St. Petersburg

St Petersburg is a difficult port from a cruise ship. Our ship docked in an industrial port and there was absolutely no way to get off the ship other than on a tour if you did not have a visa. Also went through immigration control for both exiting and returning to the ship. Prices are high -- after all you are rich Americans. Even if on your own you would find entry prices higher for tourists than the locals. You cheapest alternative -- not really cheap -- would be to hire a private van and driver/tour guide and then find another two or three couples to share. Otherwise, give in and go with the ship.

Hi Katherine:

We are doing this in June. We are in the process of getting a group together for a tour with Optima, which is cheaper than the onboard tours and seems to cover more ground, plus, you can tailor the tour to suit your group.

There are several companies that do this, and they cover you with a blanket visa. Optima, DanRuss, Red October and Anastasia (Google them)are 4 that I know of.

Log on to the Cruise Critic Boards and you will find all sorts of recommendations to do what you are proposing

SPB is highly respected and recommended on cruisecritic dot com website.
2 day tours generally are running close to 300 USD per person (blanket visa for all participants included)

I've heard great things about Red October tours. They are pricey but get cheaper as your group gets larger. This trip is still on my wish list so haven't gone yet. Reviews on CruiseCritic.com seem to agree you see more, faster and get much more personal attention than the large boat tours.

You have to either get a visa or take a tour. When I do take the trip, I may choose to apply for a visa anyway just to open up my options during the two day stop (maybe take a taxi to a club at night if I'm feeling especially brave).

Brad:

We looked into getting a visa because we woul rather go it alone, but it costs about $200 per person and for 2 days that did not seem a good use of our money.

Thank you all for the information! For those of you who haven't started your search yet, I have already priced DenRus, Optima, All-Russia, Red October,Travel Express, LTD, Travel In Russia & numerous other companies and the best price I have found so far for the two day tour is $515.00 per person including the "no visa" paperwork. There are only two of us and we won't know anyone else on the ship. I haven't heard of the other two companies you recommended to me so I will check them out right now. FYI: DenRus has a terrific price on their "Two Day Value Tour" of only $295.00 per person including lunches but it is not offered to our particular ship. It also doesn't include the interior of Peterhof but includes everything else. I would take it if they had offered it to us. Check it out.
Thanks again! I will definitely check out the one for only $300.00.

I just spoke to Anastasia Tours and they don't offer St. Petersburg City Tours at all anymore. Their shortest tour is 11 days and they specialize in introducing single men to Ukranian women. So guys, there you go.

Hi Katherine:

That is interesting about Anastasia. They come recommended on the Cruise Critic board, but when I found them, they had much less detail than the other ones. You have probably explained why! As I think I said, we are using Optima and are in the process of finalizing the arrangements for 6 of us with teh possibility of adding another two.

Hope we all enjoy the cruise, and particularly St.P.

I Googled Anastasia and only found the matchmaker. Fortunately, we already had her site from a previous search and email. So... the Anastasia still in the St. Petersburg tour business (sorry, no romance) is http://www.anastasiaworld.com/enghtml/shore_main.html
We are corresponding with her and others for a St. Petersburg tour for our Eurodam cruise leaving Copenhagen August 1.

That is funny. We really lucked out after my long search, Den Rus, came through and offered to allow us to join their Value Tour 2 Day St. Petersburg group from the Century even though we are going to be on the MSC Lirica. I was really thankful for this and they are very very nice. The entire tour for two days, and it's a big one, is only $295.00 per person and includes two lunches with vodka and champagne, all admissions and even an hour long canal cruise. They promise smaller groups of no more than 25 people and plenty of restroom stops. I really like working with them and would recommend this tour to anyone who wants to see everything but can't afford a private custom tour.