pachet

We (4adults)are going on a Baltic Sea cruise in July from Copenhagan, and wanting to do shore excurisons of the usual ports and can not decide between Anastasia Travel or DenRus. Has anyone had any experience with either?
Tks
Anna

Percy

I assume you are talking about tours in St.Petersburg .

Percy

pachet

Percy, Yes it is St Petersburg, thank you for your reply, and look forward to your recommendation, as I see you are well travelled.

Anna

traveller69

If you do a search on this board under BillJ and read his post called
"thoughts on using private tours in St Petersburg Russia on Baltic Cruise"

I had book marked it as we are doing a similar cruise next summer. He has a great post with links to his reviews and pictures etc. He used Alla I believe but it is an excellent review of the ports.

Percy

pachet

I did the from Copehagen cruise last August.

I did a trip report on the whole cruise and all the ports of call.

These were my ports of call:
Copenhagen
Stockholm
Helsinki
St, Petersburg
Tallinn
Gdansk
Oslo
Copenhagen

In St.Pertsburg you have three choices.

1. Take the cruise ship tour (I would not do this!!)

2. Get a private tour guide ( I used Alla Tours ).They were terrific.
Alla comes to meet you at the cruise ship at the end of your second day.

3. If you do neither of the two above,then you need to get a Visa ( about $ 80.00) per person AND you have to get your own transportation...this is the worse of the three options !!!

The cruise ship docks in St.Pertersburg about 6 miles from downtown and you are in a ship yard with about 50 cranes sticking up in the air , to remind you ,that this is a shipping yard !!

I would book Alla and do it now.
( I have her e-mail)

With the four of you it is expensive ...BUT if you book her first, then you have all the options to do hat you want...you can stay with your group of four OR you can have others join you..
this will.....

reduce the cost of the tours.

There were four in my group last August when I booked Alla in early April.
As time went by Alla would e-mail me and say "There is this couple from Michigan that would like to join in you."

"The decision is all yours Percy
you can have them join you or your can remain in your original group of four."

I had them join us.
Then...
Alla called about a month later and said "I have 4 people from San Diego that would like to join you."

So I e-mailed the people in San Diego and we exchanged pictures and they joined our original group of four.

I told Alla, close the group off now at 10.
This was a great group and 10 was a nice number .( If you have others jon you then close it at 10 people)
The other six people that joined us were terrific and it was nice to meet them.

Your cost for the two days in St.Pertersburg will be about $280.00 person.(In a group of 10 people)

Alla will look after getting your Visa and this also includes admission to all the places.

I highly recommend Alla Tours , that is not to say that the orhers are not good also. But I only know Alla.

I stay in touch with her ,we exchanged Christmas Greetings a few months ago.

I am not at home right now ,so I cannot enclosed my trip report link nor Alla's address but I will be home in a few hours and can send then if you want

Have a nice time.

Percy

pachet

percy and travell69, Thank you so much, I will do my reseasch now, and take you advise.
Anna

jacketwatch

Wow! I had no idea a group of 10 would get that sort of rate. Percy you did very well. we paid (gulp) $339.00 pp for the ships tour. Which was on a big bus. Yeesh.

Percy

Hi jacketwatch

Yes that is what we paid $280.00 for the two days per person, the only thing I paid for extra was the Russian beer !!!!

I was ready to go just the four of us ,but when Alla e-mailed me and kept asking if others could join ..I said "yes" but once we had 10 people I told her to close it off.

So we were in a nice 12 passenger air -conditioned van.
I sat in the front by Julia our guide.

Remember, the Cruise ship said that only on their tour could you get to visit Yusupov's Palace.

Well, we were the first ones there...so , so much for the cruise ship false statement.

Take Care
Percy

traveller69

That is why cruisecritic.com roll call is so great. We always go to that before a cruise and prearrange tours with fellow passengers. We haven't had a problem yet and have always done much more sightseeing for less money with the private tours. They say that cruise lines may not make much money on the fare itself they make it on the booze and land tours.

Percy

Hi traveller69

I agree with you about those ship tours.

I usually do my homework and get a private guide.

When I was in Greece (Athens) about 15 months ago,I booked a private guide for the four of us ....and he

came to pick us up in stretch limosine !!!! Wow ! first time I ever rode in one of those long ones !

Good Night
Percy

traveller69

Hi Percy
I am in the middle of lining up private tours for our Med/Baltic back to back next summer. Thats why these boards are so great but I find cruisecritic to be especially good. The tough part is finding decent airfares when you sail from one port and disembark at another. The airfare costs as much as the cruise!!

Good night to you too.

Percy

Boy traveller69

That sounds very good ,to do the Mediterranean cruise and then move over to do the Baltic cruise.!!!

I have done both of them within the past 18 months but certainly not back to back...
Wow !! your adventure sounds exciting.

Do a report when you get back from them both.

Yes! I know what you mean about embarking at one place and flying out of another.

My Travel Agent got me a good rate ( relatively speaking) as I sailed out of Venice but ended up in Barcelona at the end of the cruise and had to fly out of Barcelona.

Good Luck
Take Care
Percy

tabteks

Percy. could you please post Alla's email? We are going to the Baltic this summer and I am beginning the research now.

Thanks

jacketwatch

Here is their web site.
http://www.alla-tour.com/

tabteks

Thank you

cruise08

I'd like to thank Percy for the information about St. Petersburg and Alla Tours.

Does anyone have any tour suggestions for:
Stockholm
Helsinki
Tallinn
Gdansk &
Oslo
Thanks!

Percy

Hi cruise08

Let me go over these ports of call as you have lisetd them:

1. Stockholm

Yes you should have a tour guide here.
This is the tour pattern you and your guide should follow.
(a)First go to the Vasa Museum...this place gets busier as the day goes on sogo here first.

(b) Next go to the Drottningholm Palace( six miles out of the town center ,but a must place to see.

(c) Next do the City Hall tour ( about $10.00 and lasts a good hour).
This is where the Nobels Prize Ceromonies are held.
The City Hall is really something to see....great views from the outside also.

(d) From City Hall ,your tour guide can drop you off at Gamla Stan (Old Town)..this is where you will spend the rest of your day...The Royal Palace is right here ,as is the changing of the guards.

Your tour guide will perhaps give you free time here to just look and walk around.

I can tell you all the places you should ...see here ..BUT

let me give you the link to my trip report ... read my report and then ask any questions you want, about any of the Ports you will visit.

http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...p;tid=35060844

Percy