Oceania Tours -Russia

[KiranK]

I am going on the May 17 Regatta cruise and planning on taking the Oceania tours, it just seems easier. Does anyone know, if for example, Oceania is in port for 2 days, can you take two tours on one day since there appear to be a couple tours that are 3 -4 hours? I wouldn't want to just take a 3 hour tour and then go back to the boat since you can't really walk areound on your own. Any thoughts?:confused:

[shedevil]

I would suggest getting a tour with Red October. It was very easy and very professional. We were a group of 4 and it cost a little more than the ship's tour but we got to give them a list of things we were interested in and they built an itinerary. They handled the letter of invitation, all transportation and knew the best times to visit the really popular places. Our guide, Victoria, was wonderful. We were able to see more than the large groups on buses because she was able to get us in and around much easier.....and we got to spend time with a college educated Russian who loved telling us about her country.

 

You just get off the boat and they are waiting with a sign for you.

 

It was the best 3 days of our Baltic Sea tour and we want to go back to Russia again and again.

 

There are some good threads on the Ports of Call - Europe board. You can get some good tips to make the most of this wonderful opportunity to visit Russia.

 

Sharon

[Kane]

We were on the Insignia last summer and normally don't take ship tours. Russia, however, is complicated to do on your own and we didn't get good responses from either Denrus or Red October because there were only two of us. They work well if you are with maybe 6 or so others, or organize a group via CruiseCritic.

 

Anyway, we ended-up on O tours and were pleasantly surprised. The guides were superior and the tours very well organized. One really great feature is that radio receivers are provided for everyone so you can clearly hear the commentary of the guides ... very important when in "the mob" at Hermitage and/or Catherine's Palace. They also got us into the venues early, so it was only "mini-mobs".

 

They do have morning and afternoon tours, so you can do more than one per day. They also have evening events that you can sign-up for ... performances and "authentic Russian" reception/dinners (lukewarm comments from those who attended the dinners).

[KiranK]

thanks for the responses. Do you know if they offered a canal cruise at night? I didn't see it on O's website for at night, although there are not any times on any of the excursions, so it is hard to tell