St. Petersburg Port Excursion/ show/ boarding Advice

[allenaatan]

Hi everyone, doing some planning for our upcoming Northern Europe May 28 sailing on the Magic and have a couple of questions i was hoping to clear up with some expert opinions:

1. When they say that everyone has to be aboard by 11:30 PM, does that mean you have to be on board 1 hour before? Got some conflicting answers doing research on this. I ask because we are planning to go to the Mariinsky ballet that night (personal preference over the show the cruise is offering) and the show ends at 10:15. Since the theater is anywhere from about 20-40 minutes away from the port, there should be more than enough time to get back.

2. Also looking for recommendations for a third party excursion company that can take us on a private tour around St Petersburg and fit our schedule including early dinner before the show at 7 and transport to the port right after it ends. This is for a group of 8, and in case we are unable to book through DCL ( if it runs out, etc.).

Many thanks in advance.

 

[linetbo]

We did that cruise last year and Disney tours didn'thave what I want, so I read many trips report here and ended up having a private tour with Anastasia Travel. It was the best decision, I told then what I want and they did more than I was expecting. We had a 10 hours tour, Anastasia(the owner) was there to meet us and gave is her card and a bag with information and cookies plus they had water too. Mine main language it's Spanish so my tour guide did an excellent Spanish tour.

 

[aggiedog]

All aboard is all aboard. They will start pulling up the gang plank after that. Most people try to schedule returning prior to that just to be safe. Dh is a worrier and refuses to get on board any later than one hour prior. And quite honestly, since they know if everyone is on the ship or not, if someone isn't back, I'm fairly certain they'd push it back a little bit to try not to leave you in Russia. I'm in no way advocating cutting it that close, but just saying.

The standard SPB tour companies are TJ, Alla, Best Guides, with less (but all good that I've read) reviews Anastasia. We used TJ for our family of 8 and had a great, long day.

I'd ask whatever guide you use if they thought you'd be safe getting out of the show at 10:15. They have as much interest as you in getting you back in time.

 

[Dug720]

All aboard is all aboard. They will start pulling up the gang plank after that. Most people try to schedule returning prior to that just to be safe. Dh is a worrier and refuses to get on board any later than one hour prior. And quite honestly, since they know if everyone is on the ship or not, if someone isn't back, I'm fairly certain they'd push it back a little bit to try not to leave you in Russia. I'm in no way advocating cutting it that close, but just saying.

The standard SPB tour companies are TJ, Alla, Best Guides, with less (but all good that I've read) reviews Anastasia. We used TJ for our family of 8 and had a great, long day.

I'd ask whatever guide you use if they thought you'd be safe getting out of the show at 10:15. They have as much interest as you in getting you back in time.

Whether they can wait is dependent on the port and the schedule. IF they can, they *might* try (unlikely for one party - especially since it looks like Russia and the US are going to be thisclose for at least the next 4 years), but for one family? I would not count on it. Being in a foreign country has nothing to do with it - people are left in the Caribbean and Bahamas all the time (just look at youtube for "pier runners"). And I'm fairly sure we left at least one family in Livorno on Brilliance of the Seas last summer.

All aboard is all aboard.

 

[aggiedog]

Well, I'd clarify, they might push it back several minutes. I would not assume they will hold it for very long. I would like to think if they didn't have everyone on at 11:00 sharp, they might wait 5-15 minutes? If possible with the port.

Again, though, it would not be worth trying to eke out those last few minutes in port. Talk about stressful getting back to the ship. For one, my dh would have an absolute coronary. We plan to be onboard no later than an hour prior to departure.