I will be on Jewel of the Seas in June. Anyone taken the RCCL tour?? trying to decide if a private tour is worth the extra effort- safe???

I have not done it personally but people rave about Red October.

You may want to look at the Baltic section of Cruise Critic.

We will be on the Jewel for back to back cruises starting June 2nd and ending July 14th. What day is your St Petersburg excursion?

I did Royal Car"s Grandeur in 2003. I used the ship's tours and found them excellent. In Russia there is the added complication of having to have Visa. I think Red October might arrange them for you, but I decided to go with RCCl's and was most satisfied. We were berthed at a commercial port, quite a long way from the berths for smaller ships. Just getting in and out to the ship took at least 45 minutes more, so I bought full day tours. That way, I didn't waste all that time coming back to the ship after a 3 or 4 hour tour, rushing to eat lunch and rushing out again. Lunches were provided on the two full day tours I took and both were in excellent restaurants with Russian cuisine and folk entertainment. The only caution is that these are not shopping tours. If you want more than a 20 minute stop for souvenirs, go with a different tour. trying to save money by not buying the visas and cajoling the guides into stopping longer in a market only frustrated every body. Those of us who paid for the historic tours didn't want to shop. We vetoed the question, which meant a least a dozen (all same family) were very upset. They then didn't tip the very hard working guide! These people earn very little in salary and have a short season. The tours are clearly described and trying to combine shopping with historical interests just to save the cost of the visas was wrong.

We did this Baltic Cruise (on Celebrity) last September. We chose to book with Red October - there were 6 of us. We were very happy. We got to go where we wanted and didn't have to wait for others. We even had lunch with a Russian lady in her home. Anything we mentioned they incorporated into our tour. Another group wanted to see the art in the subways, etc. We are retired educators and had read about the first day of school ceremony on 9/1 where the children are dressed in traditional clothing and carry bouquets of flowers. (Found a calendar of events in the DK Guide - highly recommend).
We mentioned this and lo and behold it was included in our tour. We were with some Jewish people that wanted to see the Choral Synagogue - We went there also (stunning).

RO is certainly safe, even a bit cheaper, but personalized. It's crowded in St. Petersburg, but with RO - we were the first to go through the gates. Post on Cruise Critics on your thread - you'll find others to share with.
Happy travels!

I recommend you go on the CruiseCritic.com board and go to the "Meet and Mingle" page for RCCL. If you type in a search for your sailing date, you'll find messages for others who are looking into Red October, so you can put together your own private group.

I have the info from Red October. If you want it, let me know.
[email protected]

We will be on the cruise starting July 2nd. Will look for your reports.

In 2002 we went on tour for 2 days with Denrus. They work like RO and you can customize your tours. They provide visa coverage as long as you are with them. Excellent service .