Comparing SPB & Alla Tours in St. Petersburg

vkb2751 · February 12, 2013

I don't have a spreadsheet - but I did notice some gaps - if you go to post 87 on this thread - I did point out some differences. The best thing to do is to go to the different websites and take a look. And THEN email the operators and see what 'vibe' you get.:D I do a lot of private tours and rely on cruise critic recommendations, emails that other cc'ers are kind enough to send me, trip advisor and finally and most importantly (sometimes) the replies I get from the operators. After the first 'standard' reply once you start to ask questions I believe you get a good 'feel' on which one is best for you.

there are the 'standard' replies that basically are copied and pasted and then there are the personal ones that ADDRESS what your concerns are - the reassurances that they want you to ask questions.

When someone encourages me to ask questions, I get the 'vibe' along with their emails (or in Alla's case or her chat site). Actually, her site is very good as you can look back at all the conversations without saving 100's of emails.

There is never a perfect answer - that's just how I base things. So far, the system and my intuition haven't let me down;) I have a lot of roll call members relying on me so I do take this quite seriously. I don't want to let anyone down. it's actually my worst fear. So far, it hasn't happened and God willing, it won't:D

Thanks for your response/comments. I always take the same approach as you. Check the reviews on tripadvisor/CC and then compare details, etc, etc. Will look at the chats for Alla.

Meenu

mollyredone · February 14, 2013

Just got an email back from Alla and she recommends her 3 day grand tour instead of 2 day, since we will be in St. Petersburg for 3 days. Who has gone on the 3 day tour and do you think it is worth the extra day? I probably won't be getting back to St. Pete's anytime soon, so I 'm tempted to go for it.

Thanks!

Molly

John Bull · February 14, 2013

Just got an email back from Alla and she recommends her 3 day grand tour instead of 2 day, since we will be in St. Petersburg for 3 days. Who has gone on the 3 day tour and do you think it is worth the extra day? I probably won't be getting back to St. Pete's anytime soon, so I 'm tempted to go for it.

Thanks!

Molly

Hi Molly,

Presumably you'll not be getting a visa - Alla's tour ticket takes care of that.

But it's only good for the tours, you can't go ashore for that third day without a tour ticket for that day. Or a pre-arranged visa. So your alternative is to stay on the ship.

Although most Baltic itineraries don't include a sea day immediately before or after St Pete's in which case you'll be pretty bushed after five port days on the trot, it does seem a waste to stay on the ship for a day in St Pete's.

Do also consider at least one evening ashore - ballet if that's your scene, or the folk show if you prefer somehing more laid-back & fun, or a number of other options.

Or use that third day to go to Moscow. I don't know the logistics but I know it's done as a day-trip from St Pete's.

I love spending other people's money :D

JB :)

dolfans0704 · February 14, 2013

Just got an email back from Alla and she recommends her 3 day grand tour instead of 2 day, since we will be in St. Petersburg for 3 days. Who has gone on the 3 day tour and do you think it is worth the extra day? I probably won't be getting back to St. Pete's anytime soon, so I 'm tempted to go for it.

Thanks!

Molly

Hi Molly

JB raises a good point that you will not be able to get off the ship that 3rd day without being on a tour. What a pity that would be to not be able to enjoy another day in this wonderful city! :( Also, it appears that Alla's 3 day Grand Tour does the same sites as the 2 day Grand Tour plus a couple of extra places to visit. In addition, the 3 day tour appears to move at a more leisurely pace which gives you more time to appreciate all that you are experiencing along with spending a little more time in the Hermitage! The difference in the tour prices does not seem to be too much more so I say go for it! I am sure others on this board would love to have your dilemma! ;) Take care and enjoy your cruise.

Dolfans from Miami

NantahalaCruiser · February 15, 2013

Make sure you are comparing Alla's 2-day Grand Tour with SPb's 2-day Deluxe Tour. I saw an earlier post that said Alla included lunches, boat ride and hydrofoil while SPb did not; but that was for a different SPb tour - all 3 are included in their Deluxe Tour.

Based on all of the CC postings and TripAdvisor reviews, I believe that both are excellent professional agencies. Alla's Grand Tour and SPb's Deluxe Tour are comparable and both priced at $300.00 pp for their flat rate max 16 group tours. So I looked for any small differences that were meaningful to me. What I saw that was meaningful to me (but perhaps not to others) were:

1. SPb is scheduled to arrive at Peterhof at 10:30; Alla at 11:30 - I wanted to be there for the "pagentry" of turning on the Lower Fountains at 11:00 (you can view the "pagentry" on YouTube.)

2. SPb incudes lunch at a restaruant; Alla includes a packed lunch - I wanted the more relaxing atmosphere of a restaurant; SPb enables the extra time at the restaurant by arriving back at the ship about an hour later than Alla on the first day.

3. SPb and Alla seem to offer the same walking tours in Tallinn - the Two City Package with Tallin added is $305.00 for SPb and $315.00 for Alla. (I was not interested in adding any other cities.)

So I booked with SPb for our cruise this coming July. But that's just my preferences; you may be looking for something entirely different. Best of luck in making your decisions.

Larry

Hokie77 · February 15, 2013

Those are the exact same three reasons we went with SPB Tours, Larry. We are also doing Berlin with them for a combined concentration camp/classic tour. They have been wonderful to work with.

MVPinBoynton · February 15, 2013

Make sure you are comparing Alla's 2-day Grand Tour with SPb's 2-day Deluxe Tour. I saw an earlier post that said Alla included lunches, boat ride and hydrofoil while SPb did not; but that was for a different SPb tour - all 3 are included in their Deluxe Tour.

Based on all of the CC postings and TripAdvisor reviews, I believe that both are excellent professional agencies. Alla's Grand Tour and SPb's Deluxe Tour are comparable and both priced at $300.00 pp for their flat rate max 16 group tours. So I looked for any small differences that were meaningful to me. What I saw that was meaningful to me (but perhaps not to others) were:

1. SPb is scheduled to arrive at Peterhof at 10:30; Alla at 11:30 - I wanted to be there for the "pagentry" of turning on the Lower Fountains at 11:00 (you can view the "pagentry" on YouTube.)

2. SPb incudes lunch at a restaruant; Alla includes a packed lunch - I wanted the more relaxing atmosphere of a restaurant; SPb enables the extra time at the restaurant by arriving back at the ship about an hour later than Alla on the first day.

3. SPb and Alla seem to offer the same walking tours in Tallinn - the Two City Package with Tallin added is $305.00 for SPb and $315.00 for Alla. (I was not interested in adding any other cities.)

So I booked with SPb for our cruise this coming July. But that's just my preferences; you may be looking for something entirely different. Best of luck in making your decisions.

Larry

As you say Larry, the differences do make a difference. I prefer the box lunch, since I don't want to spend an hour at a restaurant. I would rather be touring. I also remember the first time we were at Peterhoff that the fountains didn't necessarily come on at the assigned time. Our ship tour arrived late and they had just come on. I would hate to be there at 10:30 and it was a day they didn't start on time.

dolfans0704 · February 15, 2013

As you say Larry, the differences do make a difference. I prefer the box lunch, since I don't want to spend an hour at a restaurant. I would rather be touring. I also remember the first time we were at Peterhoff that the fountains didn't necessarily come on at the assigned time. Our ship tour arrived late and they had just come on. I would hate to be there at 10:30 and it was a day they didn't start on time.

Thanks to you, fellow Floridian, for bringing up the point on why Alla offers the box lunch on our 1st tour day. I have heard from many other cruisers that the Russian lunches are by no means the highlight of their visit, therefore I appreciate that Alla has conserved more time to touring the fountains/upper gardens by providing the box lunch (which I am sure it is more work for her and her team) and we can enjoy a sit down lunch in a restaurant on the 2nd day of our tour. I guess you can say we get the best of both worlds! Thanks again to you and the other St. Petersburg "veterans" for sharing your experiences and guidance to us "newbies"!

Dolfans from Miami

NantahalaCruiser · February 16, 2013

Thanks to you, fellow Floridian, for bringing up the point on why Alla offers the box lunch on our 1st tour day. I have heard from many other cruisers that the Russian lunches are by no means the highlight of their visit, therefore I appreciate that Alla has conserved more time to touring the fountains/upper gardens by providing the box lunch (which I am sure it is more work for her and her team) and we can enjoy a sit down lunch in a restaurant on the 2nd day of our tour. I guess you can say we get the best of both worlds! Thanks again to you and the other St. Petersburg "veterans" for sharing your experiences and guidance to us "newbies"!

Dolfans from Miami

Just so there is no confusion to those still trying to decide, SPb and Alla both schedule 1.5 hours to tour Peterhof - the SPb restaurant lunch is after the 1.5 hours at Peterhof - the extra time for the restaurant meal is provided by returning to the ship one hour later than Alla.

But I repeat, this is a difference that can go either way depending on your personal interests. We each need to decide what is important to ourselves and make our decisions accordingly.

I am sure that you will enjoy either company's tour.

Larry

dolfans0704 · February 16, 2013

Just so there is no confusion to those still trying to decide, SPb and Alla both schedule 1.5 hours to tour Peterhof - the SPb restaurant lunch is after the 1.5 hours at Peterhof - the extra time for the restaurant meal is provided by returning to the ship one hour later than Alla.

But I repeat, this is a difference that can go either way depending on your personal interests. We each need to decide what is important to ourselves and make our decisions accordingly.

I am sure that you will enjoy either company's tour.

Larry

Thank you, Larry, for clearing up the confusion. I do not want to provide inaccurate information for others researching their available tour options. Thank you as well for pointing out where SPb makes up the additional time for lunch. In our case, arriving back to the ship later on the 1st day of the tour would be inconvenient since we are planning on doing the evening program so overall, the itinerary offered by Alla works out better for us all around. Take care and enjoy your cruise! :)

Dolfans from Miami

Giantfan13 · February 17, 2013

As has been said, it is all in which is your preference. When we toured with SPB Tours, one of the things that did intrigue me was going to an actual Russian restaurant and eating authentic Russian food, instead of a 'boxed' lunch, that I could get anywhere. Yes it did take over an hour to eat, but it was worth any sacrifice on time. We got to see everything everyone else got to see, yet we had the time to sit and relax and enjoy some wonderful food.One sure way to appreciate a country you are in, is to eat some of their wonderful foods.

I mention this because one of the things that were served to us was Borscht. Now I have eaten Borscht for a good part of my life. (It is a sort of beet soup, for those that do not know). It can be eaten cold or hot with some sour cream and a nice boiled potato right square in the middle. My DW usually dislikes it. But when we were served a bowl of Borscht, and I tried it, it was a completely new experience. What REAL Borscht should taste like. Even my DW loved it and we had seconds. To me, it is experiences like this that make a trip fully memorable. Sure you can spend an extra few minutes looking at more and more, but something unusual, like this lunch experience, is long remembered after all the churches and statues meld together. I surely preferred that to eating in a van, or sitting around eating a cold sandwich.

As we said, to each their own

http://i834.photobucket.com/albums/zz267/Giantfan13/baltics/europe717.jpg

.

If I am not mistaken SPB Tours is the only one who does offer this lunch experience. It is well worth it.

Cheers

Len

Alaskanb · February 17, 2013

As has been said, it is all in which is your preference. When we toured with SPB Tours, one of the things that did intrigue me was going to an actual Russian restaurant and eating authentic Russian food, instead of a 'boxed' lunch, that I could get anywhere. Yes it did take over an hour to eat, but it was worth any sacrifice on time. We got to see everything everyone else got to see, yet we had the time to sit and relax and enjoy some wonderful food.One sure way to appreciate a country you are in, is to eat some of their wonderful foods.

I mention this because one of the things that were served to us was Borscht. Now I have eaten Borscht for a good part of my life. (It is a sort of beet soup, for those that do not know). It can be eaten cold or hot with some sour cream and a nice boiled potato right square in the middle. My DW usually dislikes it. But when we were served a bowl of Borscht, and I tried it, it was a completely new experience. What REAL Borscht should taste like. Even my DW loved it and we had seconds. To me, it is experiences like this that make a trip fully memorable. Sure you can spend an extra few minutes looking at more and more, but something unusual, like this lunch experience, is long remembered after all the churches and statues meld together. I surely preferred that to eating in a van, or sitting around eating a cold sandwich.

As we said, to each their own

http://i834.photobucket.com/albums/zz267/Giantfan13/baltics/europe717.jpg

.

If I am not mistaken SPB Tours is the only one who does offer this lunch experience. It is well worth it.

Cheers

Len

Alla offers this experience for both days on the Comfort Tour

dolfans0704 · February 17, 2013

Being somewhat of a "foodie" I am in complete agreement in experiencing the cuisine of the country you are visiting. IMHO, it is going to be very exciting for my group to be able to partake in "traditional meals" within the different regions of this fascinating part of the World. We would not consider "sacrificing" an opportunity like this which is why it was very important to us that Alla is able to provide in her Grand Tour itinerary the unique experience of providing a traditional Russian lunch on our 2nd tour day. We would prefer the boxed lunch on the 1st tour day in order to have a more relaxing experience at Peterhof. But like others have shared before, it is what you feel is a better "fit" for you! ;)

Dolfans from Miami

dogs4fun · February 17, 2013

If I am not mistaken SPB Tours is the only one who does offer this lunch experience. It is well worth it.

Cheers

Len

Nope, Spb tours is not "the only one who does offer this lunch experience". All the major tour operators in Saint Petersburg offer traditional Russian lunches in restaurants.

Both Alla and SPb tours offer boxed lunches and restaurant lunches ... it depends on which tour you booked.

Only TJ tours offers restaurant lunches on all days for both their 2 and 3 day tours.

The information below was taken from the websites of the respective tour companies for their comparable 2 and 3 day tours:

2 day tours of Saint Petersburg:

Alla Grand Tour: day 1 – boxed lunch