4holdings

At the last minute, the tour guide that we had arranged to tour with in St. Petersburg had a health emergency. H E L P !! We are 3 people traveling (my daughter is 13)
arriving on a cruise Aug.8th and Aug. 9th. If anyone has any ideas of a tour guide that has their own mini-van and that is knowledgeable and personable, that would really help.

abram

We used Red October and were extremely satisfied. For four of us, it was cheaper than the ship's excursions. We had a van, a driver, and a guide. They were very willing to tailor their standard two day tour to our interests and requests. If you go to the Roll Call board on www.cruisecritic.com, you may find others on your cruise who are willing to share a van--that makes it even cheaper.

amberjack

We also used Red October in the past and they are wonderful. They even take care of the visa (in case you don't have it), so you don't even need to pay for one.

sshirokov

Red October does not really help with visas. They bribe customs officers. If you get stopped by police in St. Pete without visa, your trip is done. It is impossible to enter Russia without a visa from a legal standpoint.

traveller1959

We hired Anastasia for a two-day tour and were EXTREMELY satisfied.

We got a private Mercedes van (with leather seats), driver, very knowledgable and friendly guide, an individualized tour and excellent service.

They provide a visa waiver. This is a document which they send you by fax. With this document and your passport (no visa), you go through immigration on the pier (this is perfectly legal, but works only for cruise passengers). Right behind the booth the guide and van wait for you.

We had a full-day tour through St. Petersburg, came back to the ship in the afternoon. We had dinner on the ship, redressed and the van picked us up to drive us to the Mariinsky theatre, brought us back und picked us up again next morning.

Everything went very smoothly. Our guide bypassed all waiting lines of the bus tours and even found secret toilets for us (waiting time in front of the ladies's toilet in the Hermitage about half an hour).

No souvenir shops etc.

You communicate by email. Anastasia will fix an individualized tour according to your wishes and interests.

There are several tours offering such a service, e.g. Alla, Denrus, Red October, Anastasia.

I understand that Anastasia is a bit less expensive because she is rather new in business.

We learned about Anastasia here on this forum.

www.anastasiaworld.com

djkbooks

We engaged Olga, who I found through recommendations here on this forum. She is fully licensed and was outstanding in every way. All inquiries ahead of our trip were promptly answered in perfect English. She met us at the ship both days. If she is not available, she can recommend someone else (and I would trust her on this). Her rates were very reasonable and much less than Red October and other tour companies.

http://www.tourservice.sp.ru/

LarryRGV

Another big rec for Anastasia. Sounds like Traveller1959 and us had the same tour. Anastacia is very efficient and trust worthy. she hires good english speaking guides to work for her.