The Baltic on Oceania questions.

[bornfreenowexpensive]

Does anyone have any thoughts or experiences in taking the ships's tours in St. Pete, vs. lining up a private tour? I was all set on private tour, and someone told a member of our group that the O's tour was wonderful and safer. Whats the real word? My friends who are traveling with us are almost virgin cruisers, the only other one being a TA on QE or QM last summer. On the other hand, they have travelled independently or with groups all over the world on land.

[cruisecountess]

We were on Azamara for our Baltic cruise, so I can't attest to the value of O's tours. However, DH and I hired a private guide and driver for two days in St.Petersburg, and it was a highlight of the cruise. We were able to choose where we wanted to go and how long to stay there. Via prior e-mails, we established an itinerary and types of art work we most enjoyed. Our guide made sure to spend time in the impressionist area of the Hermitage and I was moved to tears by seeing a Van Gogh I'd never even seen before in a book. We never had to wait on line and we, by request, ate lunch in a restaurant where we were the only Americans and there were no English language menus anywhere in sight. It worked for us. Our guide was knowledgable and personable; by the second day we were traveling with a friend! I don't recall every feeling afraid and wonder what safety issues you alluded to.

Harriet

[bornfreenowexpensive]

Thanks for such a quick reply. My friends met people who went to the Baltic on O last yr, two years, I don't know, and they told my friends to be sure to take only ship's tour for "saftey" reasons, maybe not missing the ship, I'm not sure. I have mostly done just private tours reccommended here on CC and never had a problem.

[ellbon]

i am using TJ tours in ST Petersburg.. i was able to plan my 3 days around my likes and what i felt was important to me. they take care of everything.

[JimandStan]

Thanks for such a quick reply. My friends met people who went to the Baltic on O last yr, two years, I don't know, and they told my friends to be sure to take only ship's tour for "saftey" reasons, maybe not missing the ship, I'm not sure. I have mostly done just private tours reccommended here on CC and never had a problem.

 

I certainly would not book an untried guide in Russia, but the big 3 companies (ALLA, Red October, Denrus) all provide wonderful secure tours that your friends needn't give a second thought to.

 

Personally, we have a soft spot for Alla because of a wonderful morning that we spent in the Hermitage virtually alone because only Alla had the pull to get us into the Expressionist Galleries extra early on the morning of a very high profile concert in the Hermitage Gardens.

 

There is something about being alone with those paintings for that amount of time that makes you feel like J. Paul Getty's only living heir ;)

[boom_boom]

Join the others in recommending private tours. We used Red October in St. Petersburg and it was a wonderful experience. Also hired a guide in Gdanzk, but did all the other ports on our own and never a problem. We we traveled the O tours were much more expensive than a private tour when you got a group together. We had 6 so the cost was reasonable.

[LAexNY]

We used Anastasia Tours for a group of 7 on this cruise. We were very pleased with them. The tour was customized to what we wanted to see, including the Grand Choral Synagogue, which was awesome. And you certainly don't have to worry about being late to the ship the first two days.

 

We can also highly recommend Friends of Dave Tours in Warnemunde.

[Senior Citizen]

We also used Alla for three days. There were 6 of us. We drew up a list of the places we wanted to go (including the metro, a typical market, an upscale department store, the State Museum, lunch at a restaurant where Putin celebrated his birthday, a place to purchase excellent vodka, etc.) and Alla made it happen. She scheduled everything so we could miss crowds, walk right into various venues, stay at the Hermitage for 5 hours, etc., etc. We went to museums, palaces, churches, etc. while listening to a fascinating commentary from our guide. We never felt insecure and that was perhaps the best private tour we have ever taken. We were all extremely pleased.

[CintiPam]

IMO, being one of four, six, or eight certainly beats being one of 30+ on any tour, and the St. Petersburg companies are happy to customize your tour for what you want to do. A Cincinnati friend used SPB-Tours last summer for her two days in St. Petersburg in a group of four, and thought it was great. We will be using this company on our upcoming June trip on Marina with some lovely new friends from our roll call.

 

There is a lot of super information on the Northern Europe & Baltics board for private tours, with a very nice group of regular posters. The most popular companies mentioned there from last summer's season appear to be Alla, SPB-Tours, TJ Travel and Anastasia (the latter company had a merger and separaration and renamed itself I Travel Spb, but I understand that Anastasia herself has started up a new company for this year).

[Dennyhorse]

We did the Scandinavean Splendors cruise on Regatta last year with 3 days in St Petersburg.

 

We did the "Comfort Tour" with Alla Tours. It was fast enough - I shudder to think how much faster the other tours would be. Unfortunately I cant remember the name of our guide but with check with OH tonight.

 

Alla Tours has now spoilt us I believe - our guide was so helpful - so informative and interesting that other guides don't seem to make the grade!

 

Enjoy this wonderful cruise!!

[bebbi]

We were a group of 6 for a 3-day private tour in St. Petersburg by Alla. Also let our guide know of special interests and had a great time. Don't understand safety concerns. We traveled in a comfortable Mercedes Minivan with a/c. Why would a busload of people be safer than a small group? Our guide was with us at all times (we invited her to lunch with us). In those relaxed settings, we learned a great deal about life in STP from her personal perspective now and the war years.

 

By the way, the tour in Copenhagen by the ship was definitely not on a par with the local tours - pricewise and extent of tour. We didn't have a choice and had to book the ship's tour as the local tours weren't available on the day we were there and for our desired destination.

[ruthnlarry]

We were on Regatta's Scandinavian cruise in September. We had a group of 8 take Viktoria's SPB 3 day active tour in St. Petersburg. It was fantastic!! Tim our guide was very personable, knowledgeable, and entertaining. We could not have hoped for a better 3 days. We never had to wait in line or worry about tickets. Tim took care of everything. If we had a special request, he accommodated us.

Later, 6 of us took SPB's tour in Berlin. If you book tours in both St. Pete & Berlin, you get a discount. It unbelievable all that we had seen in that 1 day. Everybody in our group agreed that SPB was excellent!!! We would certainly tour with them again.

[Miickey Mouse]

Learned a great deal about tours in St. Petersburg from the postings. Am very interested in forming a small group(6+/-) and booking "Red October" in St Petersburg for June 18 and 19 off the Marina.

Miickey Mouse

 

 

Red October USA

Rexford, NY

518-557-1230

www.redoctober.us

[Mura]

To form a group you need to find the rollcall.

[LHT28]

Learned a great deal about tours in St. Petersburg from the postings. Am very interested in forming a small group(6+/-) and booking "Red October" in St Petersburg for June 18 and 19 off the Marina.

 

Just join the roll Call for your cruise to meet others travelling with you

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1160432

[bornfreenowexpensive]

Turns out friends are not going afterall, now I can do things my way!

[Pearl64]

Stick with the private tours and do not take the ship tours. We were on the Scandinavian Splendors last August and used SPB tours. They were fantastic. Those who took the ship tours were very disappointed as they had to come back to the ship and go through customs twice in the same day as the tours were only half day. That would be a hassle especially if one was way out of town. Many who took the ship tours said they didn't think they could do private tours. They obviously had not read CC!! We were a group of 16 but the price was still cheaper even if my husband and I had gone by ourselves. We felt safe all the time.

 

Pearl

[bornfreenowexpensive]

Of course. I did all private tours on our Med cruise, arranged here on the roll call. The one ships tour we did with O was terrible.

[Mura]

BornFree, I'll just say that it isn't fair to judge all ship's tours on the basis of one bad one.

 

We, too, prefer private tours. But we HAVE taken ship's tours on occasion and generally they have been excellent. Not always! The ship, of course, is subject to the abilities of the local agencies they hire.

 

We've had some not so successful private tours as well!

 

It's often the luck of the draw ...

 

Mura

[orchestrapal]

BornFree, I'll just say that it isn't fair to judge all ship's tours on the basis of one bad one.

 

We, too, prefer private tours. But we HAVE taken ship's tours on occasion and generally they have been excellent. Not always! The ship, of course, is subject to the abilities of the local agencies they hire.

 

We've had some not so successful private tours as well!

 

It's often the luck of the draw ...

 

Mura

 

Our experience has been much like yours but we have gotten to the point where 30-35 people on and off a bus is something we don't want to deal with.

I guess it's an age thing!:D

[Mura]

I don't recall saying that we like large bus groups! Because we don't. It's just that sometimes it's been the best we could do, for various reasons.

 

I'm not exactly 35 myself ...

 

I guess what I was complaining about was the apparent blanket rejection of all ship's tours regardless.

 

Mura

[CintiPam]

Learned a great deal about tours in St. Petersburg from the postings. Am very interested in forming a small group(6+/-) and booking "Red October" in St Petersburg for June 18 and 19 off the Marina.

Miickey Mouse

 

 

Red October USA

Rexford, NY

518-557-1230

www.redoctober.us

 

As LHT suggested, please join our active and friendly roll call.:) :

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1160432

[hwnjn]

Learned a great deal about tours in St. Petersburg from the postings. Am very interested in forming a small group(6+/-) and booking "Red October" in St Petersburg for June 18 and 19 off the Marina.

Miickey Moon cruRed October USA

Rexford, NY

518-557-1230

www.redoctober.us

my wife and i would be interested. how can we contact each other. email heitlich@gmail.com

[RJ4672]

Does anyone have any thoughts or experiences in taking the ships's tours in St. Pete, vs. lining up a private tour? I was all set on private tour, and someone told a member of our group that the O's tour was wonderful and safer. Whats the real word? My friends who are traveling with us are almost virgin cruisers, the only other one being a TA on QE or QM last summer. On the other hand, they have travelled independently or with groups all over the world on land.

 

We took a private tour in St. Petersburg with SPB Tours. We were very happy with them. Much better than taking the bus tour with O.

[timandnancy]

I believe I read somwhere when you go on the ship's tours, you do not neeed a visa. Do you or don't you?? Do you need a visa when you travel with on of the private tour companies??

Thanks!

Tim