Carolyn

Going on the Baltic cruise in June. Read about excursions in St. Petersburg - no visa required if you go on their excursions - otherwise you do need one. Are private guides worthwhile? We will have 6 travelers and thought private tour would be cheaper/better.

Kris

Carolyn, we went to the Baltic last year in July on the Marco Polo. I would definitely try to book a private excursion especially since you have 6 people.<BR><BR>We heard feedback from those people who had taken the ship's excursion and their complaint was that they didn't allow any time for shopping. A shame in St. Petersburg since there are so many cool souvenirs that we brought home with us.<BR><BR>We were able to tailor our excursion to what we wanted to see and in a day were able to see Peterhof, Strelna, Yusopov Palace, St. Isaac's, the Church of the Spilled Blood, lunch with a Russian family and shopping.<BR><BR>There was some talk of lifting visa restrictions for cruise passengers when we were there, you might check into that.<BR><BR>We did have visas so we traveled one day on our own and the second day with a private guide. We enjoyed both days but it was nice on the second day to have the guide that bypassed the lines. The company we used did not require visas, they were able to come onto the ship to get you. Their website is www.west-east.spb.ru. Our guide was Kira, someone else had Tonya and really liked her. Their prices seemed to be a bit higher than the other tours I heard about but we had a fabulous day. We also only had two people so I think you'd have a lower per person price.<BR><BR>The person I dealt with at west-east emailed after the cruise and said that she had opened her own company. You might also try contacting her at her email [email protected]. I think her new company is Red October but the link she sent me doesn't work. She was very professional and the tour included everything that we requested and even some additional time for shopping.<BR><BR>You might also look at www.cruisecritic.com. There was a lot of posts last year (look at Europe and the Baltic headings) regarding the company that we used plus some other companies that other travelers used.<BR><BR>I jotted down some notes when I returned last year. If you're interested in a copy of the file, email me at the above address.

Carolyn

Kristi, Thanks so much for the information. Yes, I would love to have your additional info. When you say "expensive", around what was price per person. Did you also go to Warnemunde? I will try "cruisecritic".

Kris

Carolyn, I will email you my file.<BR><BR>We did not go to Warnemunde.<BR><BR>Expensive was 200+ per person per day which was a bit more than arranging for a private excursion through the ship but we were out from 8am until 7pm (11 hours) and the private ship excursions were only 8 hours. All of the admissions were included and had we not had visas, there would have been no additional charge for that. But we only had two people and you have six so you'd probably have a lower per person price.<BR><BR>Since this was the only shore excursion we took and it was only for one of the 2 days, I thought it was worth the money based on how much we got to see and the fact that we got to pick the itinerary.<BR><BR>If you arrange for visas, you may find that the excursion cost may be less with another company but remember that visas are $70+ per person.

Carolyn

Thanks for info. Read your email - great info. The trip in St. P is probably the only one we will go on also. But $200/person is expensive but I will email them. Thanks again.

franu

We are going to St. Petersburg in May and have arranged for a guide from one of the two companies that I know of that arrange for a group visa for pax of cruise ships. For six passengers for both days the cost is $250 each with one company and less with the other company. I suggest that you e-mail and tell them what you want to do and see. They will send you an itinerary with price list. Remember that you will also save the visa fee. The 2 companies are: Red October: [email protected]<BR><BR>West-east: [email protected]<BR>Go and have a really great time.

Ahti Arak

Private shore tours in Tallinn, Estonia for couples, families or small groups up to 10- 18 persons for reasonabale rate,<BR>please take a look at the website<BR>http://www.hot.ee/tours<BR><BR>Regards<BR>Ahti Arak<BR>

Carol

Does anyone have a copy of Kris's file on her Baltic cruise. I have tried to email her with no luck. We are going to the Baltics in early June and like to do our own thing. We have already got our Visa's. <BR><BR>Our ship will be docking at the commercial docks. Does any one know how far it is to the main gates. Is it doable to walk..<BR><BR>We intend on using guide/driver for trip outside the city but think we can manage walking the city on our own.<BR><BR>Any information would be appreciated. <BR><BR>I've read and done a fair bit of research but it's always nice to get the advice of others who have been there done it..<BR><BR>

Kris

Carol, if that's your real email, I'll send you a copy on Monday. This is my real email so I'm not sure why it didn't work.<BR><BR>If you are at the same dock as us, we walked for a little bit and then there was a free bus (look for a sign with a picture of a bus) that took us to passport control. It is a very long walk, when we came back we hired a taxi at the gate to drive us the rest of the way for $5 and it was money well spent! We were lucky in that the magician on our ship was on the bus with us and spoke Russian so he helped us find the public bus and his assistant traded us some rubles for USD. It was only a few rubles for the bus, I suspect that they wouldn't take USD on the bus. There may have also been taxis at passport control but I don't remember for sure.<BR><BR>A couple of thoughts on seeing the city independently. I resisted hiring a private guide for the second day initially but the private guides bypass lines and can get you into rooms that might not be accessible to the general public. We waited for about 45 minutes to get into the Hermitage on our own but with the guide we breezed into Peterhof, St. Issacs, Church of the Spilled Blood, etc. They also took us to have lunch with a Russian family which I thought was one of the highlights of our visit. We were able to see a lot more on the day with the guide, we hired her on the second day so we would be sure to get back to the ship on time. Since we were there in July, just a little after White Nights, it stayed light until close to midnight.<BR><BR>Bring along a very good map with you (we had an Eyewitness Guide, a little heavy but it has excellent maps) and also get a card in Russian before you leave the ship telling the location of the ship. The bus we went in on never showed up in the evening so we had to get a cab and we had a very difficult time advising where the ship was to the cab driver so we finally waved down a private car and he knew where to go. Private cars are another form of public transporation but I read that you should be leery if there are more passengers in the car besides the driver.<BR><BR>If you're doing any souveneir shopping, they will also take US money at the market behind the church of the spilled blood. Bring newer bills and lots of smaller ones although they do have change. If you need to use an ATM, look for one at a bank, we found one on Nevesky Prospect that worked just fine.<BR><BR>If you don't get the email Monday morning post back here and I'll try again.<BR>

carol

Kris, Glad you read my message. Looking forward to your trip report.<BR>Carol<BR>

Franu

Carolyn,<BR>West-east cruise department was recently sold to a British company. Olga is now reachable at [email protected]<BR>Enjoy your trip. We will be there May 24. I am so excited.

Sandra Madsen

Going on the Noordam Baltic cruise in June. Want to know if cities other than St. Petersburg are accessible from the docking point for walking around independently. Stockholm, Tallinn, Helsinki and Warnemunde.

kris

Stockholm-depends on where you dock. We docked within walking distance of the old town, others docked much further out.<BR><BR>Helsinki-also depends on where you dock. Some boats dock right in the harbor, others dock further out. Our ship provided complimentary shuttle buses.<BR><BR>Tallinn-close enough to walk, 15-20 minutes, our ship also had complimentary shuttle buses.<BR><BR>We did all three of these ports independently without any problems.<BR>