Prices for All Day Excusions St. Petersburg: Anyone with experience?

[Four Swampers]

What have people paid for excursions to St. Petersburg, Russia? Either on your own, with DCL, or with another cruise line. How many people in your group? Who did you use? What did you see?

So:

1. Cost
2. With whom?
3. How many people in your group?
4. What did the tour see?
5. Were meals included?
6. Were admissions to sites included?


Thanks!!

 

[DISNEY FANTASY]

What have people paid for excursions to St. Petersburg, Russia? Either on your own, with DCL, or with another cruise line. How many people in your group? Who did you use? What did you see?

So:

1. Cost
2. With whom?
3. How many people in your group?
4. What did the tour see?
5. Were meals included?
6. Were admissions to sites included?


Thanks!!

Check these out.


Anatasia.


1.Cost. DCL was very very very expensive. Book with a local firm.
2. With whom? As above Anastasia I used in 2020 booked for 2015 now and a lot of our group 7/22 have.
3. How many people in your group? Four but many cruisers do combine on our Facebook group.
4. What did the tour see? Look for the two day tour on this site.
5. Were meals included? No but there cheap there we went to places to eat with the guide and paid for her and very cheap.
6. Were admissions to sites included? On mine yes.

Main issues on DCL tours were you couldn't do it all there times clashed I like to be in control so I planned my trips with Anastasia my 2015 tour is an adaptation of their standard all in two day tour.

 

[kaseyC]

We did a Baltic cruise in June of 2013. We booked a 2 Day Private St. Petersburg Tour through TJ Travel. Our guide and the whole experience was fantastic. http://st-petersburg-tours.ru/


1. Cost - $315 USD per adult and $275 USD per child
2. With whom? TJ Travel

3. How many people in your group? 5 - 2 adults and our 3 DDs ages 17, 12 and 10 at the time

4. What did the tour see?
General city tour plus inside guided tours of the following. Took a hydrofoil to Petergof
Fountain Park in Petergof
Catherine Palace with Amber Room
St. Isaac’s Cathedral
Church on Spilt Blood
Peter and Paul fortress
Hermitage Museum (early admission)
We also did a Subway ride and a visit to a farmer's market.

5. Were meals included?
No. we paid for our meals and snacks. Prices were very reasonable and paid for our guide's meals too. We sat down for a traditional Russian lunch each day.

6. Were admissions to sites included? Admissions to all sites, metro and hydrofoil were included. Fees for photo and video permits for the museums were included too.

We added an optional evening tour that was an additional $45 USD per person.

Hope this helps. Enjoy your planning.

 

[eblong]

We signed up for a private tour with SBP Tours (www.spb-tours.com). In fact, we signed up for two tours - a 2-day tour in St Petersburg, and a one-day for Berlin.

We did it through the Facebook group. Don't know if there are any vacancies, but it would be worth a try. Their fees aren't due until the tour starts. In fact, for St. Petersburg, it's not paid until the 2nd day.

 

[snchpnz]

Did anyone book with Disney or remember the Disney price? I've been looking at the prices on other cruise lines and they range from $100 per person to $400 depending on what you want to see/do. I figure Disney should be in the same price range, maybe a little more. I've set my mental budget for around $500 per person with Disney. I'm thinking I'll take a Disney excursion in St. Petersburg just to be worry free and then I'll make up the price difference by touring on my own in the hassle free ports. I'd hate to get stuck in Russia. Out of curiosity I've been reading the state department website and how to go about getting a Russian visa and the whole thing sounds like a nightmare.

 

[DISNEY FANTASY]

Did anyone book with Disney or remember the Disney price? I've been looking at the prices on other cruise lines and they range from $100 per person to $400 depending on what you want to see/do. I figure Disney should be in the same price range, maybe a little more. I've set my mental budget for around $500 per person with Disney. I'm thinking I'll take a Disney excursion in St. Petersburg just to be worry free and then I'll make up the price difference by touring on my own in the hassle free ports. I'd hate to get stuck in Russia. Out of curiosity I've been reading the state department website and how to go about getting a Russian visa and the whole thing sounds like a nightmare.

They were in the range of $300 pp on STB most were half day or full day very expensive the local firms are very good, far cheaper, you see far more and nothing to be scared of.

You do NOT need a Visa if you either (1) go off on a DCL tour or (2) use a local STB travel agent the confirmation tickets are your visa waiver. You cant just 'walk off' in STB on your own thats true but cruise lines have an arrangement to go visa free.

I went with Anastasia before in 2010 going back with them next year all booked, its well worth checking them out. (Or the others posted here)

 

[NancyIL]

My RCI ship was in St. Petersburg for 3 days last month, so we toured St. Petersburg on days 1 and 3, and Moscow on day 2. I arranged a private tour for 15 of us from my Cruise Critic roll call with Alla Tours: http://www.alla-tour.com/tours/18. Our 2-day Grand Tour was $300 pp, and it included all admissions and lunch on both days. Had we been touring St. Petersburg on consecutive days, I would've booked the group tour that accommodates up to 16 people.

 

[NancyIL]

Did anyone book with Disney or remember the Disney price? I've been looking at the prices on other cruise lines and they range from $100 per person to $400 depending on what you want to see/do. I figure Disney should be in the same price range, maybe a little more. I've set my mental budget for around $500 per person with Disney. I'm thinking I'll take a Disney excursion in St. Petersburg just to be worry free and then I'll make up the price difference by touring on my own in the hassle free ports. I'd hate to get stuck in Russia. Out of curiosity I've been reading the state department website and how to go about getting a Russian visa and the whole thing sounds like a nightmare.

Independent tour companies are very good at getting their clients back to the ship on time, so I wouldn't worry about "missing the boat" in St. Petersburg!

 

[kaseyC]

They were in the range of $300 pp on STB most were half day or full day very expensive the local firms are very good, far cheaper, you see far more and nothing to be scared of.

You do NOT need a Visa if you either (1) go off on a DCL tour or (2) use a local STB travel agent the confirmation tickets are your visa waiver. You cant just 'walk off' in STB on your own thats true but cruise lines have an arrangement to go visa free.

I went with Anastasia before in 2010 going back with them next year all booked, its well worth checking them out. (Or the others posted here)

I agree with DF. Going with local firm you get to see and do more. You avoid the whole big bus thing. The best thing is you can tailor your tour to suit your needs. Many of the private guides provide early admission to certain sites as well some form of "skip the line" privileges at other sites. They know how to avoid the massive crowds at many of the more popular places like Catherine's Palace and the Hermitage.

As said above no worry about getting you own visa. Your tour tickets through a state approved tour company is your "blanket" visa.