SPB vs Celebrity onboard

[Bob1956]

we contacted Celebrity about their two day St Petersburg excursion for next year and when we read the itinerary it says at your leisure so we asked what that meant. They told us you are with a group and if someone is not ready to move onto the next site everyone has to wait for them. Have been looking at SPB tours which also offer 2 days, have anyone had any bad experiences with them? And what about getting off the ship since it is a private tour?

 

Darlene

[paul929207]

SPB and any other major tour company with provide the documentation needed to get off the ship in St. Petersberg. You must book in advance so they can include you in their group visa.

[cml4958]

I would check the ports of call/Northern Europe & Baltics thread, I've provided the link below

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

 

There is a ton of information there about St Petersburg.

[Wendy-Europe]

Both - SPB and Celebrities own excursions - include the participating passengers in a "tourticket" - which is a special visa, only available in som cities of russia.

 

You are only allowed to go with your group, it is forbidden to leave the group and do further visit on your own.

 

To be honest - your tourguide will have more dificulties than you - because they are responsible for the guests.

 

We were very happy with our excursions (we had the St. Ppetersburg deluxe for 2 days) with our guide and everything with SPB - but I am sure, Alla and some other recommended agents provide same good service.

 

You book without any risk, because you pay nothing in advance (cash payment is at the end of the first day, credit card payment - we signed at the first day - owner Victoria was present to greet the guests and she had the invoices with her. They didn´t charge any cent incorrect - and exchange rate was correct - quotation was in US$ - but credit card was charged in rubels)

 

I would highly recommend SPB - groups were much smaller (maximum 16, if you book a shared group) than ships excursions.

 

And they react fast on things, which happen in Sankt Petersburg (during our stay there was an official visit at Eremitage - so they changed the programme to avoid any inconvenience for us).

 

At the Eremitage one headset broke or had low battery - they had staff at every point (whereever you need these headsets) and it took just minutes to get a new one.

 

Couldn´t be better.

 

Lunch was included in the tour price - it was good, nothing fancy, but like homestyle cooking. Clean restaurants, fast service, clean restrooms at these restaurants. Non-alcoholic beverages were included at lunch too.

[John Bull]

We used Alla Tours, and our experience was the same as Wendy's with SPB.

 

If you check out the St Petersburg threads that 14958 has linked, you'll find other folk have been similarly well-pleased with other private operators - same routine, same maximum 16 per group etc.

 

JB :)

[EJLobster]

I have booked the 2 day St. Petersburg tour with SPB- and we will be there in 2 weeks. So far, all has gone well- they are very prompt and efficient about answering e-mails, stating exactly the cost, how to pay, when to meet, etc.