Cruise & Maritime Cruises Answers

We did the same cruise last summer with Marco Polo and found the excursion prices very good value. The block visa was all arranged for us, sevreal options were available for tours. Some people went on a morning, afternoon and evening trip but had to return to the ship after each one. I would personally recommend the waterways cruise and also the excursion to the Church On Spilled Blood. A note of caution - do stay with the group, don't wander off as you may have difficulty getting into palaces and churches if you are not in the group. Enjoy!

Been to Baltic on cruises a number of times with various cruise lines and the prices the cruise lines charge are not that bad at all, infact when you take into account the cost and the hassle involved in getting a Russian Visa advance - they are far better value than trying to do it yourself. Also if you go on the organised tours with the cruise line, they have guaranteed entrance times into all the main attractions in St. Petersburg and therefore you queue jump - which again is worth going with them just for this as some of the queues at the palaces were massive. With a few trips to St.Petersburg under my belt now - I would say stick with the cruise line excursions and don't chance local operators in Russia, the port is a long way from any of the big palaces and attractions and with security as it is in Russia you are far better going in the knowledge that everything has been taken care of in advance.

The cruise ship is indeed certain to offer excursions at every port. You are unlikely to get an opinion on which local tour company is best because it is unlikely that anyone will have been with two to make a comparison. The prices are probably going to be much the same and you can check yourself which sights they will take you to.It is really down to which you get a gut feeling of liking best from their emails. We are currently favouring 'SPB Tours' www.spb-tours.com as they seem the most flexible and made the most suggestions.

I believe if you go ashore on a non Marco Polo excursion you will need to obtain a Russian Tourist Visa from the Russian Consulate prior to travel.

Click back to the Answers page and in the Find a Question box type in DenRus or Alla or Red Oktober or Petersburg as keyword. Dont change anything else in the box. This will bring up previous Q&A on the subject. .............All three of these local tour operators have good reputations, you'll find them all quite expensive but cheaper than MP. ......Chris