St. Petersburg: Red October v. DenRus v. ship .... - Cruise Line Fans: Cruise Forum, Reviews and Chat From Real Cruisers

jstducky · 04-21-2006, 04:27 PM

Since I will be in St. Petersburg next year on my Baltics cruise, I was hoping to get some opinions about ship shore excursions vs some of the notable private guides out there. I know there are quite a few private guides such as Red October, DenRus and a woman named Alla that Terry is using this year.

Can anyone tell me the pros and cons and what you did and didn't like about the method you used to tour St. Petersburg?

joramrose · 05-13-2006, 05:40 PM

I went with Denrus with five other passengers, land it was fabulous.

We had a wonderful driver land guide who was so knowledgeable about everythikng!! We planned ahead of time what we wanted to see in our two-day excursion and our guide worked out our itinerary from that.

I highly recommend Denrus!!!

love
joan

JodiBB · 05-13-2006, 09:45 PM

Alisa...any way you go, you can't go wrong...all of these companies are fabuluous and their reputations are excellent! We used Red October and have nothing but wonderful things to say about them!

Bill S · 05-14-2006, 08:53 PM

Alisa: we used Red October last year and thought they did an excellent job. Localady & DW, us and another couple went-in together. Sher worked out a great itinerary for the 2 days with RO in advance of our sailing.

Our guide was Alanya (Helen) and she was excellent. We had an air conditioned van and driver and were able to maneuver in traffic easily. Also, being in a small group, we could really get around the places we visited easily as compared to a bus load of tourists.

Getting off ship early was not a problem and Alanya was there waiting for us each morning. We were extremely pleased with RO!

jstducky · 05-18-2006, 02:35 PM

Bill, for some reason I never saw this post when you made it!

Thanks for the information!

I am pretty set on going with RO

Now I just need people to join my group!

TerilynnS · 05-26-2006, 12:22 PM

Alisa - hate to throw in another option - but check out Alla Tours too! We just used her and I thought she was exceptional!

jstducky · 05-26-2006, 02:15 PM

Terry, I saw your review on Alla. I also read a review on CC by another one of the couples you toured with in St. Pete's and they raved about Alla.

I have sent Alla an email and have received a response back from her. Now I'm going to need to decide which tour operator will be better for me!

JodiBB · 05-26-2006, 02:22 PM

Like I said Alisa...all three of these companies have excellent reputations...you won't go wrong with any of your choices!

jstducky · 05-26-2006, 03:04 PM

I hate decisions!

JodiBB · 05-26-2006, 03:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jstducky

I hate decisions!