Cost of hydrofoil from Peterhof

[NancyIL]

I have been fine-tuning my St. Petersburg itinerary for several weeks, but never considered taking the hydrofoil from Peterhof back to the city until yesterday. I e-mailed DenRus about it, but don't expect to hear anything until Monday. For those of you who took the hydrofoil one way, do you remember the approximate cost?

[DON M.]

I have been fine-tuning my St. Petersburg itinerary for several weeks, but never considered taking the hydrofoil from Peterhof back to the city until yesterday. I e-mailed DenRus about it, but don't expect to hear anything until Monday. For those of you who took the hydrofoil one way, do you remember the approximate cost?

When you get the cost from Denrus, I would like to know too. Thanks

[42trvl]

DenRus included the one way return as part of our tour, not as a separate charge. Is it not already on your itinerary?

[NancyIL]

DenRus included the one way return as part of our tour, not as a separate charge. Is it not already on your itinerary?

 

No - my itinerary assumes we are driving both ways to Peterhof.

[MizzLee]

We also do not have hydrofoil included in out proposed itinerary. I'd be interested to compare the different options they seem to have given different cruisers. This is what they sent to me:

 

Day One

As soon as the ship is cleared - The city orientation drive (city highlights) starts.

0900-1000 drive South-West of St Petersburg to visit one of summer residences of Russian Tsars in Peterhof – the Russian Versailles.

1000-1050 a guided tour round the Grand Palace of Peterhof (Specially arranged Early Opening to avoid crowds)

1100-1130 walk round the world famous fountain park to hear interesting stories of the fountains and enjoy them playing

1145-1300 return drive to the city

1300-1400 Lunch time.

1415-1615 inside visit to the Hermitage (a guided tour of the best collections).

1630-1700 Inside visit to the famous St Isaac’s cathedral

1730 – back to ship

 

Day Two

0900 start of the tour

0900-1000 drive 30 km south of St Petersburg to the imperial summer residence – the Catherine Palace at Pushkin

1000-1050 a guided tour of the Palace

1100-1130 Walk through a marvelous park near the Palace.

11.30-12.30 Drive to the city,

12.40-13.40 Lunch time.

14.00 visit to Peter-and-Paul Fortress.

15.00-1630 Visit to the Yusupovs’ Palace

Abt. 1700– return to ship

[Princess Di]

Hi, Everyone,

I have a Lovely cyber relationship with Olga Tarasova at DenRus. :cool:

This is one of her letters: ;)

Dear Donna,

More thanks from me to you - for your letter and your continued interest!!!

As for your request regarding Hydrofoil - yes, it does take less time to get back to the city this way, sometimes it really helps to save time. The additional cost of it is not small, though - USD 15 per person, plus you have to pay for your guide's ticket, as the boat company provides free ticket for the guide if the group is not less than 20 pax.

Dear Donna, for me to say if Hydrofoil will definitely save time during YOUR trip - please kindly send me (when you are ready, of course - there's no need to do it straight away!) the itinerary you have decide to operate. I remember you were thinking of going to Oranienbaum, but it is not decided yet, is it? We do have plenty of time ahead, and when you finalize your plans for your Spb tour, we will work out the PERFECT tour for you!

 

So - my warmest regards to you, Donna!Yours, Olga

========

I think the rate is fair. However, I am so glad you guys made me go back and re-read her letter. I had not seen the part about paying for the Guide's fare (and it makes perfect sense and standard for the industry to consider <20 pax to not be a Group). :D

I would like to do this one-way Hydrofoil to see a different aspect; however, one of my travelMates has a bad back (wears a Brace) so I don't know if she could do the Hydrofoil. I notice on her Asian trip, she has cancelled the Viet Nam hydrofoil. :(

So, we are still undecided, but anyway, here is the price.

[NancyIL]

Thanks, Donna! Hmm..decisions, decisions!

[DON M.]

Thanks for the info Donna. I too think 1 way would be good.

[stanj]

Hi, Everyone,

 

"As for your request regarding Hydrofoil - yes, it does take less time to get back to the city this way, sometimes it really helps to save time. The additional cost of it is not small, though -USD 15 per person, plus you have to pay for your guide's ticket, as the boat company provides free ticket for the guide if the group is not less than 20 pax. "

 

 

I would like to do this one-way Hydrofoil to see a different aspect; however, one of my travelMates has a bad back (wears a Brace) so I don't know if she could do the Hydrofoil. I notice on her Asian trip, she has cancelled the Viet Nam hydrofoil. :(

So, we are still undecided, but anyway, here is the price.

 

Hello Princess Di ( you have heard, I am sure, that your ex- Prince Charles is marrying that other woman...;>) )To further complicate matters, the 450 Ruble ticket is round trip so you are paying for the return trip regardless but depending on your next destination they would have a van to take you to the next activity. For someone traveling both ways the 225 Rub each way is a good deal.

 

Your friend might find the hydrofoil very comfortable and not a stress on her back at all. They are smooth running once up on the wing. Getting aboard these boats (named Meteor) is relatively easy with the gangway being at dock level with only one step down to the seating area. the windows are plexiglass with lots of scratches so photos are best taken outside instead of from the main seating area. There are outside viewing areas about midship on both sides.

[Princess Di]

Thank you, Stan. I did not realize that the rate is for roundtrip. I'd just as soon take the Hydrofoil both ways (unless DenRus has something else to stop at in the Van). :cool:

I'll have to write to Olga about the Itinerary to Peterhof.

Did you see my Thread about SPb Photos? There is one shot of the Neva and I believe you may see the Hydrofoil in front of the Bridge. :D

http://messages.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=3007011#post3007011

Also, on Gunnar's website are some really nice photos of the Petergolf Fountains and all the Gold inside Peter & Pauls.

[NancyIL]

Thank you, Stan. I did not realize that the rate is for roundtrip. I'd just as soon take the Hydrofoil both ways (unless DenRus has something else to stop at in the Van). :cool:

I'll have to write to Olga about the Itinerary to Peterhof.

Did you see my Thread about SPb Photos? There is one shot of the Neva and I believe you may see the Hydrofoil in front of the Bridge. :D

http://messages.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=3007011#post3007011

Also, on Gunnar's website are some really nice photos of the Petergolf Fountains and all the Gold inside Peter & Pauls.

 

I read somewhere that the hydrofoil begins running at 9:30 a.m., and that's the time my guided tour of the Grand Palace is supposed to begin. To take the hydrofoil roundtrip probably means forfeiting the early admission into the palace.

[NancyIL]

I heard from Ilya at DenRus this morning, and as I suspected, the tours of the Peterhof Grand Palace begin earlier than the hydrofoil can get you there. If you are going to visit Monplaisir instead of the Grand Palace, you would have time to take the hydrofoil roundtrip.

[gbc]

We took the Denrus tour in August 2004 and opted to take the hydrofoil back to the city. It was $15 per person last summer also. It was very pleasant and I enjoyed having a different perspective on the return trip. I hope that you enjoy your DenRus tour as much as we did. Happy Sailing!

[NancyIL]

We took the Denrus tour in August 2004 and opted to take the hydrofoil back to the city. It was $15 per person last summer also. It was very pleasant and I enjoyed having a different perspective on the return trip. I hope that you enjoy your DenRus tour as much as we did. Happy Sailing!

 

Would you mind telling us what places you visited?

[gbc]

Nancy,

We did a fairly typical tour: Peterhof, Hermitage (we asked for extra time for the visit and included the Gold Room), St Isaac, Peter & Paul Fortress, Catherine's palace. We added the State Museum of Theater and Music, which I would NOT recommend. We did go to the flea market which was fun - be prepared to bargain and watch your wallet. We also added the Synagogue (there is only one in St. P), which turned out to be a special treat because the cantor was there and he was so thrilled to be able to practice his English, he gave us a personal tour.

 

We did the ballet at night and I would not recommend it (unless you can see the Mariinsky). The ballet we ended up seeing was a third string company and after an exhausting day, wasn't worth the effort.

 

We all loved St P and had a great experience with DenRus.

Gail

[NancyIL]

Thanks, Gail!

[NancyIL]

I also e-mailed Red October about taking the hydrofoil from Peterhof, and they recommended NOT doing it for the following reasons:

 

1. The tickets from Peterhof are impossible to be reserved (it is possible

only to Peterhof). So you are not sure what time you'll be able to leave

Peterhof.

 

2. The van is not leaving Peterhof until the client left it by hydrofoil.

Way by water takes less time than driving. It is the fact that the van will

be in the city much later than clients. So, they will waste much time while

waiting for the van and then will not be in time with all the venues

scheduled on their Day 2 itinerary.

 

Red October said the extra charge would be $20 per person. Hmmm...maybe I'll just forget about it.

[DON M.]

I also e-mailed Red October about taking the hydrofoil from Peterhof, and they recommended NOT doing it for the following reasons:

 

1. The tickets from Peterhof are impossible to be reserved (it is possible

only to Peterhof). So you are not sure what time you'll be able to leave

Peterhof.

 

2. The van is not leaving Peterhof until the client left it by hydrofoil.

Way by water takes less time than driving. It is the fact that the van will

be in the city much later than clients. So, they will waste much time while

waiting for the van and then will not be in time with all the venues

scheduled on their Day 2 itinerary.

 

Red October said the extra charge would be $20 per person. Hmmm...maybe I'll just forget about it.

When you first mentioned taking the hydrofoil back from Peterhof, thats the first thing thet came to mind? Well were is the van going to be when you get back earlier? Good thought, but not to practical as far as conservation of precious time.

[Princess Di]

Hi, Stan,

Yes, The Royals are quite an Ugly Couple and probably deserve one another. Thank God, she will Never be Queen. I can't believe The Boys are so accepting; however, they probably have no other choice. They have only their Dad left. I often think of their Mum, how beautiful she is, and all the joy she brought to many, all over this world. :cool:

 

Red October: I had to re-read their rather stilted message 3 times to understand that the first hydrofoil leaves too late to make the Peterhof Palace tour as well as its van cannot leave until the hydrofoil leaves the Peterhof. Why not? The Guide is with the Pax and can get them back to the City on the Hydrofoil. Why can't the van leave early to be at the Hydrofoil Port when the Pax arrive?? :confused:

STAN: Is this possible with DenRus?? I guess I should be asking Olga. Probably more trouble to arrange this, but that's what they do. :D

[dbh62ark]

Just FYI--Denrus did not indicate that the hydrofoil van issues would be a problem. So I'm assuming that the van will leave Peterhof before we do if we choose to take the hydrofoil.

 

I'm finding Denrus to be more flexible in my communications with both companies. That's important to me because I think that's what a private tour is all about. And other passengers may have a different experience entirely, but there's been a distinct difference with my group. It's just little things like Red October requires 10 for the Gold Room tour, and Denrus will do it with smaller groups for a slightly higher fee (that fee is paid to the museum because you have a special Hermitgate guide in that room). Red October requires 20 for a canal ride; Denrus suggested that they don't like to take our $$ for an attraction that may not turn out well due to weather and said that we can decide on the spot, our guide will negotiate the fee with the boat drivers, and we worked out an alternative itinerary for weather that is not good (we'll get to stay and see a small palace at Peterhof as well as the Grand Palace).

 

Due to all the great information on these boards and the information from Denrus, we've worked out a great itinerary that covers all the main sights and then some and is going to be very do-able without wearing ourselves out.

 

Donna

[stanj]

Hi Di

I wondered if it was only me who thought P.C. must have a highly distorted sense of style, ethetics, and judgement of character. The Other Princess Di was the complete opposite of the next wife. What I noticed first off was the disagreeable personality I detected from an interview with the second Mrs P.C. to-be a number of years ago. Not a gracious or warm lady.

 

Hydrofoils....first off I must confess an error on my part....the CURRENT price for hydtofoil tickets is $15 for one way. I had forgotten that I handed the ticket seller a 1000 Rub note instead of a 500 Rub note and got my change. It has been over 6 months since I rode that boat.

 

One the 2 arguements by the agency, I am a little puzzled by them also.

Return in the morning is very easy because each boat arrives to drop off their passengers with few people return from their visit until late in the afternoon when most people try to leave. Locals, the vast bulk of visitors to Peterhof, tend to stay all day after arriving later in the day than tourists. So if a morning tour is completed in say 3 hours, a return trip would be almost empty for the return trip. Tickets would not be a problem.

 

The second reason puzzled me also: Having the van leave earily is pretty logical to me but that means the schedule is opened up by gaining another 20 minutes or so, not delayed.

 

Even if the van left at the same time the group finished their tour, it would take the same amount of time for the bus to arrive with or without passengers. If the passengers, with their guide, were to be wandering around for 20 minutes at the Hermitage before the bus arrived, how would that put the schedule off and delay arriving at other destinations? The extra 20 minutes of walking around the Admiralty or Palace Square would hardly be considered a waste of time.

 

So if a tour company wanted to make it available it would be possible and well recieved I imagine. That particualrone doen't seem to want to consider it but there are always others who will.

 

Stan

[gbc]

When we did the DenRus tour in August 2004, we took the hydrofoil back to St. P from Peterhof. The van dropped us (a group of 4) off with the guide and headed back to St. P. The driver and van were waiting for us when we got back into the city. The hydrofoil was very empty - less than half full. Our guide, Elena, knew what time the hydrofoil was scheduled to leave and walked us through the grounds to get to the pier on time. As I said earlier, I enjoyed the hydrofoil ride because it provided a changed perspective of the view of St. P. No matter what you decide to do, I am confident that you will love your tour - this is a remarkable city.

[DON M.]

When we did the DenRus tour in August 2004, we took the hydrofoil back to St. P from Peterhof. The van dropped us (a group of 4) off with the guide and headed back to St. P. The driver and van were waiting for us when we got back into the city. The hydrofoil was very empty - less than half full. Our guide, Elena, knew what time the hydrofoil was scheduled to leave and walked us through the grounds to get to the pier on time. As I said earlier, I enjoyed the hydrofoil ride because it provided a changed perspective of the view of St. P. No matter what you decide to do, I am confident that you will love your tour - this is a remarkable city.

Thanks for the info. It does certainly sound like a durable option.

[NancyIL]

Thanks for all your replies! It looks like DenRus has won my business...although I was leaning in that direction before I asked about the hydrofoil.

[SaylorGirl]

Stan - Do you know how late in the afternoon or evening the hydrofoil runs?

Thanks