Thread: St Petersburg

looking for the best way to enjot St Petersburg without visa hassles etc...be there on Prinsendam for 2 days in July..any suggestions ??

Welcome to CLF - the friendliest board on the net!! Glad to have you with us!!

We're on the HAL Eurodam on June 9th and will be in St. Petersburg on June 15th & 16th. After doing ALOT of research on the matter and comparing all the options, we found that SPB Tours offered us the best tour at the best price. Check out their website and you can get ahold of Viktoria at vika.rother@gmx.de She is wonderful to work with and gets back to you quickly. (Be sure to tell her I sent you!) She will also advise you if there is already a group from your ship that will be doing a tour and this can save you a great deal of money. She put us in a group so we now have 10 people and the price for a fantastic 2-day Deluxe tour is $365 per person and this includes your visas. When you compare this against tours in other cities, this is a very good rate for 2 days.

After contacting several people about tours, I kept getting person and after person highly recommending them, including one of our clients who couldn't say enough good things about their experience. Sold me!

There are several good tour operators available, but I don't think you'll find a better one to work with.

Pete

Originally Posted by jimfish

looking for the best way to enjot St Petersburg without visa hassles etc...be there on Prinsendam for 2 days in July..any suggestions ??

Hello, we will be happy to welcome you in St.Petersburg in July. We will organise a tour adjusted to your needs and provide you with visa-free support. Right now we have two special offers. If your get interested, please contact me info@wn-travel.com or visit my website http://wn-travel.com/
Best regards
Kate

My wife and I arranged tours with Palladium Travel last July. We had contacted several major tour companies and Palladium was the first to respond. They were very flexible and responsive to our questions, happy to go along with what we wanted. We contacted them via their website www.palladium.spb.ru

Absolutely no complaints about our tour with Alla. Private tours are available, but I went with the open one. http://www.alla-tour.com/

Really I think they are all good and certainly better and definitely cheaper than going through the cruise line.


July 19 - Sat - St Petersburg (Ruble) - arrive @ 7am. Sunrise 5:11am Sunset 10:57pm St P_1
St P Day 1 - 1
St P Day 1 - 2
St P Day 1 - 3

July 20 - Sun - St Petersburg (Ruble) - depart @ 7pm. Sunrise 5:13am Sunset 10:55pm

St P Day 2 - 1
St P Day 2 - 2
St P Day 2 - 3
Russian Shopping

I had a lady who ended up on the same tour as us do a complete comparison between several of the well-known tour agencies in St. Petersburg. There are some distinct differences in what they offer, where they go, how many people on each tour, how long they spend in each place, and how much they cost. While each is good in their own way, it behooves one to do their homework to find the right one for them.

But, as was stated, there are much better, cheaper, and less crowded ways to do it than through the cruise line, that's for sure! And don't listen to what some people, including the cruise lines, that they will not let you off the ship unless you book through the cruise line - that's obviously not true. And some will try and tell you that you can't get off the ship until after all the cruise line's excursions are off the ship - that's not truer. And lastly, some will tell you that you don't get a visa using independent tour companies, so you have to purchase that yourself and it's not cheap - that's not true either.

So research the various tour companies and find the one that best fits your needs, your lifestyle, where you want to go, and your budget. But it's a wonderful place to visit, so you absolutely must book an excursion so you can see as much as possible in the short period of time you have.

Pete

Originally Posted by Cruise Planner

But, as was stated, there are much better, cheaper, and less crowded ways to do it than through the cruise line, that's for sure! And don't listen to what some people, including the cruise lines, that they will not let you off the ship unless you book through the cruise line - that's obviously not true. And some will try and tell you that you can't get off the ship until after all the cruise line's excursions are off the ship - that's not truer. And lastly, some will tell you that you don't get a visa using independent tour companies, so you have to purchase that yourself and it's not cheap - that's not true either.
Pete

I totally agree with you. Sometimes the policy of the ships is not fair towards private travellers. For Russian Customs there is no difference whether you booked with the ship or a private company. If your documents are ok then you will easily get off the ship. And you can stand in any line you like. Don't pay attention if you are told to stand in some particular line at the Customs Control. But I have to admit that these days most of the ships do not do that any more. It is more an exception than a regular practice now. I think the situation improved because too many people complained.
Best regards,
Kate