? on St. Petersburg Tours

[pa_heather]

I've seen many mentions of people getting together through CC to sign up for the various St. Petersburg tours (DenRus, Alla, Red October), but my roll call is all but dead. Can you sign up with one of these companies and have them create a group as others sign up? I figure people will still be signing up even if they aren't active on the boards. Or do you have to go to them with a group already formed? Thanks.

[Steamboatin]

Do not know the answer to your question.

 

On our cruise a CC member organized a group of around 40 from our CC roll call here with Red October. We toured 24 hours in the 2 days we were in port.

 

Check with cruisecal.com to see what other cruise lines will be in port with you on your days in St. Petersburg.

 

Then give all three tour groups you mentioned a telephone call or email them and ask them your questions.

 

What have you got to loose.

[EGG]

When is your cruise? Hopefully there is more activity as your cruise gets closer. In the meantime, why don't you start contacting a few tour guides to get the preliminary information.

 

I've also noticed that there are sometimes non cruise critic groups doing independent tours, so it can't hurt to contact the tour company.

[sea-explorer]

I agree.

 

Contact the tour companies. They may be able to help, especially if your cruise is some time away & there is time to gather people together.

 

It is also possible to book just for yourselves. You don't need a large group. We booked for our family of 4 but they also take bookings just for couples if necessary. The upside of this is individual attention & doing exactly what you want to do. The downside is the greater expense. For four of us this was little more than the ship's tour, but for two I assume it could be pretty expensive.

[Peregrina651]

Heather --

 

We put our St. Petersburg group together here on CC. Our roll call was very quiet at this time of year as well but we still managed it. In fact, membership didn't really pick up until April and even then there were barely a dozen of us. (I noticed that it seemed that most people didn't start thinking about booking anything until a few months before sailing).

 

By the beginning of January, the 3 couples that had posted so far joined forces and planned a tour. By February, we had our itinerary set but we still wanted to add more people to the group. We had decided that for the pricing, we would like a group of 10 people. We posted an invitation to join our group both on our roll call and on the tour operators website. (We used Alla Tours). Alla told us to expect activity to pick up in April and by mid-April our group was 9 people--all added through Alla and not through the roll call.

 

We were still hoping to add another single or couple to the group before we left. It wasn't until the end of July, the beginning of August for our August 14 sailing that the last members joined our group. In the end, we were 12 people.

 

In retrospect, I think that, for various reasons, we would have been much happier with a smaller group, say 6 or 8 people. However, I do not regret putting a group together; we could not have afforded it for just two of us and finding other folks in our situation was a good compromise. I am convinced that a small private group is the way to go in St. Petersburg, if for nothing else than to avoided the constant waiting in line.

 

Patience, they say; good things come to those who wait!

[New Hampshire]

I've recently booked a private tour with Alla in St. Petersburg. We are a group of 4 and I have found 4 more people on our roll call board. Our roll call began in July 07 for our cruise in July 08. I'm amazed at how active it is already. We already have 26 people regisgterd from the board for a Celebrity Connections Party! It looks like I'll be sailing with a super group of people!

[Sand Girl]

We are going to St. Petersburg with Carnival Splender - will arrive on Sept 5 and leave on the 6th. I have emailed Alla twice in the last couple of days and not heard anything from them - does anyone know what I might be doing wrong or does it take them that long to get back. I have no problem getting email from DenRus but was hoping to get a price from Alla so I can compare. Thanks.

[Peregrina651]

We are going to St. Petersburg with Carnival Splender - will arrive on Sept 5 and leave on the 6th. I have emailed Alla twice in the last couple of days and not heard anything from them - does anyone know what I might be doing wrong or does it take them that long to get back. I have no problem getting email from DenRus but was hoping to get a price from Alla so I can compare. Thanks.

 

I am sorry that you are having problems getting in touch with Alla; it is very frustrating when things go wrong with e-mail, especially for Alla since she works so hard to make sure that e-mails are answered the same day that they are received. Most of the time, I had no trouble getting e-mails from her but I will report that there were a few times in the 8 months that we communicated when her replies took more than a day to be delivered.

 

Based on the experiences of other CCers, here are three possible reasons why Alla has not gotten back to you:

1. Your e-mail program thinks that her replies are junk mail. Check your spam/junk folder and then add her address to your addressbook.

2. Typo in the e-mail address: info@alla-tour.com (not tours with an 's') or send her an e-mail directly from her website: http://www.alla-tour.com/?module=bbs&category=2007,08 Alla does have other e-mail addresses (one on AOL and one on a Russian ISP) but this is the one she gives on her website.

3. Finally, perhaps she is taking a few days of vacation now that the very busy summer season is over. (She deserves it; she works very hard during the cruise season).

 

Have a great trip!

[New Hampshire]

I sent Alla an email yesterday afternoon and her reply was in my inbox this AM. Every email I've sent her in the last month, and there have been many, has received a reply by the next morning. I have been amazed by the swiftness of her responses and how thoroughly she has answered every question I've had and supplied very complete information.

[OregonDuck]

We are sailing on the Crown next May 20th. Have booked the Denrus Value Tour for our two days in St. Pete. Never having been there before, we thought this tour would meet our needs. It seems to be exactly the same tour booked thru Princess.

 

We come back to Wolfeboro almost every year. We love it there as we do our relatives. He is the man who built "The Little Mount", which I'm sure you have seen next to the park area and very close to where the Mount Washington comes into town. Small world.

[New Hampshire]

Small world is right!!! Of course I know the "Little Mount". We live 2 miles from Cate Park and the town docks. Wolfeboro is a phenomenal place to live. We moved here six years ago from NJ and love it!!

[wahoomommy]

I am pretty sure a lot of the tour companies will set up groups for you if you are willing.

 

In June 2007 my husband and I, along with our 2 young daughters and my in-laws sailed on the RC Jewel of the Seas and visited St. Petersburg. Viktoria Rother (www.spb-tours.com) was our guide and she was WONDERFUL. Immediately from the first moments we met her, we felt comfortable and so glad we had chosen to tour with her. We had a private van just for our group, along with our driver and then Viktoria, our guide. We learned so much on our tour about Russian history, current culture and life in St. Petersburg, and then of course all about the sights we visited. We were able to make up our own itinerary and choose the spots we wanted to see. In addition, I made changes as I continued my research and thought of other things, or had questions about places I initially choose. We LOVED everything we saw and feel we could not have been in better hands. Viktoria was warm and friendly and really gave us a sense of life in Russia. At the end of our 2 days, we were truly wishing we could stay in Russia longer to see and learn more with Viktoria.

 

Throughout the days we would catch glimpses of tours from the ship and they were such LARGE groups. In the end, we saw so much more than we would have been able to see with a ship's tour. Also the price was reasonable considering how expensive the ship's tours were. All together I would whole-heartedely recommend a private tour with Viktoria and spb-tours (www.spb-tours.com)

[ajilimojil]

Wahoomommy,

 

Would you mind telling me how much this tour cost you.

If only 3 people, would it be different pricing?

Thanks in advance.