Comparing SPB & Alla Tours in St. Petersburg

[fabnfortysomething]

I know this thread is for Alla & SPB comparison however we have also been recommended cruisingexcursions.com

Does anyone have any experience of this company?

 

I believe cruisingexcursions,com are a third party reseller like viator

[fabnfortysomething]

Where is you see that ? If you go to Trip Advisor you will see 4-5 postiive posts about SPB Tours who took tours YESTERDAY!!

 

there were a few mentions several days ago including one who says she was witness to SPB vans being stopped from taking passengers from port

 

if false story its a nasty tactic but not the first

 

a few years ago Alla tours was victim of smear campaign apparently initiated by a rival company[later completely exonerated]

[John Bull]

Do they have ear pieces for hearing tour guide

 

 

If you're asking about Alla, yes they do.

Helpful not only if you're hard-of-hearing or in a noisy environment, but also allows you to discretely wander off to another corner or whatever and still keep in earshot.

Don't know about other tour operators, but their services are similar in many respects, so probably most others have the same.

 

I know this thread is for Alla & SPB comparison however we have also been recommended cruisingexcursions.com

Does anyone have any experience of this company?

 

Cruisingexcursions aren't a tour operator, they're a worldwide ticket agency. They will be selling tours operated by some of the local operators mentioned on this forum.

You might be paying more (not necessarily, because they get commission), but more importantly the choice of operator will be theirs, not yours. It's also an unnecessary extra cog in the chain, no direct contact with the operator before the day, limited detail in advance, and with the attendant risks of messages going astray - far better to deal direct with the tour operator of your choice.

 

Such intermediaries have their advantages - there's a degree of confidence in their chosen operators because their own reputation is at stake, advance payments are safer with them than with some unknown tour operator in a foreign country, and recompense if things go wrong is more likely - they simply withhold funds from the operator.

But all that is totally unnecessary in St Petersburg. All the local tour operators, including Alla & SPB, have excellent reputations, most don't require payment or even credit card details in advance (intermediaries like cruisingexcursions or Viator always do), and I've not heard a single complaint about ST P operators and money.

 

For St Petersburg, and most other places worldwide, choose a local operator & deal with them direct.

 

All just MHO. But I doubt anyone will dissent on this matter :)

 

JB :)

[John Bull]

aw, c'mon - surely you know "beef stroganoff" :p

 

Damn you, Dogs4.:(

I knew three words in Hungarian - Puskas, Magyars & stroganoff.:)

Now it seems I only know two.:(

And one of those is dead.

 

JB :)

[dogs4fun]

Damn you, Dogs4.:(

I knew three words in Hungarian - Puskas, Magyars & stroganoff.:)

Now it seems I only know two.:(

And one of those is dead.

 

JB :)

Ok, you got me. I had to google Puskas - wouldn't you know, football.

Substitute Goulash for Stroganoff and you are back to your original 3. Hoping to sample some excellent goulash in October as we will be spending 5 days in Budapest.

[Bocajane]

I know this thread is for Alla & SPB comparison however we have also been recommended cruisingexcursions.com

Does anyone have any experience of this company?

 

Just returned from ST. Petersbury via Celebrity Silhoutte - great trip.

used TJ travel which was wonderful

could do one or two days

we did 2 days and yes they were very full days but great.

we had a mid size tour - 10 of us plus driver and hostess

she was great and loves her country

 

please consider a tour that does the VISA for you - and includes it in the price of the tour.

plus a company like TJ got us into the Hermitage before it opened to the general public.

it was busy but not like we observed later.

 

we also chose TJ for Tallinn - not as wonderful as they subbed out our tour and the tour guide who was very good - also contracted with another company at the same time.

I would strongly recommend TJ for St. Petersburg

[SteveinPhilly]

Just returned from ST. Petersbury via Celebrity Silhoutte - great trip.

used TJ travel which was wonderful

could do one or two days

we did 2 days and yes they were very full days but great.

we had a mid size tour - 10 of us plus driver and hostess

she was great and loves her country

 

please consider a tour that does the VISA for you - and includes it in the price of the tour.

plus a company like TJ got us into the Hermitage before it opened to the general public.

it was busy but not like we observed later.g

 

Thanks for post Jane. As I said, we have Alla. Another person booked 3 vans for TJ. (we are there next week). Just to clarify, ALL tour companies in St. Petersburg hand the "visa" issue but it's not a regular formal VISA. That costs $400 and takes time. There is a 72-hour Visa-free ruling in Russia. As long as you are on a CRUISE and are in port less than 72 hours and with a licensed guide you don't need a separate "visa". For Alla, we provide passport # and they provide a "ticket" to show.

 

As noted earlier, all the tour companies are good, it depends on what palaces you are seeing and how long you are in each one. And ALL of them advertise "early morning" entrance to Hermitage. Now we'll be in a slightly different situation because the World Cup will be played in St. Petersburg on our 2nd day so should be busy place

 

And Re: SPB tours, as I said, look at all the Trip ADvisor posts from folks there this week and no problems. If there was an article on issues with them, I'd love to see it in ENGLISH ;-)

[CrazyJess]

SPB tours is a very big and very respected tour company. A few years ago when I was booking my first Baltic cruise I was about to book with them. At that time it was company # 1 in St. Petersburg. You can check Tripadvisor review and you will see that they always maintain very high level of guide service. I was in correspondence with them for a while and I can say only good words about them. The only reason I booked with Best Guides not with SPB tours were child friendly tours provided by Best Guides. My best friends traveled with SPB tours and were more than happy with their service. Moreover they met Victoria personally and described her as a very charming person. It really looks like somebody is making mischief in an effort to spoil her business...

[SteveinPhilly]

Apparently the "rumors" are real. I just heard from my contact at All (we go with them next week) and she said they are trying to salvage the tourist business being lost by Alla. Anyway, If I was booking now, I'd look at Alla or I Love Travel. At least we know that there is "possibility" of an issue. Just my opinion

[the mice]

Apparently the "rumors" are real. I just heard from my contact at All (we go with them next week) and she said they are trying to salvage the tourist business being lost by Alla. Anyway, If I was booking now, I'd look at Alla or I Love Travel. At least we know that there is "possibility" of an issue. Just my opinion

Confused by what you are saying here "... she said they are trying to salvage the tourist business being lost by Alla." I thought the story was about SPB. Please clarify.

[ubarpants]

I'm trying to compare SPB, Alla, and TJ for 3 day tours (for next year, but assuming tours aren't changing much from this year's itineraries). I'm specifically looking at how long they are spending at each stop, and I had originally thought Alla looked best because they have 3 hours at the Hermitage main collection while the other operators only had 2. Then I looked closer at the actual schedules and I realized that all three companies have very similar schedules on day 3 and Alla just offers zero buffer/travel time between activities so their visit times seem longer at a first glance. I'm wondering how accurate these schedules really are in that case.

 

For example, day 3 Alla:

8:30 meeting
9:30 - 12:30 Hermitage
12:30 - 13:30 Lunch at a local restaurant
13:30 - 14:30 Hermitage Impressionists
14:30 - 16:00 Yusupov Palace
16:00 - 17:00 St Isaac Cathedral
17:00 - Onboard

In contrast, day 3 TJ:

8:30 meeting
10:00 - 12:00 Hermitage
12:30 - 13:30 Lunch
14:00 - 15:00 Hermitage Impressionists
15:15 - 15:45 St Isaac Cathedral
16:30 - Return to ship

TJ's schedule has 15-30 minutes between activities that would presumably work as travel time, while Alla's activities all run straight into each other. SPB also isn't accounting for travel time to the degree that TJ is. I'm starting to feel like it's not even valuable to look at how long is spent at each location; it's like apples to oranges since the tour operators are calculating those times differently. I know the schedules can change in the moment depending on traffic etc but I thought it would be nice to at least have a starting point for comparisons.

 

At this point, all three of the 3-day tours (and their glowing reviews!) are so similar that it may just come down to the distinctions between the evening activities for me. I haven't looked at Berlin yet, but we were loosely planning to use whichever company we choose for St Petersburg for Berlin, so I guess I'll need to see if there are differences in those itineraries to help decide. The good news is I still have a year to waffle between options.

[Got2Cruise]

Confused by what you are saying here "... she said they are trying to salvage the tourist business being lost by Alla." I thought the story was about SPB. Please clarify.

 

 

 

Yes. One would be rather naive to trust a Russian tour provider to be honest concerning their competitors.

[Cindy]

I'm trying to compare SPB, Alla, and TJ for 3 day tours (for next year, but assuming tours aren't changing much from this year's itineraries). I'm specifically looking at how long they are spending at each stop, and I had originally thought Alla looked best because they have 3 hours at the Hermitage main collection while the other operators only had 2. Then I looked closer at the actual schedules and I realized that all three companies have very similar schedules on day 3 and Alla just offers zero buffer/travel time between activities so their visit times seem longer at a first glance. I'm wondering how accurate these schedules really are in that case.

 

 

 

For example, day 3 Alla:

 

8:30 meeting

9:30 - 12:30 Hermitage

12:30 - 13:30 Lunch at a local restaurant

13:30 - 14:30 Hermitage Impressionists

14:30 - 16:00 Yusupov Palace

16:00 - 17:00 St Isaac Cathedral

17:00 - Onboard

In contrast, day 3 TJ:

 

8:30 meeting

10:00 - 12:00 Hermitage

12:30 - 13:30 Lunch

14:00 - 15:00 Hermitage Impressionists

15:15 - 15:45 St Isaac Cathedral

16:30 - Return to ship

TJ's schedule has 15-30 minutes between activities that would presumably work as travel time, while Alla's activities all run straight into each other. SPB also isn't accounting for travel time to the degree that TJ is. I'm starting to feel like it's not even valuable to look at how long is spent at each location; it's like apples to oranges since the tour operators are calculating those times differently. I know the schedules can change in the moment depending on traffic etc but I thought it would be nice to at least have a starting point for comparisons.

 

 

 

At this point, all three of the 3-day tours (and their glowing reviews!) are so similar that it may just come down to the distinctions between the evening activities for me. I haven't looked at Berlin yet, but we were loosely planning to use whichever company we choose for St Petersburg for Berlin, so I guess I'll need to see if there are differences in those itineraries to help decide. The good news is I still have a year to waffle between options.

 

 

 

I think you need to ask a lot of questions in your communication, and make your decision based on how you feel about the quality/speed of the responses you get. Do you want to eat on the run or do you want sit down meals? Will you try to fill a van so you can customize or just join one of the “stock” tours? How important is flexibility?

 

We went with TJ and had a fantastic experience, but everyone I spoke with on my cruise enjoyed their experiences with the various companies with the exception of one group who didn’t care for their guide. Comparing the tours really is comparing apples to apples with mini variations and you need to base your decision on the components that are important to you.

 

I will tell you that traffic in St. Petersburg is pretty crazy. When I was there the travel times seemed much longer than I anticipated because we were caught in some major traffic jams. I don’t think there’s any way the times on the Alla schedule are correct.

 

 

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[John Bull]

Ok, you got me. I had to google Puskas - wouldn't you know, football.

Substitute Goulash for Stroganoff and you are back to your original 3. Hoping to sample some excellent goulash in October as we will be spending 5 days in Budapest.

 

Thanks for that, Dogs4.

My Hungarian language skills have returned to their former glory.:)

 

Yes, Ferenc Puskas was probably Hungary's best-ever football player, a member of their 1954 World Cup team, nicknamed "The Magical Magyars" (hence responsible for 2/3rds of my Hungarian words :rolleyes:)

 

Budapest is an intriguing city, the two sides (Buda and Pest) are quite different. Alongside the river Buda is quite sombre and run-down, whereas Pest on the opposite bank is very lively.

And altho differences blur as time goes by, the same applies to the people. Older folk, who grew up in the Soviet era, are generally quite dour whereas younger folk are little-different to those in western Europe. I've noticed the same sort of thing in Prague & east Berlin.

 

Happy travels

 

JB :)

[SteveinPhilly]

Confused by what you are saying here "... she said they are trying to salvage the tourist business being lost by Alla." I thought the story was about SPB. Please clarify.

It is about sob. Alla is trying to rescue the folks who booked on sob and can't go .that's the impression I got from her comment. I never mentioned sob tours. She brought up when she said they - alla - had to deal with one of the palaces being closed one day last week when brilliance of the seas was in port. If anyone is booked with sob is suggest they communicate with them and see if they get a reply. Alla always replied fast and has an 800 phone number in us

[born2krooz]

It is about sob. Alla is trying to rescue the folks who booked on sob and can't go .that's the impression I got from her comment. I never mentioned sob tours. She brought up when she said they - alla - had to deal with one of the palaces being closed one day last week when brilliance of the seas was in port. If anyone is booked with sob is suggest they communicate with them and see if they get a reply. Alla always replied fast and has an 800 phone number in us

 

 

 

I have been in correspondence with them since I first heard about possible problems on 31st May. They respond very quickly and assured me that this was someone causing mischief. Had my latest confirmation from them about our tour just this morning. Anyone can put a so-called ‘news’ story on an open news website just by paying. I’ll let you know how we get on 1st & 2nd July. Been with SPB twice before and can’t fault them.

 

 

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[SteveinPhilly]

I have been in correspondence with them since I first heard about possible problems on 31st May. They respond very quickly and assured me that this was someone causing mischief. Had my latest confirmation from them about our tour just this morning. Anyone can put a so-called ‘news’ story on an open news website just by paying. I’ll let you know how we get on 1st & 2nd July. Been with SPB twice before and can’t fault them.

 

 

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Thanks for clarifying. Good that you heard from them. I'm sure others will await your report. Have a great time (we'll be in British Isles then so I won't see your posts after tomorrow until July.

[born2krooz]

Thanks for clarifying. Good that you heard from them. I'm sure others will await your report. Have a great time (we'll be in British Isles then so I won't see your posts after tomorrow until July.

 

 

 

Enjoy your trip to our isles..hope the weather is kind to you.. glorious here today.

 

 

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[dabear]

lovetotravel: your price for Alla 2 day grand SPG tour is incorrect as they give discounts for mentioning them in a cc post and a free tour with each filled tour, spreading the free tour among the 15pax resulting in a fee of $254pp.

[Skicruiser55]

I too have communicated recently with SOB tours and had prompt responses. Sad that this garbage happens and their isn't honest competition. We are staying with our bookings with them in July. I agree it would not believe a tour company who obviously has a lot to gain by spreading falsehoods.

[minxtabb]

I have been trying to sort out a 2 day private tour for 4 of us with both SPB and TJ (Alla told us months ago that they are fully booked for our dates). We also tried Best Guides but found that they didn't really listen to what we wanted.

 

SPB tried to *completely* changed our itinerary (from St Catherines and Peterhof on 2 separate days to both on the same day, which is exactly what we didn't want) the day before we were ready to book with feeble excuses so that made our decision for us. TJ have been more honest & upfront about the 2018 disembarkation process too.

[petsgalore]

Had a private tour for 4 with TJ last week and could not be happier. I also asked for itineraries from SPB and Alla before settling on TJ. One did not reply for quite some time and the other did not really look at the itinerary we wanted and just suggested a “standard” one. Great guide and driver!

[goldenpuppy]

Not seeing the Hermitage on the spreadsheet

[roblc1]

Had a tour with TJ and we could not have been happier. Very professional!

[karoo]

I have just returned from a Baltics Cruise and I booked with SPB tours. I chose them as they were the first to respond and guarantee me a place on their two day Deluxe tour. I booked the cruise only 5 days out, so I accepted the first offer. They were very professional and we had an excellent tour guide with earphones for when we were off the bus. She spoke very clear English and gave us so much information. Embarkation through immigration was very staggered as the ship decided we had to do it in groups after the ship’s tours were done. As SPB Tours had around 20 different group tours going out that day they sent us an email saying they would just fill the buses as we got off, and to also disembark with the people you wanted to travel with. This meant we didn’t have to wait for one person from the ship who was late to embark. That suited me as I get priority when disembarking so it meant I was in the first group to leave. I had 13 in my group. Alla only had two groups going on our sailing, so many of them had to wait for their whole group to disembark. Everyone I spoke to with SPB tours were very impressed with how their tour went. We visited everything on the itinerary and also had two sit down lunches. I thought the whole organization and the clockwork precision to get us to all the different venues and in on time was excellent. The only downside was we had a family of three that we constantly had to wait for. Took selfies on the metro instead of keeping to the right, thus blocking early morning commuters. The father also rudely accused the bus driver of stealing his wallet, while the daughter told us all to check our bags as he’d probably stolen ours, which none of us did as at this stage we’d all realised these people were obnoxious. The wife then admitted she had his wallet. No apology given to the bus driver, but this was not the SPB’s fault. These people could be in any given group.

Note- Viator used TJ Tours.

 

 

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