Has anyone used the Princess St Petersburg tours?

[yapmom]

Hi everyone! My DH is not very adventurous and would prefer to use a tour from the ship. I am concerned that we will not get as good of an experience as we would in a private tour. BUT this is OUR 30th anniversary trip and want him to be comfortable also. Has anyone been on one of these please and could share their experience? He is mostly thinking about the fact that princess will not leave without their tours.Thank you very much!

[skynight]

Just now, yapmom said:

Hi everyone! My DH is not very adventurous and would prefer to use a tour from the ship. I am concerned that we will not get as good of an experience as we would in a private tour. BUT this is OUR 30th anniversary trip and want him to be comfortable also. Has anyone been on one of these please and could share their experience? He is mostly thinking about the fact that princess will not leave without their tours.Thank you very much!

We did a two day Princess tour a number of years ago. It was fine, but it is a large group. After that tour my opinion was private tours are the better value. SPB is one example.

I read that starting last year there was a change in the disembarkation process at the port of St. Petersburg. Believe now that all ship's tours get priority going through immigration and that private tours are now delayed. Maybe someone else can comment on how quickly those on private tours can disembark. The immigration review on the first day is slower than the second day.

Regarding return to the ship, this is not a real issue. Private tours will return you in time on the 2nd day. The first day the ship is there overnight.

Just a note: be prepared for two long days of touring.

[juniper berries]

Hi my Dh and I did Princess tours in St Petersburg last year. We did a back to back Baltic cruises. So we had 4 days in St Petersburg. They were 4 fabulous days. One of the days we did a full day with a car and driver and guide. Which was really fun. Then on other 3 days we did excursions from the ship but did the small group ones.  You were on a large bus but there was not a full bus load. If you do the full day tours you get lunch included. There was entertainment at lunch as well.  Your days in St Petersburg start early and you will do alot of walking especially when you do the places. So make sure you have very comfortable shoes. on one of the days we walked 11 k in one day. 

We were happy with the guides we had for our tours in St Petersbug.  Also as stated ship tours get priority through immigration so you start your day earlier than those on private tours. We found going through immigration took the same time both days. on the both times we did it on both cruises last summer.

I hope you have a great time what ever you decide.

[roxievegas]

We did a two day tour with Celebrity - which should be the same as using Princess.  We were on a bus with appx 40 -50 people and the bus was independent from the other buses, so it was just us.  The tour was great, we saw a lot and the tour guides give you so much info.  We loved this tour.  I am guessing, but I think it was $330 pp, but worth every penny.  We were the first off the ship every morning and our group on the bus never caused a problem - everyone returned to the bus on time and followed the rules.

[draver]

I'm going to St. Petersburg in Sept. and have been doing some research.  My understanding is that unless you are gong on a tour with an official guide, you are required to have a Russian Visa.  You may be asked for it at any time by officials and are subject to arrest without it.  The cost so far is running around $300 total and will take several weeks through the Russian Embassy to process.  I would check on this before getting off the ship and venturing out of the port area.

[Cruiserkenn]

Princess shore excursions in St. Petersburg were great, admittedly some years ago.  The tour guides were wonderful!  Especially wonderful sites were Peterhof Palace and also the Hermitage.  It was wonderful to not have to worry about tickets or communicating.  Take Princess tours or shore excursions.🙂⛴⚓️🌝🛳😊🚢🙂

[skynight]

17 minutes ago, draver said:

I'm going to St. Petersburg in Sept. and have been doing some research.  My understanding is that unless you are gong on a tour with an official guide, you are required to have a Russian Visa.  You may be asked for it at any time by officials and are subject to arrest without it.  The cost so far is running around $300 total and will take several weeks through the Russian Embassy to process.  I would check on this before getting off the ship and venturing out of the port area.

If you are on a Princess tour or a tour with a licensed agency you receive a special visa waiver document that you have to show to enter through immigration. You must stay with the tour group. You can not leave the tour group and explore on your own. You only require an individual Russian visa if you intend to tour on your own, or leave the port area such as the overnight trip to Moscow. 

[draver]

2 hours ago, Cruiserkenn said:

Princess shore excursions in St. Petersburg were great, admittedly some years ago.  The tour guides were wonderful!  Especially wonderful sites were Peterhof Palace and also the Hermitage.  It was wonderful to not have to worry about tickets or communicating.  Take Princess tours or shore excursions.🙂⛴⚓️🌝🛳😊🚢🙂

 

I would do that except I'm arriving 4 days before my cruise begins.  I've booked a hotel in the center of town to do some sightseeing and shopping before the cruise.  I'm really looking forward to what will probably be my only visit to Russia.  I've read some interesting things about the attitudes there, but then I've never found the locals in France to be anything but hospitable for several visits.

[billyg3]

We used SPB in St. Petersburg, Berlin, and Talinn. I would recommend them.

[sunny88]

4 hours ago, yapmom said:

Hi everyone! My DH is not very adventurous and would prefer to use a tour from the ship. I am concerned that we will not get as good of an experience as we would in a private tour. BUT this is OUR 30th anniversary trip and want him to be comfortable also. Has anyone been on one of these please and could share their experience? He is mostly thinking about the fact that princess will not leave without their tours.Thank you very much!

We took ALLA two days grand tour early this month.  They ran very well, covered more than Princess offered, half the rate than Princess charged.  Max size of the tour is 16 people, we had 14 on that tour.  Very satisfied with our tour.

We did have to wait for Princess tours get off the ship first, but they started at 7 - 7.30 am, our's meeting is at 8:30 AM.  We got off the ship at 8AM, went through custom right away, no waiting.  Very smooth.  So our tour took off at 8, half an hour early, then back to ship on time (or slightly early by 15 mins).   One couple of our tour got off the ship on their own, did not go to the waiting area as Princess told us to do, they did not have any problem.  If you signed up with Private tour, your ticket is the visa to enter Russia, no need to apply for visa. 

[silversneakers]

4 hours ago, yapmom said:

Hi everyone! My DH is not very adventurous and would prefer to use a tour from the ship. I am concerned that we will not get as good of an experience as we would in a private tour. BUT this is OUR 30th anniversary trip and want him to be comfortable also. Has anyone been on one of these please and could share their experience? He is mostly thinking about the fact that princess will not leave without their tours.Thank you very much!

We used a two-day Viator tour...10 people, same tour guide and driver for both days.  They get the tourist visa for you as part of the package.  We were very happy.

[Cruiserkenn]

31 minutes ago, draver said:

 

I would do that except I'm arriving 4 days before my cruise begins.  I've booked a hotel in the center of town to do some sightseeing and shopping before the cruise.  I'm really looking forward to what will probably be my only visit to Russia.  I've read some interesting things about the attitudes there, but then I've never found the locals in France to be anything but hospitable for several visits.

 

Yes, I agree, i found the local French people to be helpful and hospitable in Alsace, Lorraine, and Provence.

 

i hope you can let us know how your independent stay in St. Petersburg goes.  Enjoy.

[Felix331]

Just as an FYI if you do an independent tour, there's a new rule that your operator isn't allowed in the port for 90 minutes after the ship docks. It's a big note on the Princess website on the St Petersburg shore excursion page. 

[draver]

I've never had my pocket picked in Rome, or been mugged in Nassau either.  Just lucky I guess.

[LoriPhil]

We booked Princess tours as well - also did Peterhof and Hermitage.  Great guides (We tipped!).  Peterhof staff moves tourists through the palace quickly but we were on our own to wander the gardens before reconvening at the buses.  Hermitage was beautiful - dazzled by each room decor almost as much as by the artwork.  Tiring days - comfy shoes for sure, and we brought bottled water for the bus ride.

[jasbo49]

I've heard of mostly of good experiences with the Princess excursions in St. Petersburg. So I don't think you'd regret it if you can get past paying almost twice as much and being in a group three times as large.

 

We went on a 2-day tour with Alla Tours last August and couldn't have been happier. Fantastic guide, bright, helpful, knowledgeable, a real sweetheart. It sure was easier for our group of 16 to move around those huge museums than it would be for a group of 45 or 50.

 

That stuff about the ship waiting for Princess tours and blithely sailing away while private tour types are stranded at the dock is really a pretty hollow threat aimed at scaring people into doing the ship's tours. These private tour operators are multi-million dollar companies that would be out of business within a week if that happened.

 

Jim

[miagirl]

We did a combination of a Princess tour and a 2 day private tour (just the 2 of us) with Margarita from Tours by Local.  She was wonderful, customized the itinerary to our interests.  DH said it was like touring with a cousin. The Princess tour was a magical evening  tour.  I highly recommend it if you can fit it in.  "An evening at Catherine Palace".  The palace was closed to other visitors.  There were 2 tour buses from Princess and they pulled right up to the main palace gates.  I was able to take pictures of a completely empty except for me Amber Room.  

[bdojoe]

Pictures of the Amber room are not allowed.

 

[mevs904]

I understand the OP’s situation.  We will be on the August Regal cruise to St. Petersburg and my DBF was very reluctant to take an independent tour.  After reading reviews on others travel websites and comments from CC posters we both felt comfortable booking a 2 day tour with Alla.  We were so impressed with their responsiveness and what they offered that we booked tours at two other ports with them.  As a previous poster noted, their tours are half the price and one third of the people as the Princess tours.

     Initially we only took ship’s excursions, but we’ve gradually been trying independent tour companies and they have all been excellent.

[ontheweb]

 

On 5/30/2019 at 8:33 AM, yapmom said:

Hi everyone! My DH is not very adventurous and would prefer to use a tour from the ship. I am concerned that we will not get as good of an experience as we would in a private tour. BUT this is OUR 30th anniversary trip and want him to be comfortable also. Has anyone been on one of these please and could share their experience? He is mostly thinking about the fact that princess will not leave without their tours.Thank you very much!

It was also our 30th anniversary when we did our Baltic cruise in 2007.

 

We used Alla after doing our research and asking for and getting fellow passengers to join us from our roll call. We can heartily recommend them. Our wonderful guide, Viktoria, started SPB tours the following cruise season, and based on our experience with her and reviews I have read, we can also recommend her company.

 

I did speak with many passengers afterwards who had taken Princess tours, and on the whole they were satisfied. There were however some complaints. One said the air conditioning on his bus failed, and since it was in the upper 80s, this was a problem. We, OTOH, were in an air conditioned Mercedes van. Another said his guide lamented the end of Communism. And one more fellow cruiser replied to my comment that our guide had 18 years of experience by saying that their guide was only 18.

 

I would recommend that both of you go to the port board for the Baltic region. You should find very many reviews, basically favorable. And I am quite sure you will not read any horror stories of anyone missing the ship in St. Petersburgh because of using a private tour.

 

Another recommendation would be to check your roll call. Perhaps some fellow cruiser is looking for others to join in a private tour. 

 

Think of it this way---you will be in a smaller group with more opportunity to customize the tour. For example on our tour, one member wanted a synagogue added. When no one objected, Alla added this. Also when we started the tour Viktoria asked if there was anything anyone wanted added. I mentioned I had read interesting things about the subways. She then took us on a subway ride to a few stations and had the driver pick us up. And all this will probably (depending on the number in the tour) end up less expensive.

[Bridgewater2]

On 5/30/2019 at 10:49 AM, Cruiserkenn said:

Princess shore excursions in St. Petersburg were great, admittedly some years ago.  The tour guides were wonderful!  Especially wonderful sites were Peterhof Palace and also the Hermitage.  It was wonderful to not have to worry about tickets or communicating.  Take Princess tours or shore excursions.🙂⛴⚓️🌝🛳😊🚢🙂

We did that just last month. I highly recommend the Princess 2 day St. Petersburg tour!!

 

 

[yapmom]

Thank you everyone! We have booked with Alla tours as it provided us with the most sights for the money. After careful reading of both Trip Advisor and here, felt comfortable going with them and convinced hubby that it would be alright.

[ontheweb]

9 minutes ago, yapmom said:

Thank you everyone! We have booked with Alla tours as it provided us with the most sights for the money. After careful reading of both Trip Advisor and here, felt comfortable going with them and convinced hubby that it would be alright.

Good for you. You will not regret that decision.

[stevenr597]

When we were in St. Petersburg we booked exclusively through Princess.  Excellent tours, worth the money.  In fact, we were the first ones off the ship, and through Customs.  He were able to tour ther Hermitage before it was offically open and escaped much of the crowds.

 

Would highly recommend Princess.  They did it first class. 

[miagirl]

On 6/4/2019 at 5:06 PM, bdojoe said:

Pictures of the Amber room are not allowed.

 

Really?  Perhaps not on a non-private tour.  No one, no tour guide, told us to not take pictures during our Evening at Catherine Palace Tour.

 

Apology accepted.

 

Again, it's a Princess excursion not to be missed.