When to book a St. Petersburg tour

[ciocco]

Will be cruising to St. Petersburg in July, 2019, looking at different 2 day tours and wondering how far in advance do I need to book for 2 of us? Thanks

[fabnfortysomething]

Will be cruising to St. Petersburg in July, 2019, looking at different 2 day tours and wondering how far in advance do I need to book for 2 of us? Thanks

 

personally I book as soon as have settled on the company and itinerary I prefer

they need minmum of a few weeks to process your passport info for the visa waiver but most of them don't require pre payment or even a deposit so no reason to delay

[slug33ukuk]

Will be cruising to St. Petersburg in July, 2019, looking at different 2 day tours and wondering how far in advance do I need to book for 2 of us? Thanks

 

 

Personally I would echo the other post....As soon as you decide where and what you want to do..book it.....I can give you the PERSONAL EMAIL of the guide we had....she has started her own company now called http://www.redsun-tours.....She was independent when we had her...but if you just need a private personal tour she uses her car.....she did one recently for a lady with a daughter who was not well.....they loved it. She will tailor it to what YOU want...I guarantee you would love it..and very reasonable prices...just message me if you want it.....am away until 18th ..

[Rocknie]

DW and I are also visiting St. Petersburg in July.  We just finished booking a custom two-day tour through Tour-with-Locals.  Booking early we were able to arrange tours to all of the places we wanted to see.  We booked this tour as soon as we received our booking confirmation.   

[KittyloverCA]

we booked our cruise for this past July in about Feb/March of this year. so we didn't book our tour for SPB until maybe April. We went with a private tour with TJ and it was excellent. I suppose however, the sooner the better.

[Hlitner]

If booking with one of the decent private companies (Alla and TJ Tours quickly come to mind) it is never too early to make a reservation.  Personally we would not even consider a cruise line excursion in this port as they are overcrowded and charge too much money when compared to what you can get from private tour companies.  The only bummer is that apparently the cruise lines (and their local tour providers) have finally persuaded the Russian authorities to allow the cruise line excursions off the ships first!  

 

Hank

[dabear]

Agree 100% with Hilter. We took Alla last summer and were very pleased with our tour with only 16 persons. The ships tours had more than 40 on a bus but did have priority exiting the ship on the first day. We booked aearly and filled up our tour on our roll call.

[Cali girl]

We booked Alla tours.  They don't require any prepayment, so there is no harm booking early.   

[Giantfan13]

If you are looking for a real PRIVATE TOUR, like just for yourself and family, it is never too early to do that. If not, and you are a bit undecided, I would go to your roll call and see if you can get a group together, depending on how many you would want in a group. Most tour companies won't take more than 16 or so. That is a nice group, but others prefer smaller like 8-10. But any group will get a better rate than a real private tour. If no one is interested in what you want to do, see if you might be interested in any other groups that may be forming. If not, book your tour and then, on your roll call, tell people that you have booked and if anyone is interested in joining your tour. All the major tour companies will accommodate any group and rarely will they tell you that they are booked up.

 

Cheers

Len

[ciocco]

Thanks for all the responses.  I think we will go with either Alla or TJ on a group tour, a private tour is probably too expensive for us.  I'll reach out to other passengers on our cruise to see who would like to join us.  Thanks again

[Cruise NH]

4 hours ago, ciocco said:

Thanks for all the responses.  I think we will go with either Alla or TJ on a group tour, a private tour is probably too expensive for us.  I'll reach out to other passengers on our cruise to see who would like to join us.  Thanks again

 

You don't have to get folks to join on your roll call.  Those companies will put the group together.  Anyone from your ship can contact the tour operator and be on the same tour as you.  It's very convenient.

[AZshasha]

On ‎10‎/‎27‎/‎2018 at 1:49 PM, ciocco said:

Thanks for all the responses.  I think we will go with either Alla or TJ on a group tour, a private tour is probably too expensive for us.  I'll reach out to other passengers on our cruise to see who would like to join us.  Thanks again

On the TJ web page it says they give a discount to Cruise Critic members. Does anyone know what the discount is and how we get it?

https://st-petersburg-tours.ru/special-offers/

[dabear]

Alla gave us two discounts, one for mentioning them on CC and the second when we filled our van with 15 persons the 16th was free. We shared the free tour price among the 15.

[CruiseOrRust]

On 10/29/2018 at 11:36 AM, AZshasha said:

On the TJ web page it says they give a discount to Cruise Critic members. Does anyone know what the discount is and how we get it?

https://st-petersburg-tours.ru/special-offers/

 

TJ Travel gave us a discount price of $240 USD for the 2-day St. Petersburg Highlights tour.  I confirmed the CruiseCritic Roll Call prices with them via email.  Then booked the tour with notation in the Comments field about my CC membership.

[Hlitner]

On 11/9/2018 at 5:12 PM, maddocfamilyu said:

 

Want 100% off? Check Best Guides's website. They give a free tour if you form a group of 14 on Roll Calls. For smaller groups they have good discounts as well.

One needs to be cautious.  An important part of a St Petersburg tour is getting a Group Visa as part of your tour.  Many so-called free or low price tours do not include the necessary Visa which means you would not even be permitted through Passport Control.

 

Hank

[angie7911922]

I would book as soon as I know my itinerary. If you are doing private tours, get it booked early. Anastasia's Travel was fantastic to work with. They were patient as I booked my tour, walked me through what I needed to know, and listened to my questions and concerns so I could get the best possible tour I could. They have several different itineraries set up as recommendations (https://anastasia-baltic.cruises) or they can help customize to what you want to see. I agree with some of the other posts here. You do need the proper paperwork to get into the country, and some tour companies do not provide it (Anastasia's Travel does), so make sure to check with your company.

[Lagerta]

The earlier you book, the better. If you are on a private tour, you can make changes even after booking. Most tour operators are quite flexible and they will accommodate your needs. Booking the very last munute can be dangerous, and you may not have enough time for the paperwork, and there also can be some difficulties getting museum tickets, especially in the peak season.

[dogs4fun]

Agree - book early rather than later.

[kaisatsu]

FYI - Several of the independent tour companies have a 30-day cutoff (typically to give them time to ensure the blanket visa is sorted). We booked a last-minute Baltic cruise a few weeks out and found our options to be somewhat limited. We were lucky, because a group in our Roll Call had available van space in their private tour, and the tour company was willing to add us to the list.

[Lagerta]

On the other hand, lots of tour companies might have Christmas discounts, or simply give you the prices of 2018 before they increase from January 1. You might want to chek on that as well.