SPB tours, Best Guides, Alla etc… any difference

[MVPinBoynton]

Must confess that I'm becoming quite suspicious about the influence some posters have in terms of content that appears on these forums!

 

Last year my wife & I did the Baltic Cruise and as I had spent quite a bit of time researching it all beforehand, I outlined in my posts our experience & conclusions.

I mentioned/recommended 2 of the lesser known companies for St Petersburg Tours and gave my reasons for so doing.

The main reason was that all the tour companies seem to use the same pool of drivers, guides etc. so no great difference.

Thus Service/Price should be borne in mind by those planning to book a tour in St Petersburg.

 

A very busy poster firstly accused me of spamming because I had offered the same advice on more than 1 thread.

I genuinely didn't realise this was not allowed and apologised.

The same poster then basically pointed readers towards the better known tour companies and in my reply I restated that they all fish in the same pool etc. and refuted some of the points he made.

 

What really bothers me is that all my related postings have now been deleted and it really smacks of undue influence by some to advance the case of some companies when reference to other companies just happens to get deleted.

 

Perhaps I have better things to do than have over 5,000 postings to my credit but as someone with zero involvement in any aspect of tour business and was simply recounting my experiences suffice to say that I will read many postings in future with an extra dash of scepticism bearing in mind that some views might have been deleted.

 

I don't believe that opinions of posters with more total posts are any more valid than an infrequent poster. Hopefully when someone is trying to chose one of the many excellent tour companies in St. Petersburg, they look at as many opinions as possible. Having been a CC member for many years, I have seen too many posts where a tour company will set up an account and make posts about how great a new tour company is to get business. It is obviously not allowed, since it is strictly advertising. When a CC member with very few posts makes a recommendation, it can appear to be an advertisement, especially when the same recommendation is made several times. Don't take the review process personally, we all have to live by the same rules.

[Eeyoredagreat]

One other issue about early planning is costs of tours. As the Ruble has been unstable, the price in USD has gone down. Last August we paid USD 285 for out two-day tour with Best Guides. The same tour is worth USD 245 today.

f

 

Best Guide is now offering us $206.00 for a party of 13. They will divide us into two vans. My concern is communicating with them. They do not respond right away regarding my questions. It takes days for their response. I even have to follow up before they respond. My cruise is still in August 2016. I do have enough time. I am currently booked with SPB but we will save $54.00 each if we take Best Guides.

But I think I will pay for that $54.00 for peace of mind. I do not want to be stranded when we are at st. Petersburg.

[Blunkly]

I don't believe that opinions of posters with more total posts are any more valid than an infrequent poster. Hopefully when someone is trying to chose one of the many excellent tour companies in St. Petersburg, they look at as many opinions as possible. Having been a CC member for many years, I have seen too many posts where a tour company will set up an account and make posts about how great a new tour company is to get business. It is obviously not allowed, since it is strictly advertising. When a CC member with very few posts makes a recommendation, it can appear to be an advertisement, especially when the same recommendation is made several times. Don't take the review process personally, we all have to live by the same rules.

 

Very fair comment MVPinBoynton!

 

Perhaps I was a little bit naive as hadn't paid too much attention to the whole area of review manipulation.

I fully accept that a new company might be tempted to try and promote themselves via favourable 'reviews'

Equally I have no doubt the better known companies protect their interests by self promotion and trying to ensure new companies don't get a foothold.

 

Truth is we had a great experience from 2 of the smaller operators and I simply wanted to convey this and encourage cruisers to explore entirety of the market as where Russia is involved there can easily be a much narrower view taken than would be the case elsewhere.

 

Anyhow I fully accept the views you've expressed

[Pet Nit Noy]

Equally I have no doubt the better known companies protect their interests by self promotion and trying to ensure new companies don't get a foothold.

 

Actually the better known companies don't engage in self promotion, but they do encourage and make life easier for satisfied customers to express their enthusiasm, at least on Trip Advisor. Many of the more popular companies provide a link on their web sites for clients to post on there. I've read UK posters who think this isn't cricket (or kosher as we'd say in the US). I have a slightly different point of view. Just because a guide asks me to write a review doesn't mean I'm going to do so! And, frankly, my own experience posting about White Nights Travel illustrates the benefit of a company making life easier for its clients.

 

I was the first client to post about White Nights on this board and, to the best of my knowledge, I'm still the only one to mention their name when appropriate. I knew the company was relatively new, a spin off by employees of SPB when one of the women got pregnant but wanted to keep working from home. Knowing that White Nights was a newish company, I wasn't surprised to see White Nights at position 86 in the Trip Advisor list when I went to post my positive review. All the reviews were positive, but I think I would have been posting review number four. (Now, it is at position 93 with only eight reviews -- all highly positive.)

 

Shortly after I posted on Trip Advisor, I had reason to contact Irina at White Nights to thank her. I mentioned my review and she came back with a big "What review?" Turns out I had posted my review to a different company that was obviously trying to trick clients by choosing a very, very similar name. The real White Nights Travel -- Day Tours was then in position #10. It is now in position number #6.

 

As a result of this discovery, I had to write to Trip Advisor, explain my confusion, and ask them to delete my original review. The second time, I posted the review to the correct tour company.

 

I tend to write my reviews shortly after returning home and I'm always somewhat jet lagged so I'll take all the help I can get. If a tour company wants to put a link to Trip Advisor on its web page, I say, "Thanks!"

Edited April 17, 2016 by Pet Nit Noy

[Blunkly]

Interesting feedback MVPinBoynton!

 

When I was looking last year I got the impression that Denrus had been one of the top 3 companies for a number of years but had slipped down the rankings on Tripadvisor despite their reviews being positive.

This year they are ranked 32. Obviously I couldn't understand why fully.

 

White Nights that you mention are ranked 94th whereas the firm we used (Ticket and Tours) don't even seem to be ranked.

Our preferred operator for a private tour (Ludmila Tours) is only listed 46 in North Western District.

Obviously the number of reviews rather than just the quality of them drives much of the rankings as Ludmila Tours had only 50 reviews (48 rated excellent, 1 Very Good & 1 Average and no poor ones) whereas SPB had over 2,500 reviews. Most very positive but 24 either Poor or Terrible which admittedly is a tiny %.

 

One explanation is probably that Tickets&Tours get most of their bookings through Viator so as not booked directly (as we did!) probably less likely to post reviews.

 

Bottom line is that people should not feel confined to just looking at the top 10 companies listed on Tripadvisor as most, if not all, companies use the same pool of vans, drivers & guides to deliver their service

[MVPinBoynton]

Interesting feedback MVPinBoynton!

 

When I was looking last year I got the impression that Denrus had been one of the top 3 companies for a number of years but had slipped down the rankings on Tripadvisor despite their reviews being positive.

This year they are ranked 32. Obviously I couldn't understand why fully.

 

White Nights that you mention are ranked 94th whereas the firm we used (Ticket and Tours) don't even seem to be ranked.

Our preferred operator for a private tour (Ludmila Tours) is only listed 46 in North Western District.

Obviously the number of reviews rather than just the quality of them drives much of the rankings as Ludmila Tours had only 50 reviews (48 rated excellent, 1 Very Good & 1 Average and no poor ones) whereas SPB had over 2,500 reviews. Most very positive but 24 either Poor or Terrible which admittedly is a tiny %.

 

One explanation is probably that Tickets&Tours get most of their bookings through Viator so as not booked directly (as we did!) probably less likely to post reviews.

 

Bottom line is that people should not feel confined to just looking at the top 10 companies listed on Tripadvisor as most, if not all, companies use the same pool of vans, drivers & guides to deliver their service

 

I think you confused me with Pet Nit Noy. I used Alla and thoroughly enjoyed our tours with them.

[Blunkly]

I think you confused me with Pet Nit Noy. I used Alla and thoroughly enjoyed our tours with them.

 

I stand corrected!

[gkkapp]

f

 

Best Guide is now offering us $206.00 for a party of 13. They will divide us into two vans. My concern is communicating with them. They do not respond right away regarding my questions. It takes days for their response. I even have to follow up before they respond.

 

Gee- We have private tour booked with Best Guides and have no problem getting a response. When we set the tour up back in January we emailed back and forth almost daily. Once everything was set we didn't email for awhile but have recently been in touch with them to change something. Natalie is our contact and she always gets back to us promptly. In this case she is waiting for a call back from a museum but hasn't heard back yet. She has kept us informed about the lack of contact and said she will keep trying. What more could you ask. I should mention that this is not the "standard" tour. We are going to Novgorod on the first day and doing a walking tour in St Petersburg on the second day. This is our third time there. We used Alla the first time and SPB the second. Both companies were contacted and never got back to us as to whether they could do this type of tour. Best Guides did and gave us a very reasonable price.

 

Enough said.

 

<<<Karen>>>

[Got2Cruise]

Getting you back to the ship in time is the most important thing for the private guide to do. Not all the companies are experienced with cruise ship pax. Also an important aspect of dealing with cruise pax is obtaining the blanket visa for the pax. Cruise pax should focus on the feedback from pax posting here on cruise critic.

[Eeyoredagreat]

Eeyoredagreat,

I entirely agree with you. Peace of mind is an absolute must-have in any travel. If there is something you don’t like about Best Guides, don’t book with them.

No doubt you will have a great tour with SPB.

 

 

Our experience was different. We toured with Best Guides in August 2015 and couldn’t have been satisfied more. The pre-trip communications were always informative and prompt.

 

 

You can try talking to them on Skype if you want.

 

 

Thank you. I just discovered why they are cheaper. Lunch is extra, No Canal Boat tour, No Yusupov Palace or hydrofoil boat ride. But they have this Whit Nights Tour for free. Has everyone experienced that? is that worth it? Does all other Tour group do that too?

[Eeyoredagreat]

Gee- We have private tour booked with Best Guides and have no problem getting a response. When we set the tour up back in January we emailed back and forth almost daily. Once everything was set we didn't email for awhile but have recently been in touch with them to change something. Natalie is our contact and she always gets back to us promptly. In this case she is waiting for a call back from a museum but hasn't heard back yet. She has kept us informed about the lack of contact and said she will keep trying. What more could you ask. I should mention that this is not the "standard" tour. We are going to Novgorod on the first day and doing a walking tour in St Petersburg on the second day. This is our third time there. We used Alla the first time and SPB the second. Both companies were contacted and never got back to us as to whether they could do this type of tour. Best Guides did and gave us a very reasonable price.

 

Enough said.

 

<<<Karen>>>

Thanks - we have Kira as our contact. Maybe that is the reason?

[CrazyJess]

But they have this Whit Nights Tour for free. Has everyone experienced that? is that worth it? Does all other Tour group do that too?

Hi! Yes, I joint their Whit Nights Tour last time I was in St. Petersburg. We actually booked a private tour with the Best Guides just for three of us but for the evening I joined a mini group for the Faberge museum. After the museum we got this White Night tour as a complement. Yes, it was very enjoyable. I was a bit tied after our long day but despite of it I really enjoyed the tour. We put locks on bridge grill and threw keys into the water, we found a little bird which was the smallest monument in St. Petersburg and it was a symbol of good luck at the same time. We also tried local ice cream and it was quite a game. Our guide gave us some Russian money and taught us what to say and we did. So we bought our ice scream in a small kiosk and said “thank you” in Russian. It was a real fun! (the ice-cream was delicious too!) We also walked through the Summer Gardens and saw the Field of Mars. Any way we all enjoyed our evening a lot. But I have to say that it wasn’t a real tour in general meaning – I mean long explanations, some important information, history etc.- it was more fun.

Jess:)

[CrazyJess]

f

 

Best Guide is now offering us $206.00 for a party of 13. They will divide us into two vans. My concern is communicating with them. They do not respond right away regarding my questions.

 

Hi! One moment I also had a problem with correspondence. I sent two letters and didn’t get a response. I was really surprised and left a message on Facebook. They answered me within one hour or so. After all they resend me all original replays from a different address and in a few days my DH found all the missing messages in my SPAM:D:D:D I know I’m not a great PC user:(

Any way if you have problems with communication Facebook can help.

Good luck! Jess:):)

[Eeyoredagreat]

Hi! One moment I also had a problem with correspondence. I sent two letters and didn’t get a response. I was really surprised and left a message on Facebook. They answered me within one hour or so. After all they resend me all original replays from a different address and in a few days my DH found all the missing messages in my SPAM:D:D:D I know I’m not a great PC user:(

Any way if you have problems with communication Facebook can help.

Good luck! Jess:):)

 

Thank you. I do check my junk mail and it's not there. Okay I will try messaging in the Facebook.

[Eeyoredagreat]

Eeyoredagreat,

 

 

We toured St Pete in August 2016. We went to Peterhof by hydrofoil, had a boat ride on canals and rivers, and two lunches included in the package.

Are we talking about one and the same tour company?

After I read the story shared by Pet Nit Noy (post # 165), I wouldn’t be surprised if we weren’t.

The White Nights tour wasn’t free but came complementary to the folk performance, which we saw after the day tour.

 

We didn’t visit the Yusupov Palace because we opted for a less intensive tour. I believe that less is better if you want to enjoy magnificent St Petersburg.

We didn’t look for the cheapest tour but for a very good tour, and we got it from Best Guides .

 

What you are saying about your group of thirteen being divided into two sounds incomprehensible to me. Why would that be?

I’m afraid there’s a big miscommunication going on between you and the tour company.

 

If you don't mind, how much did you pay for that tour?

[Eeyoredagreat]

Actually the better known companies don't engage in self promotion, but they do encourage and make life easier for satisfied customers to express their enthusiasm, at least on Trip Advisor. Many of the more popular companies provide a link on their web sites for clients to post on there. I've read UK posters who think this isn't cricket (or kosher as we'd say in the US). I have a slightly different point of view. Just because a guide asks me to write a review doesn't mean I'm going to do so! And, frankly, my own experience posting about White Nights Travel illustrates the benefit of a company making life easier for its clients.

 

I was the first client to post about White Nights on this board and, to the best of my knowledge, I'm still the only one to mention their name when appropriate. I knew the company was relatively new, a spin off by employees of SPB when one of the women got pregnant but wanted to keep working from home. Knowing that White Nights was a newish company, I wasn't surprised to see White Nights at position 86 in the Trip Advisor list when I went to post my positive review. All the reviews were positive, but I think I would have been posting review number four. (Now, it is at position 93 with only eight reviews -- all highly positive.)

 

Shortly after I posted on Trip Advisor, I had reason to contact Irina at White Nights to thank her. I mentioned my review and she came back with a big "What review?" Turns out I had posted my review to a different company that was obviously trying to trick clients by choosing a very, very similar name. The real White Nights Travel -- Day Tours was then in position #10. It is now in position number #6.

 

As a result of this discovery, I had to write to Trip Advisor, explain my confusion, and ask them to delete my original review. The second time, I posted the review to the correct tour company.

 

I tend to write my reviews shortly after returning home and I'm always somewhat jet lagged so I'll take all the help I can get. If a tour company wants to put a link to Trip Advisor on its web page, I say, "Thanks!"

 

How much was your tour?

[la*cruiser]

One other issue about early planning is costs of tours. As the Ruble has been unstable, the price in USD has gone down. Last August we paid USD 285 for out two-day tour with Best Guides. The same tour is worth USD 245 today.

 

 

Hello,

 

Last year we paid $250 per adult and $225 per child for Faberge Tour with Tj.

[Eeyoredagreat]

Eeyoredagreat,

We paid 285 $ per adults (not before arrival in St Pete) and 30 $ less for the kids last summer (see post # 154 here). Found it very good value for money.

 

Okay that makes sense. I am booked right now at SPB Tour for $260 (we are a big group) but when Best Guides offered a tour for $176 I thought it was a good deal until lunch, hydrofoil boat, canal boat tour, Yusupov Palace were not included as my SPB tour itinerary does. Best guides told me those are extras which they can include. So I'm thinking if I ask for those it will reach same price as yours.

Thank you for the price information, it makes my decision on which tour group I should use easier.

[dogs4fun]

Okay that makes sense. I am booked right now at SPB Tour for $260 (we are a big group) but when Best Guides offered a tour for $176 I thought it was a good deal until lunch, hydrofoil boat, canal boat tour, Yusupov Palace were not included as my SPB tour itinerary does. Best guides told me those are extras which they can include. So I'm thinking if I ask for those it will reach same price as yours.

Thank you for the price information, it makes my decision on which tour group I should use easier.

Just a thought - I am thinking that you should be able to beat the price of $260 if you have a large group. I would check with both Alla Tours and Tj Tours (both highly rated) - both offer the same itinerary as the 2 day Deluxe tour and both companies offer phone numbers on their websites that you can call from the US/Canada (toll free) for information. IMHO, it pays to shop around as most of the major companies will match or beat the prices of their competitors.

Edited April 23, 2016 by dogs4fun

[Eeyoredagreat]

Just a thought - I am thinking that you should be able to beat the price of $260 if you have a large group. I would check with both Alla Tours and Tj Tours (both highly rated) - both offer the same itinerary as the 2 day Deluxe tour and both companies offer phone numbers on their websites that you can call from the US/Canada (toll free) for information. IMHO, it pays to shop around as most of the major companies will match or beat the prices of their competitors.

 

Thank you for the advice. They will only match what SPB has to offer. I did call all all of these Tour groups before deciding on SPB. It was my comfort level with them and their customer service was excellent.

By the way I was able to arrange with them that some of my group will go to Vodka Museum instead of Faberge for evening option. The Vodka museum has a restaurant attached to it and we decided to meet and eat there after our museum trek. The vodka museum has a vodka tasting after the tour, like wine tasting in Napa Valley. it's not as intense as Tour with Local where they give you all the vodka for 4 hours evening option.

[angeleyes27]

We used SPB, excellent tour with a small group, very accommodating

[cam200]

We used SPB, excellent tour with a small group, very accommodating

 

I'm seeing two different SPB tours when I search the internet. SPB-tours dot com and SPBtours dot com. Does anyone know the difference? On the surface SPB-tours appears to be highly rated by Trip Advisor but I'm not able to locate any details on SPBtours. Appreciate your input.

[Eeyoredagreat]

I'm seeing two different SPB tours when I search the internet. SPB-tours dot com and SPBtours dot com. Does anyone know the difference? On the surface SPB-tours appears to be highly rated by Trip Advisor but I'm not able to locate any details on SPBtours. Appreciate your input.

 

http://www.SPB-tours.com

[Eeyoredagreat]

I'm seeing two different SPB tours when I search the internet. SPB-tours dot com and SPBtours dot com. Does anyone know the difference? On the surface SPB-tours appears to be highly rated by Trip Advisor but I'm not able to locate any details on SPBtours. Appreciate your input.

 

http://www.SPB-tours.com

[angeleyes27]

Our guide was Elena. She bent over backwards to accommodate all requests