lulu52 Posted August 3, 2009 #1 Share Posted August 3, 2009 Has anyone used local independent travel companies for shore excursions? If so, which ones do you recommend. How did their prices compare to the cruise line's prices? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spaler Posted August 4, 2009 #2 Share Posted August 4, 2009 I believe independent tour guides are much cheaper and better. Are you on this cruise this summer? We have just had a cancellation (heart attack) couple we were traveling with, so we have room for excellent company in St Pete. also transport Dover to Heathrow. My "thread" is a few before yours. If you're interested please contact me. Sue ps. love yr name! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bbwex Posted September 1, 2009 #3 Share Posted September 1, 2009 We just returned from the Aug. 8-22 cruise. We used shoretrips.com and they used TJ tours in St. Petersburg. All I can say is that the guide we had (Nellie) was fantastic, but unless you are going really soon, she will be taking time off to have a child. Private tours are cheaper if you get a few people to join you, but you can do that here on CC. Just two of you with a private guide is often very expensive, but it gets cheaper with more people. We had eight people in St. Petersburg and that was a good number, and we could have handled a couple more with no trouble. We had six in a trip to Berlin, and it was a faster trip than the ship's buses, and cheaper and better. By the same token, we used the ship's tours in Stockholm, Tallinn and Gdansk because we didn't have the time to put a group together, and they were fine though a bit more expensive. Bear in mind that all companies have lots of guides, and there are good ones and bad ones everywhere, or perhaps good ones and ones that are not so great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jgiblin Posted September 2, 2009 #4 Share Posted September 2, 2009 Another benefit of private tour companies is the size of the transportation. Taking a ship tour often involves 50 people on a bus. In contrast a private tour is more often a van (for 6~8 people). We were on the Regatta two years ago and hooked up with two other couples through Cruise Critics before we sailed. We shared tours with these people in Rome and Amalfi (Pompeii, Naples). Rome is a fascinating city with LOTS of things to see. Some sites are major stops (hours at the Vatican) but many others are "quick stop" visits (Trevi Fountain, Pantheon, Spanish Steps, etc.). The van could park within a block of the lesser sites (our driver always knew where to park), we would walk to the site, see all there is to see, and be back on our way in 15 minutes. In contrast, a tour bus could not get through the congested roads to park that close or be able to marshal 50 people though these lesser sites so quickly. We saw a lot that day and, at dinner that night, we spoke to people who took the ship's tours and felt they missed much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ebobh Posted September 6, 2009 #5 Share Posted September 6, 2009 all depends on your willingness to put in the work and get a group together, find the right company, etc. This board is perhaps the best place to do that, although individual tastes vary, as does the tolerance for the time to plan. We just returned from thee Baltic, and did a variety of independent travel, using private companies and ship tours. In short, we: Did the day on our own in Bruges- tried using the train, but the walk to the train station in Zeebruges was an ordeal (loooong walk). Suggest getting an ad hoc group of 6-8 folks together and splitting taxi fare (about $75 each way for a taxi, but its only about $20 each with a group, which is cheap, fast and comfortable) Did the day on our own in Amsterdam. Used the HOHO canal boat for some of the day, and walked the rest. Did a pre-booking online for the Anne Frank House, which is highly recommended. We also did the Rijskmuseum, which is under renovation for the next 3 years. That was actually a huge advantage, since most everything you would want to see is now gathered in an annex at the rear of the complex. We spent about two hours there to see what it would have taken days to walk to in normal circs. In Warnemunde, we used Friends of Dave tours to see the region near the ship instead of the 3-hour each way trip to Berlin. If you'll not be back in that area, you may want to just take a nap and do the trip to Berlin- both ship tours (expensive) and private companies do tours, so you have a choice. In Gdansk, we used a ship tour to see the Stutthof camp and old town. All things considered, a good value for the money for the day, even though we were in a big bus. The port is not close to the old town, so anyone traveling on their own will have to use public transport or a taxi. In Tallinn, we walked into the old town and used a Rick Steves' walking tour. This worked well; walk into town from the ship took about 20 minutes and is well-marked. In St Petersburg, we used Red October for the three days. Unless you are Russian, or have friends who live there, seeing the city on your own is probably not the best idea. RO was great, and much less expensive than ship offerings with a group of eight, a guide and a driver. We got early entry into the best sights, got in and out much quicker, etc. Other who used Denrus and Alla also had similar experiences. In Helsinki, we went on our own, The bus system (the 3T and 3B trams) and waling got us to everything we wanted to see; we ate near the ship and their market (not the tends, which was the choice for many, but at the brick meat and fish market- try it). In Stockholm, we used the HOHO bus (bad choice; four ships in port, the buses were crowded, late and we wasted a lot of time waiting). There are private tours, but a taxi from ship to the Vasa or Gamla Stan and a ferry to cross the channel to see the one not taxi'd to makes better sense. Hope this helps, Bob H Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lulu52 Posted December 31, 2009 Author #6 Share Posted December 31, 2009 Just saw your response. We are traveling on the 6/16/10 Scandavian Splendors cruise. I am looking at a couple of shore excursion companies (DenRus and Alla). Would love to hear from you. Sara Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
azam71209 Posted December 31, 2009 #7 Share Posted December 31, 2009 We were on a St. Petersburg cruise last summer and used Julia -juliaguide@gmail.com. She has a small company and her husband drives their Plymouth Voyager. Our actual guide was also named Julia and was outstanding. This is a great choice if you want to travel with only 2-5 people. There were four of us and we were very comfortable. It was also much less expensive than the larger companies. One warning-you are likely to be told that you can't get off the ship until all the ship tour people get off. You will be told that Russian customs requires this. This is a bold faced lie. Just get off the ship as soon as it is cleared. They can't stop you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frqttrvlr09 Posted January 7, 2010 #8 Share Posted January 7, 2010 I will be travelling on the European Legends cruise August 10-24 and Scandanavian Splendors 9/2-16. Both cruises stop to visit Bruges. I understand it can be inexpensive and quick (faster than, for example, a train) for a group of people to take a taxi from the dock into Bruges. If anyone is interested in sharing a taxi or maybe hiring a car to do so with me, let me know. I will probably only go to Bruges on one of the cruises and then go to Brussels for the day on the other cruise, so if you are interested in doing that, let me know also and I will look into arrangements to do so. You can email me at cjak9088@yahoo.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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