St. Petersburg June 2015

[Smgeordie]

Has anyone decided which is the best way to visit St. Petersburg. We are wondering about Princess versus SPB. We will be on the Ocean Princess

[paul929207]

I would get a private tour. They are very good about keeping you ahead of the big ship tours

[Smgeordie]

Thanks Paul. We have always gone with the ships tours so are a bit apprehensive going with SPB. Especially in Russia. They (SPB) seem to get good reviews though so we may go that route this time. Thanks again.

[cdwh1902]

We went with SPB and they were brilliant - would definitely recommend them. We were ahead of the big bus lines every time. Enjoy!

[CruiserBruce]

If you look on the Northern Europe board, located here:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=192

 

you will see info and discussions on this topic daily.

[Smgeordie]

Thank you. It's good to get some positive feedback. I have heard the ships groups are also too large compared to SPB.

[John Bull]

Go though the threads linked by Bruce. You'll find that not only SPB but a dozen other local tour operators all have excellent reputations. We were very happy with Alla, but I think we'd have been happy with any of them.

Ignore Princess' nonsense about having to take a ship's tour or get a visa - all the accredited local operators provide visa-free tours, same as the ship. You only need a visa if you want to go ashore on your own, for instance by just jumping into a cab.

 

You do need to pre-book, since the tour ticket e-mailed to you gets you through immigration without a visa. But you don't pay up-front, or even provide credit card details - they trust you. You pay when you're there, with a choice of currencies or plastic.

 

Lots of reasons for choosing a local tour rather than ship's coach tours, all detailed on that Baltic / Northern Europe forum

 

JB :)

[nybumpkin]

On our cruise two years ago, one ship's tour missed the Church of the Spilled Blood because there was no place to park the large tour bus. We had no problem with our 16-person van with Alla's tour.

[Smgeordie]

Thanks for all your info. Much appreciated. Sounds like SPB for us.

[ontheweb]

In 2007, we used Alla, and our guide was Viktoria. She confided to our group that she was on the verge of opening her own agency. That agency is now SPB.

 

I have only good things to say about both Alla and Viktoria.

 

Definitely go with a private tour. Ours was set up through our roll call. That is probably the best way to set it up.

Edited April 3, 2015 by ontheweb
spelling correction

[paul929207]

Just be sure that the tour agency will be getting a visa for the group. Both Alla and SPB do. If they don't you would have to get your own visa in advance.

[SparkleBee]

this question is addressed a million times in the Northern Europe/Baltics area. basically, all the private companies in StP get rave reviews, the most popular ones being SPB and Alla and TJ. I went with SPB and they did an excellent job. you don't want to go with the ship tour. it's more expensive and you are herded with lots and lots more people.