally post who likely know something. Perhaps those two St Petersburg residents will chime in and give us an update on 2018 port matters.

 

Even after having identified this advantage for touring with a ship's excursion in St Petersburg, I'd always book with an independent company.

Yes, clearly a conflict on interest. Isn't that the pits?

I, too, am confident that the independent operators will find a solution that works best for their clients.