Scandinavia/Russia - Princess vs external tour operator?

[heckofagator]

Hi group, we are traveling on the Regal Princess this summer with stops throughout Northern Europe and St. Petersburg, Russia.

 

Part of the group likes to only use the official Princess sponsored tours, especially in Russia. Myself, I would rather use an off-ship vendor to make everything more cost effective.

 

Besides comparing tours and prices, can you give me another other points that might not be readily apparently when comparing the specific tour itineraries? One thing I think might be the size of the tour groups - SPB and Alla would use much smaller groups whereas I think the cruise line would use bigger buses with larger groups? Anything else worth considering?

[canadarocks]

We used SPB tours in St Petersburg, Tallinn, and Helsinki in 2011. And we had them booked for Berlin as well, but unfortunately we were unable to dock because of bad weather. I have nothing but good things to say about SPB tours; a wonderful company. And the two day St Petersburg tour was the absolute highlight of our cruise!

[Grego]

We used SPB tours in St Petersburg, Tallinn, and Helsinki in 2011. And we had them booked for Berlin as well, but unfortunately we were unable to dock because of bad weather. I have nothing but good things to say about SPB tours; a wonderful company. And the two day St Petersburg tour was the absolute highlight of our cruise!

 

I totally agree with the choice of SPB Tours especially in St. Petersburg. Their operators are knowledgeable, English is perfect and the cost is nearly half of the ship's tour. We used then in Germany as well and took the Rostock option. Beautiful area and not nearly the bother of getting to Berlin and back.

[lladage]

You will spend a lot more time actually touring with a private excursion, whether that means getting to more sites or spending more time at the sites. It takes much less time for meals and bathroom breaks for a vanload versus a busload of people. The private excursion companies in Russia get the same umbrella visas that Princess does, and their tours are customizable. And they know the traffic situations and will get you back to the ship. Their business would die a quick death if anyone posted that they missed the ship while touring with xxx company (unless they got you to the next port).

 

Lynn

[heckofagator]

One thing I think I've found absent from the Pricesses cruise is the hydrofoil ride to Peterhof that Alla and SPB use. There's no mention about that (and I think that looks pretty neat) on the Princess excursions that I see.

 

The one day prices look a bit closer - the real $$ difference seems to be in the 2 day excursions, I think.

 

1 day

SPB - $145pp

Princess - $179pp

 

2 day

SPB - $210 to $285

Princess - $429 to $479

[SailinC2C]

We used SBP and a friend used Alla. I would recommend both.

[heckofagator]

I appreciate all of the replies here, but I did want to focus on the differences between the external operators and the cruise ships. I have done a bunch of reading previously and would def go with SPB or Alla based on all of the positive reviews.

[jkrislc]

I agree with many of the others regarding going with a private tour. We used TJ Tours, but from conversations with other cruisers the main ones seem very similar overall. We, however, wanted to take the hydrofoil, which is why we went with TJ Tours and the fact that they offered a Cruise Critic and early booking discounts.

 

As stated above, you will spend more time touring with the independent companies as you will be in 16 passenger vans versus large tour buses. In addition, being a smaller group, they can change the itinerary based on crowds to expedite entry.

[LondonTowner]

We went on a Baltic cruise in September 2013. We booked a two day Comfort Tour with Alla. Alla say they don't put more than 16 people on their tours.

 

When we met up with our guide and driver there was just us and one other couple on the tour, so it turned into a private tour as there were just four of us. We had excellent service from guide and driver. I would book again with them.

 

The only other port where we did an excursion was in Gdanyia for Gdansk. We booked a ship's tour because of time constraints. We very rarely go on a ship's tour as we don't like being herded around with 50 other people.

[Pam in CA]

Absolutely recommend SPB Tours. One of the best tours I've taken anywhere. The owner, Vika, was one of the top guides at Alla before starting her company a number of years ago. We took both the 2-day St. Petersburg tour as well as the Berlin tour. If I were taking a Baltic cruise, I'd book one of her packages that includes the other Baltic ports. Small group, you see a lot more, you're not waiting for someone who's doing more shopping, etc. Much better than Princess and you'll save a lot of money. https://www.spb-tours.com

[oxypete]

We used Red October. We booked St Petersburg, Gdansk, and Tallin tours with their US affiliate Mike. We were 100% happy with our tour. Do take the hydrofoil - great fun.

 

 

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[msmoger]

I appreciate all of the replies here, but I did want to focus on the differences between the external operators and the cruise ships. I have done a bunch of reading previously and would def go with SPB or Alla based on all of the positive reviews.

 

I'm not sure what you mean. As stated, your tour group will be much smaller. The tour is customizable. Often the private excursion guides can be helpful in bypassing lines. Like Princess they take care of the visa.

 

Also, you should definitely opt for the two day tour. There's so much to see. It certainly can't be done in one day. Plus, what would you do on the second day? It's not like other European ports where you can easily go off on your own. You will most likely be stuck on the ship.

 

For me, even if there were no difference in price, I would definitely choose the private excursion just for the better experience.

[Poulsbo Cruisers]

SBP absolutely! We used them in St. Petersburgh and have nothing but good things to say about them. We discussed the tour with others on the ship who had used Princess. We spent less, had a smaller group and saw more. To me it's a no brainer. I don't believe there is anything wrong with the Princess tour, but ask yourself why you would spend more to see and experience less?

[The Wilkies]

Definitely recommend Alla. Had great time and saw so much. 16 in a minibus with headphones. Could hear perfectly without having to stay by Alex's side, giving freedom to take photos, look at things etc.

[LeeW]

We took the two day Princess tour. Amazing tour and incredible food/entertainment both days. Full size bus, but since you spend most of your time in museums the loading isn't a big deal. We did have folks that attempted the tour plus "An Evening with Catherine" and were practically dead the second morning at the 7:30 bus call. Be prepared for very long days regardless of who you book with.

[Aus Traveller]

SBP absolutely! We used them in St. Petersburgh and have nothing but good things to say about them. We discussed the tour with others on the ship who had used Princess. We spent less, had a smaller group and saw more. To me it's a no brainer. I don't believe there is anything wrong with the Princess tour, but ask yourself why you would spend more to see and experience less?

I agree. with the comments about SBP. I also agree with the comments that with a smaller group you can move around much faster.

 

We also booked the tour to Berlin with SBP and paid for this in the previous port (St Petersburg). Because of rough seas, we couldn't dock in Waremunde. When we returned home there was an email from SBP asking for bank account details so they could refund the cost of the Berlin tour. It was paid immediately.

[IECalCruiser]

We used SPb in 2013 in St. Petersburg. Advantages are lower cost by 30-40%, smaller group at 16 versus a full bus, more locations as part of the tour and a greater ability to adjust the itinerary. On the second day we had a slightly later time scheduled for entrance to Catherine's Palace and with the spare time our guide added a visit to the Chesme Church and the Monument to the Heroic Defenders of Leningrad. These were great additions. The included lunch stops at a Russian pie place (meat, vegetable and desserts) and a restaurant with classic borscht and stroganoff were quite good.

 

 

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[filmfestgirl]

SPB was amazing bc we tailored our days for the 7 of us (late group formed on CC) for 2 day tour

 

differences -

ship tour big bus and uses headsets with guide up front at attractions

 

ship tour doesn't do canal tour or stop in subway station to view decor (no photos sadly we took subway one stop)

 

ship tour has set itinerary - small tour you can create (we said no shopping, long lunches and wanted only local cafes for food)

 

one thing that annoyed me with Princess is scare tactics "if you miss ship, don't use local operator and only ship tours leave first" - we ignored that and got off pretty quickly to get thru security check

 

 

 

 

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[EllieR]

Have done this itinerary twice. The first time, in 2013, we used SPB. This year, we and our travelling companions used Princess (though for different tours).

 

Our companions saw the same sights through Princess in their two-day package that we did with SPB in 2013. In this respect, I can say there is little, if any, difference in the tours. So I would say it's to your advantage to book with an outside operator for St. Petersburg for the reasons other posters stated above.

 

Having written that, why did I go with Princess this time around? There were certain places I wanted to visit that, through an outside operator, would have had to be a private tour for two, making it more costly than going with a group through Princess. This, to me, is where the line has its advantage.

[kitkat343]

We were very glad to have booked a private tour in St. Petersburg. Please note that we were able to tour all of the other cities independently thanks to the excellent public transportation systems all over the Baltics. The cities that can be hard to tour independently might be to Berlin due to distance (although Alla and SPB and probably the other major tour companies will give you a discount if you book St. Petersburg and another city and it is also possible to get there on your own) and Stockholm if you are docking in Nynashamn (this can absolutely be done via public transportation but you are 40 minutes - 1 hour from Stockholm and some people prefer a tour from this dock to save them the transportation issues). If you are sailing on the Regal/Royal, you should be prepared to figure out how to get to Stockholm from Nynashamn even if your cruise is scheduled to dock in Stockholm due to the fact that larger ships are more likely to be diverted if there are any weather issues. Hopefully you will make it, but Regal/Royal and now the NCL Getaway have all had issues with this in the past and it's best to be prepared. My signature line describes how we visited the Baltics independently but please note the trip was 3 years ago and some info is outdated, especially the HOHO boats in Stockholm which are no longer running shuttles directly to Vasa or offering 1 ride tickets.

[caribill]

We used Red October. We booked St Petersburg, Gdansk, and Tallin tours with their US affiliate Mike. We were 100% happy with our tour. Do take the hydrofoil - great fun.

 

 

 

We also used Red October and were 110% satisfied.

 

Red October tour included a ride on the St. Petersburg subway which the Princess tours do not include, a visit that is well worth taking. Never had experienced such fast escalators before or since.

 

Also, private tours do a good job of being at the sights when the ship's tours are not there. Much less crowds that way.

 

By the way, the cost of our two day Red October tour was about half the cost of the Princess two day tour.

[ontheweb]

Absolutely recommend SPB Tours. One of the best tours I've taken anywhere. The owner, Vika, was one of the top guides at Alla before starting her company a number of years ago. We took both the 2-day St. Petersburg tour as well as the Berlin tour. If I were taking a Baltic cruise, I'd book one of her packages that includes the other Baltic ports. Small group, you see a lot more, you're not waiting for someone who's doing more shopping, etc. Much better than Princess and you'll save a lot of money. https://www.spb-tours.com

 

We did an Alla comfort tour with a total of 10 of us from our roll call in 2007. And our guide, who as you already mentioned was one of Alla's top guides, confided in us that she had gone through all the bureaucratic hoops to start her own tour company which she would do the next season. So, I can also recommend SPB as well as Alla.

 

The original OP asked for the differences between a private tour and one by Princess. The most obvious one is how much easier it is to travel in a small group than in a busload of 40. Also, you can modify private tours. On ours, one couple wanted to add a synagogue to the itinerary, and when there was no objections from the others on the tour, that request was accommodated. Also when we started we were asked if there was anything we would like to add. When I mentioned I had read that the subways were interesting, we were off to the subway with our driver meeting us after our stop.

 

I spoke to many on our ship who had done a tour with Princess. On the whole they were satisfied. However, I did hear some complaints. When I mentioned our guide had 18 years of experience, someone told me their guide was only 18. Another said their guide was lamenting the fall of Communism. And one person told me their bus was not air conditioned. (The temperature at the time was in the upper 80s.)

[kiwimeggles]

We chose the princess tour best of St Petersburg tour last year when we did the Baltics on Regal. This was our first time to Russia and wanted things to be as simple as possible. The tour was very hectic but covered everything we wanted to see (we also did the night outing to catherines palace). The guide was fantastic and had a lot of experience including an arts degree which made the Hermitage tour very informative. We had a full bus but were fortunate that all people were considerate and returned to the bus on time. We had headsets for all tours which I found great as I like to wander on my own but still listen to commentary and wander back to the group if I find it interesting as what is being discussed. On the day we were in St Petersburg there were 27 tour buses going out of princess tours alone. There were 2 other cruise ships that we knew of in town and to say there were a lot of people is an understatement. However princess co-ordinated their tours to split across the days things went smoothly and we weren't fighting 27 other buses at all the same stops. I felt this worked well. Our guide was excellent, knowing all the tricks of the trade and had us first in line in the mornings for Peterhofs and the Hermitage which was great! We enjoyed some moments of solitude in these incredibly crowded places. I cant comment for the private tours, except to say we ran into the same ones at all the stops we went too. We chose the ships tours solely for the convenience. We didn't have to have a group organised or join anyone else's. We just worried about ourselves and what we wanted to see.

[caribill]

I spoke to many on our ship who had done a tour with Princess. On the whole they were satisfied. However, I did hear some complaints. When I mentioned our guide had 18 years of experience, someone told me their guide was only 18. Another said their guide was lamenting the fall of Communism. And one person told me their bus was not air conditioned. (The temperature at the time was in the upper 80s.)

 

My experience is that whether someone has been on a Princess tour or on an authorized (by Russia) independent tour the person was very happy with the tour.

 

 

It is not that the Princess St. Pete tours are bad, they are good. But the independent tours with the various companies mentioned in this thread are better for the various reasons given.

 

If the OP takes a Princess tour, they will be happy. But they could be happier at less cost with a tour by an independent provider.

[JWUC]

When we took our Baltics cruise, we used Princess for St. Petersburg and Alla for many of the other ports.

 

One small advantage for Princess is that their tours usually have the busses come right up to the ship. Often for Alla, we had to walk out of the port gate before finding our tour bus.

 

A big factor for us was comfort and security. Possibly unfounded, but we were in Russia and felt safer taking a Princess excursion. The Princess excursion generally gets you through immigration/visa processing faster. Also a big plus for Princess was that we went on a tour of the Hermitage on a day they were closed. No crowds. We were able to watch some students making copies of the masterpieces.

 

Pricing - SPB or Alla have an edge being less expensive than Princess.

 

Princess tours often include a meal. The meals we ate in Russia were no big deal.