St.Petersburg - Tour Group Size and Must See Question

[VinTek]

(b)Rather than lunch with a Russian family, I think that the next best thing that would be OK might be lunch in a restaurant (Most people would find this OK, but I hate mushrooms, peppers and stuff like that which most people --and restaurants -- really like). How do you arrange for lunches that are not sandwiches from the ship?

 

(2) From views expressed on these boards, we are now thinking that we might book tours through DenRus rather than Celebrity; most posters indicate that cruise-based tours are not as extensive and/or cost more than the private companies (although starprincess was very pleased with hers booked through Princess Cruises).

What kind of costs are involved?

 

(3) Are tours already set up as to itineraries? (Some people seem to refer to personalized tours and some to pre-set.) We want to see at least the Hermitage and the Gold Room, Inside and outside of the Peterhof , Catherine and Yusapov Palaces. Any or all of the cathedrals and any city tours that might come along with these would be great.

 

I can speak from the perspective of the experience I had with RO.

 

With regard to lunch, you can choose from a list of restaurants that RO provides. From my understanding reading other posts, I believe that DenRus is more flexible in accomodating requests for restaurants that you might have read about on your own and wish to patronize. Costs, of course, would vary depending the kind of restaurant you choose.

 

As for tours, I believe that most of the 3 favored tour operators (RO, DenRus and Alla) would start you with a pre-set itinerary and pricing. That would give you a baseline which you could "tweak" to your liking. As you correspond with the tour operator, the price could rise or fall depending on what you would like to add or delete.

[Westaussie]

Spearmint

 

I have just booked with Red October for 9/10 June (we're on NCL Dream 4 June). Olga has been most helpful and prompt replying to my queries.

 

Re

(1a) Can pre order sandwich box with RO to have on hydrofoil

 

(1b) On day 1 lunch is at restaurant and menu will be sent to pre order

 

(2) We are following RO suggested tour as it does everything we want but have added folk concert first night. Cost is based on number of people so they have joined us with another couple. Price varies alot between 2 to 8 people in group.

 

(3) RO suggested itinerary includes all you have mentioned but they would add/delete anything within reason I'm sure!

 

Within a couple of weeks of corresponding we have finalized everything and my tickets are already on their way!

 

Hope this helps

[Sue G]

Hi westaussie

 

We are on the NCL Dream sailing 28th June and have been looking at red octobr/denrus for tours of St Petersburg. What price are they quoting - on another thread someone said they used red october and they paid US$900 for 9 hours

[BeeeDeee]

I have recently joined Cruise Critic & I want to thank everyone for all the invaluable information I have received on this forum, especially in the planning of our Star Princess 9-2-06 Baltic Cruise. I have also posted this information on the Star Princess 9-2-06 Roll Call site, but this information would be pertinent for any of the cruises visiting St. Petersburg this summer.

For those of you still researching/deciding what tour to take in St. Petersburg, I’d like to pass on the info I received regarding Red October’s 2-Day Super Saver Bus Shore Excursion Program, which I haven’t seen mentioned. This will be the second year this tour option with Red October has been available.

After researching several itineraries the last few weeks for both custom & group tours, I found that this excursion program (much to my surprise) most closely met our “must sees” & at a very reasonable price. We particularly like the fact that we spend 3 hours at the Hermitage & that we gain an hour each day of the tour by eating lunch “on the road”, which allows us to work in more of the wonderful St. Petersburg sights in our limited time during the 2 days. I also investigated the DenRus Super Value Tour, but it doesn’t go to Catherine’s Palace, which was a must for us.

A minimum of 16 people total is needed for the tour & I’ve read the average is 20 people per tour.

The cost for the 2 Day Tour is: USD 274 pp (16-24 people) or USD 267 pp (25 or more people) which includes all admissions & the boxed lunch each day.

A brief synopsis of the 2 days tour:

Day 1 10 ½ hours

7:30am Greeted by Tour Guide.

City Sightseeing Tour,

Photo Stop at Cathedral on Spilled Blood.

10:30am Hermitage:

Arts Museum – West European Masters: Rembrandt, Rubens, Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, El Greco, Murillo, Van Dyck, etc.

Living & Gala Halls of the Winter Palace

2:00 pm Departure for Peterhof by bus – Eat Lunch en route:

Optional: Hydrofoil to Peterhof USD 15 pp – Eat Lunch en route

3:00pm Arrival in Peterhof. Tour of Lower Park & Fountains

Inside visit to either: Montplaisir Palace or Catherine Block Palace

(I’ve read that if you see Catherine’s Palace the interior of the Grand Palace at Peterhof is very similar & almost overkill with all the gold & gilt since they were built by the same architect. For variety, some people have said it was nice to see a smaller, more intimate palace)

5:00pm Return to Ship

Day 2 8 hours

8:00am Departure for Pushkin (Tsarskoye Selo)

9:00am Arrival in Tsarskoye Selo

9:15am Inside visit to Catherine’s Palace (Early admission included)

including the Amber Room

10:00am Stroll in beautiful Catherine Park

10:30am Drive back to St. Petersburg – Eat lunch on way

11:45am Inside visit of Peter & Paul Fortress & Cathedral

12:30pm Red October: Shopping Opportunity & Pay Bill Balance

1:30pm Inside visit to St. Isaac’s Cathedral

2:15pm Inside visit to Yusopovs’ Palace (Gala & Living Rooms/Golden

Theater/Cellar (where Rasputin murdered)

3:30pm Drive back to Pier

4:00pm Board Ship

6:00pm Ship’s Departure

If anyone is interested, for more information you can contact Mike Finn at Red October USA info@redoctober.us

I had originally contacted Olga at their Russian office, but she referred me to Mike at their U.S. office for group tours. Both have given prompt responses & been very nice to deal with.

[Juliadlf]

BeeeDee: Thank you for the information. I have a couple of questions:

Your second day itinerary has lunch on the way back to St.Petersburg. Is this also a "box lunch" they are providing?

If your eating on the road, when does the driver and guide stop to take a break?

 

I had originally contacted Olga at their Russian office, but she referred me to Mike at their U.S. office for group tours. Both have given prompt responses & been very nice to deal with

.

I've been communicating with RO - Olga in Russia directly for a group tour. Olga never referred me back to the US office to do a group tour nor as far as I can tell from other CC posters have they had to go back and deal with the US office. Am I missing something here?

 

Thanks

Julia

[BeeeDeee]

Juliadlf: As I mentioned, we’re on the Star Princess 9-2-06 Baltic cruise & I also was working with Olga to put together a custom itinerary & hopefully form a group for Sept 6 & 7 touring, since it’s just my husband and me. I was struggling with the various itineraries to work out one that utilized the time most efficiently & included the most of the things we wanted to see/do which, as we all know, is difficult & requires compromises with the limited time we have – a third day would be marvelous. At that time, while checking the various boards, I saw the Red October 2 day Super Saver Bus Shore Excursion Program & what a good value it was mentioned somewhere (can’t remember where) & I asked Olga about it. She sent me the following response: ‘ I'm pleased to forward your request to our representative in the US, Mike Finn, who is responsible for 2-day Super Saver Bus Programmes. He'll send you the proposal for your dates’, which he did immediately. After reviewing it, we decided it was a good fit for us & that the price was right. Mike signed us up to start forming this tour group, which as I mentioned requires a minimum of 16.

About the boxed lunches: A boxed lunch (according to the schedule RO sent me, consists of 2 sandwiches, some fresh fruits, some biscuits, yogurt & bottled water) is supplied both days for each person (included in the price). Not sure when the guide & driver eat – I assume the guide probably eats while we do & the driver eats while we’re touring one of the sites?

I notice you’re on the Star 8-23 cruise – good luck with your planning, I’m sure St. Petersburg will be one of the highlights for all of us.

[Juliadlf]

Thanks BeeDee for the reply. So its because of this "special" tour which Mike is going to form the group for that you have to go through the US office to sign up. Got it now.

 

Julia

[dakrewser]

Mike, thank you for the info!!. We have arranged a three day tour with Alla, so far 2 couples are touring together, we would like 2 more couples to join us. Our cruise is on the Regatta, 6/20/06 departure. Jeanine

 

Ah, so you're the one who got Alla for June 29-July 1!

 

:p

 

We were a couple of days late trying to book with her (we'll be in port those same three days on the Prinsendam), but she's promised to get us a top notch guide & driver. She did offer us the opportunity to join you, but we wanted more time in the Hermitage, less with naval "things" :)

 

Of course, we're now thinking about adding another couple or two to our group!

[Westaussie]

Sue G

 

Pricing depends on number of people between 2 and 8. There are six in our group and it works out just over $320 pp for two days (21 hours all up - does not include lunch). For a small group I think this is very good value!

[sumguy1]

I think DenRus Value Excursions are good value for money. They have 4 standard excursions; 1st day morning, 1st afternoon and same for 2nd. You will see most of the highlights and total cost will be $201 pp

[daju22]

Sumguy1,

I thought that the Denrus price is $265 for the Value Excursion. Where did you see the $201 price. Thanks for the info.

[rodan]

Dear Daju22

The cost of the value tour is $265. The tours that Sumguy1 is referring to for $201 are the 4 separate half day tours. If you booked all 4 it would come to $201 but you would see less and there is no food included. You would have to return to the ship 4 different times in 2 days. I hope this answers your question.

[sumguy1]

True.. literaly, you will get back to the ship between each tour, and probably will have lunch on the ship. The big bonus is that you visit Catherin Palace which is a major attraction and not included in the Complete tour. The complete tour includes Youspov palace, St Isaac Cathedral and other smaller attractions instead.

[dileep]

We had a group of 12 last year and it cost us $250 per person for the 2 days for the itinerary listed at http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=3928472&postcount=2

[VinTek]

One tip I'd like to share with regard to the Hermitage. You could spend days wandering through that place and still not see everything. If you have a special interest in a type of art (say, French Impressionism for example), SAY SO. Our guide was very accomodating to our small group and helped us focus our time on the things we wanted to see the most.