Cruise & Maritime Cruises Answers

Has anyone been on the shore excursion to St.Petersberg from the Marco Polo Cruise. How did you rate it and was it worth it.

I must be in a minority of one, since I thought the ship's tours in St Petersburg were good value for money. We went with Page & Moy and the full day tour to Peterhof with a lovely lunch included, and a comprehansive city tour with loads of photo stops was brilliant, if a bit exhausting. I don't know if Cruise & Maritime's excursions will be value for money, but we are going to Iceland with them in July - so I'll find out then. Judith

If you really want to do your own itinerary without any organised excursion group it is possible to book a personal guide from Alla , and probably also Denrus/Red October etc. If you contact them through their websites they will give you a price for a car with driver and guide just to yourelves for the itinerary you have in mind. We did this in 2009 with Alla and were very happy with it. They look after visas, lunches, evening entertainment- whatever you want!

I would confirm the advice given by the previous answers. We went with Red October a couple of years ago - excellent service. You are sent an itinerary but can alter it to suit yourself. Much better to go in a minibus with approx. 9 people (as ours was). English speaking guide accompanied us in all the palaces etc and was a fount of knowledge. Took us to the front of all the long queues, knew where all the best toilets were, and you didn't have to wait while a coachload of people queued for the loos. We didn't have to pay a deposit, all done over the internet, they obtain the visa for you and take you to their office to pay your account at the end of day one. So much less hassle than trying to do this yourself, and you will get so much more done with a guide and driver. In the two days we saw everything that the combined ship's tours offered and more, and the other cruisers on board who had gone with ship's tours without exception said they wished they had known about this service before. You will have a great time, I'm sure.

My wife and I went on a Baltic cruise last year with Celebrity and if your ship uses the main cruise terminal and not berth on the river in St Petersburg, you will be in the middle of nowhere. The Cruise terminal is a very long way from the centre of St Petersburg, and from what we saw, there were no taxis or buses available to take you from the terminal to the city centre. Our ship the celebrity and a Royal Caribbean ship had no shuttle buses available. We took a private, 2 day tour with SPB Tours and the price of $295, which included the price of the required Visa (some £50 if purchased by yourself), was absolutely brilliant. There is so much to see, which is spread over a very wide area, you wouldn't, if allowed, see as much when done by yourself. I would not take the ships excursions as they are far more expensive, are for only 1 day and can overlap when taking 2 separate tours. Take my advice and take a tour, organised by one of the many tour companies in St Petersburg.

I think a guide is essential for St Petersburg and I can't imagine getting around without a Russian speaker with me. I'm quite good with languages, but I'd be too worried in Russia.