Booking Private Tours

[jpcello]

My sister and I are doing Celebrity's 12-night Baltic cruise leaving from Amsterdam July 3, 2015. For any of our previous cruises I always booked excursions through the cruise line (primarily accessible tours). After reading about some of the private tours available in St. Petersburg and some of the other cities we'll be visiting, I've decided to start researching private tours. This is a "trip of a lifetime" for us so I want to make sure we see as much as possible.

 

I've read through this board and found several highly recommended tour companies that I intend to contact.

 

My sister uses a collapsible scooter (Luggie). She can do limited steps and walking a few blocks isn't a problem.

 

My question is how far in advance do I need to do this? I'm not making final payment on the cruise until April, and until then there's at least a 50/50 chance we may not go.

 

Thanks in advance.

[katisdale]

I would go to the website of the independent tour operators who interest you most and look for two things, first is a deposit required (and if required, under what circumstances is it refundable) and also do they require booking ahead by how many days/weeks. If you are not required to make a deposit or if it is fully refundable then I would go ahead and reserve. I would hate to be going and not be able to secure a suitable tour.

[LondonTowner]

We booked with Alla in St Petersburg. I took a manual wheelchair and they were excellent. Before we even paid they had sent me all the information regarding accessibility of every place we visited and even told me how many steps. I can also walk a small distance.

 

We never take ship excursions. With plenty of research it is always easy to find an alternative which is always a lot cheaper. In almost all European cities the HOHO buses are disabled accessible, so that is always at least one alternative.

 

I suggest you look on the various destination forums where you will find plenty of excursion suggestions. Tripadvisor is also a good source.

[MirellaL]

My sister and I are doing Celebrity's 12-night Baltic cruise leaving from Amsterdam July 3, 2015. For any of our previous cruises I always booked excursions through the cruise line (primarily accessible tours). After reading about some of the private tours available in St. Petersburg and some of the other cities we'll be visiting, I've decided to start researching private tours. This is a "trip of a lifetime" for us so I want to make sure we see as much as possible.

 

I've read through this board and found several highly recommended tour companies that I intend to contact.

 

My sister uses a collapsible scooter (Luggie). She can do limited steps and walking a few blocks isn't a problem.

 

My question is how far in advance do I need to do this? I'm not making final payment on the cruise until April, and until then there's at least a 50/50 chance we may not go.

 

Thanks in advance.

 

Hi, I would look for local operators. Type, for instance, “wheelchair accessible shore excursion” plus add the name of the port into the search box of Yahoo/ Google/ any other search engine. You should find several options.