St. Petersburg

I would give the Russian Museum a slight edge over the Hermitage (ideally, go to both). Here's why: the collection at the Hermitage is huge and amazing... but you can see similar, albeit smaller, collections in just about any municipal art museum in Europe. The artwork in the Russian Museum, though, is predominantly Russian in subject matter, style, and composition. You won't find this sort of art anywhere else in Europe. Out of countless cathedrals I've visited in Europe, St. Isaac's still stands out. A good comparison would be the St. Peter's Basilica of the Orthodox world. Don't forget to try the borscht.

Contract with a tour guide - here's why. The ship's excursions are usually much more expensive and they don't allow you any freedom. Going on your own means getting a Russian visa in advance. It is costly and sometimes difficult. For the couple of days you will be there, it's not worth it. Working with a local tour guide, you will be able to put together an itinerary of what you want to see and you will be in a small group (I'm getting to the group "part" next). Without a "regular" tourist visa, you must stay with the guide and group all the time you are off the ship. You can't wander off to explore on your own. Also, few people in St. Petersburg speak English. Taxi drivers do not, some ticket-booth attendants do not. Signs are in Russian. Private group - The best place to either join a small group or put one together is on cruisecritic.com in the Rollcall section. You can find your ship's sailing there. It is one long thread for your specific cruise. People use it to get exactly the kind of information you are looking for and to put small groups together for sight-seeing. The Hermitage is amazing, for the building as much as for the collections. The Peterhof was built to rival Versailles and it is a treat to get there early and watch the fountains start. The Church on the Spilled Blood is like none other.

The Russian Tour Guide is a much better deal than the cruise tour. It's cheaper and you will see more. The ship's tours have 60 person busses and move slower than ten people in a van. We toured with Alla tours for two days. Our tour was ten people in a Mercedes van with a guide and a driver. The cost, including tip, was $300 per person. I considered the tour a good deal because the Visa would have cost about half of that. Adding transportation, admissions, hassle, plus the advantage of a Russian speaking guide was easily worth the other half. The biggest complaint on our tour was we didn't stop for lunch. We chose the strenuous tour and they definitely kept you going (which we liked). We packed sandwiches, fruits and snacks from the boat and ate in the van - others followed our example after the first day. If stopping for lunch and less walking is a big deal, don't choose the strenuous option.

We will be doing a similar trip next June. I will not book through the ship. I will probably use either Insider tours or Ulko, as they are the top rated tour groups on tripadvisor. I have also read good reviews for Alla tours. By booking with a private company you will probably have a much smaller group than the cruise bus which will allow you to see more. You will have much more flexibility with your own guide plus it is alot cheaper. Have a great trip.

One other point to add. We sailed Princess and the scare tactics they use to promote their tours are outrageous. They say Russia won't let you in unless you are on a ship excursion - not true. If you have exactly what the tour tells you to carry with you, you sail through customs (although you will never meet a grumpier group of people than Russian customs). They say you won't be able to get off the boat until all the cruise tours have departed - not true. Rather than gathering with all the cruise tour people, we went straight to the ramp, waited for them to clear, and were among the first people off the boat. They also say Russia won't let you bring any food from the boat - not true. The Russian customs agents were only interested in our paperwork and couldn't care less what we had in our daypack. The Russian customs agents give each person a small red card. We stuck these in our passports and put them away in our moneybelt. Apparently if you lose the card, they will fine you. If you keep the card, you aren't fined but they don't seem to care about the card - except as a gotcha for an instant fine.