Anastasia Tours, St. Petersburg, russia

[TLCOhio]

Hi Everyone. I am going to St Petersburg in September and thanks for all the information. However, one important question, what was the size of your tour group. Was it just a couple, or did you find yourself on tours of more. What kind of vehicles did they use. We are three adults and trying to find a tour that is flexible yet comprehensive.

 

The size of our group was four people. I originally set it up for just the two of us. That gets a little costly, but it would have been nice. For two or three people, they might have a larger sedan car that can work for your group and guide and driver. For the four of us, we had a Mercedes van that was the size and type of the typical Chrysler mini-van you would see and use in the United States. As your group size goes up, they would get a larger van and then going up to a mini-bus, etc. as needed to fit the size of your group. We hooked up with another couple from Texas and that helped bring down the per person cost significantly as the base vehicle cost, driver and guide fees are fixed. It's just a matter of how many people you "share" or divide those fixed cost by. Four people and our van were perfect and the economics worked well. If you could tie-in with another couple and have five people, your economics/cost per person would be much better. Private tours are custom. They will adjust on your size and vehicle needs to fit YOUR needs and customize to what you want to do, fitting your personal interests and travel style. Does this help?

 

Below are few pictures to illustrate how we toured around inside the Hermitage and the last picture is from inside Yusupov Palace as we were enjoying a "personal" scale that was not like being a part of a massive herd of cattle being rushed through. We private tours, you can avoid feeling like you are a part of a mob in a large place. We had lots of time for OUR questions and to set our pace that worked best for us and our interests.

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Rickdabear]

I've done this on other threads, but I will do it here as well. Here are 26 pages of pictures I took in Russia while on the Anastasia tour.

 

http://s293.photobucket.com/albums/mm69/rd_bear/?start=20

 

Da Bear

[TLCOhio]

I've done this on other threads, but I will do it here as well. Here are 26 pages of pictures I took in Russia while on the Anastasia tour.

http://s293.photobucket.com/albums/mm69/rd_bear/?start=20

Da Bear

 

It's important for people to check out these and other pictures. Use some key books, like the Eyewitness series, to get a sense for what you will be seeing and enjoying in the Baltics. Think ahead on what you want to do, like and . . . seek to avoid. A picture is worth a thousand words! That planning ahead is vital as you can't do it all in these key capitals during such short time period for your visit. Because of weather, strikes or closing, you might have to adjust your schedule or plans. If you've thought ahead about what you want to see, do and not visit, you'll have a more successful trip. Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

[lmg1230]

We will be in St. Petersburg in July and will have 2 children with us (10 and 12). Anyone know if any of the tour companies are better or worse for children?

 

 

We will also be in St. Petersburg this summer with our two daughters who will be 12 and 6. We have arranged a private tour with Anastasia. I have been very impressed by her during the planning stage - she seems quite willing to help me plan an itinerary that will be enjoyable for the four of us.

[Cairo]

I was reading through the threads and there was a mention of 2 Divinci's in St. Pete's. Where are they?

Also, a verbotten topic, but how much to tip? I always feel so unsure and all countries are so different. Does anyone have any knowledge or suggestions?

Are there any sights on the canal trip that were awesome?

Suggestions on other things to do in the evening than ballet or folklore?

 

Thanks for your time. This is the best board with the best cruisers!

[TLCOhio]

I was reading through the threads and there was a mention of 2 Divinci's in St. Pete's. Where are they? Also, a verbotten topic, but how much to tip? I always feel so unsure and all countries are so different. Does anyone have any knowledge or suggestions? Are there any sights on the canal trip that were awesome? Suggestions on other things to do in the evening than ballet or folklore?

 

One of the pictures above, third down, shows us looking at and discussing Leonardo da Vinci's tempera on canvas, 42x33 cm, that was done 1490-1491. It is titled Madonna Litta, is done in the Renaissance style and was acquired from the Collection of Duke Antonio Litta, Milan in 1865. The other is Madonna with a Flower (The Benois Madonna, 1478), 49.5x33 cm. This painting is one of the few surviving works by the young Leonardo. He shows a young mother playing with her son. The use of the oil painting technique, still new in Italy, enabled the artist to achieve depth and intensity of coloring and transparency in the effects of light and shade. This second da Vinci painting is in this same room that faces the Peter & Paul Fortress on the northern part of the building. The Hermitage website (http://www.hermitagemuseum.org) says these paintings are two of only ten or twelve original works by Leonardo known in the world today. Our guide said there are only seventeen known da Vinci paintings in the world now with two in that one room. Either way, it's super impressive! The website shows more details on locations for this great collection. The Lourve has only one da Vinci. You've heard of that single painting, right?

 

Tipping? It does vary. In some Baltic countries such as Sweden and Denmark, the guides are fairly well paid. Don't know exactly in Russia. Much depends on the level of quality and service you get and seek. Some have said 8-10% to the guide and 3-5% to the driver.

 

Canal Trip? Is any one thing totally awesome? No. But, you'll see lots of things from a different view and angle. It's very relaxing and gives you a sense of how people approached these buildings in the prime days of St. Petersburg. It was by boat that you arrives at a palace for a party or function. Lots of great photo angles, etc. No walking, standing or waiting. Just enjoyable!

 

Evenings? You could later visit St. Isaac's and/or Spilled Blood in the early evening. Plus driving around and seeing some other sites in town from the exterior. During the summer, it does not get dark till late each evening.

 

Below are a few more St. Petersburg pictures.

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

 

Viewing some places from Hermitage's windows, of the museum while on water doing the canal boat trip, nearby to this great museum, inside viewing famed art, etc.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[fun_seeker]

We recently returned from our Gems of the Baltic cruise on the Eurodam. We thoroughly enjoyed the tour we put together with Anastasia and the execution of the tour by our guide Elena and driver Roman. We saw everything we wanted to see, at times when we could enjoy what we were seeing without being jostled by other tour groups or rushed along by a tour guide on a tight schedule. We asked to eat our luncheons at restaurants where the Russians eat rather than the tourist spots. Our lunches were enjoyable, the food was excellent and marvel of marvels, the prices were reasonable. It was the only place in the Baltics where we were able to eat a reasonably priced meal. A highlight of the tour was that our guide took us to each sight at a time when it could be viewed at its best. That meant seeing the Hermitage without standing on lines, seeing Peterhof when the fountains were at their highest pressure and sharing the little secrets of each place with us, as examples of what we mean. We have used many private tour companies in our travels and in our opinion Anastasia is one of the best.

 

Steve and Avra

[kennetro]

Fun Seeker, we ALSO had Elena & Roman a couple of weeks ago. You're right. They were the best. In fact, I sent Anastasia an email & told her that Elena is the BEST private guide we've had anywhere in the WORLD! Perfect English, vast knowledge of history, and we all laughed for the entire two days! They made our trip!

[longislandfamily]

We are booked with Anastasia in July but are not interested in either the ballet or folkloric show in the evening. I asked about a restaurant and Anastasia said she could arrange for dinner privately in a home. Has anybody done that? Seems like it could be very interesting.

 

One of my guide books said that locals don't actually eat/drink out much, they are more likely to start the evening socializing at home or a friends home and only go out late for one drink.

 

If not the private dinner, any other suggestions for what to do in the evening? No performing arts - that would be a busman's holiday.

[CHINOISCRUISER]

You mentioned box lunches arranged by the cruise line, I love the idea of saving time for sightseeing rather then spending it in a restaurant. I heard rumors regarding taking food off the ship, was there problems with the Russian immigration?

[Albert Ross]

Has anyone done a private tour - what sort of car do they use? Is it the driver, the guide and you?

[mkdr2]

We have a private tour scheduled in August. The paper work says an air-conditioned comfortable western vehicle with all safety features in place.

[fun_seeker]

Has anyone done a private tour - what sort of car do they use? Is it the driver, the guide and you?

We did a private tour with Anastasia in May. The vehicle was a late model Mercedes, Roman was our driver, Elena was our guide and they made the tour a wonderful experience. I don't know whether you will have the same driver and guide, but Anastasia has a number of great guides working for her. Her policy is that for the sake of safety the driver drives and the guides provide the information. I expect that you will have a great experience. The tour guides speak English very well. Elena spoke American English as well as if she was born here. My advice to you is to relax and enjoy your tour.

[Albert Ross]

We did a private tour with Anastasia in May. The vehicle was a late model Mercedes, Roman was our driver, Elena was our guide and they made the tour a wonderful experience. I don't know whether you will have the same driver and guide, but Anastasia has a number of great guides working for her. Her policy is that for the sake of safety the driver drives and the guides provide the information. I expect that you will have a great experience. The tour guides speak English very well. Elena spoke American English as well as if she was born here. My advice to you is to relax and enjoy your tour.

Thank you so much.It is for my uncle, I have booked and requested Elena. Can I be very rude and ask how much you tipped - 10%?. He is Australian and tipping is unheard of in Australia so I have to convince him to tip!!!

[fun_seeker]

Thank you so much.It is for my uncle, I have booked and requested Elena. Can I be very rude and ask how much you tipped - 10%?. He is Australian and tipping is unheard of in Australia so I have to convince him to tip!!!

We tipped the standard amounts for a private tour, Elena 20% and Roman 10%, but it is up to you what you think is appropriate.

[ddjwms]

We just came back from the June 3 NCL Jewel sailing. We had a wonderful tour with Anastasia in St. P. Our guide was Irena, and she was sensational: excellent English, very knowledgeable (she has a degree in Russian culture), and extremely flexible to our wants. There were four of us including our 11 year-old grandson; Anastasia helped us join with four others which brought down the price of our tour considerably. So there were eight of us in a minibus that could easily accommodate 12+. So we had plenty of room and were quite comfortable.

 

Our grandson was a little worn out by the end of the first day and the Hermitage that afternoon, but did fine otherwise, so I don't think there is too much to be concerned about probably with kids 10 on up.

 

St. P. is an awe-inspiring place, and Anastasia does a great job of putting together a great tour with outstanding guides.

[PENGUIN67]

We did a foursome from the Celebrity Constellation on May 22-23rd. There was no problem leaving the ship. Our guide (Katya) and driver (Dimitri) were terrific. This being our 14th cruise, it was certainly much more pleasant than the usual large busload of tourists; we had a new Mercedes van (2 passengers face forward, and 2 backwards, like a London taxi, but with very comfortable seats). Katya was an endless source of information. Because of flexibility, we never had to wait in line for anything. We especially appreciated that Dimitri was able to locate an old samovar that we wanted to purchase for a relative. Paid by credit card, no problem.

[simbahay]

How was your tour with Anastasi? We are looking at them and also at another company?

[Embracedbylife]

Just returned and we had a 2 day tour with Anastasia. It was great! Ask for Svetlana - she was so wonderful!!! Our second day we had another guide who was not nearly as interesting, but by no means disappointing. they are all very professional. Svetlana is really great!!

[simbahay]

Hi thanks for the very quick response. did you do want of there standard "tour" offerings or did you put your own tour together.

[longislandfamily]

What did you do for lunch each day? We are looking at booking one of the pre-arranged menus. They gave us two restaurants with several different prix fixe meals. We are under the impression that everyone has to choose the same meal, but there is confusion since she sent menus from more than one restaurant and said "everyone has to choose the same menu."

 

Also, was there anywhere that you wished you had more time and anything you would have cut shorter to make time for the other?

 

Were you booked on the 7/15 sailing at one point, because I found one message from you on our roll call.

 

Thanks for your response and glad to hear you had a good time. Any trouble with getting off the ship in St. Petersburg?

[simbahay]

Hi Longisland family and Lisacollie, I am still unsure what to do about these tours. I now have print outs from both Anastasi and Red October. I have personally spoken to the guy from Red October who is in the US aand he is very, very rude. Gave me a really hard time when I asked about the difference between what he offers and what Anastasi offers. the cost of the two tours, doing the same things varies quite substanially. We would go with the "flow" and eat along the way. I think that that works out better, since if you have a fixed reservation you will be rushing to get there. One other choice is to get the ship to pack a picnic lunch and eat it in one of the parks. We did that last year on tours in Europe and it was wonderful. Let me know your thoughts or if anyone esle has comments please let me know.

[sondi 14]

We just returned from our Baltic cruise. We booked a two day tour with Anastasia and were very pleased with our guide and the whole experience. I highly recommend booking with her. We had the same guide, Helen, for both days, and she was unbelievably knowledgeable. We had an itinerary that I had worked out with Anastasia before we left but were able to change it as we went. For example, the weather which had been very cloudy and cool in the morning, became sunny and warm in the afternoon so Helen was able to arrange a canal cruise for us on very short notice. The first day we stopped at a small cafeteria place at Peterhoff and just grabbed a sandwich for lunch. The next day we didn't bother to stop as we really wanted to fit in a visit to the Yusopoff Palace and were afraid we wouldn't have time if we stopped for lunch. We had no trouble getting off the ship but we were on the Tahitian Princess and there were only 650 passengers or so. We just waited at the gangway at 7:00am and were amongst the first off the ship. The second day we left later and there was no one getting off when we did. We both felt that having the private tour was well worth it as we could see and do what we wanted at our own pace as well as having the luxury of being flexible.

[UPr123]

We tipped the standard amounts for a private tour, Elena 20% and Roman 10%, but it is up to you what you think is appropriate.

 

Is it 20% of the total tour cost, or is it 20% of what the guide is paid for the tour? We are booked with Anastasia for July and the itinerary breaks down the total cost by item, so we know how much is being billed for the guide. Most of the tour cost is museum/palace entries and transportation, so I am not sure if that should be included when calculating the tip. If we do, then the guide's tip will end up being one and a half times what she is being paid for the tour.

[Embracedbylife]

longislandfamily, yes I was originally booked on 7/15 but then changed to 6/15 sailing. For meals we didn't meet the guide until 10am so we had a nice big breakfast then also took some cookies off the ship (not suppoesd to but we did) and had those around 1pm or so. Then around 3pm or so we asked our guide to take us somewhere to try the meat pies - she took us to a small cafe where you could order russian pies of different types, pastries, tea and coffe and fresh squeezed juices. We got a sampling of items and for the 5 of us (4 plus the guide) it cost about $33 USD. our guide Svetlana paid for us in rubbles and then anastasia just added it to our bill at the end, which made it very convenient!

 

You also asked if we wished we had more time and anything we would have cut shorter to make time for the other - not really. We had it planned out pretty well at the end. The only thing I wish I had of seen was peter and paul fortress. Less time at Hermitage on day 2 and going to the fortress would have been ok, but we got to see a lot at the Hermitage. I was just getting a little bored there to be honest and was happy to get back to the ship by 3pm. We could have stayed out longer though!

 

simbahay - we made up our own tour itinerary as follows:

 

DAY 1

met guide at 10am (avoided LONG lines at immigration that must have started around 7am at least and were long until at least 9:30am. We got in line at 9:45 or so and were with Svetlana by 10:30 at the latest. Those who had 8am tours didn't get off till 10:30am! I know many people were up at 4am for breakfast and were likely stuck waiting in line which is sad.)

 

Stop 1 - Peterhoff (toured outside and around gardens for about 2 1/2 hrs)

 

Hydrofoil boat ride from peterhoff to downtown St. Petersburg (1/2 hr ride where as driving back takes at least 40 min's). the driver had a head start and met us there.

 

Stop 2 - St. Isaacs Cathedral inside and out.

 

Stop 3 - Toilet stop at a really nice gift shop...purchased some nice items!

 

Stop 4 - Savior of the Spilt Blood inside and out.

 

Stop 5 - Small lunch at cafe

 

Stop 6 - Nvesky Prospect street shopping (just walked around, no real shopping for us!) and Kazan Cathedral inside and out

 

Stop 7 - another really nice gift shop

 

Back to the ship by 6pm (you can stay out longer likely)

 

 

DAY 2 -

Met guide at 10am. NO immigration lines.

Went to see the battleship off the water (outside only)

 

Hermitage including 1 hour private tour of diamond room and tour of musuem.

 

Back to ship by 3pm

 

In terms of flexibilitiy and meals - you can change things as you go. We just told her when we were getting hungry and our guide decided where to go and when to go...we deviated from our original plan a little but saw everything on our list and it was perfect!