SPB Tours. Revised tours due to museum closures?

[daffodiliaz]

A previous thread prompted me to check our cruise itinerary and tour options. Of concern:

 

Schwerin Palace closed on Mondays

St Petersburg Faberge Museum closed on Fridays

 

Warnemunde/Schwerin: Alla Tours does not operate their Warnemunde/Schwerin tour on Mondays. SPB Tours does not specifically state the tour does not operate on Mondays. SPB Tours basic tour description included an inside visit to Schwerin. I could probably live with a visit to the grounds and seeing the countryside on the way there, but I'd be pretty upset if Schwerin was completely eliminated.

 

St Petersburg: SPB Tours basic description shows the Faberge Museum on day 2. Alla Tours does as well, but the actual program for our dates shows the Faberge Museum moved to day 1.

 

Note: These would be group tours, not private. I like the Alla website that specifies the itinerary for the exact date, but I like the possibility of SPD Tours taking us to Schwerin (which I would not be comfortable DIY).

 

Any past experiences with altered tour itineraries due to museum closures? (I have emailed SPD Tours. Awaiting reply.)

[dogs4fun]

A previous thread prompted me to check our cruise itinerary and tour options. Of concern:

 

Schwerin Palace closed on Mondays

St Petersburg Faberge Museum closed on Fridays

 

Warnemunde/Schwerin: Alla Tours does not operate their Warnemunde/Schwerin tour on Mondays. SPB Tours does not specifically state the tour does not operate on Mondays. SPB Tours basic tour description included an inside visit to Schwerin. I could probably live with a visit to the grounds and seeing the countryside on the way there, but I'd be pretty upset if Schwerin was completely eliminated.

 

St Petersburg: SPB Tours basic description shows the Faberge Museum on day 2. Alla Tours does as well, but the actual program for our dates shows the Faberge Museum moved to day 1.

 

Note: These would be group tours, not private. I like the Alla website that specifies the itinerary for the exact date, but I like the possibility of SPD Tours taking us to Schwerin (which I would not be comfortable DIY).

 

Any past experiences with altered tour itineraries due to museum closures? (I have emailed SPD Tours. Awaiting reply.)

 

If your ship is in port (St. Petersburg) for at least 2 days, your tour company will simply adjust your schedule to accommodate the closing date of the museums. No worries. :)

 

Schwerin Castle is definitely closed on Monday. I assume that you are either docking in Warnemunde or Rostock?

Have you considered "Friends of Dave" tours? He is highly recommended by Rick Steves, our USA travel guru that has all the travel programs on TV (Northern European Cruise Ports travel guide - you can purchase a copy of his book on Amazon) and his tours in the Rostock/Schwerin area are wonderful - he is an American expat and actually lives in Rostock himself. I have included the link to Dave's website below:

http://dna-tours.de/tours.html#_=_

[winniewinnie]

This tour sounds marvelous, but is sold out for the day were in Warnemeunde. Is there an operator who does something similar?

[daffodiliaz]

Update: SPB Tours has responded to my inquiry. As Dogs4Fun said, they will alter the 2-day itinerary due to closures. In our case, the Faberge museum will be moved to Day 1 because the museum will be closed on Day 2. Also, the Warnemunde/Rostock/Schwerin tour will not be offered because Schwerin Palace is closed on Monday. Bummer.

 

Thought this might be helpful for others. Important to look out for those closures.

[pethi]

Maybe someone can confirm this, but I heared somewhere (might have been in the travel agency) that the Hermitage is open on Mondays for cruise groups. Wonder whether this is true or not...