Shore Excursion Tour Company- ST. Petersburg

[ACHOI]

I am exploring the option of joining the onshore tour not arranged by the cruiseship.

 

I looked into the tours offered by 'Anastasia' and the price seems quite a bit lower than the others. Has anyone been on their tours? any reviews ?

 

Will appreciate any tips and hints. Thanks.:o:o

[Host Karen]

Welcome to Cruise Critic!

 

One of the best features of this site is the "search this forum" feature. It is located directly above the list of posts near the page numbers. Just click on the arrow, type in your search word, and you'll get a list of threads on that topic.

 

Here is one on the tour operator you are interested in (as well as others) to get you started:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=912007

 

Another way to find the information you seek is to simply read through the appropriate threads on this forum.

 

Good luck planning your cruise.

[belle907]

We used Anastasia last summer and booked a private tour for 12 people. I formed the group on my cruise sailing thread that I found on these forums, a total of 3 families. I told her what we wanted to see and she put together an appropriate itinerary to maximize our 2 days in the city. I liked her so much I have her booked for another private tour July 2010.

 

She was upfront about the costs and priced everything out in rubles and converted it to US$ and she took care of our visas and was very professional in handling everything and answering questions.

We paid for our tour the beginning of the 2nd day and paid in US$. She will also take a credit card but she does add a 2% or 3% surcharge.

[TLCOhio]

I am exploring the option of joining the onshore tour not arranged by the cruiseship.

 

I looked into the tours offered by 'Anastasia' and the price seems quite a bit lower than the others. Has anyone been on their tours? any reviews ?

 

Will appreciate any tips and hints. Thanks.:o:o

 

Here's another vote for using the search feature. There have been lots and lots of posts on Anastasia and other tour options for St. Petersburg. Check those out. We used Anastasia and were very, very happy. You will see lots of the details and pictures that I have posted.

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

[cruiseidaho]

Our group of six used Anastasia in Sept. and were all extremely pleased with the results. She designed a full two days filling all our requests and more. Our guide, Kristina was wonderful and gave us a fascinating course in Russian history as well as a picture of life in the past and present. Our driver, Andrey was amazing and deftly avoided traffic jams and delays. Anastasia greeted us on the second day and collected $287/person, which we all considered to be a real bargain for two very full, exciting days. I recommend her highly.

[jbkimsey]

I am exploring the option of joining the onshore tour not arranged by the cruiseship.

 

I looked into the tours offered by 'Anastasia' and the price seems quite a bit lower than the others. Has anyone been on their tours? any reviews ?

 

Will appreciate any tips and hints. Thanks.:o:o

 

We are working with Anastasia now on a tour during our June 22 Eurodam tour. They have been very responsive so far, and everything I've seen said about them below seems true. My wife and I are hoping some others from our ship will book with them also. The price per person for a custom two day tour, with a canal cruise, goes down to about $305 per person for a group of six, and less if more sign on.

[salabc]

we were on the crown princess last year and we used anastasia and we were fully satisfied the guide was very fluent in the language and everything was perfectly arranged

[source]

Hi to All,

We are booked on the Emerald Princess for September 3, 2009 and are very interested in booking a private tour in St. Petersburg. Does anyone have Anastasia's email or website address? Thanks..............

[Sailmore]

The website is http://www.anastasiaworld.com and email is info@anastasiaworld.com. We will be using her services in June. Good luck with your plans.

[source]

Sailmore,

Thanks for the info about Anastasia. Have you developed an itinerary yet? Are you considering the ballet? So much history so little time............Thanks again.................Marian

[TLCOhio]

Sailmore, Thanks for the info about Anastasia. Have you developed an itinerary yet? Are you considering the ballet? So much history so little time............Thanks again.................Marian

 

Here was our itinerary that we developed over several months of key questions and evolving consideration of our needs in discussions with Anastasia. Getting that "flow" right makes all of the difference and is important!

 

In late July, we did Crystal Symphony cruise of the Baltics (Oslo, Copenhagen, Helsinki, Tallinn and Stockholm) and had three days in St. Petersburg. Our first day was doing the Moscow one-day trip through cruise ship folks. It was a long, but super day flying there in the am. We saw the inside of the spectacular Kremlin Palace, Red Square, historic Cathedrals, Kremlin Towers, crown jewels and Fabrege Eggs, KGB Headquarters, riding the subway there, seeing the main ballet building exterior, experiencing the shift to capitalism there, dinner in an old writer's club, etc. It was a once in a lifetime experience, especially to help understand better more on Russia's complex and long history. We got back to the ship a little before 1 am after the return jet flight.

 

The next day, we started our custom, private tour with our guide and driver a little later in the next day to allow a better timing situation after the full day in Moscow. Here is what we did in St. Petersburg:

 

THURSDAY, JULY 31, 2008

10 am, depart Crystal Symphony

11 am-12:30 pm, Catherine's Palace, including Amber Room. Lots of gold, huge rooms, lavish living style, etc.

1:30-4 pm, Peterhoff & Gardens (built early 1700's by Peter the Great and all gravity-feed water features)

4-4:40 pm, Hydrofoil to downtown, seeing all of the many historic buildings, etc.

5:15-6 pm, St. Isaac's Cathedral

6-7 pm. Private Canal Cruise, just our private guide and us as two couples seeing the palaces and buildings from water level

7-8 pm, Savior on the Spilt Blood Cathedral, plus a little around the downtown and then return to the ship

This busy day was not tiring as we had a nice mix of riding, walking, riding, no long lines, seeing, riding, walking, etc.

 

FRIDAY, AUGUST 1, 2008

8:30 am, Depart Crystal Symphony, shopping stop enroute, more photo opportunities

9:30 am, Hermitage early admission (ahead of crowds and normal 10:30 am opening). No rushing. Plenty time for questions, pictures, soaking up the history, architecture and great art. We brought pre-arranged boxed lunches from the ship and had a great picnic lunch in a our van parked on the great square overlooking Alexander Column and the military headquarters on Palace Square. We could have dined in a regular restaurant, but this saved time and was a perfect outdoor setting in a "to die for" location with a world-class view. Two of the seventeen existing Da Vinci paintings in the world are here (one of them is in a museum in Paris). There are 25 Rembrandt's at this museum, including his last, best painting with its religious connections late in his life.

1:30-3 pm, Yusupoff's Palace, just the four of us and our guide in this historic palace where Rasputin was killed and the richest family in Russia lived and operated.

3-4 pm, Shopping/other options to see or do in main St. Petersburg

5 pm, return back to the ship where they had local dancers with musicians do a great show

6 pm, ship departure sailing out from harbor

 

It was a super great three days! For people who love to ask questions and take pictures, this was a great experience in two of the most special cities in the world. Lots done and seen in just three days.

 

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

[fun_seeker]

I am exploring the option of joining the onshore tour not arranged by the cruiseship.

 

I looked into the tours offered by 'Anastasia' and the price seems quite a bit lower than the others. Has anyone been on their tours? any reviews ?

 

Will appreciate any tips and hints. Thanks.:o:o

Our daughter and her friend took her tour last year and had a wonderful time. Her description of her tour convinced us to book a tour with Anastasia. Anastasia has been most helpful in setting up a tour that enabled us to do and to see everything that we wanted to. I hope that helps.

 

[TLCOhio]

Our daughter and her friend took her tour last year and had a wonderful time. Her description of her tour convinced us to book a tour with Anastasia. Anastasia has been most helpful in setting up a tour that enabled us to do and to see everything that we wanted to. I hope that helps.

 

Don't be shy when working with Anastasia or another tour guide company. Let them know your very specific needs and special circumstances. Ask questions. No question is unimportant in order to fully understand your many options. Make sure they read and understand your questions and needs or any physical limitations. Anastasia was excellent and very responsive in that manner. If you just take and do the "plain vanilla" tour that might be OK, but it not work as well compared to having it tailored for your specific, personal interests and needs.

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

[Sailmore]

Marian,

I have to admit, coming to a decision regarding an itinerary was no easy process. You want to do everything! We had some definite "must see" and several "like to see" attractions. What I did was ask Anastasia her thoughts on what was manageable and went back and forth with her, then we just came to a consensus as a group. She basically assured us that although we wouldn't see everything, we would certainly experience a great variety and have a wonderful time doing so. We haven't opted for evening performances feeling that it might be just too rushed and tiring. That being said, many people have posted that they very much enjoyed what they did see.

Good luck with your plans.

Linda

[TLCOhio]

We had some definite "must see" and several "like to see" attractions. What I did was ask Anastasia her thoughts on what was manageable and went back and forth with her, then we just came to a consensus as a group. She basically assured us that although we wouldn't see everything, we would certainly experience a great variety and have a wonderful time doing so. We haven't opted for evening performances feeling that it might be just too rushed and tiring.

 

Excellent summary and tips by Linda on a good process that she did in working with Anastasia. It is not easy and you cannot do EVERYTHING. Getting a good variety and flow are important. What to do or not do in the evening is challenging. Some of the ballet or opera programs can run three hours. Some of the theatres are super historic and great. Some have wooden seats and are not the top performing places.

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio