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How far ahead to book private tour for St. P.?

bornfreenowexpensive

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Sheal

Sheal

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bornfreenowexpensive,

 

The company I went with offered a discount for booking early (along with a discount for paying cash). I booked my trip about 9 months ahead.

 

Another company that had given me a quote also offered, later on, a discount but I had already booked. If they don't offer one you could always ask.

 

Coolcruise02,

 

Many of the tour companies do not require a deposit and typically do not collect the fee until the morning of the second day (if you have a two day tour).

 

Sheal

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Got2Cruise "Live from...." Rare

Got2Cruise

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I wouldn't rush. The tour companies always come up with "new" itineraries in the next season. They will get you a tour, don't you worry.:) And the prices might even come down depending on the demand. I saw it happen this season. You can actually wait until the time it takes for the tour company to obtain the blanket visa for you and send you the tour tickets via email attachment. Around two weeks.

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Ashland

Ashland

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I wouldn't rush. The tour companies always come up with "new" itineraries in the next season. They will get you a tour, don't you worry.:) And the prices might even come down depending on the demand. I saw it happen this season. You can actually wait until the time it takes for the tour company to obtain the blanket visa for you and send you the tour tickets via email attachment. Around two weeks.

I disagree..I booked a private tour for just DH and myself for an active 2 day tour with TJ Travel and saw no reason to wait.. It was also helpful having my many e-mails/questions back and forth answered and knowing everything was taken care of well in advance. The tour companies aren't going to come up with "new" itineraries as the point of a private tour is doing what "you" want to..They will merely make suggestion based on your wants....Enjoy the freedom/itinerary/flexibility with booking a private tour, the most amazing way to see this wonderful city...:)

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Giantfan13

Giantfan13

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There are good things to say for both ways of thinking. If you book early, you know you are locked in and if you want to get others on the tour, to maybe lower the price, you can go right to the roll call, tell anyone who is listening what you have done and ask if anyone wants to join you.

 

On the other hand, waiting can get you a cheaper rate and maybe other things also. Like this past year SPB added 2 additional tours in other cities and offered them as a package for a cheaper price.

 

Personally, I see no reason to rush. I would start thinking about it sometime in January or February. There will always be a place and a tour.

 

First thing you want to do is contact several of the tour companies and tell they what you want and how much it might cost. When we booked, a couple of years ago, with SPB, they didn't give us a final price until the new season, as prices do change.

 

Cheers

 

Len

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CintiPam

CintiPam

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I booked last November for a mid-June cruise, requesting quotes for two and four people, but I did not add the second couple until our roll call became more active in late winter.

 

Also, the custom itinerary I requested (primarily packing a canal boat cruise into the day tour) became available on the tour company's website as part of its deluxe tour for this past season, so the price savings was passed on to me. I also organized a day in Berlin for 16 people total much later, in the spring, because I was not sure about such a long bus day, and I am very glad we did this. BTW, both tours were provided by the excellent and responsive SPB-Tours.

 

Many changes are made each year to tour offereings during the mid-winter months, so I also would wait to initiate the process until January or February, as Len wisely advises.

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Got2Cruise "Live from...." Rare

Got2Cruise

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I guess it is what one considers "private". Yes, two people is very private, and very expensive also, I would imagine around $1,000 for two. Most posters here on CC hook up with others on the roll call to make it more affordable groups of ten, and use one of the "standard" tours. That is what we, and many others on the Sun did, using SPb Tours. But even when it is only the two of you, there is no rush to book early. The Russians are very accommodating business people.

I disagree..I booked a private tour for just DH and myself for an active 2 day tour with TJ Travel and saw no reason to wait.. It was also helpful having my many e-mails/questions back and forth answered and knowing everything was taken care of well in advance. The tour companies aren't going to come up with "new" itineraries as the point of a private tour is doing what "you" want to..They will merely make suggestion based on your wants....Enjoy the freedom/itinerary/flexibility with booking a private tour, the most amazing way to see this wonderful city...:)
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  • 2 weeks later...
80sGirl

80sGirl

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We (a group of us from the roll call) booked our StP tour with SPB Tours a few weeks ago even though our stop there isn't until next July. For all of us, it was just a relief to know that it's "done". Plus, we are guaranteed that even if prices do go up next year which is always a possibility, we are locked in at this years price.

 

It doesn't cost you anything to book ahead. If they do drop the price and if they are a reputable company, they will honour the lower price for your group I'm sure.

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ArtM

ArtM

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The other reason to do an early booking is to have more time to gather the people needed for the tour and group size that is being proposed.

 

There are enough variations in content and in the cost as a function of group size, that not everyone will want what the person with the booking thinks is an ideal tour and group size.

 

That, plus as mentioned previously, the relief at getting something this major out of the way.:)

 

Art

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Got2Cruise "Live from...." Rare

Got2Cruise

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I think I am the only one who said there is "no rush", and I stand by my opinion. There is no need to get stressed out. All of the tour companies are constantly reformatting their "standard" tours. They add things, switch things up, etc., based on feed back of the previous season. If you want to book and "get it out of the way" by all means do so. In my experience, booking one of these tours is very simple. We used SPb moderate tour. After we decided we sent Vika an email and we were in. I then posted on my roll call letting others know that a group was open. I wanted a group of ten. There was no problem filling our group and eventually additional groups were open. I left everything in SPb's hands to fill the group. No stress or responsibility on my part. There were so many folks on the ship who never even heard of Cruise Critic (how is that possible ;)), and they wanted to know how they could have joined a group. We had folks joining the roll call at the last minute, saying "We just heard of CC". SPb Tours is able to accommodate most folks up to two weeks before arrival.

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rdnpdx1

rdnpdx1

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How much is the deposit?

 

SPB offers early booking discount and no deposit.

 

They were great. On our sailing eight groups chose SPB and all were very, very pleased, whether they chose Moderate, Active, Deluxe or Baltic Pearl, group of 20 or private group of 6 or 8. All were well satisfied.

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  • 2 weeks later...
TylerRose

TylerRose

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I may be finalizing our plans this week... or obsessing on finding the perfect ones the way only someone spending way too much time on cruisecritic.com can do.

Have any of you joined several ports together in your booking?

Also, what evening activities did you plan in St. Petersburg? :confused:

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rdnpdx1

rdnpdx1

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I may be finalizing our plans this week... or obsessing on finding the perfect ones the way only someone spending way too much time on cruisecritic.com can do.

Have any of you joined several ports together in your booking?

Also, what evening activities did you plan in St. Petersburg? :confused:

 

See my post in reply to your similar request on the SPB Tours thread.

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cruisingrammie

cruisingrammie

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We were in the Baltic during the summer of 2010. We booked our St. Petersburg tour with ANASTASIA TRAVEL in October or November of 2009. They gave a discount for booking early and we didn't have to pay until the last day of the two-day tour in St. Petersburg. They include all photo/video passes and you won't need a Russian visa because they include that as well. It was amazing. I HIGHLY recommend Anastasia. There were 6 of us, all family, in a van with a driver and guide. We saw SO much more than those who were on the ship's excursion and it was very personalized to what we wanted to see and do. In addition to the things you think you want to see (like the Hermitage, Peterhof, Church on the Spilled Blood, Peter & Paul Fortress, Catherine's Palace, etc.) we saw local landmarks, ate at local eateries, shopped where the locals shopped. It was also nearly $100 less per person for this very personalized tour. Elena and Sergei made our trip to St. Petersburg absolutely unforgettable!

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rdnpdx1

rdnpdx1

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Bob,

How do you find the "SPB tour thread"? I went to "search this forum" and wrote "SPB tour". Many threads came up and many questions and posts. Is there a specific "SPB tour thread"?

Thanks for your help.

This is the one I was referring to:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1502710

 

It is the most recent thread on the subject.

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