NikKasey Posted July 19, 2015 #1 Share Posted July 19, 2015 We are doing the Baltic on the HAL and looking for comments on the two day St.Petersburg tour.Train or Bus ?We will be doing the ships tour. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
0bnxshs Posted July 19, 2015 #2 Share Posted July 19, 2015 (edited) Have you tried posting this question in the Northern Europe and Baltic port thread? You might have a better chance of getting responses there. Here's a link the that thread: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=192 Also, your roll call, if there is one, might be a great place to ask. Look yours up on the roll call pages by date. FWIW, we did a 2 day private tour as a party of 8 in St. Petersburg and enjoyed it tremendously. Much nicer to be in small groups than large bus groups for hearing your guide and just getting around in general. It was cheaper than the HAL tour and, despite some of the warnings about visas and such that you may get from HAL, you do not need to get a visa, so long as you book with a reputable tour agency. We used Alla Tours but there are several others who are well recommended. Enjoy your cruise! :) Edited July 19, 2015 by 0bnxshs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
candbgirl Posted July 19, 2015 #3 Share Posted July 19, 2015 We did private tours through the cruise line. They were wonderful. We saw what we wanted, not much waiting around and never had to wait for stragglers. St. Petersburg and the surrounding areas are beautiful. Enjoy your adventure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cruising-along Posted July 19, 2015 #4 Share Posted July 19, 2015 I know you asked about the ship tour, and usually we use ship tours but for St. Petersburg and Berlin we used SPB Tours and can highly recommend them. You will love that cruise, enjoy! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dakrewser Posted July 19, 2015 #5 Share Posted July 19, 2015 Skip the ship's tours, spend the money for private tours - you'll be very glad you did. Go over to the ports boards for the best advice, but we thoroughly enjoyed touring with Alla tours - it was the highlight of our 16 night Baltic cruise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alberta Quilter Posted July 19, 2015 #6 Share Posted July 19, 2015 I don't know for sure but I'm fairly sure that the ship tour is by motorcoach. I, like the others, did a private tour for the two days but we did do one ship tour - An Evening at the Hermitage. There were four coaches to take the 200 people on the tour. It's amazing, by the way. We were the only 200 people at the museum. The next day, we did it again through the private tour and it was so crowded! Just a totally different experience. But I was glad we did it both times, there were pros and cons to both tours. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare rafinmd Posted July 19, 2015 #7 Share Posted July 19, 2015 I'll start by referring you to my live thread where St. Petersburg starts with post #58. It was 2 VERY busy days so I broke each post up into morning and afternoon: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2203138&page=3 In the material given before my cruise HAL had 2 2-day packages, a "regular" one and one labeled "small groups". I chose the small group package. When I boarded the Prinsendam that was the only package shown so I don't know what happened for people who pre-booked the regular package. I noted that due to some holiday closures my tour covered what was advertised for the seconday first and the first day last. The tour was in roughly 15 passenger vans. We were stickered by specific van in the showroom and met our van after passing immigration. We had different drivers and guides on each day. I thought it was a very good tour, but would caution you to pay CLOSE attention to the guide when you do the subway ride. I'll try to answer any specific questions you have. Roy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sunnygidget Posted July 19, 2015 #8 Share Posted July 19, 2015 We did a ships 2 day tour as I was a little nervous about a private tour with visas in Russia. It was a bus tour, our bus was smaller and not full so a group of 25 or so. We had a fantastic time. We were the very first group into the Hermitage for the day and got beautiful pictures without people in them on the staircase. Another group tried to push ahead of us and our guide really let their guide have it verbally (at least I think she did as it was in Russian) and they stayed behind our group. When I asked her about it, she said that is what we payed for and we were going to get what we paid for. We were also the very first group at Katherine's the Greats Palace for dinner. The gates opened up as we approached them and a band started playing, it was all very majestic as they led us up the walk to the door. It was a very full 2 days and evening, yes it was pricey but IMHO so very worth every penny and I felt safe. We saw and did lots of things, a morning ride on the canal with champagne. Decent meals, lots of history, a fantastic guide, really never felt rushed, nor bored. Some guides will hedge certain questions about life in Russia, she answered them without reservation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare kazu Posted July 19, 2015 #9 Share Posted July 19, 2015 We have been to St. Petersburg twice. The first time we did the ships' tour, the second time we did a private tour. We far preferred the private tour but at the time we did the ships' tour, they did not offer the "small groups at a premium". We found the waits longer with the ships' tour (in comparison) and we also did a private evening performance through our private tour guide and had excellent seats. It was a very wonderful evening despite a long day and another long day awaiting us. St. Petersburg is a fantastic city. If you opt to do the subway, do take great care as there are skilled pick pockets there whether you are with a group, guide or whatever. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rjrpar Posted July 19, 2015 #10 Share Posted July 19, 2015 Do the private tour, cheaper and much better Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GradUT Posted July 19, 2015 #11 Share Posted July 19, 2015 We just got back from a Baltic cruise and I, too, would recommend that you book a group tour with a private company rather than doing a ship's tour. There are several well-reviewed private companies (e.g. Alla Tours, SPB Tours, etc.) which offer smaller tours (16-person maximum) at a substantial savings over the price of the ship's excursion. We chose the Grand Tour with Alla Tours and could not have been more pleased with it. There were 13 people in our group (fewer than what HAL offers) and Alla delivered on everything they promised. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CATandSQUID Posted July 19, 2015 #12 Share Posted July 19, 2015 We used, I Travel SPb. They were fantastic! They use small buses 12-14 people, and you see Everything in St. Petersburg! You can find contact Irina trough any of these: I LOVE TRAVEL St. Petersburg http://www.itravelspb.com/ http://www.petersburgguide.com/ I LOVE TRAVEL St. Petersburg on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/I-Travel-SPB/158805230827350 I LOVE TRAVEL St. Petersburg on TripAdvisor: http://www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Attraction_Review-g298507-d2048680-Reviews-I_Travel_SPb-St_Petersburg_Northwestern_District.html I LOVE TRAVEL St. Petersburg on Twitter: @ITravelSPB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
iflyrc5 Posted July 20, 2015 #13 Share Posted July 20, 2015 We used a private company called Red October and it was outstanding. 6 of us in a van with a driver and English speaking guide. Everywhere we toured we were first in line. Did the subway, canal boat, hydrofoil and had lunch with a Russian family in their apartment. They handled the Visa and even had a guy here in the USA that you could call with questions and to make the reservations. They also offered evening ballet tour but we did not do that. I am sure you will find more current information about them in the ports of call section. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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