tours

[sue4f1]

we have booked our tour to st Petersburg, sailing on marella explorer 2 on july 11th, have been recommended to go with alla tours, the itinerary looks fab, so really looking forward to going, what is the local pack lunch like and the meal in the restaurant, and other peoples experiences on this 2 day tour? 

[garycarla]

You would get more replies if your subject line was more descriptive.  There are hundreds of ports and tours.

[dogs4fun]

On 1/15/2020 at 11:47 AM, sue4f1 said:

what is the local pack lunch like and the meal in the restaurant, and other peoples experiences on this 2 day tour? 

I assume that you have booked the Grand Tour? It is an excellent choice if you want to maximize your sightseeing time and the restaurant meal was fantastic - excellent food & service. As I recall, the packed lunch consisted of sandwiches, fruit, candy bar & a drink - just an ordinary packed lunch, nothing special. We booked the tour with the packed lunch (Grand Tour) because we wanted to see as much as possible and did not want to waste over an hour eating lunch on both days - it was worth it because we were able to spend more time at Peterhof due to consuming the packed lunch on the way to the park.

Edited January 17, 2020 by dogs4fun

[trosebery]

Yes, the packed lunch is an ordinary packed lunch but there are also vendors selling snack foods at Peterhof. If there's some special snack food you'd like to try, let your guide know and they might be able to help you find it when you have free time. (Although you might need rubles for this.) We wanted to try some Georgian food on our last St. Petersburg visit, and I do recommend it -- very different and very tasty! (We were on a private tour with Red Sun Tours ourselves, so it wasn't a problem.) Next time I want to try some Uzbek foods.

[fabnfortysomething]

Stolle pie shops are a "chain" of fast food which are a very popular option for a quick snack

you choose a savoury or sweet slice for a very reasonable price which you can eat at your leisure-our guide brought us to a local park to consume and enjoy walking through

 

If you don't want to spend your tour time at a sit down lunch or take a chance on what the packed lunchwill be like most tour guides should offer this

[Sirius 10]

15 hours ago, trosebery said:

Yes, the packed lunch is an ordinary packed lunch but there are also vendors selling snack foods at Peterhof. If there's some special snack food you'd like to try, let your guide know and they might be able to help you find it when you have free time. (Although you might need rubles for this.) We wanted to try some Georgian food on our last St. Petersburg visit, and I do recommend it -- very different and very tasty! (We were on a private tour with Red Sun Tours ourselves, so it wasn't a problem.)

15 hours ago, trosebery said:

Yes, the packed lunch is an ordinary packed lunch but there are also vendors selling snack foods at Peterhof. If there's some special snack food you'd like to try, let your guide know and they might be able to help you find it when you have free time. (Although you might need rubles for this.) We wanted to try some Georgian food on our last St. Petersburg visit, and I do recommend it -- very different and very tasty! (We were on a private tour with Red Sun Tours ourselves, so it wasn't a problem.) Next time I want to try some Uzbek foods.

 

 

[Sirius 10]

Try restaurant Nevskaya Zhemchuzina. Good Uzbek food, but you will be the only tourist there !  One of the very few restaurants beside the Neva. Even has small huts for Private Dining. About 10 minutes from Moscow Hotel. Dark Glasses optional !

[John Bull]

Can't help re packed lunches.

Our Alla tour included restaurant lunches both days. Perfectly satisfactory.

 

But if she uses the same restaurants, they don't accept plastic or foreign currency - roubles only.

The meal of course is included in the tour price, and there's water on the table. But if you want to wash he meal down with a beer or whatever you'll need roubles.

 

Same might apply to the outlets mentioned by others. 

 

Before the cruise we'd changed into roubles enough for the guide's tip. That meant we had the comfort of roubles in our pocket but no risk of any being left-over.

So we bought beers, and made up the tip shortfall with euros (USD also acceptable for tips)

Everyone happy 

 

JB 

 

[dogs4fun]

57 minutes ago, John Bull said:

The meal of course is included in the tour price, and there's water on the table. But if you want to wash he meal down with a beer or whatever you'll need roubles.

Think this changed a few years ago - wine and/or beer is offered with lunch (at least it was with our lunches). 

Edited January 18, 2020 by dogs4fun

[John Bull]

5 minutes ago, dogs4fun said:

Think this changed a few years ago - wine and/or beer is offered with lunch (at least it was with our lunches). 

 

Or maybe it's just that you're the favoured one, my four-legged friend 

 

JB 

[dogs4fun]

4 minutes ago, John Bull said:

 

Or maybe it's just that you're the favoured one, my four-legged friend 

 

JB 

Ha - don't I wish! I think I also remember reading a few reviews on TripAdvisor with comments about wine/beer offered with lunch. However, can't take anything I say "to the bank" as I frequently do not correctly recall and am not very observant.  Tsk.