NCL Baltic Excursions - Specific tour questions pertaining to cruiseline tours

[iceangel2335]

I am looking into tours for my Baltic cruise in July and wanted some input from others who may have already taken these specific cruise excursions. I will be sailing on the NCL Breakaway July 4-13, 2018.

 

At the moment, I am only looking at excursions through Norwegian until I can figure out exactly what I want to see and do. This will be my first time in any of these cities so I'm trying to get a nice overview of each place to feel like I have seen the highlights and can always go back in the future to specific areas to spend more time.

 

In St. Petersburg, I think my non-negotiable is a visit to Peterhof to see the fountains. A lot of the NCL tours only mention interior tours with a possible view from distance of the fountains. One tour specifically states a tour of the gardens (Imperial St. Petersburg). I'm also looking at "2 days and an evening" but this states Peterhof is interior tour only. Has anyone done this tour and was able to spend some time in the gardens?

 

Also in St. Petersburg, when a tour mentions some free time for shopping, where about in the city does this occur? Is there a square or specific area where this happens or does it vary depending on the tour?

 

In Helsinki, there is a tour called "Porvoo & Helsinki Highlights". Is Porvoo worth spending the time to visit or is it better to stick to Helsinki sights?

 

I'm open to hearing of other tours to consider, specifically NCL excursions (not private tours), if anyone has any that they have taken and would recommend for one reason or another. I appreciate all the information I can get! :)

[diane.in.ny]

You will probably get better NCL related answers if you posted this under the NCL section of the forum

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=107

[Huntingdon1701]

Is there a reason you won't consider private tours? I did that cruise and, for the first time, didn't use NCL tours but Alla instead. Comparing notes afterwards, the Alla tours were much better than the ship ones and the Alla price for the set of ports was barely the price of just the NCL St Petersburg tour alone, so great value.

 

I would agree with you that Peterhof is worth a visit. Catherine's Palace is also good, and the Church of the Spilled Blood (outside only).

[GradUT]

Tours by private companies in St. Petersburg are a better deal than cruise ship tours. The tours by private companies (Alla, SPB, TJ Travel, etc.) have a maximum of 16 people whereas the cruise ship tours can be twice that many. If you go to the websites for these private companies, they will tell you exactly where the tours goes and how much time is spent at each site. Also, each of these companies offer a variety of tours, so you have more choices than if you book with the cruise ship. I was able to do a sort of "spreadsheet" for the various options offered by Alla, SPB and TJ Travels and came to the conclusion that Alla offered more of what I wanted to see, so I booked with them. It was an EXCELLENT choice, but SPB and TJ Travels get equally good reviews.

 

Some cruise lines try to "force" their passengers into booking their St. Petersburg tours with them by saying that only the cruise lines can obtain visas for the tours. That's hogwash. All of the private companies can obtain blanket visas for their customers and you will have absolutely NO trouble disembarking in St. Petersburg for a tour with one of these companies.

[DwbJeb]

I agree that the private companies are a better price and I would think that they hire the locals. In my case we booked with Alla from our Oceania cruise, but now I am perplexed about getting my passport back to use with the ticket for disembarking at St. Petersburg . Does anyone have experience with that?

[pukekolive]

Did you send your passport to Alla? That doesn't sound usual. All they asked us was to register with the exact name in the passport .....

 

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[Earl Rosebery]

I agree that the private companies are a better price and I would think that they hire the locals. In my case we booked with Alla from our Oceania cruise, but now I am perplexed about getting my passport back to use with the ticket for disembarking at St. Petersburg . Does anyone have experience with that?

How’re you going to fly if you sent your passport. I hope you meant to say something else.

[LHT28]

I agree that the private companies are a better price and I would think that they hire the locals. In my case we booked with Alla from our Oceania cruise, but now I am perplexed about getting my passport back to use with the ticket for disembarking at St. Petersburg . Does anyone have experience with that?

Who did you send your passport to?

All you need to do is send Alla the passport info so they can get the blanket Visa

[kitkat343]

I agree that the private companies are a better price and I would think that they hire the locals. In my case we booked with Alla from our Oceania cruise, but now I am perplexed about getting my passport back to use with the ticket for disembarking at St. Petersburg . Does anyone have experience with that?

 

I think they might be asking does the ship keep your passport when you board? This didn't happen for us - we showed our passport upon boarding and kept it in our safe until we disembarked in St. Petersburg.

 

To the OP:

 

In general people have been happy on the ship tours in St. Petersburg. However, it is less expensive and you see more on a private tour. For example, Alla's two day tour for 285 per person includes:

 

St. Peter and Paul

Peterhof fountains

Catherine's Palace

subway ride

Boat ride

Hermitage

Church of the Spilled Blood

Yusopuv's Palace

St. Isaac's Cathedral

 

There are several other highly reputable companies that many people have used on this forum; I'm just including Alla's schedule as an example since most of the companies seem to have quite similar itineraries.

 

If you do choose to use a ship tour, please try to find one that visits the fountains at Peterhof - that was a real highlight for my family.

[pukekolive]

I am looking into tours for my Baltic cruise in July and wanted some input from others who may have already taken these specific cruise excursions. I will be sailing on the NCL Breakaway July 4-13, 2018.

 

At the moment, I am only looking at excursions through Norwegian until I can figure out exactly what I want to see and do. This will be my first time in any of these cities so I'm trying to get a nice overview of each place to feel like I have seen the highlights and can always go back in the future to specific areas to spend more time.

 

In St. Petersburg, I think my non-negotiable is a visit to Peterhof to see the fountains. A lot of the NCL tours only mention interior tours with a possible view from distance of the fountains. One tour specifically states a tour of the gardens (Imperial St. Petersburg). I'm also looking at "2 days and an evening" but this states Peterhof is interior tour only. Has anyone done this tour and was able to spend some time in the gardens?

 

Also in St. Petersburg, when a tour mentions some free time for shopping, where about in the city does this occur? Is there a square or specific area where this happens or does it vary depending on the tour?

 

In Helsinki, there is a tour called "Porvoo & Helsinki Highlights". Is Porvoo worth spending the time to visit or is it better to stick to Helsinki sights?

 

I'm open to hearing of other tours to consider, specifically NCL excursions (not private tours), if anyone has any that they have taken and would recommend for one reason or another. I appreciate all the information I can get! :)

Our 1 day tour with Alla in August 2018 includes an hour at the Peterhof fountains and gardens - exterior.

 

7:30

 

Meet at the ship. City highlights drive tour with short walks and picture stops. Subway ride.

 

 

Picture stop at the Church on the Blood 10:00 - 12:00 Guided tour of the*Hermitage Museum*(early entry)

 

12:00 - 13:00 Drive to Peterhof Summer Residence

 

Packed lunch*in a traditional Russian style

 

13:00 - 14:00 Tour of the*Peterhof Fountain Park*and*Upper Gardens

 

14:00 - 15:00 Drive to Tsars Village (Pushkin)

 

15:00 - 16:30 Guided tour of*Catherine's Palace*incl.*Amber Room*and a walk through the*park

 

16:30 - 17:30 Drive back to St Petersburg

 

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[DwbJeb]

Apparently I was not clear. I am reading my Oceania documents and they say we turn our passports into the cruise line when we board only to use the Oceania Card while on the ship. Do they return them right away so we have them when we leave the ship? I only gave the names and passport numbers to Alla for my ticket (blanket visa).

[pukekolive]

Some countries like Greece need all the passports in a central place on ship but I think the ship probably copies them for your documentation as well

 

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[LHT28]

Apparently I was not clear. I am reading my Oceania documents and they say we turn our passports into the cruise line when we board only to use the Oceania Card while on the ship. Do they return them right away so we have them when we leave the ship? I only gave the names and passport numbers to Alla for my ticket (blanket visa).

If they hold your passports they will return them either the night before Russia (or other Country that requires you to take them ashore) or you will line up in the morning on your way to meet the Russian Officials & get the passports at that time

 

not to worry you will have them when you go ashore

 

they will send information to your cabin on what to do

[Giantfan13]

I think we have gotten way from the OP's question and request.

 

To the OP, is there some reason why you won't consider any private tours? Are you new at cruising or had a bad experience, or are you just fearful of missing the ship on a private tour?

 

Almost to a person, everyone on this board has done private tours in St Petersburg, and if they didn't do most of the other cities on their own, they used private tour companies for them. Most of the advice you will get here is about private tour companies, so if that is off the table, many here cannot help you. If you are open to it, any of the above mentioned private tour companies do tours in most of the ports you will dock at and you can get a really great deal the more tours you book. There is about ZERO chance you will miss your ship and these companies have been in business for many years and no one has ever come here and said that they were even close to that happening. Go to Trip Advisor and you will get the same replies. Honestly, that is your best bet to see the Baltics, seeing the most, at the most reasonable price and not being herded onto a huge bus, being a slave to the slowest person on board, or the most inconsiderate person on board. That's the best advice I can give you right now.

 

And a PS, from what I understand, the Breakaway does not dock in Stockholm, but in

Nynäshamn, about an hour away, sop plan your time there accordingly.

Cheers

Len

[fabnfortysomething]

I am looking into tours for my Baltic cruise in July and wanted some input from others who may have already taken these specific cruise excursions. I will be sailing on the NCL Breakaway July 4-13, 2018.

 

At the moment, I am only looking at excursions through Norwegian until I can figure out exactly what I want to see and do. This will be my first time in any of these cities so I'm trying to get a nice overview of each place to feel like I have seen the highlights and can always go back in the future to specific areas to spend more time.

 

In St. Petersburg, I think my non-negotiable is a visit to Peterhof to see the fountains. A lot of the NCL tours only mention interior tours with a possible view from distance of the fountains. One tour specifically states a tour of the gardens (Imperial St. Petersburg). I'm also looking at "2 days and an evening" but this states Peterhof is interior tour only. Has anyone done this tour and was able to spend some time in the gardens?

 

Also in St. Petersburg, when a tour mentions some free time for shopping, where about in the city does this occur? Is there a square or specific area where this happens or does it vary depending on the tour?

 

In Helsinki, there is a tour called "Porvoo & Helsinki Highlights". Is Porvoo worth spending the time to visit or is it better to stick to Helsinki sights?

 

I'm open to hearing of other tours to consider, specifically NCL excursions (not private tours), if anyone has any that they have taken and would recommend for one reason or another. I appreciate all the information I can get! :)

 

as others have stated you are unlikely to find many people on cruisecritic who have taken NCL excursions as most people here are "in the know" of superiority of private tours

 

that being said the highlight of Peterhof are the gardens with interior of palace an add on if not intending to visit Catherines palace

so that sounds a very poor tour if doesn't concentrate on gardens

 

free time for shopping means main high street-forget name

 

we did a Baltics cruise 8 years ago and did private tour

doing Breakaway cruise July 23 this year and again doing private tour-ships tours only as last resort

[dogs4fun]

Free time for shopping is on Nevsky Prospect - the main street in Saint Petersburg.

[sharonann24]

We are doing a private tour for the first time in St. Petersburg and Stockholm through Alla. I saw so many wonderful reviews from the Cruise acritic forums as well as Trip Advisor so I was sole. The cost is also a tremendous savings! My TA was originally skeptical but after her follow up research she supported our decision. The only ship tour we are taking (NCL Breakaway July 13 sailing) is the tour in Copenhagen after we disembark which will also take us to the airport. Our flight is late afternoon and this was a better option than getting a transfer, storing luggage, etc. Other than than we are doing the rest on our own.

[iceangel2335]

Thank you all for the replies. I'm still a newbie cruiser only doing two cruises before. I'm not hesitant to taking private tours for any reason but just not completely sure on where to focus my attention on sights for SPB. There is just so much and I wanted to keep all options open.