Frustrated...St Petersburg Tour cancelled

[soohoo]

So I spend hours deciding which tour I would like in St. Petersburg on June 20th and made the arrangements with confirmation the first of April. Get word today that our tour has been cancelled (ALLA) as there will not be any guides available. Think they got bigger groups or something as there are plenty of groups listed on the roll call for that day.

[CathyK2]

I know this has to be very disappointing. Might I suggest you try SPB Tours. I know that while we were in the Baltic last year on the Eurodam, some were doing Alla and some SPB. When we compared notes, they were both quite similar. We did SPB and were extremely pleased with them.

 

Good luck. St. Petersburg is a great city. You will love it.

[Nitemare]

Like Cathy said, plenty of alternative companies.

 

First time I've seen any negative comments in any way about any of the big tour companies. This surprises me.

[John Bull]

That's a great shame. But all the other operators in St P are equally highly-praised & hopefully time is still on your side.

Might be an idea to ask Alla for e-mail addresses of the others that were on your tour, so that you can approach other operators with a ready-made van-full?

 

JB :)

[soohoo]

Thanks all for your encouragement. I do understand things happen - just confused why there are so many groups and we got bumped. Better to find out now than when we get there!! I have now placed a reservation request for SPB and have received an email that they will followup within 48 hours!

[Giantfan13]

We also used SPB Tours and were thrilled with them. The attention to any and all our questions was tremendous, and Viktoria is just a joy to work with. Give them a shot, you will not be sorry.

 

Cheers

 

Len

[Got2Cruise]

So I spend hours deciding which tour I would like in St. Petersburg on June 20th and made the arrangements with confirmation the first of April. Get word today that our tour has been cancelled (ALLA) as there will not be any guides available. Think they got bigger groups or something as there are plenty of groups listed on the roll call for that day.

 

This is not very nice, if it is true. But, as stated, I am sure you will be able to find something else, there is plenty of time.

[drowelf]

You know sometimes things happen. On our 2010 Baltic cruise we got an email from SPB about 3 weeks out, that they had to change our tour group size. Our group had a couple cancel and another group had 4 (family) cancel their entire cruise due to an emergency. So they combined us into a single group of 14 instead of 10. The only difference was that it cost us a little bit less for the tour, as it was priced for 10.

 

I'd definitely contact SPB. They can probably fit you in somewhere. We had a wonderful on our 2 day SPB tour. We caught all the highlights and the guides know all the little tricks to get you into the hi volume sites faster. At Catherine's Palace we by-passed the long, long line of folks from other ship tours and got in under 20 minutes. Which was especially nice as it was a chilly rainy June Day.

 

cheers,

[blonde1981]

Also contact the ladies at TJ Travel. They have been super easy for me to work with and they might have space for you.

[bakenbarb]

So I spend hours deciding which tour I would like in St. Petersburg on June 20th and made the arrangements with confirmation the first of April. Get word today that our tour has been cancelled (ALLA) as there will not be any guides available. Think they got bigger groups or something as there are plenty of groups listed on the roll call for that day.

I am also in contact with Alla Tours regarding tours for my upcoming cruise in July. It was with some concern that I sought further information after reading this post. I was informed by Alla that the lady was seeking to do a one day tour of St Petersburg and that no tour operators offered one day tours for passengers of cruise ships that were staying in port for two days.

[Got2Cruise]

Hmmmm. Well according to the OP she received confirmation from Alla. I find it odd that Alla would speak for all tour operators.

I am also in contact with Alla Tours regarding tours for my upcoming cruise in July. It was with some concern that I sought further information after reading this post. I was informed by Alla that the lady was seeking to do a one day tour of St Petersburg and that no tour operators offered one day tours for passengers of cruise ships that were staying in port for two days.

[drarill]

I am also in contact with Alla Tours regarding tours for my upcoming cruise in July. It was with some concern that I sought further information after reading this post. I was informed by Alla that the lady was seeking to do a one day tour of St Petersburg and that no tour operators offered one day tours for passengers of cruise ships that were staying in port for two days.

 

We are going to Moscow with a cruise tour on our first day in St. Petersburg and didn't have any problems with SPB tours to plan a private tour for us for our second day there. This is our second Baltic cruise but it will be the first one for some friends and they didn't want to miss St. Petersburg. We also booked private tours with SPB also in Germany and Tallin.

When I was getting quotations for our one day tour in St. Petersburg, I received one from Alla too, now I'm glad that I booked with SPB and not with them.

[ndur]

We used Denrus as our tour operator in St. Petersburg on our 2010 Baltic cruise. It was a 2 day tour - we were very happy with their services and all the sights we saw. Have a great time - there is so much to see - lots of walking.

[Herman The Cat]

We used TJ Travel last September and they were terrific. I am sure they will do their utmost to work with you. They are very responsive and helpful.

[roothy123]

So is your ship there for just one day? Perhaps there was a misunderstanding about that, as I don't think Alla and most other tour guide companies offer a one-day tour unless it is a customized tour of some sort, which costs a lot more.

 

As others have said, there are plenty of other companies to choose from, so I'm sure it will be OK. We thought Alla was great, but the consensus seems to be that other companies are quite good as well! About the only differences I found when researching last year were that one of the companies used a bus instead of 16 passenger vans and that some companies require you to put together your own group versus the tour company doing it.

[BetHow]

We used TJ Tours last fall on our Eurodam cruise and were very pleased. We did the two day whirlwind tour as we will never get another chance but they also offered a one day tour and slower, more relaxed tours. It was great not spending all our time standing in line everywhere. We were in a van with 14 people and an excellent guide who gave us a great quick history of the city. We also did the folklore evening which we really enjoyed. There was the typical shopping stop but it was a good quality store - not junk.

 

Have a wonderful trip! We sure did!

 

Betty

[mrscruisequeen]

So I spend hours deciding which tour I would like in St. Petersburg on June 20th and made the arrangements with confirmation the first of April. Get word today that our tour has been cancelled (ALLA) as there will not be any guides available. Think they got bigger groups or something as there are plenty of groups listed on the roll call for that day.

 

Try www.denrus.com

We went with them for 2 days in St. Petersburg and were very happy with them.

Jeanne

[adiclam]

We will be in St. Petersburg on 20th of June too, and booked two days tour with SPB just about a week ago, and got their confirmation and documents within three days. Don't worry, you still have time.

[soohoo]

Yes, not only did I have confirmation for the tour - They offer 1 day tours on the website. The number of days shouldn't matter when you advertise and make a confirmation - just my opinion. SPB says they can offer us a "Private" tour since there are no other people from our ship touring with them on June 20th.

[bestmom1]

We used TJ Travel last September and they were terrific. I am sure they will do their utmost to work with you. They are very responsive and helpful.

 

We have used TJ tours and found Tatiana and Julia to be delightful. I highly recommend them.

Liz

[brazilgirl]

We used Anastasia and were very pleased with our tour. Worth a look.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

[NantahalaCruiser]

I wrote about this issue on my roll call thread and another person on my cruise made the following posting - you never know for sure what is true on these boards:

 

Originally Posted by Peatmoss

I just contacted Alla Tours Office and they informed me, "We have NO CANCELLATIONS." Alla was trying to put together a 3-day tour for someone this summer that just didn't work out. Alla indicated that since competition is high, sometimes people pass rumors around on the internet.

 

Perhaps this Northern Europe - Baltic thread relates only to June 20th which will have six cruise ships in St. Petersburg that day. With almost 12,000 cruisers in the city, it might be a challenge to find a tour that is still available.

 

Fortunately, on July 20 -21 we will not have this problem.

[soohoo]

I received an email this morning from SPB - they do not have any tours scheduled on June 20th for our ship but they have offered us a "private tour". Would love to not pay that price but looks like I will to get the places I want to see. The ship doesn't have as good of a selection!