St. Petersburg Private Tour for Viking Homelands August 29, 2019 Cruise

[Dukefan]

We are traveling on the Viking Ocean “Viking Homelands” August 29, 2019 Cruise.  For the two-day visit to St. Petersburg  “Eyevea”  (Bette & Paul) and “Dukefan” (Karen & Gary) have arranged a two-day private tour for 6 people.  We therefore have an opening for on other couple.   This is our second trip to St. Petersburg with a private two-day tour.  We found on our first visit that with a guide and a driver six people on a tour is an efficient way to visit this city and allowing you to see more with less waiting around. In the Hermitage for example everyone has time to see the art they want to guide to show them.  We also requested box lunches to maximize the limited time we have in this beautiful city to visit the major sites. The tour schedule is as follows:.   

 

Sunday, September 1, 2019

8:30 Meeting at the ship

8:30 -10:00 City Tour until Hermitage early admission

10:00 – 12:30 Hermitage Museum early admission

12:45 - 13:45 Impressionists in the Main Staff Building

14:00 – 14:30 Hydrofoil to Peterhof with Boxed Lunch

14:30 – 15:30 Tour of Peterof  Fountain Park & Gardens

15:30 - 16:30 Drive to Pushkin

16:30 – 18:00 Tour of Catherine’s Palace with the famous Amber Room

18;00 – 19:00 Drive back to ship

 

Monday, September 2

8:00 Meeting at the ship

8:30 - 9:30 Canal Boat Ride

9:30 -11:00 Tours of Peter and Paul Fortress/Cathedral

11:00 – 12:00 Tour of St. Issac’s Cathedral and Boxed Lunch

12:00 – 13:30 Tour of Church of Spilled Blood Cathedral

14:00 - 15:30 Tour of Yusupov Palace

16:30  Back to the ship

 

This price includes the following services:

1)     All port fees for two days and all local Russian taxes

2)     Professional and personable English-speaking guide for two days

3)     A/C vehicle for two days

4)     Admission Tickets to all Museums shown on the above itinerary

5)     Photo passes to all Museums

6)     Subway Ride (not shown on schedule nut will be worked in when appropriate)

7)     One bottle of water per person per day

8)     Ponchos in case of rain

9)     Boxed lunches for both days

10) Canal boat ride

 Tour price does not include:

1)     Gratuities for the guide (10%) and the driver (5%) to be given separately.

 

Email me at gchilders@nc.rr.com if you are interested and I can provide more details.

 

Gary

 

[Heidi13]

Gary,

 

When looking for others to join you on tours, the posts should be in the relevant roll call. Here is a link to Viking Ocean Roll Calls

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/768-viking-ocean-roll-calls/

 

Select the link, then the ship and search for your cruise. If no existing roll call you can start one using the New Topic button, including departure date and cruise description in the title.

 

This will also help in contacting pax sailing on your specific cruise. Also suggest naming the tour company and whether they are approved tour operators, so no Visa is required.

Edited March 14, 2019 by Heidi13

[Dukefan]

Heidi13,

 

I agree with your comment.  I started a Roll Call for this cruise over three months ago.   We have had posts by two other folks on this cruise in this three month period.   Last year when I cruised on Viking, I noticed that their Roll Calls are not as active as a lot of other Cruise Lines.    A therefore believe that many of their cruisers are new to Cruise Critic.   I know I had cruised several times basically just  visiting the Cruise Critic Detestation Sites and the Cruise Lines Sites before I discovered the great value of the Roll Call. Since I discovered the Roll Call about 15 years ago it is now the first site that I visit when planning cruise.  By the way I have posted this same information on the Roll Call site.  I posted it here to reach the greater Viking audience that my be unaware of the value of the Roll Call as I was for my first ten years or so of cruising.

 

Gary  

[Peregrina651]

You can lead a horse to water... Viking attracts an older crowd, not necessarily tech savvy. It is a smaller ship. Participation in roll calls averages around 2% of passenger capacity. On a ship with room for 930 people, that is an average roll call size of 18 people. Tours are included, so there aren't as many people looking to share tours. Even this forum is slower that other cruise lines.

 

[Heidi13]

11 hours ago, Dukefan said:

Heidi13,

 

I agree with your comment.  I started a Roll Call for this cruise over three months ago.   We have had posts by two other folks on this cruise in this three month period.   Last year when I cruised on Viking, I noticed that their Roll Calls are not as active as a lot of other Cruise Lines.    A therefore believe that many of their cruisers are new to Cruise Critic.   I know I had cruised several times basically just  visiting the Cruise Critic Detestation Sites and the Cruise Lines Sites before I discovered the great value of the Roll Call. Since I discovered the Roll Call about 15 years ago it is now the first site that I visit when planning cruise.  By the way I have posted this same information on the Roll Call site.  I posted it here to reach the greater Viking audience that my be unaware of the value of the Roll Call as I was for my first ten years or so of cruising.

 

Gary  

Hi Gary - Apologies, didn't realise you had already started a roll call.

 

Good luck getting another couple

[Dukefan]

Thanks Heidi13

 

Gary

[Dukefan]

We still have room for one more couple on this 6 person private tour.