Any tips for our first private tour - with Alla in St. Petersburg?

[lackcreativity]

All of our previous tours have been with Viking, as we really like the convenience and have been satisfied with the tours. Combining their excursions with the free shuttles back to the ship has allowed us to do everything we wanted. 

 

For our visit to St. Petersburg beginning on May 1, we have booked Alla's Three Day Grand Tour. I think the tours begin at 8:30 each morning,  so how early do we need to leave the ship to get through immigration? Any other advice that I might need would be appreciated.

[Vineyard View]

We thoroughly enjoyed our private tour is St Petersburg. We were a small group I organized on CC. We all made sure we were off early before the ship tours - then we were in front of those lines and made for a breeze going through immigration. You will really enjoy St Petersburg. 

[stretchcruz]

We loved Alla. We were at the meeting place an hour early. All 6 of us were there so we took off early. Arranged the meeting times for the next day at the end of the day. We also elected to bring our own lunches to save a little time the next day.

[zitsky]

4 hours ago, stretchcruz said:

We loved Alla. We were at the meeting place an hour early. All 6 of us were there so we took off early. Arranged the meeting times for the next day at the end of the day. We also elected to bring our own lunches to save a little time the next day.

 

Will someone on the ship make you a boxed lunch to take with you?

[lackcreativity]

4 hours ago, stretchcruz said:

We loved Alla. We were at the meeting place an hour early. All 6 of us were there so we took off early. Arranged the meeting times for the next day at the end of the day. We also elected to bring our own lunches to save a little time the next day.

The group tour with Alla includes lunch every day, so that is already set. Plus, with the pace of this itinerary, I'll be looking forward to a chance to sit down for a bit!

 

Do you recall what time you left the ship to arrive at the meeting place an hour early? Our meeting time is 8:30 am each day. How involved was the process to go through immigration? 

[stretchcruz]

Some of us ordered room service and packed it up, some of us went to the World Cafe and bagged it up and brought it with us. We booked a private tour for 6 of us so that we would not be held up waiting for other people. Was only a couple of $$ more than the van that the CC people got together, and we got the CC discount. Plus we had some extra time to see other things because we decided to bring our lunch the second day. The first day we ate at a local restaurant. It was easy getting through immigration, we just had our passports and Alla confirmation. Can't remember what time, but it was an hour before the meeting time...we just wanted to be sure we were there in time. So we were pleasantly surprised when we left early.

[Heidi13]

1 hour ago, zitsky said:

 

Will someone on the ship make you a boxed lunch to take with you?

Boxed lunches were very common back in the 70's, but haven't seen then offered for many years. Lack of refrigeration and inability to take food ashore being the primary reasons. 

[lextrvlr]

Prior to a recent cruise, though not with Viking, my wife and I booked a two-day St. Petersburg private tour through Dancing Bear Tours. We were extremely pleased with their service, in making arrangements and during the two days. Both our amazing guide and a driver were waiting for us just outside customs each morning. Customs, by the way, had all needed information from Dancing Bear and greeted us as expected friends. Having both a driver and a guide allowed the guide to escort us everywhere and, by communication, the driver was always waiting for us at the door ready to transport us to the next venue. Yes , it cost more than anything offered by the cruise, but having a knowledgeable guide, fluent in English, all to ourselves, made this experience worth every $ and then some.

[roothy123]

I think I replied to a very similar post somewhere else on Cruise Critic, but maybe it wasn't in the Viking section, so hopefully I won't be repeating myself here!

 

When we were in St. P with Oceania 6-7 years ago, there was a long line gathering to go off the ship before it was even tied up.  Many, or perhaps most, of those people were taking private excursions, since Oceania was not offering any free excursions at the time, and few people were going off on their own with their expensive visas.  Most private excursions were starting early, so everyone was trying to get off early.  Then, of course, all those people were in the terminal going through the Russian passport check.  Things may be different for you, but I would plan on getting near the door, or in line if there's a line, at least 30-45 minutes before you're scheduled to meet the Alla guide.  (Don't forget the tour guide paperwork.)  Maybe grab a muffin, to go coffee, and napkins from the Viking Bar to take with you if you haven't had enough breakfast!  Boxed cereal might double as rabbit food in a pinch, too.  (I don't remember any restrictions regarding taking food ashore, but if that's the case, Viking will probably let you know the night before in the Viking Daily.  They're quite good at that kind of thing.) World Cafe will be crowded, but at least it's pretty fast.  Mamsen's may be open.  Breakfast room service is always an option too. There isn't much at the terminal (at least the one our cruise used; not sure if there are different terminals!) but the people watching was good and there were a couple of displays with little souvenirs that kept us occupied until our group of 14 was accounted for! The second day was much better - not such a feeding frenzy as the first day.  Getting back on the ship was easy both days. 

 

We did a 2 day Alla tour, and I can't really think of anything to tell you that will be helpful.  Alla does a great job.  We didn't experience any great need for bathroom breaks, food, shopping, etc. that wasn't provided.  Nice (and less nice) souvenirs could be purchased in a store when we paid for the tour at the end of the first day.  The tours are fairly non-stop, or at least the 2 day one was.  However, if you aren't up for something, just ask the guide if you can stay on the van with the driver.  My husband did that at the Hermitage.  He's not really into art galleries anyway, so it was fine.  He also had a chance to help someone who had gotten separated from her (non-Alla) tour group.  My husband saw her near our van, looking very panicked, and she explained her situation.  The Alla driver then made some phone calls.  My husband also explained that after the buses, vans, etc. drop you off, they have to go park somewhere else until they are called at the end of the visit inside the Hermitage.  Anyway, my advice, in the unikely event you need it, is this:  Remember that Viking prints the phone number for the ship (Viking Desk) on your key card.  If you need it (separated from group, can't get back to ship,  injure yourself, other emergency), use it! 

 

My favorite things to photograph were Catherine's Palace and the Church on the Spilled Blood.  

[Heidi13]

Every cruise is probably different, as we visited SPB in Sept 2017 (another CL). Had a leisurely breakfast and wandered down to the gangway about an hour before our meet time with Alla Tours.

 

No queue to disemark at the gangway, so scanned out and headed to Immigration. Every booth was manned and only had a couple of pax waiting at each booth. Scanned our passports, checked our Alla Tickets and provided us with a form we had to return before re-boarding.

 

The Alla reps were already in the terminal and all 10 or 11 in our bus were ashore early, so we departed 1/2 early and well before any of the ship tours were even heading ashore.

[lackcreativity]

Thank you all for the details of your experience. It does sound like we will have to get up pretty early to meet the tour group before 8:30, but I honestly expected that, and think it will be worth it. At least we have a day mostly at sea the next day to rest up before Stockholm!