SPB Tours: On the Breakaway on Sept 14th.

Reserved 5 tours in all ports. SPB will not to commit to Catherine's Palace (saying the lines are too long in Sept.??) Most desired tour for us. Also, on first day they say that if the disembarkation process goes such that we could be delayed up to 2 hours, they simply start the tour when ready and STILL end at appointed time. There reasoning is they have evening tours. This means that up to two and possibly more hours could be lost. There cavalier attitude is that 'oh well.we were ready to leave, you weren't. Any comments/input/suggestions on this?

Reserved 5 tours in all ports. SPB will not to commit to Catherine's Palace (saying the lines are too long in Sept.??) Most desired tour for us. Also, on first day they say that if the disembarkation process goes such that we could be delayed up to 2 hours, they simply start the tour when ready and STILL end at appointed time. There reasoning is they have evening tours. This means that up to two and possibly more hours could be lost. There cavalier attitude is that 'oh well.we were ready to leave, you weren't. Any comments/input/suggestions on this?

We were on the NCL Getaway in May 2017 and booked a 2 day St Petersburg "Grand Tour" with Alla Tours which covered an awful lot over the 2 days. All of the sites were very busy but the guide seemed to walk us to the front door even ahead of other groups. We got to see everything on the list including Catherine's Palace. Alla charged about 1/2 of what NCL was charging.

In regards to timing, we were ready to disembark the ship on day 1 to get to the Alla bus. We were in a suite and the concierge told us to relax and he'll bring us down at the appropriate time- no need to stand in line down there. We and others waited about 45 minutes on the ship and he finally took us down the back elevator and then we had to get in the huge line of people at Customs/Security. We were MAD. On day 1 they have to input alot of info in their computer about you and they had no reason to speed through it. Alla told us that they would wait 15 minutes from the original departure time and then they would have to leave. It was exactly 15 minutes late when I got through security (after about an hour in line). I RAN to the buses and they were getting ready to leave. We were SO mad at the concierge as we all wanted to go down early and he thought the back elevator was a magic elevator. The 2nd day was somewhat faster as you were already in their system. Whatever you do, go early - about 1 to 1.5 hours before you are to meet your group- to get off the ship. For most people this is a once in a lifetime trip so go early! It was a phenomenal tour both days. Enjoy!

the private tour groups have a separate entrance to general public so don't understand SPB position

last week we were in St Petersburg with TJ tours and they got us in very quickly

getting off the ship and through immigration can be a nightmare when all 4000 passengers ***** board all want to be off ASAP

Tip

arrange with your tour guide to meet nearer 10am when lines have died down

you will still get same length of tour and as you probably in port overnight no rush to get back

I would not blame SPB for the information they gave you. I did the Baltic cruise on the Getaway in May 2017. The problem is Russian border control. They create a logjam and there is nothing anyone can do about it.

They carefully review your passport and documentation. It takes a long time to get through their security. We toured with Alla and we did have to wait for some members of our tour.

St. Petersburg is in Russia and they are not going to let you enter their country like it is a Caribbean Island or even a Western democracy.

Whoever you tour with, you must grin and bear it.

On the positive side, you get through security very quickly on the second day since they have cleared you already.

I also received an email from SPB tours regarding Catherine’s Palace bummer

As far as getting off ship trying to verify, I’m in Haven and should be able to bypass the groups or so read on the forum

Otherwise will have to make sure I get into a or b group

Check the port boards about STP disembarkation for cruise passengers. It’s being reported that the authorities are insisting ships tour passengers disembark before any private tours. NCL reportedly held private tourists back last month and followed this rule. This has causes massive headaches for Tour operators and your response may be a reaction. It seemed to catch people off guard.

We did a ship’s tour to the Catherine Palace and were glad we did, as we were allowed in before the palace opened.

Russian immigration is notorious. I wouldn’t count on Haven access to get out quickly. It may help but there could be other ships in port. And if they are following the new requirement for ship tours to leave first, it won’t matter.

I would gladly have them move my tour back to a 9:30 or 10:00 start; but they will not. This is a case of they know they have a problem, but will not take steps to correct. If we begin at 10:00, they simply say that we were available at 8:00, even though there is virtually no chance of starting at that time. I would not mind, but again they said they will NOT make up the time

Hello,

I was on the Baltic cruise last year in August. I used SPB tours for 5 ports. The 1st day the lines were ridiculous but everyone got through and we started our tour early enough. I did the 2 day St Petersburg. It was jam packed with activity. We did get to go to Catherine's Palace. The 2nd day was much faster. I really liked their company and they did everything very professional.

SPB usually get glowing reviews for customer service, so I imagine there must be a very good reason for them to hold to this - however, frustrating it is.

Perhaps it would be worth contacting one of the other reputable providers and seeing what their offer is? If they're all in the same boat, then you may as well stick with SPB, but you might find someone more flexible. I had an amazng time in every port with Alla Tours - lots of skipping of lines and adjusting the order of sights in response to feedback about where there were queues.

You haven’t paid yet so I’d consider switching to a provider who can get you to Catherine’s palace. A private tour for just your family would let you start later on day 1, but would cost quite a bit more. In the Baltic forums there are companies willing to start later. The butler/haven can get you to skip the lines coming off the ship (so it isn’t useless) but cant help you clear the immigration lines.

Check over on the Baltic forum, someone else mentioned getting a letter about Catherine’s, we were just there and it was really crowded but our guide got us right in as we were a private group. We were with TJ

I do think some people didn’t get out of the port til after 10am. Immigration is that slow....

This is the thread I saw

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2662858

We had a great experience with TJ as others have mentioned. We were on the smaller Star but did get through customs rather quickly with the help of the concierge. TJ waited at least an hour for everyone to get through. We used WiFi in the van while we waited for them. As noted, the 2nd day was no problem.

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Reserved 5 tours in all ports. SPB will not to commit to Catherine's Palace (saying the lines are too long in Sept.??) Most desired tour for us. Also, on first day they say that if the disembarkation process goes such that we could be delayed up to 2 hours, they simply start the tour when ready and STILL end at appointed time. There reasoning is they have evening tours. This means that up to two and possibly more hours could be lost. There cavalier attitude is that 'oh well.we were ready to leave, you weren't. Any comments/input/suggestions on this?

What I would do honestly is cancel the Tallinn and Helsinki tours, especially Tallinn. Then with the $ you save change you SPB tour to a private. Then you can get in anywhere. As a private tour ours was e tended so we didn’t get back to the ship til 6 vs the original 5

agree with others that you should find another company prepared to listen to your concerns

we were with TJ tours in a private tour for 5 of us and it was great

however Catherines palace has a separate entrance for tour groups so you wouldn't have to join the huge queues for general public so not sure why SPB is making this an issue

Catherines palace was crowded but all the private tour groups we saw were getting in on a timely fashion

How many are in your tour group?

20 people are harder to manoeuvre than 10 but the cost per person may be lower in a larger group-weigh this up

having group A or B to get off ship wont help as the letters aren't enforced and many people disregard and get in line early so you have delays there

immigration will take ages and people skipping across lines as happened to us pushes people further and further back

you should still get the full day you arranged for-if you start late because you couldn't get there at appointed time because of the above then they should bring you back to ship later-perhaps doing exterior viewings later in day if think running close to last admission times.You are in port overnight so no rush

If they are refusing to honour this before you even get there that's a major red flag for me

as for booking several ports as part of a package then I wouldn't bother

several companies offer that and I looked into it and decided against

we usually do private tours as my husband has walking difficulties and a car or van to get close to sites with minimal walking is essential

however the tours in other ports were mainly walking tours and especially in places like Tallin where cars aren't allowed in old city and the hills and cobblestones make very difficult walking

if reasonably fit then you can easily explore on your own or use the HOHO buses

St Petersburg is the only place IMO you need a tour but find another company you feel happy with now

We were there two weeks ago. I would think the crowds would be smaller in Sept, especially as far as cruise traffic goes. If SPB can't promise Catherine's Palace, find another operator. We used Best Guides (highly recommend), and we saw at least 500+ people in line. We waited about 5 minutes and were then inside.

 

Russian immigration is notorious. I wouldn’t count on Haven access to get out quickly. It may help but there could be other ships in port. And if they are following the new requirement for ship tours to leave first, it won’t matter.

The haven guests were off first even before the ship tours were organised on my sailing May 20th.

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Reserved 5 tours in all ports. SPB will not to commit to Catherine's Palace (saying the lines are too long in Sept.??) Most desired tour for us. Also, on first day they say that if the disembarkation process goes such that we could be delayed up to 2 hours, they simply start the tour when ready and STILL end at appointed time. There reasoning is they have evening tours. This means that up to two and possibly more hours could be lost. There cavalier attitude is that 'oh well.we were ready to leave, you weren't. Any comments/input/suggestions on this?

We had no problems with SPB tours when we were in St. Petersberg.