Alla Tours in Petersburg

[cruza]

Could anybody who took Alla's Tour before share experience? Their price and willingness to help is much better than Denrus and RO and I like her prices and flexibility but just a little worry. Looks like it's small company and whether they have required licenses to get to the port.

How Alla's excursions overall?

Thanks in advance.

[dbh62ark]

Cruza, have you used the "search" function on these boards? Or I guess I should say do you know how to do that? There are many reviews of Alla's services using the search feature, and you'll find a lot more information using that than you will in responses to one individual thread.

 

Good luck,

Donna

[cruza]

Yes, indeed I know how to use search. One of the reasons why i'm asking because I saw post when someone was saying that Alla wasn't able to meet people by the ship because of Russian restrictions in the port. And those people didn't get trip to SPeterburg

Really appreciate if somebody would share their exprerience with Alla Tours.

[dbh62ark]

One of the reasons why i'm asking because I saw post when someone was saying that Alla wasn't able to meet people by the ship because of Russian restrictions in the port. And those people didn't get trip to SPeterburg

I don't read all the threads on these boards, but that sounds odd to me. Did you see that information on these boards? Can you post a link to that thread?

 

Thanks,

Donna

[jjtsfca]

I suggest you contact her company yourself at:

 

info@alla-tour.com

 

I have found her completely customer focused and very flexible. I'm doing a full day with Alla Tours in July.

[hotmike98]

We used Alla last summer and the assigned guide (Julia) was wonderful. I cannot comment on the shipside issue, as we were on a smaller ship (Regent Voyager), which was able to dock right in town, so Julia and driver were able to meet us immediately outside the passport control gate adjacent to the ship. We had a small group (two couples), and were able to get places more quickly, but still had the status of having guide to bypass lines at the more popular palaces, etc. Highly recommend going through Alla. You can check my review of the trip by going to reviews for the specific ship.

[Tom2]

We are on the Rotterdam and have a small group of 7 booked with Alla on June 6 & 7. She has been extremely easy to work with, very flexible, and has responded immediately to all of our e-mails. Her instructions say that she will be waiting for us inside the port area, just few steps from the ship as soon as the ship is cleared by the Russian authorities with a sign that says Alla Tours. So far I have been extremely impressed by her operation.

 

Tom

[cruza]

I'm also have good expression from communication with Alla but here is the link from tripadvisor: http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g298507-i707-k660928-Private_Guide_for_St_Petersburg_Russia-St_Petersburg_North_West_Russia.html (see post from stanj in the middle)

This the only negative which i was able to find and it's looks like Stanj is working for Denrus. So it could be the explanation but I wanted to get add reviews. I could go to her site but i doubt Alla would allow any negative posts.

[cruza]

Looks like link got truncated. I'm trying one more time to post the link but it's easy to search on tripadvisor.

http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g298507-i707-k660928-Private_Guide_for_St_Petersburg_Russia-St_Petersburg_North_West_Russia.html

[Riverroad]

Our group of 6 used Alla (guide was Anna) for 2 days last summer in St. Petersburg. Our experience was exactly as hotmike98 described. We were met by Anna and the driver just after the Russian passport control. Alla provides the group visa and there were absolutely no problems. Everything is handled via email. She was very accomodating when we were planning our tour & we had an incredible 2 days with Anna. Do not hesitate to use her company.

[dbh62ark]

Looks like link got truncated. I'm trying one more time to post the link but it's easy to search on tripadvisor.

http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g298507-i707-k660928-Private_Guide_for_St_Petersburg_Russia-St_Petersburg_North_West_Russia.html

Thanks for posting the link.

 

Donna

[Peregrina651]

I'm also have good expression from communication with Alla but here is the link from tripadvisor: http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g298507-i707-k660928-Private_Guide_for_St_Petersburg_Russia-St_Petersburg_North_West_Russia.html (see post from stanj in the middle)

This the only negative which i was able to find and it's looks like Stanj is working for Denrus. So it could be the explanation but I wanted to get add reviews. I could go to her site but i doubt Alla would allow any negative posts.

 

 

Beware what you read. If someone tells you that they heard/read that someone had a problem with a tour, that is hearsay -- and hearsay is not admissible (even in a court of law) as evidence that something actually happened. Unless, you got your information from the people who had the problem, it is simply a rumor and you should just ignore it. Anyone can repeat a rumor but that does not make it any more true.

 

As for no negative posts on a website, that is to be expected. No company is going to post negative comments about their own services if they are trying to get your business--yet there is no business out there that has a perfect track record.

 

Forums like CruiseCritic exist to share our experiences, good and bad. The fact that you have difficulty in finding negative comments about any of the various companies should indicate that in general people have been satisfied, to one degree or another, with the tour companies that they have chosen.

[Host CMLA]

This the only negative which i was able to find and it's looks like Stanj is working for Denrus. So it could be the explanation but I wanted to get add reviews. I could go to her site but i doubt Alla would allow any negative posts.

Yes, Stan works for Denrus and finds every opportunity to post negative things about other tour operators. I don't trust his opinion. If he claims to be a local expert, he shouldn't be so biased.

[dakrewser]

We did 3 days with Alla Tours last July and it was by far the best shore excursion we've ever done in dozens of cruises. Nothing before or since has even come close. This is customer service at it's finest.

 

And, yes, they'll pick you up right beyond passport control. And that Mercedes minivan beats a big old bus any day!

[Gr8 2 cruise]

We are booked for a tour with Alla in July. I contacted Alla and posed Cruza's question to her. Here is her response:

 

If you looked up at the tripadviser.com you can find there a person called Stanj who posts negative reports about small operators. This person was a frequent guest on cruisecritic till the last summer when it was revealed that he is working for one very often mentioned on the boards travel company. He was not allowed to post notes there and has moved his activity on the tripadviser. He was working very hard to place doubts on the minds of the cruisers in order to keep all those wishing to tour independently for his company. Now I see that he still uses his methods on the crisecritic. I am absolutely sure that he posts under new nick name. Whoever can write whatever one wants but there is no proof of his words and I must say they just don’t exist.

 

As for the back up guides/drivers – it is such rubbish to say such a thing! I will tell you that working with a company which serves cruise passengers is considered to have a “luxury” work. I started to work as a private guide and know so many guides who would love to work with our company. I even can’t imagine the situation when I don’t have a good guide available even if the group showed up in one day advance! There is a line of those who would love to work for our company!

 

These posts are written by the person who works for a competitive company, I am absolutely sure of that. There is no proof neither from this person’s side nor from my side. I can relay only on the common sense of cruisers: There is no reason and no point to work day and night – writing e-mails, forwarding tickets and answering many questions if we can’t accommodate our groups!

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