Anyone used Petersburg Voyage for excursions?

[atlast95]

Researching shore excursions for our Baltic cruise this summer and I am emailing with a St. Petersburg company called Petersburg Voyage. I have only found a few reviews of this company on another website, and although they were good, I was wondering if anyone on CC has had any experience with them? Any feedback would be appreciated.

[Ashland]

We didn't want to take any chances with this trip of a lifetime...and so I emailed the major ones most often recommended on this board...We ended up using TJ Travel....AMAZING !!!

[dolfans0704]

I must agree with Ashland. I would not risk dropping the ball in this port! I heeded the advise of my fellow cruisers here on CC and contacted several of the highly praised tour companies and Alla fit the bill for us! Looking forward to our upcoming trip in May. You also may want to visit the roll call specific to your sailing and see if others have formed any groups as well. Best of luck in your planning! :)

 

 

Dolfans from Miami

[dogs4fun]

We didn't want to take any chances with this trip of a lifetime...and so I emailed the major ones most often recommended on this board...We ended up using TJ Travel....AMAZING !!!

 

I must agree with Ashland. I would not risk dropping the ball in this port! I heeded the advise of my fellow cruisers here on CC and contacted several of the highly praised tour companies and Alla fit the bill for us! Looking forward to our upcoming trip in May. You also may want to visit the roll call specific to your sailing and see if others have formed any groups as well. Best of luck in your planning! :)

 

 

Dolfans from Miami

I agree with Ashland & Dolfans. I would NOT take any chances in Saint Petersburg. Like Dolfans, we booked with Alla ... OUTSTANDING!!

 

Researching shore excursions for our Baltic cruise this summer and I am emailing with a St. Petersburg company called Petersburg Voyage. I have only found a few reviews of this company on another website, and although they were good, I was wondering if anyone on CC has had any experience with them? Any feedback would be appreciated.

I have never read about this company on Cruise Critic or seen it recommended. This company has only 3 recommendations on TripAdvisor, all of them from this year (2013). Additionally, it appears from their website that Petersburg Voyage requires prepayment for your tours ... no way I would prepay in St. Petersburg!! The major companies listed below do NOT require prepayment for your tours ... you pay on the 2nd touring day.

Petersburg Voyage may be a very fine company but I would not take a chance on a company with very scant feedback.

 

Saint Petersburg is the highlight on the Baltic itineraries. There are several tour companies in Saint Petersburg that are highly regarded by members of our cruise critic community. Some of them also offer package tours for other Baltic ports such as Berlin, Warnemunde, Stockholm, Helsinki, Tallinn & Schwerin (which are a very good value if you prefer not to DIY).

We booked our tours with Alla Tours. We contacted all of the major tour companies in Saint Petersburg and Alla (the owner of Alla Tours) was, by far, the best “fit” for us. Her extra special attention to our “wants” and “needs” was unsurpassed. She was extremely flexible, patient and very kind. Alla genuinely cared that our specific “wants” were met and she modified our tour to include our requests to see the Grand Choral Synagogue in Saint Petersburg and the Pergamon museum in Berlin.

Additionally, we received the best price for our tours in both Saint Petersburg and Berlin from Alla … none of the other companies that we contacted matched the price we were quoted from Alla. Price is always a consideration for us as our European cruises with extended land excursions tend to put a “strain’ on the budget … but even though we seek an affordable price, we still want excellent service. Alla delivered on both counts. Our tours, as well as our guides, were simply outstanding!!

I found our tours with Alla to be truly exceptional and, in my years of travel, have not found a comparable tour company that catered so diligently to client satisfaction via their exemplary customer service. I highly recommend Alla Tours. http://alla-tour.com/

 

That said, in the interest of fairness, there are several companies that receive glowing reviews from their customers that have toured with them. Most of us on these boards, myself included, have only toured with one company thus making meaningful comparisons between the major operators in Saint Petersburg impossible.

The best advice I can offer is to contact several companies and decide for yourself which company is the best “fit” for your particular wants and needs. Here are a few more websites to get you started:

Alla Tours - http://alla-tour.com/

TJ Travel - http://st-petersburg-tours.ru/

Anastasia - http://anastasia.travel/

Best Guides - http://bestguides-spb.com/

Enjoy your cruise to the Baltics! :):)

jill

[Nitemare]

I've got nothing to add to the prior post but to say it's a dead solid perfect summary of how to handle your stop in SPB, in conjunction with the rest of your Baltic cruise.

 

Nicely done, Jill!

[dogs4fun]

I've got nothing to add to the prior post but to say it's a dead solid perfect summary of how to handle your stop in SPB, in conjunction with the rest of your Baltic cruise.

 

Nicely done, Jill!

 

Thank you for the kind comment, Nitemare. :)

[atlast95]

Thanks everyone for your replies! I really appreciate your advice and will go with one of the better known tour companies that receive lots of recommendations on CC. I am currently considering TJ tours.

 

A special thank you to you Jill for doing so much work posting your advice and all the links! It truly is much more than I expected.

 

My daughter is really in to ballet and would love to go to the Mariinsky to see a performance but unfortunately their season will be over when we visit. Nevertheless she would love to have her photo taken in front of the theatre. Those of you who have done TJ tours, did you have a photo stop at the Mariinsky Theatre in Theatre Square (I think).

 

Jill, the same question about Alla -- did you do a photo stop at the Mariinsky?

 

Thanks again.

[dogs4fun]

Jill, the same question about Alla -- did you do a photo stop at the Mariinsky?

 

Thanks again.

 

Hi atlast,

You are very welcome! :) Happy to help. I am sure that you will be very pleased with TJ ... they get excellent reviews!

 

Yes, there was a photo stop at Mariinsky. If you request a photo stop there, Alla will accomodate you.

I am pretty sure that TJ would accomodate a photo stop as well.

 

Since your daughter loves ballet, you might be interested in one of the evening ballet options. I know that Alla offers the ballet & you can check with TJ & see if they offer it as well. Won't be the quality of the regular troupe, but still, very worthwhile IMHO if your daughter is passionate about ballet. (We saw Giselle)

jill

[atlast95]

Hi atlast,

You are very welcome! :) Happy to help. I am sure that you will be very pleased with TJ ... they get excellent reviews!

 

Yes, there was a photo stop at Mariinsky. If you request a photo stop there, Alla will accomodate you.

I am pretty sure that TJ would accomodate a photo stop as well.

 

Since your daughter loves ballet, you might be interested in one of the evening ballet options. I know that Alla offers the ballet & you can check with TJ & see if they offer it as well. Won't be the quality of the regular troupe, but still, very worthwhile IMHO if your daughter is passionate about ballet. (We saw Giselle)

jill

I've done a little research and found the Mariinsky theatre is closed for the season when we are there but the Mikhailovsky is doing Sleeping Beauty and my daughter is excited about the possibility of going to see that. I have just emailed Alla to see if she can arrange tickets and transportation for us.

 

She is hoping to have her picture taken holding a sign that says "I made it" in front of the Mariinsky Theatre if we can get there! She is 18 and has trained in Russian classical ballet so this trip is a big deal for her. (and me!)

[dogs4fun]

I've done a little research and found the Mariinsky theatre is closed for the season when we are there but the Mikhailovsky is doing Sleeping Beauty and my daughter is excited about the possibility of going to see that. I have just emailed Alla to see if she can arrange tickets and transportation for us.

 

She is hoping to have her picture taken holding a sign that says "I made it" in front of the Mariinsky Theatre if we can get there! She is 18 and has trained in Russian classical ballet so this trip is a big deal for her. (and me!)

Super! Hope everything works out for you and your daughter.

Enjoy your time in St. Petersburg!

jill

[blonde1981]

I can't imagine TJ Travel not being able to stop there for you. I have been corresponding with Olga there and she even offered to have the driver bring me to a clothing store I was interested in after my tour and it is on the other side of town.

[atlast95]

I can't imagine TJ Travel not being able to stop there for you. I have been corresponding with Olga there and she even offered to have the driver bring me to a clothing store I was interested in after my tour and it is on the other side of town.

 

This is good to know. Makes me feel more confident about accomplishing all the things we want to in SPB. I see you are on Vision of the Seas right after us in August. Too bad we aren't on the same cruise -- maybe we could have toured together!

[Ashland]

I can't imagine TJ Travel not being able to stop there for you. I have been corresponding with Olga there and she even offered to have the driver bring me to a clothing store I was interested in after my tour and it is on the other side of town.

Agree...On our private tour with TJ Travel (just the two of us, guide & driver) if we wanted to do it, stop for it or see it, they accommodated us and at the spur of the moment during our two days...AMAZING !!!

[Nitemare]

Agree...On our private tour with TJ Travel (just the two of us, guide & driver) if we wanted to do it, stop for it or see it, they accommodated us and at the spur of the moment during our two days...AMAZING !!!

 

Exactly. For not a helluva lot more money a private tour will get you exactly what you want. We have nephews who love soccer, and our TJ guide made sure we hit a store that sold all sorts of soccer merchandise for the local teams. Big success with the boys. And from there we went to a specialty food store for gifts for the parents and in-laws.

 

If you compare the increased cost of a private tour with the total cost of a Baltic cruise (airfare, hotels, and of course the cruise), it didn't cost us 5% more to get exactly the experience we wanted in SPB.

[sparkyadams]

We are taking Celebrity on the Baltic tour this summer and they are not offering the Imperial Evening at Catherine Palace in St. Petersburg which I have seen great reviews for. Does anyone know if this can be booked through a private tour operator?

 

Thanks

 

Sparky

[dogs4fun]

We are taking Celebrity on the Baltic tour this summer and they are not offering the Imperial Evening at Catherine Palace in St. Petersburg which I have seen great reviews for. Does anyone know if this can be booked through a private tour operator?

 

Thanks

 

Sparky

 

Hi Sparky,

The Evening at Catherine Palace cannot be booked through a private tour operator. I, too, have heard very nice reviews of the evening at Catherine Palace but have not done it myself. So, if it is something in which you are interested, you would need to book through your cruise line.

Enjoy your cruise.:)

jill

[atlast95]

Agree...On our private tour with TJ Travel (just the two of us, guide & driver) if we wanted to do it, stop for it or see it, they accommodated us and at the spur of the moment during our two days...AMAZING !!!

 

Would be lots of fun but I wonder how much trouble we would get into on our own? Hopefully we wouldn't be "those people" making a mad dash to get back on the ship before it sails away, lol! :)

[Ashland]

Would be lots of fun but I wonder how much trouble we would get into on our own? Hopefully we wouldn't be "those people" making a mad dash to get back on the ship before it sails away, lol! :)

It's amazing how a private tour can manage your time while still giving you so much flexibility (especially on day one)..as their reputation depends on it...Hard to believe we saw and did so much during our 2 days, but we did and at the end of our 2nd and last day, there was no mad dash to get back on the ship we even had some time to look in the terminal shops :)

[atlast95]

It's amazing how a private tour can manage your time while still giving you so much flexibility (especially on day one)..as their reputation depends on it...Hard to believe we saw and did so much during our 2 days, but we did and at the end of our 2nd and last day, there was no mad dash to get back on the ship we even had some time to look in the terminal shops :)

 

Ashland, that brings up something else I was wondering, how were the terminal shops? How did the prices/selections compare with other tourist stores?

We have booked a 3 Day Highlights tour with TJ Travel and Olga tells me I am not the first person in the group to ask for a Mariinsky theatre photo stop so she is going to ask the guide to talk about ballet life in SPB and make sure we have our photo opportunity. I have also purchased ballet tickets online for the Mikhailovsky's Sleeping Beauty and TJ Travel is going to arrange our transportation. Everything is coming together and I think we are going to accomplish our "to do and see list" in SPB.