travelbiker Posted September 25, 2018 #1 Share Posted September 25, 2018 Hello everyone , could anyone guide me , I would like to book a trip in the Baltic Sea but I can't decide if I need 2 days in St Petersburg Russia or one. Yes it is a question of paying more money for the cruise, a 7 days cruise vs a 9 or 11 days cruise. Also on the 7 days , I don't get to visit Berlin. Any comment? Thank you Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clarea Posted September 25, 2018 #2 Share Posted September 25, 2018 You may also want to post your question on the port of call forum: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=192 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
papaflamingo Posted September 25, 2018 #3 Share Posted September 25, 2018 Hello everyone , could anyone guide me , I would like to book a trip in the Baltic Sea but I can't decide if I need 2 days in St Petersburg Russia or one. Yes it is a question of paying more money for the cruise, a 7 days cruise vs a 9 or 11 days cruise. Also on the 7 days , I don't get to visit Berlin. Any comment? Thank you In my opinion, do 2 days. It's worth the money. Ask yourself this..... how many times do you plan to visit St. Petersburg? If the answer is "once," then do as much as you can. It's a spectacular city with so many sites to visit. We did 2 days. Booked our tour with TJ Travel (highly recommended). Worked with them to adjust to add some things that we wanted to see with no problem. Were picked up on day one shortly after the ship docked and got back to the ship after 7 pm and then back at it on day 2. And there are lots of other companies that are recommended also. Go on line and look at the tours offered and the difference between one and two days. That may help you decide. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Sarah1974 Posted September 25, 2018 #4 Share Posted September 25, 2018 There is so much to see in St Petersburg I would recommend 2 days. I cruised this year on Navigator from Southampton (12 nights). We did the Royal Caribbean 2 day tour - I know it costs more than booking privately - but we had 2 fantastic guides and saw so many different places. Due to the World Cup the traffic was really heavy getting back to the ship on day 2 and we were later than all aboard time - a bonus of being with a ship's tour is that they will wait Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davebhoy Posted September 25, 2018 #5 Share Posted September 25, 2018 At least the two days - if I went back, I'd look at the option of doing three... Sent from my SM-G955F using Forums mobile app Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tin can Posted September 25, 2018 #6 Share Posted September 25, 2018 Another vote here for two days and like papaflamingo I also highly recommend T J Travel. Sent from my iPhone using Forums Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
voyager70 Posted September 25, 2018 #7 Share Posted September 25, 2018 2 days at least. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tatka Posted September 25, 2018 #8 Share Posted September 25, 2018 2 at least. You need to see at least Hermitage, Peterhof, Catherine's palace and have a city tour. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
voyager70 Posted September 25, 2018 #9 Share Posted September 25, 2018 2 at least.You need to see at least Hermitage, Peterhof, Catherine's palace and have a city tour. We did this plus Church of the Savior on Spilled Blood and Saint Isaac's Cathedral. Amazing sights. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rjrpar Posted September 25, 2018 #10 Share Posted September 25, 2018 2 at least.You need to see at least Hermitage, Peterhof, Catherine's palace and have a city tour. I wouldn’t bother for just 1 day, you’d miss too much. Sent from my iPhone using Forums Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Captainclive. Posted September 25, 2018 #11 Share Posted September 25, 2018 One more vote for 2 days, I have just been back and still haven't seen it all in 4 days worth. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare little britain Posted September 25, 2018 #12 Share Posted September 25, 2018 St P is far better than Berlin IMHO Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ShipsandDipper Posted September 25, 2018 #13 Share Posted September 25, 2018 We had 3 days (2 overnights) and it still wasn't enough. We used SPB Tours and were very happy with them. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glide_Path Posted September 25, 2018 #14 Share Posted September 25, 2018 Another vote for 2 or more days. Getting off the ship to clear customs on day 1 usually takes a long time 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nanofrog Posted September 25, 2018 #15 Share Posted September 25, 2018 Definitely two days. And you will breeze right by customs on the second day. First day will take a long time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tatka Posted September 25, 2018 #16 Share Posted September 25, 2018 I wouldn’t bother for just 1 day, you’d miss too much. Sent from my iPhone using Forums I as a former citizen of USSR spent more than a month there and believe or not we had something interesting to see there every day. There was a study that if you spent 30 seconds near each Hermitage art you will need to be there for 11 years 8 hours a day. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rala Posted September 25, 2018 #17 Share Posted September 25, 2018 Definitely 2 days...there is so much to see. We were on a tour for 8 or 9 hours each of the two days we were there, and it was just amazing. It was the highlight of our Baltics cruise a year ago. Check your Roll Call here on Cruise critic. There were two tours set up by other passengers on our roll call. One with TJ tours ( I think) and the one we took with ALLA Tours which was was wonderful. We got a discounted price and our guide spoke perfect English. We saw A LOT and loved it!:D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Havingfun2010 Posted September 25, 2018 #18 Share Posted September 25, 2018 Hello everyone , could anyone guide me , I would like to book a trip in the Baltic Sea but I can't decide if I need 2 days in St Petersburg Russia or one. Yes it is a question of paying more money for the cruise, a 7 days cruise vs a 9 or 11 days cruise. Also on the 7 days , I don't get to visit Berlin. Any comment? Thank you Two days. Anything less for such a unique stop is just not good. I used TJ travel, which was great. There are several private companies to chose from, and honestly all the tours are similar. The best part, of 2 days, is that you can extend your tour into the evening and enjoy the city in a different way. Example is that we added a walking tour in the evening, and added dinner to it. So, the larger day tour dropped us off and basically handed us over to a private evening tour guild who took us to a place for dinner, with our choosing it. Came back for us after dinner, and we did a walk off the beaten path St Petersburg having a one on one history lesson. The evening ended with Vodka tasting and small plates. Sometime after 10:00pm we returned to the ship, to wake up and continue our two day tour. I may never go back, unlike other places, so the two days, we packed as much as possible into it, and truly enjoyed it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dcourt Posted September 25, 2018 #19 Share Posted September 25, 2018 We did 2 days and took the first day there and flew to Moscow using a ship excursion - what an amazing trip. The second day we hired a private tour guide through the ships excursions and was able to see everything we wanted to see including the museums (guide got us fast passes through the entrances of every place we went). I would do it again in a heart beat!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dani negreanu Posted September 25, 2018 #20 Share Posted September 25, 2018 Another vote here for two days and like papaflamingo I also highly recommend T J Travel. Another vote here for two days and like papaflamingo, and all the others, I also highly recommend T J Travel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tatka Posted September 25, 2018 #21 Share Posted September 25, 2018 We did 2 days and took the first day there and flew to Moscow using a ship excursion - what an amazing trip. The second day we hired a private tour guide through the ships excursions and was able to see everything we wanted to see including the museums (guide got us fast passes through the entrances of every place we went). I would do it again in a heart beat!! Moscow is impressive city, but imho St Petersburg has so much more to offer.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dcourt Posted September 25, 2018 #22 Share Posted September 25, 2018 Moscow is impressive city, but imho St Petersburg has so much more to offer.. Having grown up during the cold war era - the thought of walking Red Square or going inside of the Kremlin is something I never thought I would see those sites. Besides, St. Petersburg was beautified for tourist where Moscow was the real thing. Just my opinion. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tatka Posted September 25, 2018 #23 Share Posted September 25, 2018 Having grown up during the cold war era - the thought of walking Red Square or going inside of the Kremlin is something I never thought I would see those sites.Besides, St. Petersburg was beautified for tourist where Moscow was the real thing. Just my opinion. I understand.I've been in Moscow many times as a child during 80ies. Actually neither of these two cities is a real Russia. Moscow is to Russia as New York is to America. St Petersburg is city built completely by invited Europeans. To see real Russia you need to visit cities and towns of Golden Ring https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Golden_Ring which of course isn't an option during sea cruise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
viajes001 Posted September 25, 2018 #24 Share Posted September 25, 2018 I just did the Baltic cruise in May and we had two days St Petersburg. I wish we had 3 days. There is so much to see. You don’t have to go into a Berlin if you don’t want. We stayed in Rostock which is cute walkable town and had a great day. Sent from my iPhone using Forums Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lhanson38 Posted September 26, 2018 #25 Share Posted September 26, 2018 We just got back from the Baltics. We had 2 days in St Petersburg it wasn't enough do the two days. We used best guides they were fantastic I can't say enough good things about them. Leigh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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