NCL Baltic Capitals 7-10-06 - Seeing St. Petersberg

[Vered]

Hi, would like to get information about the best way to tour St.Petersburg, and Berlin. Thanks:)

[MagnoliaBlossom]

We did the Baltic two years ago and loved it. Plan to do it again next summer. If you plan to do St. Petersburg on your own you will need to apply for a visa, which if memory serves me costs $150 and takes 3-4 months to get. Mind you, that's hearsay from others who did it, not my personal experience. We did our tours through the ship and for the most part were pleased. Our only complaint was that the bus drivers wanted to stop too often at little market to shop and the bus finally mutinied by early afternoon and refused to get off the bus, demanding more time at our next stop. The driver got the point and that was the end of shopping.

But - we met a couple on board who hired a private tour group and were very pleased at the ability to cut through some of the waiting time at certain sites and customize their tour. They raved about how much money they saved but when you added the visa cost back into it, it actually cost them more. But then, they got more of what they wanted.

 

Berlin is quite a way from the port and I would be afraid of getting delayed and missing the ship. I'm pretty adventurous about self tours but not when they're that far away from the pier.

 

Just my opinion. Magnolia Blossom

[sjbdtz]

Hi, would like to get information about the best way to tour St.Petersburg, and Berlin. Thanks:)

 

 

Do a search on the Baltics section of the Ports of Call section of the Boards (look above, click on Boards, then scroll down to Ports of Call).

 

There is LOTS of discussion about this topic, including several posts I've written as well.

 

You'll have a great time, it's a beautiful city.