What our clients say :-)

02 November 2011
Hello Viktoria,
Have such fond memories of our tours in Russia and Berlin.  I will be referring two friends who will be traveling to the Baltics next year.  I know that they will enjoy your tour as much as I did.  My friend's name is  Victoria Russell.
Cecilia Donnelly 

21 October 2011
Dear Vika,
We wanted to thank you and Alexander and your team for the wonderful tours that we had on September 13 and 14.  Alexander was a fabulous guide!  His English is great and his knowledge of St. Petersburg and its history was incredible.  He asked us what we were interested in and made sure to include our special interests in our tours.  Thanks also for the champagne at our luncheon on the 2nd day.  It made it very festive!
Thanks again for making St. Petersburg the highlight of our cruise.
Barbara & Greg Jones

14 October 2011
Vika – Ken and I just wanted to thank you for the sensational tours your guides took us on in Berlin and St Petersburg.  Preston in Berlin and Ekaterina in SPB were absolute fountains of information on each of the cities.  I can’t imagine the time and preparation that went into their education to memorize all the interesting details of each site we visited. Even more importantly they were able to fill in the details of those who lived through each time period (from WW2 in Berlin to the 18th-19th-20th centuries in SPB).
Preston provided additional details on the Berlin of today from everyday life to the current political campaigns and even helped us with shopping requests. He was so well prepared and quick to answer every question we asked.  We loved his sense of humor too!
Katya was especially gracious, smoothly guiding us through the many crowded Russian Palaces, offering insight into life in Russia today and even guiding us to several stores to help us find one particular souvenir. Please extend my thanks and appreciation to Katya.
On our more than 30 cruises throughout the world I would  have to say that your guides were the most prepared and easily understood of all our tour experiences.  And you are the first tour owner to make the effort to  greet us at the bus and check to see that we had a great time.
Thanks again and feel free to use this letter in your testimonials.
Warm regards,
Carol & Ken

13 October 2011
Dear Viktoria
Sorry it has taken so long to write this letter, but I wanted to extend a heartfelt thank you for the wonderful experience we had in St Petersburg.  Our Princess cruise, and the St Petersburg experience was a great adventure, and fulfilled a lifelong ambition to see the cultural center of Russia!  It was amazing.
I want to tell you our guide “ Eugene” was tremendous.  Extended himself in every way, was friendly, knowledgeable, efficient, and helpful.  As an American who grew up in the Cold War, it was an amazing experience to set foot on Russian soil, and see firsthand  all the Russian History, from the CZARS to the Soviets, to the new Russian Democracy.   Fascinating!
One highlight for us was a visit to the Subway  - there we saw the Soviet emblems, statues of Lenin, and the pristine architecture that make up the subway stations.  All the marble and lighting was amazing.
Also loved the palaces, the history, and the Art!  From the Hermitage to Catherine’s Palace, from Peterhoff to the Church of the Spilled Blood…..all amazing.   Only wish we had more time as we did not make it to the Winter Palace plaza where the revolution of 1917 began, but it left a good reason to return someday.
I want to say that Eugene was at all times professional, and sensitive to everyone’s wishes.  He made the experience for all of us.  Sergei, the driver was also friendly and courteous at all times….and a very good driver!
I would recommend them and your company to anyone thinking of traveling to St Petersburg.  With limited time on a cruise, it is so important to have a local agency like yours who knows how to maximize the experience in the time allotted.
Thank you again………..we had the experience of a lifetime!
Attaching a few of our favorite pics
All the best
Tim and Eileen Shalk
Emerald Princess

10 October 2011
Dear SPB,
I just wanted to say that the deluxe tour we took was fantastic. Elena Skidan was the best guide and we could not have had a better experience in our trip to St. petersburg.
All emails were answered promptly and clearly.
We believe your company and Elena made our trip to St. Petersburg.
Thank you all very much.
Kindest regards,
D. Mark Niall

07 October 2011
Dear Victoria - Thank you so much for our St. Petersburg tour on August 21-22 with Maria.  We had a wonderful time and took a lot of pictures for memories.  We'll recommend you on Cruise Critic.
I have a favor to ask.  We got interested in the history of Zinaida Yusupova when we visited the Yusupov Palace.  Do you know if any books have been written about her?  She led an interesting life and we'd like to learn more about her.
Thanks you so much,
Brigitte Emick
Daytona Beach Florida

05 October 2011
Dear Anthony,
On behalf of all our group members, we would like to thank you for your effort in resolving this matter. It certainly proves that your company is a very responsible tour operator.
We all look forward to joining your company's tour again in future.
Best regards
Wilson

04 October 2011
Hi Vika,
We have just returned home from our long trip through Europe.
We had a wonderful time with your tours in Berlin, Tallinn and St Petersburg.
Regards
Greg Russell

02. October 2011
Dear Viktoria:
We are now back home after our Baltic cruise on the Rotterdam.
We enjoyed very much our tour of St Petersburg with Alexander & Slava September 13/14.
They took very good care of us during our visit to your beautiful city.
We were impressed with Alexander’s fluency and his extensive knowledge of history and architecture.
We highly recommend this tour to others.
Craig & Joyce Clarke

01 October 2011
Hello Viktoria
Greetings from Canada!
Hope this email finds you in good health and spirit.  Thank you for a very well organized Baltic Pearl tour of St. Petersburg.  My husband and friends enjoyed St. Petersburg very much.  It is a beautiful city.  We also enjoyed the other Baltic capitals.  We are very impressed with the professionalism of you and all your SPB tour guides.  We hope we will be able to use your service again when we visit Russia in the near future.  Please send our best regards to Eliana (I hope I spell her name correctly??).
Take care and all the best to you and SPB.
Regards
Alvin, Janice, Bob and Ivy
 

30 September 2011
Just a note to tell you that we enjoyed our tour with Elena Yurchenko so much.  She was so professional and informative.  We would have never been able to see St. Petersburg so thoroughly without her help. She constantly checked our comfort levels and quizzed us as to what we wanted to see.  Please pass on this photo to her with our thanks.  I would be glad to recommend SPB tours to anyone wanting to see St. Petersburg in style.
Cynthia & Bill Carroll 

30 September 2011
Hi Vika:   Just a quick note to say how much we enjoyed the tour.  Maria was fabulous.  I have some pictures I will forward along to you this weekend.  My only regret is that my Aunt was not able to join us on the second day, but we did so much the first day that she felt she had seen the most important things.  
Did you hear that our ship was delayed leaving the harbor due to the bad weather.   Too bad we weren’t able to disembark and have extra time in St Petersburg.
Loved the places where we had lunch.  The two shops were great.  I would have liked a bit more time in the second one.
I will definitely recommend you to other travelers.
Regards, Jean

27 September 2011
Hi Vika,
I have not been able to email you before now because it was quite busy getting back to work and catching up.
I would like to thank you in behalf of my whole group for the great tours we had.
Heather in Berlin was wonderful! We learned so much history from her and having an American made it easy to understand as well.
The name of our Beautiful guide in Tallinn escapes me as of the moment but she too was wonderful! She made us love  Tallinn as much as she did being a local and she shared her experiences in Tallinn's historical changes with us very interestingly.
Maria in St. Petersburg was also good though we felt very sorry for her since both days she had to undergo such rushing -  Day 1 becuase our companion was very late and Day 2 because of the accident - She did her best though and we still saw most of the sights if not all!
Pacha, however in Helsinki was not very good - She did not speak very clearly and because the group was mixed (about 40 people) it was not very enjoyable for us -BUT, overall, it was still okay...
Thank you so much for everything and we wish you more power in the years to come!!! 
Do you have any other ports that you service or only the Baltic?
Take care!!!
Joan

26 September 2011
Dear Anthony,
We have just returned from our trip to Europe.
I wanted to write to thank you and your company for a wonderful two day tour in St. Petersburg. In particular could you pass on our thanks to Ilena - she was fantastic. We could not have had a better guide.
Many thanks again,
Yours sincerely,
Libby and Mark Niall

25 September 2011
Hi Viktoria,
I was on the Emerald Princess 20th Aug - 31st Aug.
I just wanted to let you know how much I enjoyed 3 of the tours that you put on for us.
Berlin, Tallin and St Petersburg.  Your guides were EXCELLENT and made each day fun and enjoyable for everyone.  Their knowledge blew me away.  I'll never remember quater of what they told us.
Thank you again and I'll definately recommend SPb Tours to my friends.
Best wishes
Elly Fenton
Richmond/Canada 

24 September 2011
Dear Viktoria and Anthony:
I have just returned from Amsterdam and wanted to thank you very much for accommodating us (Sheila Foley and myself) on the two day tour in St. Petersburg.   It was a wonderful experience. We had the best time, the best guide,  and were so glad that we had booked our tour with you. 
As I mentioned, I shall be writing an article covering the cruise and our tour with you.
I shall keep in touch.
Many thanks again.
Georgette Jones

23 September 2011
Dear Victoria and Anthony,
I just want to congratulate and thank you  for accommodating Georgette and me on the wonderful tour while in St. Petersburg - also,the excellent tour guide.  In comparison to the HA tours, I think we had the better deal, a more professional and informative tour.
You should promote your tours (just a suggestion) for those that are "body-able, or have good mobility" who enjoy walking around while sightseeing and can appreciate the benefits of the magnificent architecture, history and cultural significance of the churches, museums, gardens etc. Having a smaller group has it's benefits in guiding them through quickly and efficiently while on the tour.  The larger buses tours have to contend with  untimely unloading and loading of passengers - therefore it is easier and more convenient to keep the larger groups and less mobile folks on the coaches and provide a drive-by viewing from the windows.
You made our experience, while on tour with you, a very memorable occasion.  A very big thank you to you and your colleagues and I wish you good luck in growing your company.
Best regards,
Sheila Foley
Vancouver, BC

22 September 2011
Mr. Rother
I was privileged to be part of two tours you offered during our cruise to the Baltic between Sep 2-11.  I was very impressed with both tours, Berlin and St. Petersburg.  The entire packages were superior and made our trip very successful.  I would specifically like to single out the tour guides, Boris in Berlin and Alexander in St. Petersburg—great ambassadors to your company.  We will recommend your company to our friends that are planning on touring these areas.
I need your assistance.  I believe I left my wind jacket on the bus after we returned from touring Berlin.  The jacket is Green and has the Green Bay Packers Logo and name on it.  I would really like to get this jacket back.  Could you please check with your staff and the driver of the van to see if it was found.  If so, please send it to me at the following address:  I will pay for postage and mailing.
Again, your company made our trip rewarding and memorable.  Keep up the great work.
Respectfully,
Russ Staerkel
Director of Human Resources and Special Services
Wisconsin Center District*

20 September 2011
Hi Anthony and Vika,
We got home about a week ago, and just wanted to let you know how much we enjoyed our 2 tours we took with you.  Our tour in Helsinki was very nice, as well as our guide, but our tour in St. Petersburg was the best.  We had a fabulous 2 days seeing your wonderful country, and enjoyed every moment with Andrew.  Although he is a young man, he was so well informed and took such pride in everything he spoke about.  We were sorry to have to cancel out our fun evening tour, and appreciate your understanding of my situation. Unfortunately, our port was cancelled in Berlin due to high winds, and we were very disappointed, as I'm sure you were.  We will always recommend you on cruise critic, and anyone else we know of traveling to Russia .  Thank you again for all your quick responses to my concerns.  If you ever need a recommendation, just let me know.
Ellen and Lenny Sherman 

20 September 2011
Dear Viktoria,
I am safely home recovering from jet lag.  I wanted to take the time to once again thank you for all of your assistance in St Petersburg.  Your being there with me
helped me thru one of life's unpleasant moments.  Here is the picture of you and I in front of the Jewel of the Seas.  When given the opportunity to refer someone to you I most certainly will do so with glowing tribute.  And if I find myself anywhere that your company serves you will see me again.
Warmest regards,
Randy Burkardt

20 September 2011
Dear Viktoria,
 I just wanted to let you know how much we enjoyed our 2 day tour. We were in Paul Simmons group and in bus 1. Elena was a wonderful guide, both knowledgeable and friendly.  She made sure that everyone got the most out of the short time we had.  Thanks for a very memorable visit.
Jane Marcantano

17 September 2011
Hi all,
We're finally home from our Princess Baltic cruise and then several days in warm and sunny Barcelona.
I wanted to write you to say how sorry we (and you, too) were about missing the Berlin access port and thus our tour of Berlin.  We all were so looking forward to SPB's fine tour offering.  We were sad to have to spend an extra day roaming around the ship, sailing in slow circles on our way to the next port.  However, we realize that the Captain has to make decisions that will affect thousands of his passengers.
I certainly will watch the boards on CruiseCritic and be supportive where I can about about your company and especially your organizing and personal touch.  We'll keep you in mind for a future trip.
Thanks, again.
Jerie Morrison

16 September 2011
Dear Viktoria.
I am so sorry for the delay, but I wanted to let you know how much my group of 10 enjoyed our SPB tour in St. Petersburg on August 14 and 15 with Luba.  She was an excellent guide and showed us so much in such a short period of time.  We were all amazed at how knowledgeable she was.  There was not a question that we asked that Luba could not answer.  When we left her, we knew that we had made a friend for life and that she will always be foremost in our memories of our time in St. Petersburg.  I've attached pictures that we made with Luba at Catherine's Palace.  Please convey to Luba our appreciation.
Just a couple of other things about our St. Petersburg tour:  we did enjoy both meals that we had and felt like we had really had a Russian dining experience.  Selections were excellent.  And, we enjoyed the little extra things Luba shared with us such as the subway ride, visit to a fresh food market, and a liquor store where we had a lot of fun making purchases of vodka to take home with us.
And, we also enjoyed the tours we took in Helsinki and Tallinn.  Both guides were great and very accommodating.
I'm so glad that I found your company online after reading reviews on Cruise Critic.  Your website and emails sold us on booking our tours with you.  All details were very clear and your guides delivered everything promised.  Our only regret is that we were unable to dock in Warnemunde and missed our tour there.
Best wishes to you all.
Olivia Grizzle

16 September 2011
Dear Viktoria,
Just wanted to express our thanks for a wonderful 2 day tour of St. Petersburg in August 2011 on our port stop from ''the jewel of the seas.'' As rightly described by our tour director onboard, this port was indeed the pinnacle of our cruise. And it was your very professional company through your very efficient guide Elena Skidan who opened the windows of your beautiful city and its culture to us. This visit is now forever etched in our memories for sure.
All the very best!
God bless,
Valerie/Melwyn/Antonio
Dubai - UAE

15 September 2011
Hi Viktoria
Just wanted to let you know how much we enjoyed our 2 day tour of St Petersburg.
Everything was handled so professionally and we were delighted with our tour guide "Olga" who was just wonderful.  Her knowledge and attention to our needs was really appreciated.
"Paul" our driver was also great - always ready to assist us with a smile.
We saw & did it all and it was just BRILLIANT!!
Would like to return one day to explore your beautiful city at a more leisurely pace.
Thanks again - it was definitely the highlight of our cruise & the sun shining was an added bonus.
Will have no hesitation recommending your company to my cruise clients who are visiting St Petersburg in the future.
Bye for now
Emerald Princess Sept 4 & 5.

15 September 2011
Vika
Even though we are only half way through I have to thank you.  Helena is amazing and everyone is raving about the SPB tour being the highlight of this cruise.  If you ever need a  referral feel free to use my name.  Will post positive review on cruise critic as soon as we get home.  Many thanks! Cathy
Sent from Samsung tablet

13 September 2011
Now that we are home and starting to get back into our usual routine, wanted to drop a note to thank you for the great tours we were on. The Berlin tour was excellent - the only complaint is that we only had 6 hours in Berlin and that is not the problem of your guide or your tour. We just did not have enough time to see all. As for St. Petersburg, we can't say enough. Elena was marvelous - her knowledge helped us understand what we were seeing and her English was better than some Americans I know. And, the fun tour was just that - my wife and I truly enjoyed that special evening in St. Petersburg. We will surely recommend your tours to anyone we know who will be heading to the Baltics in the future.
Thank you for helping make our recent cruise special.
Howard Goldblatt

09 September 2011
Hi Vika
We thoroughly enjoyed our and recommend you to all we talk about our holiday.
We had a fantastic tour of St Petersburg with SPB. Lyuba our guide was super and really caring. She gave us in depth information on everything we saw, got us to the front of the queue everywhere, a beauty of being a small group. The large cruise coach groups were waiting for ages. On the ship a couple told us their group no 29 had got mixed up with another group 29 from another ship!
Comparing our tour to the ships we saw more and got there quicker and easier. The trip on the underground, attending a lovely church during morning prayers, eating Russian pies and borsch in a local cafe as well as all the famous sights was wonderful. We felt we a little closer to ordinary Russians.

Kind regards Steve Conway

08 September 2011
Good afternoon Viktoria,
Our group of 8 so enjoyed our tour with your tour company.  Tallinn walking tour was fun with Celia and Helsinki bus tour was very enjoyable as well.  The highlight was the two day tour in St. Petersburgh with Catherine (Catya) with our group of eight and 6 from the Jewel of the Seas on Aug. 28 and 29.  It was so well organized and Catherine did such a great job of telling us interesting details, stories and facts of the sites we visited.  She really looked after each one of us very weill.
Thank you.
Jeannette Zapp
Cruise & Vacation Specialist 

08 September 2011
Anthony,
You’re the best!
We are done.  The tour was a hit, everyone was very happy with everything.
Will pass on a reference to all I know will be headed your way.
Gail 

08 September 2011
Hi there
I wanted to say a big thank you for the services and guides you provided for our group.
The Baltic is indeed a special jewel...we all had a great time and loved the guides who were so knowledgeable.
thanks again and will be in touch next year for the next group
Rose Chin
Uniglobe Bon Voyage Travel 

06 September 2011
Dear Anthony,
We must say that apart from Helsinki, we were satisfied with your tours in Berlin, Tallinn, and St. Petersburg. All your tour guides acted professionally and were knowledgeable in conducting the tours. We are humans and inevitably make mistakes. Judging from the way you handle our enquires and complaints, we have no doubt in our mind that we have chosen the right company to conduct our tours. We have no hesitation to recommend your company to our friends and look forward to joining more of your company's tours in future.
Regards
Wilson   

05 September 2011
Hello Vika, Anthony and Evan,
And greetings from Manila! We've finally had time to settle down from our long vacation and everyone is back at work. But I wanted to send you even a short note to let you know how pleased we were with our tour, and with SPB in general.
I don't know if the group (who was so wrapped up with each other because they were all traveling together) realized how special the tour was, but a few of them came up to me to thank me for steering them towards, and insisting on booking with, SPB. We appreciated the smaller groups, and you're right, we never had to wait in line as the tours were well planned and coordinated. Our guide for the "Julie group" was Luba, and I felt she did a fantastic job. She was patient, very sweet and gentle. I loved all her stories.
Our impression on St. Petersburg? Actually, Luba kept asking us, and so did Viktoria, when she met us on the last day. None of us could really answer, but I know we all had thousands of thoughts swimming in our heads. Firstly, that St. Petersburg is in the middle of all our other ports where we are bombarded with new sights and cultures. It takes time to digest everything and to figure out what one feels about St. Petersburg. The palaces are definitely overwhelming, and the buildings in the city are beautiful, the rivers and waterways spectacular--much too much to absorb in two days. We must really return, but not without full knowledge of Russian history so we can really ask the guides everything we always wanted to know, and KNOW that they WILL really be able to answer the questions. Luba was highly knowledgeable and I regret not being able to ask too many questions because I wasn't prepared.
The tour in Berlin I heard was fantastic and the guide superb. I heard from the Cow group that the guide overshadowed all the other guides they had in the Four Baltic Pearls. Yes, she (?) was that good they said, and they were happy they did the Berlin trek.
In Tallin, Triine was wonderful---she had a firm grasp on the history of Tallin and shared from her own personal experiences too. She knew how to maneuver the group (there were four ships in berth on that day!) and keep us constantly moving. She spoke with authority and was very accommodating.
In Helsinki, Maria was a fountain of knowledge too.
All in all, everyone was happy and impressed. The Julie group went to Sadko on the second night and again we were very pleased.
Oona Mapua already recommended SPB to her aunt's group who is taking a Baltic Cruise sometime soon, and I'm sure knowing how chatty Filipinos are, you will have a new customer base from the Philippines in no time. The travel agencies here are not knowledgable about independent tour operators in Russia, the booking agencies fro the cruises will never suggest it,  and older people (those who do the Baltic) are not internet savvy so they may just never find you.
As soon as I sort out my thoughts on each of the countries I visited, I will be doing blog posts on them and will definitely recommend SPB tours. I think Viktoria runs a fantastic organization and I'm happy to support entrepreneurship in St. Petersburg--we wish the company more success.  Btw, I specifically mentioned YOU to her and said you made a complicated booking look very simple.
Before I close (so much for my "short note"), does SPB do non-cruise tours? After this "taste of St. Petersburg" through the cruise trip, I think there will be others who will visit St. Petersburg again on their own.
Again, thanks a whole lot for everything. SPB definitely showed us the best way to see beautiful Baltic Pearls, at the best price too.
Spaciba!
Marivic Limcaoco  

04 September 2011
Hello Anthony and Vika,
We had a terrific tour with SPB in St. Peterbsburg Augist 28-29, with Olga as our guide and Constantine as our driver. We were thrilled and I’m very grateful for all you did.
Thanks so much,
Rick Lipsey
P.S. I’d be happy to provide a very good reference for SPB if needed for potential clients  

03 September 2011
I will recommend your tours.  Eugene was an excellent guide for our two days in St. Petersburg. Claudia

02 September 2011
Hi victoria
It was a pleasure to meet you during our recent cruise on princess to the Baltic. We toured with you on the three Baltic pearls and loved it.  The tour is Tallinn was good. The tour in st Petersburg was excellent. Catherine was an amazing tour guide with so much knowledge. She was incredible. Catherine in St Petersburg should be complemented on her knowledge and wonderful personality.
Regards
Pam Eisenberg

01 September 2011
Viktoria and Helen:
We are all back safely in the States and reliving our wonderful St. Petersburg experience through the some 800+ photos we collectively took.
 You provided us with such a wonderful exposure to your city and country that each of us is determined to visit again in the future.
 We so much appreciated your beautiful and indepth descriptions of the sites and so enjoyed knowing a little bit more about you and your family.  Having the one-on-one time with you was a rich and special experience.  You speak English beautifully and we so enjoyed you sharing your viewpoints and knowledge of Russian history with us. Thank you so much for the sushi eating experience .... that was enjoyed by all.
 I believe each of us wants to know more about your country as a result of our visit so will be reading and researching a lot more before our next visit.
 We all four thank you so much.  And a big thanks to Max, it was a real plus to have him on our tour.
Donna Bullock, Scott Murtha, Sue Berry, Shayla Martin

31 August 2011
Dear Viktoria;
We had a wonderful time in your beautiful city!  Eugene was very pleasant and knowledgeable.
Thank you!
Lowell N. Halpern 

31 August 2011
We wanted to tell you how impressed we were with the two day tour we had with our guide Katiya Samarina and our driver Andrei. 
Katiya was there at the pier just as we requested, waiting as we cleared Russian Immigration review.  She was kind, gracious, very knowledgeable about her city, Russian history centered on St. Petersburg.  She knew her way around the sights of this lovely place.  She enabled us to enter places without waiting on interminable lines and negotiated through the masses of visitors within the museums and palaces very skillfully.
Andrei was very patient in terrible traffic and knew routes that minimized delays.  He worked very nicely with Katiya was always there when we were ready to collapse, with a cool van and chilled water.
Please pass on to each our thanks for allowing us to have a memorable introduction to the beauty of St. Petersburg and the wonder of the Stolle pierogi that we had at lunch the second day.
Sincerely,
Martha and Ronald Tauss

31 August 2011
Hi viktoria.
We had a great trip and Eugene was a Wonderful guide. He took us to a Great place which everyone appreciated. He was very accommodating. As for lunch the first day please note that no one enjoyed the meal. I do not eat meat and there was no choice.
Thanks again.
Peter 

31 August 2011
Dear viktoria
just wanted to send a thank-you note to say fabulous our tour was we saw some fantastic sights that will live long in our memories
i would also like to say what a fabulous guide you have in lubba ( hope that is correct ) she truly made our 2 days fantastic and we even arrived home to scotland without having to go to syberia ha-ha , she is a fantastic lady and we wish her well in the future also our driver who looked after us on our journey thankyou x , my husband said if he had a history teacher like lubba we would know more about our own history once again thankyou x
it was also very good of you to meet our little group of 6 with champane and chocolates im sure you are a very busy lady but you took
the time to ask us how our trip had been keep up the good work im sure you have a great future company
best wishes
tommy and caroline
scotland

30 August 2011
Viktoria Rother
Four traveling companions and I were on an SPB tour with Andrei on August 19 and 20.  I have only the highest of praise for SPB Tours, and Andrei specifically.  His presentation was obviously not scripted; he left decisions as to where to go to us as practical; he was very knowledgeable (and if he did not know the answer to a question, said so rather than make something up, and then got the answer for us when he could); and he was very personable.  On the grounds of Catherine’s Palace, a man approached Andrei and invited us to a singing presentation in one of the buildings on the grounds.  Andrei asked if we would like to go.  We did and experienced a wonderful performance by an a cappella male group.  The singing was so moving that my wife had tears in her eyes (and she made me purchase the group’s CD).  Without Andrei, we would have missed this.  We learned about Russia’s history, culture, and people: we did not just see buildings.  In fact, Andrei’s mention of Russia’s provisional government  prior to Lenin’s election by the All-Russian Congress of Soviets jogged my memory (after the tour) to 1965 when I was in college and I met and spoke with Alexander Kerensky.  I had all but forgotten this experience.
Also, our driver, Sergei did a great job and we never felt less than safe while he was driving.
We wish to thank you, Andrei, and Sergei for one of the best experiences of our lives.  All of us wanted to take Andrei home with us.
Please feel free to share this with Andrei.  If he should ever travel to the US in the future, we would love to give him a tour.
Thank you again.
Tom Barrett  

27 August 2011
Viktoria,
Just to let you know Sylvia in Berlin did a great job for us as well. She definitely knew the city and history. We enjoyed ourselves there as well.
Mark

Hello Vika,
Just want to let you know that we had a wonderful time with your guide Maria on August 10th in Saint Petersburg. She was fantastic and everyone enjoyed the tour.
Thanks again.
Bankim Kaji
Pulaski Tickets and Tours 

27 August 2011
Hi Viktoria,
Yesterday's Berlin tour was great!  We loved Preston.
But I left a black long sleeve wrap Lululemon brand shirt on the bus on the front right seat.  Is it possible to get it back?
See you tomorrow!
Thank you,
Tracy

26 August 2011
Vika -
I just wanted to thank you for your services on our St. Petersburg 2-day tour last week. We had a wonderful guide, Maria Sigaeva. She has a great knowledge of the city and the history. We all learned a lot from her and thoroughly enjoyed her professionalism and warm attitude. She made us feel safe at all times...putting us in the optimal places at the right time. Bravo!
The driver Val was incredible! He jockied for the best positions to mueseum entrances, etc. He was very nice and professional as well. The vehicle was clean and very comfortable.
Again, thank you for making our time in St Petersburg a pleasant memory!
Kind Regards,
Mark & Tracey Barquist

26 August 2011
Vika-
I wanted to thank you for a WONDERFUL experience with SPB Tours on our recent Baltic cruise with Holland America lines.  I have a large group of friends going on the same  cruise next year, and I strongly advised them all to plan their excursions through SPB, which they will be doing.  I am very impressed with your company.
I had wanted to send thank you emails to two of our tour guides:  I think our Russian guide was Elena Volkova (she has one daughter and she also teaches at a school or university, has glasses and brown short brown hair), and then I would also like to get in contact with our guide in Tallin, whose name was either Tarrin or Tarreen.  My question is this:  Do you have email contact addresses for them, or if  I send emails for them to you, would it be possible to get them to them?
Thank you again for a memorable and inspiring experience.
-Krista Wagnon

24 August 2011 
Viktoria,
We had the most fabulous time with Anna and Slava during our 2 days in St Petersburg (23 and 24 July) - attached please find a photos of our kids with Anna and Slava.  Please can you forward this to them – thank you!
Kathy Barnes 

23 August 2011 

Dear Viktoria and SPB-Tours Team,
As I mentioned on a previous email, I was so pleased with your excellent services that I am recommending it to all my friends. One of them is Angela Laliberte, who has just booked a tour with you for this Friday (26th) and Saturday (27th). I am confident that you will give Angela and her husband, Jeff, the same high quality service that we received last week in St. Petersburg and am sure that they will enjoy the 2 days tour as much as we did. I know they will not have Alexei as their guide, as Alexei does not speak English, but I am sure all your guides are equally knowledgeable about the city and Russian history.
Best Regards,
Orival Goncalves

23 August 2011
Dear Viktoria and Anthony,
Thank you very much for organising our visit to Berlin.  The day in Berlin was on the first day of our Baltic Cruise.  It was a wonderful day (14th June) and one of the highlights of our whole trip.  After the Baltic trip we were cycling in France and then stopped off in Singapore on the way home.  Once home we have been very busy and I was going to write and thank you and Sylvia and Stephan but hadn't done it.
One of our party has just put his photos of our day in Berlin on the internet and I thought Sylvia and Stephan may be interested (see below).
Do pass our thanks on to them.
I mentioned to Sylvia that Frank Gehry had designed a building at the University where I teach. She can find a photo of the model at http://203.145.50.198/idl/media/idlcom/2010/december/report/gehry/gehry_hero.jpg
Thanks again
Peter Logan
School of Physics and Advanced Materials  

22 August 2011
Dear Viktoria:
Just wanted to drop a line and to thank you for a wonderful tour of St. Petersburg.  There were five of us and our guide was very knowledgeable and friendly, as was our driver.  It is so much more convenient when touring with a private company, rather than the ships excursions.  We were able to skip the long lines at the entrances, as well as see so many more exhibits due to the small group.  The folkfest was terrific, even though we were late and had to sit in the worst seats, with bad views, and were not able to sit together.
Again thank you for a wonderful tour. Erwin

21 August 2011
Thanks so much Heather for the names and recommendations.  I was on the fence about the excursion to Berlin due to the 6 hours of travel and back to the ship.  I am so glad I made the decision to do the excursion.  Berlin was a fantastic surprise and I enjoyed the day enormously.  This was largely due to you.  I have travelled alot and mostly independently, however, have utilizied private tours quite a bit.  You are by far the best tour guide that I have come across; your knowlege and passion are evident you bring a balanced approach to (often difficult and sad) history and events and you are so very helful right down to recommending and serving lunch and drinks.  Thanks again and best wishes for a wonderful life in Berlin! Linda

20 August 2011
Hello Robin. We are back from our very extensive Baltic cruise and tour of Europe. Had a wonderful time.
SPB  is beyond belief - a wonderful city with an amazing history, churches, museums, palaces and culturally very rich. We used a tour company called SPB Tours for a very comprehensive 2 day private tour - our own van and an excellent English speaking guide. I highly recommend this company for all your clients who want to visit SPB and not miss a thing. The owner of the company is Viktoria Rother. They also run excellent tours in Berlin - we used them for a 1 day city tour that was also outstanding.
As you know we also visited Prague for 3 days. We found ourselves a superb tour guide who gave us 2 half day walking tours of this beautiful city - once again
a city with an amazing history, culturally rich and lots of fabulous sights.  The name of the tour guide is Eva Trkavola - she is one of the finest most sought after tour guides in Prague. I booked  her almost a year ago. Once again if you have clients visiting Prague i would highly recommend.
Regards
Sunil
 

19 August 2011
hello Viktoria, Just a quick note now that we have returned home and have a few minutes to reflect on our vacation in the Baltic and North sea. The tour of St Petersburg with Valéry (spelling?) was the highlight of our entire month away from home visiting many places we have never seen before and probably will not be able to revisit. Thank you and your team for making the two days in St Petersburg so informative and enjoyable. If we ever do have an opportunity to visit again, we could not ask for more service and consideration than already received from your company. We were there on 24 & 25 July and we are most grateful to your knowledgeable guide and driver who was extremely careful and skillful in traffic. Best wishes, Ed & Deb (Roi) St John

17 August 2011
Hello Anthony and Viktoria,
I just wanted to thank you for handling our touring in St-Petersburg and Warnemunde.  We had a great time and both guides were fabulous.  Our special request of having a french speaking guide was well handled and our guide was excellent (not the type of request you must get every day)   Our guide told us it was her first experience with SPB Tours.  You should use her again without hesitation if you need a french speaking guide.  She had so much information on the history, architecture, art or whatever we asked about Russia.  She was able to keep up with us as we were pretty fast going thru some places.  And her french was far better than other guides we've seen in the past.  What a great 3 days in St-Petersburg.
As for Tobias in Warnemunde, he was great.  He was very fun to be around and he told us so much about the former East Germany and the reunification.  The only minor issue we encountered was the we could not pay by credit card as it was mentionned in the confirmation but that was easy to fix.  A quick trip to the ATM fixed that.  You should update the web site/documents to reflect this.
I'll highly recommend your firm to anyone I know going to Russia.  Thank you so much for making our trip memorable.
Paul Wilkinson

17 August 2011
Viktoria
Wanted to let you know I posted this on Cruise Critic ……………………..
St Petersburg was the highlight. We contracted with a local Russian tour agency ( SPB Tours ) and it was fantastic. We saw much more than the Princess tours offered at half the price. They were on time, responsive to our requests, and I can't say enough about the experience. Our guide, Eugene, was fantastic.....our small group of 11 was whisked around for two days in a Mercedes van, avoiding traffic and never waiting to see all the sites. Especially loved the subway experience that brought us face to face with all the images of the Communist era in the Soviet Union. ( One complaint about Princess....they tried to make everyone believe that they may be left on board if not tied to an official Princess tour....this is NOT TRUE ) .... as long as you book with a local agency authorized to come to the pier, you do not need a VISA or an authorization from princess. )
Tim Shalk
PS: Eugene was fantastic……
PSS:  I would be happy to write a review for you if it would be helpful.  Let me know how and where to post it.
All the best
Tim Shalk

17 August 2011
Viktoria,
Thank you and your team for a wonderful visit to St. Petersburg!  It is truly a magnificent city.  I was wondering if you knew of a good place where I could buy Russian lacquer boxes online and perhaps a nesting doll as well.  I really appreciate the artistry and patience that is required to paint the boxes.
Thanks again,
Barbara

17 August 2011

Dear Viktoria,
We have just returned home from our Baltic Sea cruise.  We took the SPB 2-day tour in St. Petersburg on July 9 and 10, 2010.  Our tour guide was Svetlana and our driver was Peter.  This tour was the highlight of our trip!  Both Svetlana and Peter were wonderful and could not have been more helpful.  We were impressed with Svetlana's knowledge of St. Petersburg and the many works of art we saw in the Hermitage.  She was fantastic!  And Peter made us feel safe and comfortable at all times.  We just wanted to thank you all for a wonderful tour and to let you know what a great job both Svetlana and Peter did for us.  We plan to recommend your tour to our friends and to recommend it online to anyone who might be considering taking a trip to St Petersburg.  Thank you for a wonderful experience! 
Ruth and Jim Johnson, USA  

17 August 2011
Hi Anthony
We had another great tour today in Tallinn. Our guide was wonderful. Looking forward to 2 days with you in St Petersburg. However we have decided not to join you in Helsinki. Alex & Chris
Sent from my iPad

17 August 2011
I've done many private tours. He is one of the best guides I've ever had! Laraine
Sent via BlackBerry from T-Mobile

17 August 2011
Hello Viktoria and Anthony!
I just wanted to let you know (and please forward this to Victoria as well) that we thoroughly enjoyed our three SPB Tours experiences. Unfortunately our ship could not dock on July 22 so we were unable to take our Berlin tour. But I can tell you that Heather (the guide we would have had) was very nice in her emails before we left. I was disappointed not only because we missed the tour, but also in that we did not get to meet her.
But our group of 15 loved our Baltic Pearl tour in St. Petersburg on July 25 & 26. Alexander was a wonderful guide, a wealth of knowledge about his country's history and about art in the Hermitage.
In Tallinn on July 24 our guide was the lovely Triin. She was wonderfully smart and very sweet, and we all enjoyed our morning walk with her.
In Helsinki on July 27 Corina was great as well. We loved having the large bus to ourselves and she was both a great guide and a wonderfully amusing young woman.
So high praise for your tours and for these three young people. They are truly great representatives for your company. I will recommend your company without reservation.
Thank you,
Cindy

16 August 2011
Dear Vika
We arrived home at midday on August 10th having thoroughly enjoyed our cruise and 3 pearls excursions with your company.We were very pleased to meet you on our return to the ship after our two day tour of St. Petersburg.   Have to say we were a bit apprehensive in Helsinki as did not realise our guide would not be meeting us at the gangway but we were delighted to meet Maria who was charming and informative.   We wish her well for her forthcoming wedding and maybe you or she herself could send us a photo by email!
Unfortunately, we got delayed through immigration at St. Petersburg but Eugene was there to greet us.  He was also an excellent guide, very pleasant and informative and organised both days very well, keeping us to our busy schedule.  We thoroughly enjoyed our two days in Russia inspite of feeling a bit weary towards the end of the second day.
Then, we met Treen in Tallinn.   What a lovely, delightful lady, and knowledgeable guide.    We enjoyed every minute of her tour with the addition of some family knowledge which really helped us understand the history and difficulties experienced in Estonia.   We hope she keeps well throughout the remainder of her pregnancy and would be delighted to know when her baby daughter arrives.
We really appreciated being with such a small group of ten, thought your guides were excellent and would recommend your company without hesitation.
Best wishes
Sally & Ken 
   
16 August 2011
Viktoria
I just wanted to reiterate to you how very pleased we were with our tours and our guide over the last 2 days in St. Petersburg. Maria was exceptional. There was really nothing else that she could have done to make our tour more interesting or enjoyable. The rest of my group felt she surely earned a 10+++ in marks for her efforts. I just wanted to share that with you. She is more than capable and we would highly recommend her.
Thanks again,
Kathryn Sainty

16 August 2011
Hi Viktoria and team, we have just completed the Baltic Pealrs tour, and would like to say a huge thank you for such a great experiance.Each tour guide gave excellent information and were refreshingly different in their styles and expertise. Maria in Helsinki was wonderful telling us about home and family life as well as the informative information regarding the city, Eugene in St Petersburg was very attentive and informative especially finding time to take me to view two Botticelli paintings in the Hermitage that actually made my trip so worthwhile.Treena in Tallin was just as lovely and her knowledge knew no boundaries.
I passed  your cards to two people on our ship who were not happy with their experiance of the ships tours and are looking to contact you in the near future.
thanks again
Tina McQuillan

15 August 2011
Vika,
First of all I wanted to let you know that we had a great time on our cruise excursions and it is all thanks to you, your awesome tour guides, and your great and reasonably priced Pearl of the Baltics package.  We provided our input to Luba.  We liked pretty much everything.  The following are suggestions for the future:
It was really nice to see you provide us with water on the bus.  We missed that at Helsinki where we had another warm day.  BTW, my wife cannot handle any water with even the slightest of Sodium or other such ingredients in them.  I know it is hard to find water in these locations that is completely void of ingredients.  But thanks for that!
We could have used a wheelchair for my wife so she could have seen more and been more comfortable.  This is especially the case for Peterhof Palace, Catherine's Palace, and the Hermitage museum.  It is exorbitant to rent one from the ship.  So if you had one of your own that you could rent out to your tour members that would be really great.  This could be an optional request on your tour application form.  We would not have minded paying a reasonable fee for the wheelchair in St. Petersburg.  It really makes it worthwhile for someone like my wife.  The other tours did not really lend themselves to a wheelchair as St. Petersburg did.
Denisa in Helsinki seemed a bit more coy than your other tour guides.  I forget the name of the coordinator in Helsinki, who was originally from St. Petersburg and is your friend, who greeted us.  She was awesome, as were Luba, Madli, and Preston!
And that brings me to Preston.  He is so knowledgeable about German history that I had a question about that history that maybe he can answer.  Also, I will be going to Berlin on a business trip next month.  If Preston can meet us, I would not mind having dinner with him.  So, if you, and of course he, don't mind providing his email to me, I would love to be able to correspond with him
Rohit

Hi Anthony and Viktoria,
Just a note to let you know how fabulous our tour in St Petersburg was:  to quote from my Cruise Critic short review:
We just returned from a wonderful cruise to the Baltic.  We were a group of six and had worked on a specially tailored tour for 3 days of St Petersburg.  It was incredible:  Anthony and Viktoria were very responsive and helpful in the planning.  We saw a huge amount, including 2 half days at the Hermitage.
Our guide, Elena, was phenomenal: extremely knowledgeable, helpful and flexible.  We spent 2 half days in the Hermitage where she had been a tour guide, so that was wonderful and we got into every venue ahead of the crowds. Her English is impeccable. Our driver, Sergei, was excellent. 
We would highly recommend SPB and would definitely use them again should we be in that area.
Judy
Would you please be able to confirm for me the family name of our tour guide Elena:  I do not see her picture on your website: she is not one of the many "Elenas" there. She was fabulous and I would like to know to ask you for her the next time we visit your beautiful city. Her knowledge of art ,which was a primary focus for our tour, was fantastic.
Thank you again,
Judy

14 August 2011
Dear Viktoria and all SPb Tours Staff,
A big Thank You to everyone, for not only the tours we took in St. Petersburg and Warnemunde, but also for all the pre-cruise contact, emails, information etc we had with your staff and company. I can not praise
your company and staff enough, and I will continue to recommend you on Cruise Critic Boards...and in person to anyone considering a cruise/trip to the Baltic/ Scandinavia area.
Your staff, Yvonne in Germany and Luba,  Alex and driver Serge in St. Petersburg were OUTSTANDING !  They were friendly, knowledgeable, interesting, patient and just plain fun !! The tours we took were absolutely top-notch, and I am so happy we chose your company to be our introduction to these Countries. 
If I could make just one suggestion: The tour with Yvonne in Germany included a brief lunch/snack stop. However the place we went to was a fast-food type stand in a modern, enclosed shopping mall. Though the food and German beer was adequate, I certainly wish we had stopped at one of the many, many outdoor cafe/restaurants that lined the streets, and that we walked past on our way to Schwerin Castle. This would have been much more enjoyable and would have added to the ambiance and pleasure of walking through those beautiful towns. I hope you will consider changing this on future tours, as I am quite sure that a majority of your guests would find it so much more enjoyable and memorable. Thanks .
Again, Thank You for everything. We had a wonderful time, and we look forward to a return trip, and using your company again in the future !! Please extend our thanks and appreciation to our tour guides !
Sincerely,
Robert "Woody" Rea 

14 August 2011
Hi,
I just wanted to tell you how great our tour guides in Berlin and SPB were on our recent trip.  Heather was our guide in Berlin and she was awesome. Her knowledge of the city and it's history was amazing.  Luba was our guide for 2 days in SPB and she was also wonderful.  By far the best guides we have ever had during our tours!
Loralee Voelker
Emerald Princess (07/18-07/19)

9 August 2011
I was very impressed with your tour last month in St. Petersburg, with Maria as our guide.  Today I posted some positive reviews for you on Cruisecritic, and I also put one in on Tripadvisor but they have not posted it yet.  Please let Maria know she got the good praise, she works hard. 
Don Davison
http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=30110078&posted=1#post30110078
http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=30110211&posted=1#post30110211
http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=30110416&posted=1#post30110416
 

8 August 2011
Dear Viktoria,
My daughter and I enjoyed the tour through St Petersburg during our cruise on board the Jewel of the Seas in June and July this year.  All in our group thought that Alexander was a perfect guide and that the 2 days were well structured and versatile, although exhausting (partly due to the humid weather, I might add).
I attach a couple of pics for Alexander's portfolio, please thank him again for working so hard for our benefit. With kind regards, Christa South in the Uk and Karin Coombe in Oz.

8 August 2011
Hello My beautiful friend.
Well yesterday I finally got to speak with the 2 couples that you planned outstanding private touring for.
On a scale of 1 to 10, it was a 10+. All of the guides were great. They loved victoria. And the tallin guide too.
They loved all that was planned. And to get to meet you was a highlight and a big pleasant surprise for them and I real shock for me.
I know that you are so busy and for your to come out and meet them WOW!!  They were so pleased and said that you are absolutely
A stunning beautiful woman. Just as I remembered you too.
They did not like their day to Moscow which they did via the ship. Said it was terrible. In hinesight wish that they had stayed in St P. would have loved to have another day.
It sounds like a lot of reconstruction and beautifying  of the city has been done by Putin since I was there what some 13 yrs ago.?
They said that the guide for Moscow was dull and boring. They also said that they would highly recommend that anyone going to Russia
Or Berlin be sure to contact me and to let us plan the private touring.
I hope that your summer business is doing really well. You are a real mover shaker.
I hope that your guides enjoyed these 2 couples, and that they were tipped well. I really appreciated all the extra time you spent to try and get the touring
All correct and take such good care of these clients. They want to do river cruise next yr, and they want to go to Berlin and to let you do the private touring there also.
Be sure to let me know if you start doing tours other places. Or just tell me when your web is updated. They would love to have private touring
with your company everywhere they go in the world!
Please make sure that all your guides all told of the outstanding job they did. Cheers. and big hug. Hope that all is good in your life.  
Melodye Martinelli, owner
Let's Travel Together 

5 August 2011
Hi Victoria,
Luba did an outstanding job( the best I have had) and we can not thank you enough. 
Many thanks,
eva

5 August 2011
Happy to let you know that our friends m/m Barry Becker are taking our recommendation and have booked the deluxe tour. Our guide Elena was great hope you can assign her. Thanks for a wonderful tour!
Paul Tendler

5 August 2011
I just want to let you know that the tour (July 27-28) has been the highlight of the Rotterdam Cruise.  It is necessary to say you have a great person in Luba our tour guide, she did much more and knew much more than anyone could expect.
Thank you again for a great tour,
James Christie

2 August 2011
Good afternoon,  We are now back home and I wanted to send you this note to say how much we enjoyed our tour in St. Petersburg. The whole group very fortunate to have Elena as our guide. She was wonderful!! I could go on forever about how great she was, but I am sure you receive many positive reports but I wanted to add about how informative, a true natural at her job and thoroughly delightful our two days with her was.
I am truly pleased with having chosen SPB for our tour.
Again thanks for everything. From the initial planning to the tour, I was most impressed with your service.
Regards Liz

2 August 2011
Hi Viktoria
Just wanted to email you let you know how much we enjoyed the St P 2 day tour from the Celebrity Eclipse last week.  Valery was a joy! Great English, with a dry sense of humour and an encyclopaedia for a brain! It exceeded our expectations and was the highlight of our cruise.  The memory of the this city will last a long time and was greatly enhanced by your firm’s professionalism. I would recommend  SPbtours without reservations.
Best wishes
Judith & Alan Kirwilliam

1 August 2011
Hello Vika, we recently booked tours with SPb in Berlin, St Petersburg, Tallin and Helsinki.
Heather and Luba were fantastic.  They were so good, so very knowledgeable and interesting and we learned so much.  I cannot remember the ladies name in Tallin but she also was extremely good.  I have to be honest and say that our tour guide in Helsinki was not up to the standard of the other tour guides, but having said that she was very good and the others do set a very high standard.
I will certainly recommend your company to anyone who is travelling to the Baltic and we are so happy we booked our tours with SPb.
Good luck in the future,
Kindest regards
Doreen and Frank Sims

31 July 2011
Dear Viktoria, Anthony..
Just a note to say thank you so very much for such a wonderful time in St. Petersburg! We were so glad that we were there for 3 full days and our guide, Irina, certainly did make them full!!
Irina knew her Russian history backwards and forwards and so many interesting details as well. We were able to get everything in on our list as well as adding the Yousopof Palace in on the last day with our "extra" time! We loved our meals..Stolle and the Blini place were excellent, fun and time saving!
We loved going to the food market and seeing items that we don't have, the subway ride with those fabuolus stations, the market across from the Church on Spilled Blood, the wonderful art market on Nevsky Prospekt (where we got 2 paintings!) and, of course, it goes without saying all of the fabulous sites that we saw! Favorites included Catherine Palace and the Amber Room, early admission to the Hermitage, being at the Impressionists right after 1030am and literally being alone in the rooms with those stunning paintingsl And, also, the Treasure rooms (which were 2 separate entrances the last time I was there!) We even enjoyed the Peterhof fountains in the rain! if there were things we did not see they could not have been many!
Irina got us right in every place..we never stood in line!!
We owe many thanks to both Irina and our excellent driver, Igor. And, many, many thanks to you for setting all of this up. We trusted SPB Tours with the 3 most important days of our vacation and you all certainly came through for all seven of us!  The other people I had recommened SPB to were as happy with their guides and itineraries as we were.
Thank you, Anthony and Viktoria, for 3 most memorable days!
Best,
Sherry & Kimber Smith 

31 July 2011
Viktoria,
We had a great time with SpB. I am sorry we didn’t get to say goodbye, but wanted you to know we appreciated you efforts.
I intend to post very positive reviews on Cruise Critic and would like to get our guides’ names correct.
We had Heather in Germany, Triin in Tallin, Ilena in SpB, and Darissa in Helsinki. We also had Alexander for the Vodka cruise. Please confirm spelling is correct.
I would rate all Excellent guides except Darissa. She was just average; however, we were very tired that day and Helsinki didn’t have as much to offer as SpB or the other cities. I will not be too critical about her.
You guys are the best! Patrick White
 
31 July 2011
Dear Viktoria....I am back from my wonderful trip to the Baltic's....I am a Travel Agent here in New York and I was on your St. Petersberg Tour on July 24 and 25th with Sveta Dementyeva.  She was wonderful.....She always wanted to know from everyone in our group if there was anything we were interested in seeing and what she had planned for us was acceptable.....She had a wonderful sense of humor and kept our pace going each day....Just a wonderful experience and very knowledgeable as I think all your guides are if they we're they wouldn;t be employed by you otherwise you would not be in business as long as  you have been....
I will posting on Cruise Critic my wonderful experience with your company and will highly recommend it.
Thank you.
Joan Haynes
Bayside Travel

28 July 2011
Dear Vika & Co,
May I thank you for the good care we recieved from you & your team during our visit to Berlin, St.Petersburg, Tallin and Helsinki !!!
Our whole group was more than satisfied !!!!
Boris, our guide in Berlin was very good, sometimes “he got a little to deep on historical facts” ... but his guidance through the town was pleasant.
The ride of “3 hours there and 3 hours back” from Warnemunde was very tiring ...if you take another 2 hours in the restaurant (there was a problem in the restaurant ... they had forgotten an order) it was a blitzvisit to Berlin...so many things to see, so little time ...a suggestion ? book a solid restaurant for your guests (as in st. petersburg) the same meal for everyone, it saves time...
Our visit to Tallinn with “Trien” as our guide was perfect !!! she does her job “excellent” the walking tour with her was very nice...
She gave very good explanation of the city, and told our myths and legends that made it all very interesting ... she left a very good impression on all of us !!! we would redo the tour with her immediately !!!!
Let’s talk about St.Petersburg now... and again we were very pleased with our guide Eugene !!!! a better guide we could not imagine!!
and our chauffeur Sergei was a very good driver, we felt save in the car, also very important !!!
St.Petersburg is a very special city... We saw so many beautiful things... some moments... it makes you speechless ...
It is a city that you never let go ..we will always remember her as a very special expierence...IT WAS TOP !!!!
The tourplanning was perfect... also our visit to the Hermitage was a dream !!!! we were there in the morning and were the only visitors at that time !!!! we nearly had the Hermitage for us alone !!!! SUPER !!!! Eugene had the opportunity to make some exclusive pictures of our group !!!
we had finished wit the Hermitage, when all the other visitors arrived !!! incredible timing !!!! and I still can go one for a while , the subway expierence, the hydrofoil, al the palaces .... again IT WAS TOP !!!
IF WE HAVE TO CHOOSE WE DO IT ALL AGAIN WITH SPB !!!! and with Eugene & Sergej we did not regret it one moment !!!
Helsinki, our tour guide Corina ... was...I’m sorry to tell you...a very bad guide !!! (she was Italian, living only 5 years in Helsinki and
her English was terrible... !!!) we did not understood many things she wanted to explain... between 2 sentences she always said 5, 6 times
“EUHHHH” she had to search for every word, her timing during the tour was also very bad...
We have almost waited one hour on the bus ... before we could leave ..she told us that our ship had arrived on another pier ... that this was the reason that it was a litte chaotic !!! After three hours of her bad guiding we had enough of her ...
BUT !!! ...DEAR VICTORIA & Co WE WANT TO THANK YOU AND YOUR TEAM FOR THE WONDERFUL TIME WE HAD THANKS TO YOUR COOPERATION !!!
WE WILL TELL EVERYONE (incluiding our travel agency) THAT WHOEVER COMES DIRECTION ST.PETERSBURG, ABSOLUTELY HAVE TO BOOK WITH
SPB TOURS !!!!
THANKS AGAIN FOR EVERYTHING !!!
conny matthys, davie meert, ann heymans, john van droogenbroeck, gonda smetsers, marc sanders, jarno sanders, jens grammet

28 July 2011
Hello Viktoria,
As Robin and I said to you as we departed the motor coach in St. Petersburg, we were delighted with both excursions with SPb tours.
Firstly, our guide in Berlin, Sylvia, was everything a professional guide should be; knowledgeable about history, engaging with her clients, lighthearted and funny at moments, and informative about current events.  I only wish my history teacher in school had been as good.
Secondly, in St. Petersburg, Andrew led a fairly large group through several crowded venues  with unflappable ease.  He too had a sense of history and especially of art, as he displayed in the Hermitage. Such a likable person. We told him, after he said his major was political science, that we would be proud the day he became President of Russia.
Thanks you and your employees for wonderful experiences on our vacation.
Nicholas and Robin Rylander

28 July 2011
Viktoria and the team at SPB,
We just wanted to take a moment to thank you for making our trip to SPB so special.  We had the best experience one could ask for!  Our guide (Helen) and both drivers (Max and Alexi) were wonderful.  My congratulations to you for performing such a great service.  I will happily refer all to your company.
Thanks again,
Mark Funk and Albert Rubio
(in SPB July 11-13 Seabourn Sojourn)

27 July 2011
Wanted to take a moment to say thank you for a wonderful tour with Luba!  We will recommend you to all we know.  My husband also gave you a rave review on Trip Advisor, hope that brings you more business!
St. Petersburg is a beautiful place and Luba shared her love of it with us.  I hope to come back one day and see all the things I missed.
Sincerely,
Kim Diemer

27 July 2011
Hi Viktoria,
After arriving back in England from our Baltic cruise on the ms Eurodam I thought I would say thankyou on behalf of our party for the tour we had in Bad Doberan with tour guide Tobias and his driver. Tobias was very helpful and informative and nothing was too much trouble for him. The 2 day tour we took with you in St Petersburg with tour guide Elena and driver Max were fantastic, Elena was so knowledgeable, warm & friendly nothing was to much trouble for her.  Max was also very good with regard to helping us in and out of the car with my Sisters mobility scooter.
I would recommend you to my friends and family and would certainly contact  you should we be in an area where SPB tours operate.  I am attaching a couple of photographs and would appreciate you passing them on for me.
Once again thankyou,
Best Regards,
Dot Davison

27 July 2011
VIKA
WE ARE BACK HOME AFTER A WONDERFUL CRUISE WHAT MADE THIS VISIT SO SPECIAL WAS THE ST.PETERSBURG TOUR  OUR GUIDE LUBA WAS NOTHING SHORT OF SPECTACULAR .HER PASSION FOR THE JOB .KNOWLEDGE OF RUSSIA AND ITS HISTORY MADE THIS A TRIP TO REMEMBER WOULD YOU PLEASE EXPRESS OUR GRATITUDE AND WE WISH HER ALL THE BEST SHE DESERVES IT   GRANT& LORNA ROSS

26 July 2011
Viktoria
I  was also with Connie Canning on the shore excursion provided by your company in St. Petersburg.  Our guide, Helen, was so helpful, patient and knowledgeable that she made the whole experience a memorable one.  Even at lunch, she interpreted for us and helped with us figure out our rubles.  She was able to get us in ahead of the big lines at the most popular sites and having your own PRIVATE guide is much better than being in a mass of people.  I also want to complement our driver, Serge, who did an amazing job of driving us through heavy traffic safely and was always a polite gentleman who helped us our of the car when necessary.  Thanks again and please let Helen and Serge know how much we appreciated them!  Lois Bennett

23 July 2011
Dear Viktoria
I would like to thank you for wonderfull experience in St Petersburg on 3rd and 4th July 2011. The tour with well organised and professional. Special thanks to our guide Catherine. She was just great. A real treasure and best guide I have ever experienced.
Thank you
B&B Komlin

22 July 2011
Viktoria;
I have been negligent in sending this email and for that I apologize.  I just wanted to thank you and your staff for the great tours that we had in Berlin and St. Petersburg.  The 4 of us had an absolutely wonderful time and enjoyed the short time we had in both cities.
As you will recall we choose to have the private tour with the 4 of us, a guide and a driver. Tatiana and Alexi, in St. Petersburg were especially good.  Her knowledge and expertise was enlightening and Alexi got us around the city quickly and efficiently seeming to know how to avoid the traffic and congested areas. 
All in all we had great tours and we thank you and your staff for everything, from the ease of planning, the quick response to our emails, the ease of finding the tours at the ports and the great days we spent in Berlin and St. Petersburg.
I have recommended your company to our travel agent so she can pass it along to others who may be planning trips to Northern Europe. 
Sincerely
Don Anderson

22 July 2011
The tour in Berlin with Sylvia was wonderful, she was so knowledgeable
thank you for a great day!
Myra Brennan
U Need A Vacation, LLC

21 July 2011
Hi Viktoria,
„Vika. What wonderful guides and drivers you have. Maria (Masha) and Pasha in SPB. Alex for the fun tour. Triini in Tallinn. We had a great time.“ Susan Domanick DiLena

20 July 2011
Thanks again for our tours with SPB. Both were EXCELLENT! St. Peterburg was definitely the highlight of the trip! Such sunny weather you have! :)
Frank Berghuis 

20 July 2011
Hi Viktoria-
We got home early this morning and I have been thinking about our Baltic trip all day. St. Petersburg with Irina (hope that's spelled right) was such an amazing experience. She was such a wonderful guide. Our group of six all decided that taking the SPb was certainly a good choice. Keep up the good work!
Marianne Berghuis

19 July 2011
Hi Vika
Now that we have been back a couple of weeks I though i'd just e-mail and thank you and the team for a wonderful two days in St Petersburg.
We used SPB after reading reviews on the internet, but you can never be certain and there are plenty of tour companies to use.
To be honest the two days exceeded our expectations in every way. The itinerary was great, everything was well organised, lunches were fun and Luba was an absolute joy to have as a guide. Not only was she friendly and knowledgeable, but her enthusiasm for the city and it's heritage shone through. Her English was superb. We simply couldn't have asked for a better guide or a better tour company.
Some of our friends used one of your competitors and had a dreadful two days (at a higher cost!). The ships tours were also pretty poor by all accounts.
I will write a review at some point for cruise critic and will make a point of saying how impressed we were with SPB from start to finish. We certainly wouldn't have any hesitation in recommending you.
We will be back in St Petersburg at some point and will be in touch to sort out another tour.
Just a quick question. When we were in the St Peter and Paul cathedral we listened to a small 5 person male choir in a side room for a few minutes. Would you happen to know who they were?
If you want to use our comments as a testimonial please feel welcome.
Thanks again
Chris & Julie East

19 July 2011
Hi Vika!
We just returned home from our cruise and wanted to say we really enjoyed the tour that you offered.  Thanks for making adjustments to the schedule.  Our tour guide was wonderful and we enjoyed the smallness of our group (11).  I will put in a good word for you on Cruise Critic.  Thanks again Alan Helmreich

15 July 2011
Victoria:  I had a two day tour from Jewel of the Seas, me, my husband, my son and his friend.  I think around July 12 and 13  I just wanted to let you know that our tour leader and driver were both very good.  Helena or Elena worked very hard to accommodate the guests, and her English was wonderful.  You are very lucky to have her. Donna Heller

14 July 2011
Hi Viktoria
Thanks anthony, we had a great time today with maria. Look forward to another fun day tomorrow and we will post our ffeedback on the website when we reached home, Gabriel

13 July 2011
Vika,
it was nice meeting you and your husband on our recent trip. just wanted to let you know that the excursions to berlin and st petersberg made the trip and were spectacular, we have't been able to stop talking about them. the drivers were very good but the tour guides heather in berlin and elena in russia were both ten out of ten , i don't think there were any better in either country. we have already given spg pamphlets and info to four couples thinking about going on a trip to the baltic sea and northern europe or already booked, hope to see you on another trip sometime till then stay well   gary and sandy berger

12 July 2011
Vika - Is it possible to miss a person and a place that you know only too briefly??  I miss Luba and St. Petersburg more than I would have thought possible.  It is sad to think that I may never see them again.
My family and I wanted to thank you for the wonderful two days that we spent in St. Petersburg.  Luba was the absolute best and we felt as though we made a friend.  Nikolai was a great driver and I cannot imagine negotiating St. Petersburg without him.
SPb Tours made it all possible for us! Linda

12 July 2011
Hello Victoria,
Sorry I am so late in responding, but I have busy since our return.  We just wanted to let you know that our St. Petersburg active tour with Andrew (Andre) was excellent.  We were on the Celebrity Constellation on the June 15 sailing.  We were in St. Petersburg on June 21 & 22.
It was so nice to be part of a small group.  We were able to see so much.  It was amazing.
Thank you again for providing such an excellent experience.
Linda & David Iwahashi

12 July 2011
Viktoria, my wife and I just returned home to the USA from our cruise around the Baltic capitals. I just had to stop and take a moment to let you know how incredibly happy we were with the services of SPB Tours. We were escorted by Heather in Berlin and Elena in St. Petersburg. They were both fantastic!! Their enthusiasm and knowledge of the cities cannot be described. We truly walked away from both places feeling like we learned a lot and have fantastic memories. Please pass along to the entire team at SPB Tours the great job they do in satisfying the customer. I wish you all the best for the rest of the 2011 touring season.
Thanks again,
Aaron & Dawn Chatkin
North Carolina, USA

12 July 2011
Dear Viktoria,
It was very nice to meet you in St Petersburg!
We were are very enjoyed the tour what provided by your company
In four ports what our cruise stopped.
In generally speaking, we like the all four tours we have booked thru your companies only the one  in
Helsinki, Fenland is not worth but rest of three tours in Berlin, Tallinn and St Petersburg  are wonderful
Especially for Programs you have setup in St Petersburg which made us be most impressed  for the city of
St. Petersburg.
I will definitely recommend your company to all my friends who are coming this route in the future!
Thanks  & keep in touch!
Junyao Chen at
Dialogic Research Inc.

12 July 2011
Dear Viktoria,
I am writing to compliment the treatment my mother and I received from two of your tour guides during our recent visit to your wonderful city.
We did a two day tour with Eugene and the fun tour with Alexander.
Eugene took amazing care of us. I am a history teacher from the United States and constantly asked him questions about Russian history and culture, which he readily answered and even offered to keep in touch in case I had more questions for my classroom.  Being a teacher this is an amazing opportunity to have someone of another nationality who's own history is so intertwined with my own nation's history to give me the other perspective.  He was articulate, knew his information, and added the extra touches. (My mother wanted to send a postcard from St. Petersburg. She mentioned this the first day and Eugene made sure that she got the postcards to mail even making an extra stop at the end of the second day to accomplish this.)  She and I were both impressed with his knowledge and making sure that our needs were met.
Alexander made what seemed to be an impossible situation into a fantastic evening. I made an error and did not have the correct tour tickets to pass through immigration. The morning of the 5th, I was able to pass through immigration with only the reservation confirmation from Anthony.  That evening when we tried to pass through the border control, the officer would not let us through or contact Alexander. We had several people relay that information to Alexander on the other side. He printed us tickets and was able to hand them back through other Norweigan Sun passengers and we were able to pass through. (Border control was not happy with us, and I apologize if that caused you or him any inconvience).  The rest of the night he entertained us with stories, drinks, and songs.  It was a pleasure spending the evening with him.
These two tour guides would be highly recommended by both myself and my mother. I took Russian history classes at my university and experiencing St. Petersburg with these two guides brought those lessons to life. I appreciate the service I received and would highly recommend your company to any person traveling to St. Petersburg in the future.
Sincerely,
Rachel Harris

11 July 2011
Hi Viktoria and Anthony,
I would like to provide your some feedbacks as we just had your “Four Baltic Pearls Tour”.  Overall, we had very positive experiences with your program.  The tour guide, Shawn, in Berlin, was very knowledge, energetic , and professional.  The tour guide in Tallinn was also very friendly and provided the quality services.  The tour guide in St. Petersburg, Ekaterina, was the best one.  There were so much to see in 2 days in St. Petersburg, and she had her job well done!  She even went extra miles  to teach us some Russian, and accommodate our schedules.   We really appreciated her professional guide and services.
Please communicate our feedbacks/comments to your management and relate tour guides.  We wish you maintain the high standard, and being one of the best tour company in the region.  We definitely will recommend SPB tours to our friends and colleagues.  Actually, we highly recommended your company to some fellow travelers on the plane back to home. 
Best Regards,
Tony

11 July 2011
Vika,
„Viktoria, we had a wonderful time on the SPB 4 Baltic Pearl tour. Your team of guides and drivers are the best. We loved their passion for their cities and their in-depth knowledge. They really made the trip a lot of fun. Thanks for offering such a wonderful tour package.“ Pat Enderle

11 July 2011
Dear Viktoria
We have now returned from our wonderful  holiday made all the more special because of you and your staff. Maria was a terrific guide, very charming and most knowledgeable. She really brought all the history of your beautiful city to life for us and please pass on our thanks to her. The drivers were also very good and all timings were perfect. The ladies especially were grateful for Sergei’s(?) help in getting to and from the ballet. It was very nice to meet you at the end of our visit and we appreciated you taking time to check if everything had been ok.
We have told everyone what a wonderful time we had in St Petersburg and have certainly recommended if anyone is planning a visit they should contact you.
Thanks once again
Linda Watson and party.

11 July 2011
Dear Viktoria
We have just recently returned home to Australia and have already recommended you to our friends who will be visiting St P. in the coming months.
We are the couple whom you drove to catch up with the tour group on 24 June from the Eclipse.  We want to thank you again for such a great tour with Katya or Katherin(?).  It was one of the highlights of our 5 week trip overseas.  The only small thing we did not like was the van which had restricted vision for the person not sitting in the window seat.
You asked for suggestions re the itinerary - is there any way of including a visit inside St Isaac's Cathedral as the outside looks so stunning?
Wishing you all the best,
Peter and Mary Nelson

08 July 2011
Vika and Anthony,
Thanks to you, SPB and your wonderful guides for making our recent trip a wonderful one Thanks too for the chocolates and sparkling wine. That was a very nice, and unexpected, treat.
Our group of six thoroughly enjoyed the time we spent in St. Petersburg, and Elena and Slava were great.
In Tallinn, Trin was also wonderful on the walking tour. We really enjoyed spending the morning with her. She is a keeper.
Connie and Cheryl raved about Holly in Berlin as well, though their group did have an unfortunate experience with the restaurant at lunch, resulting in significant delays in Berlin that forced Holly to skip some of the sights on the itinerary.
Again, all the best and thanks for making our trip a very, very special one.
Bob Nesler

5 July 2011
Hi Vika and Anthony: I wanted to thank you for your excellent 2 day active tour. Victoria was the best guide we have experienced in all our cruising. Everyone complemented your company for its professionalism. Our group was very compatible and thoroughly enjoyed the tour..
Dave 

5 July 2011
Hi Viktoria,
It was so nice getting to meet you on our recent cruise trip to St. Petersburg after many, many e-mail communications (June 18 and 19).
We just wanted to express our gratitude and a big Thank You to your tour guides and your company.  We had a fantastic time with them.  This was our first time taking private tours as we have always taken the cruise ship excursions in the past.  I don't think we will take another cruise excursion again.  We were able to see so much more on the private tours and we learned so much about the history of the area. Your tour guides were wonderful.
We had a private tour in Berlin with Preston.  He was a congenial guy and you could tell he really loves living in Berlin.  We were pleasantly surprised by the city too.  We learned so much about the history of Berlin thanks to Preston and his vast knowledge.  We also had the pleasure of your husband, Steffen, as our driver. Boy, does he know how to manuever his way around Berlin.  He was in and out of spaces and streets like a Super Hero.   We all thoroughly enjoyed our private tour and history lesson with Preston.
For our 2-day tour in St. Petersburg our tour guide was Irina.  Serge was our driver. He was always there at the right moment to pick us up at the exact spot.  Irina was fantastic.  She got us to the front of the lines in the museums which was really nice as we noticed some of the lines were very long.  She knew exactly where to go at the Hermitage and everywhere else we went.  She pointed out so many of the highlights that we might have otherwise not noticed and missed.  We appreciated the private boat for the canal ride.  That was a nice touch.  We were all amazed at Irina's knowledge of the city's history.  We still don't know how she can remember all those names, dates and facts.   We had a wonderful time with her in St. Petersburg.  As my husband related to you on the phone, "our feet were on fire after the two days with Irina!"
Both tours exceeded our expectations and we will definitely recommend your company to our friends.
Thank you again for a wonderful time in these two cities. They were the highlights of our cruise.
Sincerely,
Walt and Karen McKee
Robert and Eileen Nolan

5 July 2011
Hello Victoria:
We are now safe and sound in our mountain home in North Carolina and although I already filled out a customer satisfaction form, would like to reiterate how great a job both Andre and Elaine did during our visit to St. Petersburg. St Petersburg was definitely the highpoint of our cruise and to no small extent to the private tour we received from your company.
I will make sure to put our opinion on the internet.
Regards
Norman Salas

5 July 2011
Vika,
Good Morning- We just returned home from our cruise during which we booked three excursions thru your company. I'm the one who filled out the feedback sheet at the end of our 2 day excursion in St Petersburg. On that sheet I only eluded to our last excursion with Luba. I apologize for not mentioning our other 2 tour guides, Derek in Berlin and Alex in the evening St Petersburg. Derek was very knowledgeable and provided us with much information and history. Alex made our "Fun tour" just that. The boat trip was great and he was very personnable.
Our group of 12 was very pleased with all of the bookings provided by SPB. Any of us would surely use your company again, and would recommend you to anyone planning a trip to your part of the world. The mode of transportation you provided was also top notch.
Thanks for helping to make our trip remarkable!
Regards,
Gay Meinke

5 July 2011
Hi Victoria,
Is there a way to write a review online for SPB and our guide, Elena.  She was absolutely fantastic and we wanted to let people know. 
Jim

4 July 2011
Anthony, I would like to arrange our lunch in Berlin the same way the following person did. She just returned from touring Berlin with SPB Tours. Hopefully Heather will be our guide, but either way could you please forward the following information to whoever our guide will be in Berlin. This sounds like the very best way to eat a great lunch without taking up too much time. And if our guide knows about it beforehand, it will make everything run even more smoothly.
"I organized a group of 16 for an SPB-Tours trip to Berlin on Sunday, June 12, and I also did not want to waste a lot of time on lunch, so I made that clear in my emails in advance. Then, when I met excellent Heather, our American tour guide, that morning, I also discussed our itinerary with her. She suggested that she pre-order for all of us, using the five most common main dishes at the cafe she planned for us to lunch at, plus the three most common side dishes plus drinks. She wrote this all down, and then phoned in the order; due to her initiative, we had an excellent lunch in 30 minutes. She also helped serve it to save us even more time. She is a treasure, delivering one of the best tours I ever have taken, certainly the best one-day tour, and I hope SPB appreciates what a fantastic guide she is!"
Thanks,
Cindy

4 July 2011
Dear Victoria and Anthony,
We wanted to thank you for the wonderful tour that we had in St. Petersburg with Andrew (Andrei) on June 21st, and June 22!  He was wonderful!  He has such a great wealth of knowledge regarding Russian history, is extremely pleasant, well-mannered, and thoughtful!  He was just fantastic!!  We enjoyed spending time with him as much as seeing your beautiful city.  Thank you again for arranging such a comprehensive tour and being so professional in everything.
Thank you again!
And, I forgot to mention Sergei, the driver!  He was also wonderful!  Thanks again!
Cathy and David Kitano

4 July 2011
Vika,
Thank you for accommodating us on our 2-day tour of St. Petersburg (June 8-9) on short notice.  Maria was an excellent tour guide.  She fit in very well with our 16, 18, and 20 year old sons and daughter, which I think made it more meaningful for them.  We saw everything we wanted to see in St. Petersburg and were able to talk to Maria about all sorts of things, since there was only 5 of us in our group.  We would definitely recommend your tour service to others, based on our experience.  Alexander also did an excellent job driving us around.
Gregg (The Rickerts from Scottsdale,AZ, USA)

3 July 2011
I just want to thank you for the great tour that Art, myself, Terry and Sue had in St. Petersburg with our great guide, Elena Skidan. She was really a most wonderful guide and we had a super time. We saw so much and learned so much. She saw to all our needs and could answer ever question we asked of her. She had a good sense of humour and understood the English language very well. We had been concerned about that but no worry there. The driver was also good as well. We will definitely recommend your tours to anyone we know who is going to St. Petersburg.
Thank you again and we will keep you in mind whenever we are going back to the Baltic region.
Jane Ramsay
Tour from June on Royal Caribbean.

2 July 2011
Could you forward this URL to Elena Volkova?
http://www.gummy-stuff.org/Baltic-cruise.htm#SPb
She was terrific !!!Many thanks for a most excellent tour:
Elena was fantastic and the tour was definitely the highlight of our Baltic Cruise.
Many thanks,
Peter & Heidi Ponzo

30 June 2011
Hi Vika,
thanks for the tour in Berlin and SP.  It was fantastic?  Will not hesitate to tell our friends going that way.  The guide is very good.  I still could not remember her full name in russian.  I just know her as Cath ......!
Ming K Thean

28 June 2011
Anthony:
We had a great day in Helsinki! Beautiful city and our best weather. We enjoyed our guide.
Give our best to your team.
Jeff Trader 

28 June 2011
Anthony:
Actually you have THE POWER! Just after I dent you my request for sun, THE SUN APPEARED. See attached.
Jeff

28 June 2011
Anthony:
Another great adventure today. Fun group.
Only one request: send more sun!
Please accept our thanks to the entire team at SPB. We are very happy to sing your praises whenever needed.
Jeff

27 June 2011
Anthony:
JUST GREAT! Eugene is excellent.
Jeff
 
27 June 2011
Dear Viktoria,
We recently visited SPB aboard ‘Jewel Of The Seas’ with the Kauffmanns.  Yelena gave me her email address and I have written a personal thank you letter but I cannot find the card Yelena gave me.  Please let me have Yelena’s email address.
Thank you for your very professional service during our visit, you all made it outstanding, a trip to remember – always
I look forward to hearing from you.
Kindest regards.
Peter Morton. 

27 June 2011
Dear Vika,
Just to say a huge 'Thank You' to you and your team for putting together our great tour in St Petersburg.  We all had the most wonderful 2 days sightseeing with our brilliant guide, Elaine, her knowledge, enthusiasm, friendliness and sense of fun made the experience the trip of a lifetime.  Of course, we must not forget Sergei our wonderful driver who got us around the city so well and who was always there to lend a hand helping us on and off the coach.   I can safely say that St Petersburg was the highlight of our holiday and we would not hesitate to recommend your Company to anyone travelling to the Baltic.
You have been a pleasure to deal with and we wish you and your Company every success in the future.
Kind regards,
Carole and David Rothwell 

26 June 2011
Viktoria,
Our group filled out a single feedback form, but I figured I'd like to contact you directly for some notes on the tour.  Hope you find this useful.
The guide (Elena) was wonderful.  Her command of English was excellent.  She did a great job of keeping the tour together.  She had a good sense of humor about fielding off-the-wall questions.
Both drivers were good, in my opinion.  I think the group opinion form gave the first driver lower marks, but in large part that was because one member of the party had undergone knee replacement surgery recently, and had trouble with the big step into the first day's van.
The restaurants were hit-and-miss.  The first day (Peterhof) was nice and the food was excellent.  The second (St. Petersburg, "pie" place) was a bit of a letdown.  They were out of several of the flavors on the menu, and had trouble getting the right order to the tables (despite the guide helping out with the ordering).
One minor suggestion I'd have is to allow some options during the touring.  For a couple of the people on our tour, seeing the inside of the fifth different church or third different palace/museum was a big deal.  I can understand that there will be people on the tours who are looking specifically for that, and appreciate every one.
For me, they all were starting to run together by that point.  I wouldn't have wanted to miss the first few churches, but towards the end of the tour it would have been nice to have had the option to do something different while the group toured the church.
For example:  across the street from one of our final day's churches (Church of the Spilled Blood, I think), there was a large craft and souvenir market.  It would have been great to be told, "we're going to spend 25 minutes in the church; you can come along, or you can meet us in 25 minutes back in front of the church." I'd have taken that offer, and saved the cost of one entry (which SPB could have kept.)  Such an option would be nice for the last few churches in the tour, not so necessary for the first few.
Chris Stassen

22 June 2011
We took the "active" tour on June 21 and 22 in St. Petersburg
Our guide was Andre.
Our driver was Sergei.
I have traveled around the world 100 times in my life, literally.
I have been to 70 different countries in my life.
I want to tell you that Andre was one of the very best guides that I have ever had in all of my travels.
Sergei was an excellent driver.
You have a great guide in Andre. I will tell everyone that I know that SPb Tours was a great tour in St Petersburg.
My two friends that are travel agents both used SPb in St Petersburg in the last month and both also say that your company was great.
I cannot say enough good things about Andre. He was excellent. I hope that you reward him well. He is a great guide and I have seen hundreds of guides around the world in all of my travels and I know what a good guide is. Andre ranks among the best I've ever had, even though he is very young. You have a great guide in Andre.
David Kitano 

22 June 2011
Hi Vika/Evan/Anthony,
Thought you'd like to see part of an e-mail that my Mom sent me.  I've posted it on Cruise Critic as well.  Feel free to use it on your website.
"Spent 2 wonderful days touring with our private guide, Catherine, and driver, Alexei, in a Mercedes, no less!!! Yesterday we drove around the city for awhile, then drove for about an hour outside of the city to see Peter the Great's summer Palace and Catherine the Great's Palace. ... Pretty impressive inside. The tours were flexible and easy going. I recommend this way of touring as you can squeeze in between several large groups and you don't have to stand in line for hours to get into these places. THANK YOU!!! I can't say that enough."
I guess this means that our journey together is over unless my husband and I ever come to Russia.  Thank you so much for everything.  I think it's safe to say that Mom is happy and that makes me so very pleased.
It's truly been a pleasure.
Sandy

21 June 2011
Hello Heather and Sylvia,
We all have securely returned to our respective home destinations and I want to thank you both for your contribution to the success of the trip.
Sylvia did a great job in introducing the group to Berlin. It was a great idea to do it by feet and public transport and all my fears went away with every kilometer we put behind us. We all have done many tours but mostly in boring busses with stereotype tour guides. What a difference to the sparkling Sylvia !! Very well done – thank you very much ! And seeing you again in the bus the next day was a real surprise – we all cheered !!
Heather did a great job in organizing the whole tour – (what would I have done without you ??) !! The composition of the museums and the tour of Potsdam were perfect. Thank you so much for the ideas, the administration and the personal involvement which was all very much appreciated. Potsdam with the private tour of the castle and your guidance in town gave the tour a “Grande Finale” !
You both have left the impression of two very professional individuals – loving their job and Berlin ! We all want to thank you for all what you did and we want Vika and Steffen to know that they can be proud and confident to have you on the team !
Warmest regards
Michael

20 June 2011
Dear Viktoria
We would like to thank you very much for the way in which your tours are organised; from the day when we made the first enquiries, and later answering our questions, right to the tour itself, it was all very professionally handled. It was a pleasure to meet you, and Elena was a really pleasant and professional guide, as well as very knowledgable. We thought St. Petersburg was a beautiful city, and would love to visit it again. We certainly would recommend your company to anyone, we had a brilliant time. Your website is very good and clear, a real pleasure to have dealt with everyone involved.
Thanks again, and our very best regards,
Elisabet & David Bedwell - (visited 5th & 6th June 2011)

20 June 2011
Thanks for a great tour. Far too much to see and simply not enough time. I can’t see how you could improve on it. Eleanor (small girl dressed in a bright pink medieval dress) enjoyed the palaces and boat rides.
Tim was the perfect guide – knowledgeable and humorous. The driver was very competent.
Regards
Mica
 

20 June 2011
Hi Victoria,
Sorry I didn't get to you earlier. I just got rather 'settled down' in Summer school now.
Just want to say a really big thank you for making our holiday really awesome. We really enjoyed the tour and tour guides (and bus drivers too!).
Thank you so much for everything and the surprise you gave me in St Petersburg!
I wish you and SPB Tours all the best because you guys are awesome and great at what you do.
Best Regards,
~Felicia R

20 June 2011
Viktoria
Katherine is the best tour guide we have ever been with.
We really enjoyed our two day tour.
Thanks
Don

19 June 2011
Dear Vika,
Again we want to thank you for the best tour we had during our 12 day holiday.
Your company , the guide and driver were the best we have had.
Thanks for the memories
Harold and Remy
Harold Wolf
President
ENDEC INC.

19 June 2011
Viktoria, Alex and Elaina
Hello!
I just wanted to thank you both for the wonderful time we had last month on our trip to Russia! You made the trip for us.  You were very organized, and also very educated on the subjects we wanted to know about. Your warmth and friendliness were also something I will remember when I think of your country.  For most of our lives, our government painted you people as the ones to be worried about.  I came away with a very different point of view, and I hope our countries become closer. I heard with dismay that our country is now sailing a missile frigate in the Black sea, and your government and ours cannot come to agreements on a missile shield.  I look at your country with a lot of hope for your future.  You need to get Western style banking to get your people money to work with on new capitalist projects.  You are all so educated, and have so many natural resources.  Instead of losing people, your country  could be advancing by leaps and bounds.  I know change happens slowly, but I think the future of Russia could be very bright. 
I sent a couple pictures that I hope you enjoy.  I will recommend your services to anyone whom you care to have make inquires.  Just have them e mail us, or call. 1  218 828 3618.
Again, if you ever get to the US, look us up.  We will show you a good time. You sure did show us a good time.
David and Becky

18 June 2011
Dear Viktoria,
SPb Tours is exceptional.   We are so glad that we choose your company and booked the Deluxe 2 day tour of St. Petersburg.   The tour was better than I could have imagined and Natalia our guide was a sweetheart, an amazing guide, historian, and a great representative of your country.  She filled our heads with so much information, our eyes with so much beauty, and our hearts with a special love for St. Petersburg.  She made St. Petersburg's building and past come alive.  It was wonderful having the personal attention that we received from Natalia and our wonderful driver Roman.  He is a great driver and a polite, caring young man.  We felt that everything was so well planned and organized that we felt like visiting royalty.
I really felt sorry for my fellow travelers that out of fear booked tours with the ship that were overcrowded, and gave them such a limited view of this amazing city.  I have already recommended this tour to everyone on Cruise Critic and will continue to recommend you to friends and family members.  This was truly a dream of a lifetime.
Sincerely,
Kathy and Norm Gero

18 June 2011
Spb,  We were so impressed with your tours of Berlin and St. Petersberg, especially Heather and Tim.  They added so much with their knowledge and enthusiasm.  I have already recommended you to a travel agent friend and will continue to do so.  Thanks again for doing such a good job!                           Sincerely,   Robera Hickman

16 June 2011
My party enjoyed our tour on May 30 & 31 with you immensely. The tour guide Elena was knowledgeable  about St Petersburg and had a very good command of English. We enjoyed the little anecdotes she presented and the stories about St Petersburg.
I will  highly reccomend your tour company to others going to St Petersburg. Herb

15 June 2011
Hi Viktoria
I wanted to make sure I let you know how wonderful Natalia and Paul were.  Natalia took us through the Heritage and showed us so much in such a short time.  We really enjoyed all of the sites and her knowledge.  Paul was always waiting with the van and ready to move us to the next site.  They worked as a great team.  I would recommend them without a doubt.
Thank you for making our trip so memorable,
Steve

15 June 2011
Arriving home from our HAL Eurodam Cruise, just a few words to say thanks to SPB Tours for the memorable day we spent with Preston & Steffen on our Minivan Jewish  Heritage Tour of Berlin. Preston was very knowledgeable & made sure we saw & learnt all we could in the short time we had.We enjoyed his dry sense of humour,& he skilfully answered all our questions. Once again,Many thanks.
Ruth Weinberger

14 June 2011
Hi Viktoria,
I just came back home last night, I just want to say thank you so much
WE have wonderful time in Berlin and St Petersburg,and Tallin our bus driver and tour guides are excellent.
IN Berlin a little bit scare but happy ending.
I will send you the servey
Could you give me email address of Maria , she was my tour guide in Tallin, because one of my friend have picture and want to send it to her.
again thank you so much.
Trang

13 June 2011
Dear Viktoria and Colleagues,
What a wonderful 2 days in St. Petersburg and not only because we were lucky enough to have warm sunshine which made everything so special!  Elena was a wonderful guide, both knowledgable and good company. Many thanks to her and Peter, our driver, for making us feel so welcome and taking the worry out of all the organisation.
It was so nice for you Viktoria to take the time to meet us both at the beginning and end of our tour, this is what makes your company very special we feel.
With best wishes to you all,
Judith and John Fogwill

13 June 2011
Hello Viktoria,
I'm back in Canada. It was a pleasure to meet you in person at the  end of of our tour in St. Petersburg. My recent visit on May 28th &  May 29th to St. Pertersburg with the Deluxe Tour has really opened my  eyes to the culture, the people, all the magnificent sites and the  amazing history of a truly great city.
We were very fortunate to have Elena as our guide for the two days.  She was incredible with detailed knowledge to every site which  enabled me to have a better understanding of the sites. We were able  to visit the Catherine's Palace, Peterhof Lower Park, Church of Our  Saviour , Peter & Paul Fortress. And on the second day the Heritage  Museum, Yusupovs' Palace and St. Issac's Cathedral and everything on  the the itinerary.  It should be noted that with Elena, we were able  to maximize our time there and not wait in the long lineups.
Our Classical Berlin Tour with Sachsenhausen on May 25th was also an  outstanding tour. Sylivia, our tour guide was also excellent. She was  able to give me a very good account of the historical background  information on Berlin. We were able to visit the Concentration Camp,  Brandenburg Gate, Berlin Wall and Check point Charlie as part of the  itinerary.
It was an incredible and wonderful three days with your Tour Company  visiting both of these two cities. I would definitely recommend that  if anyone were to visit St. Petersburg or Berlin to use the services  of Spb Tours.
Sincerely,
Harry C.  Victoria, B.C. Canada.

12 June 2011
Hi Viktoria,
Just got back and wanted to send you a message right away to say how very much we enjoyed our tours of Berlin, St. Petersburg, Tallinn and Helsinki.
Berlin (May 25 2011) was our introduction to SPB tours.  Our driver was at Warnemunde on time and easily visible.  He was not only a good driver, he made a great effort to communicate with us (bathroom stop was no problem).  Our guide, Sylvia sure knows her stuff!  She was friendly and well-spoken with lots of energy and enthusiasm.  I thought she did a particularly good job at the concentration camp, giving us information and answering our questions yet giving us moments of quiet to just absorb what we were seeing.  Very well done!  Berlin was interesting, lovely and historic and Sylvia’s in depth knowledge helped us enjoy it to the fullest.  Sylvia and our driver (I’m sorry, I’ve forgotten his name-Gunther?) were a great pair, getting us efficiently from point to point.
Tallinn (May 27) was delightful with Kati. She gave us a taste of the history of many sites, then would go into detail as we asked more questions, even sharing some of the experiences of her family. With such a large group, there were some who couldn’t walk very fast, but Kati kept us all entertained (as we walked slowly) with snippets of history and local stories. The only glitch in the tour had nothing to do with Kati or SPB...apparently there aren’t many public bathrooms in Tallinn and our group was mightily relieved when she was able to search out some facilities for us.
Then there was Saint Petersburg and the incomparable Elena.  I’m sure she’s done these sites many, many times, but you wouldn’t know it.  Her enthusiasm never flagged, and she was constantly watching us to see what we were most interested in. She answered all our questions with patience and detail, and the few that she didn’t know the answer to (a lawyer in our group asked about the economy), she had the answers the next day.  She effortlessly (it seemed) timed everything so that we didn’t feel rushed, yet saw all that we hoped to-and more.  The practicalities on both days were taken care of (bathroom breaks, lunch break) without any major disruption to the flow of the day.   The pace was just right so that we could catch our breaths and really take in what we were seeing, yet we were never waiting around. We really enjoyed the details that she shared of her life, in fact, later we all agreed that Elena seemed more like a friend than just our guide.  Her gentle sense of humour and sparkling eyes kept us all engaged when we began to get tired.
By the way, Sergei was an amazing driver-I’m sometimes a bit nervous when someone else is driving, but not with him!
You have to know that seeing St. Petersburg with Elena was one of the highlights of my life.  There are three places in the world I would like to re-visit and St. Petersburg is one of them!
Sorry this has gone on so long, but I wanted to give you some feedback on your amazing tours.  We took private tours in every stop on our trip, and SPB stands out from the others for so many reasons.  Viktoria, your professionalism and patience and attention to detail was so re-assuring when I was first gathering information.  Also, you or Anthony answered my emails so quickly.  It was apparent that the details were all looked after, and we truly could just enjoy and savour every moment.  And then you checked with our group at the end of our St. Petersburg tour-how nice!  Your tours exceeded our expectations in all ways!
Thank you for a marvellous experience with SPB Tours.
Susan

10 June 2011
Dear Viktoria.  My name is Lynn Pelly.  My husband, Brian, and myself took the SPb tour in Russia on May 17/18th.  We were on the Emerald Princess.  We were fortunate to have Victoria as our guide.  Both Brian and I want to tell you how impressed we were with your company, and how well you run it.  Victoria was absolutely amazing, and we would appreciate it if you again thank her for us.  Because of her, and the driver, Peter, we had, by far, the best time of our entire cruise.  Victoria was kind, organized, and extremely knowledgeable, and we learned so much from her.  She put so much positive energy into the tour, and wanted us to get the most out of everything we could experience.  Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!!!!!!!  I have recommended you to more friends going to Russia this summer, and if we can be fortuante enough to travel to the  Baltic again, we will be in touch for sure!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!Take care.   fondly, Lynn Pellly

9 June 2011
„Hi Viktoria, We recently went on the Baltic Pearl 2 day tour that you offer. It was superb! It was so nice that you greet the group at the beginning of the tour and then again at the end. It shows that you care. Thank you for offering a wonderful 2 days of exploration. We will certainly recommend you highly to others.“ Debbie Lum 

8 June 2011
Vika and Elena, thanks for the lovely tour.  The weather cooperated and we had great time.  We only regret not including Russian Museum in our tour, because Barb likes to paint and would have enjoyed seeing your collection of the Russian Masters.
Attached picture is of Fran, you and Barb
Andy

7 June 2011
Hi Vika,
Wanted to thank you, Ekaterina Samarina and Andrew for our fabulous 2-day Deluxe tour in St. Petersburg on 5/27 and 5/28.  Katja did a commendable job narrating the history and explaining the arts we visited in the numerous palaces, cathedrals and esp. the Hermitage.  I especially enjoyed our visit to Yusopov's Palace!!
We will always remember the hours we spent in your magnificent city; and will highly recommend SPB to one and all!  Sincerely,  Carolyn Mutschler

7 June 2011
Hi Anthony and Victoria,
We came back from our trip last Sunday and I just wanted to thank you for an amazing shore excursions in Berlin and S. Petersburg.
We love Svetlana.  She is an amazing guide!
Thank you again.
Wilma Ferrer & family  

7 June 2011
Dear Viktoria:
My wife and I have recently returned from a cruise on the MS Eurodam, during which we had the pleasure of using SP-B Tours for our shore visits in both Berlin (May 25) and St. Petersburg (May28-29).  I wanted to let you know how very pleased we were with the SP-B experience.  Your guides, Sean in Berlin and Albina in St. Petersburg, were very professional (but friendly), extremely knowledgeable, and thoroughly enjoyable, and they took very good care of us.  Your prices were lower than those offered by Holland America for similar itineraries, and I'm confident that our small-group experience (15 in Berlin, 8 in St. Petersburg) was much more pleasant than the larger groups that we would have been part of if we had been part of the ship's tours. 
This said, let me share with you a couple of observations about ways in which you could improve your service a bit.  First, the pick-up at the cruise terminal in Warnemunde was quite confused; the driver spoke almost no English, and he was hard to identify because he wasn't holding his SP-B sign up so that we could see it as we came off the ship.  Also, the van/bus that was used for the Berlin tour was very tight and cramped, especially considering that we had a three-hour drive each way between the port and the city, and then spent much of our time in the city driving around in the van.  A roomier vehicle would have made our Berlin tour much more pleasant.
But despite these two problems, our overall experience with SP-B was very enjoyable.  We will certainly recommend you to anyone we know who may be making a cruise visit to either Berlin or St. Petersburg.  Please feel free to quote any part of these comments in your promotional materials.
Sincerely yours,
John and Cindy Beukema
Minneapolis, MN, USA

7 June 2011
Anthony and Vika,
Sorry for the delay in writing you but we just arrived back home from vacation last evening and I now have Internet access again.
I wanted to thank you so much for our wonderful day in St. Petersburg, Russia.  Our groups truly enjoyed our day, and you live in a very beautiful country.
Our tour guide(s) there could not have been more perfect!  We all absolutely loved our tour guides, who gave each group a wonderful day and lots of memories.
There was a bit of lack of communication between what was previously discussed with Anthony on what was decided for the day, which was not communicated very well with
Vika and the guides, but we were able to get it sorted out between the restaurant for dinner and the 4 free tour leaders.  It would of been appreciated if this would
of been known to the guides before our arrival.
Thanks so much for your very kind gift.  It was unnecessary but so greatly appreciated, our group loved the chocolates, they were very tasty and so enjoyable
we could not stop eating them. 
You have been wonderful to deal with, and I hope to be able to  visit Russia again in the near future.
thanks so much for everything,
Shelley

4 June 2011
„I just returned from the Baltic where we took two tours with SPB-Tours. All of our friends were sorry they didn't join us because we had such fun at such a great price. Thanks so much!“ Paula Benson 

1 June 2011
Hi Victoria and Anthony,
I wanted to thank you again for our fantastic tour on May 13 with Lena. Did you hear about our ship after we left you? It broke down at sea for three days. I hear it’s still having problems and MSC was fined. It was the worst cruise company we have ever sailed with, but we were so pleased that our SPB tour was the highlight of the trip!
Here is the article about our ship:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/travel/article-1387896/MSC-Opera-cruise-ship-passengers-stranded-board.html?ito=feeds-newsxml
I wrote a review for you on cruisecritic.com, but it disappeared. I will write one again.
Also, when Lena took us for lunch at the crepe place, we had Tipsy Honey beer. We loved it. I have looked everywhere for this beer and can’t find it. We have several stores that import beer from all over the world. Is there a Russian name for this beer? I would love to be able to find it.
Thanks again for everything.
Kind Regards,
Anne White
Director of Marketing

1 June 2011
Hi Viktoria and Anthony,
Yes, we figured it out in SPb, and it all worked out fine. : )
BTW, Elena was WONDERFUL! In fact, everything associated with SPb Tours has been amazingly great. Even Max, our driver, and his vehicle were great too. So we could not be happier with the results your company provided us.
Thank you all so much for accomodating us (in both Berlin and SPb) and treating us like kings. We'll do the best we can to encourage our friends and family in the States to use SPb Tours for any European travels they may plan.
All the best,
Scott

31 Mai 2011
Hi Victoria and Anthony,
Just a quick note to thank you again for the absolute wonderful tour.  Elena was awesome and so very knowledgeable.  I was disappointed in the subway in that we had requested the tour be directed through the area(s), which were decorated with art and chandeliers.  My sister-in-law had told me that we “must” make a stop through this area of the subway.  I would like to inquire as to why this was not as requested.
My husband and I plan to return to St. Petersburg in the near future, and we will definitely contact your company again.  The subway was the only disappointment, the rest was perfect.
Thanks again,
Sandra Lundgren

31 Mai 2011
Hi viktoria, on our way back from Berlin! Heather was wonderful, full of energy and the whole group loved her! It was great to meet Stefan also. The driver, Claus has been great also. Thank you so much! Looking forward to seeing you soon and the rest of our tours! Thank you, Donna/Letz Talk Travel
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

30 Mai 2011
Hello,
My husband and I were in St. Petersburg on May 17 and 18, 2011 aboard the Emerald Princess. We cannot say how happy we were with our guide Yelena. I use a mobility scooter and were in a group of 16 people. I was never left out or made to feel that I was a bother to her. She has so much knowledge about Russia and the churches and museums we visited. She also has a lovely smile and shared that as well as her knowledge with us. We were greatly pleased.
Thank you,
Kathryn Tisdale

29 Mai 2011
I have lost the email for our tour guide and bus driver that we had last year. I hope you will be able to pass these pictures along to them or forward the email addresses to me.
Your 2 day SPb tour was a high-light of our 8 week European cruise and driving trip. We would recommend your company to anyone. The guide and driver were excellent--knowledgeable, efficient and fun. Even though it rained we really saw and learned a lot and would love to return especially on a sunny day. It was great to beat the crowds to the Hermitage and shopping and to have the bus park right beside the doors. The lunch was excellent and much better than in a crowded buffet with a huge bus of other hungry tourists. We hope someday to be back and will certainly use your company again.
Rosalyn and Jim Butterfield, Canada

26 Mai 2011
Hi Viktoria,
We had the good fortune to book with you for St.Petersburg, Berlin, Helsinki, and Tallinn. We were very impressed with the quality of the tours and the knowledge of the guides. Viktoria in St.Pete deserves special mention. After 20 years of traveling, she is at the top. Keep up the good work. We will spread the gospel according to SPB.
Thanks,
Lawrence and Mary Wenshutonis

25 Mai 2011
Dear Viktoria, Katia & Petr
On behalf of the six of us who recently toured St. Petersburg with you, I would like to say a huge thank you for making our trip so special.
Having arrived back in the UK from our Baltic cruise on the MV Aurora we can honestly say that our two day visit to St. Petersburg was truly the highlight of our trip, thanks to SPb tours. From the initial booking all those months ago to finally arriving in Russia and visiting all the magnificent sites, SPb have been so professional, accomodating and efficient.
It was our pleasure to meet you Viktoria on arrival in St. Petersburg and also thought how lovely it was that you took the time to see us off as well. The two day deluxe tour was wonderfully thought through to include so many amazing sites. Petr was the best driver we could have wished for, knowing all the best ways to go and getting us back to the ship in such a timely manner. We watched all the P&O organised tours arriving back late and were so glad not to have been sitting in the traffic!
Our biggest thanks goes to Ekaterina (Katia) and I ask that you please pass on our thanks to her. Her knowledge was astounding and she truly is a treasure. How she got us through the crowds to see so many magnificent monuments I shall never know. She was efficiency personified and we all loved her explanations of the artwork and buildings.
Once again, a VERY BIG THANK YOU, best wishes to you all and without a doubt I shall be recommending SPb Tours to other travellers from the UK.
Love from Lesley Stephenson
On behalf of Lesley, Paul, Pam, Dave, Allan & Sheila (UK)

22 Mai 2011
Vika,
Once again, another wonderful tour, this time in Berlin. Our tour guide, Holly, was professional, informative, interesting and with a great personality. Her vivid descriptions of places and people brought the history and culture of Berlin to life. She is a wonderful asset to your young and growing company.
A special thanks to Stephan for his kindness in understanding the problems with the van and compensating us.  It was most appreciated.
Thanks
Sue & Bill

18 Mai 2011
Vika,
I just wanted to drop you a quick note to say thank you for such a great two day tour of St. Petersburg.   Luba made that possible by her considerable knowledge of and interest of Russia, her great English, her wonderful personality and smile.  She is a real asset to your company.
We look forward to another wonderful day in Berlin later this week.  I am hoping that we get the same vehicle we had for this tour (16 passengers) as it made it so much easier to get in and out. 
Thanks again,
Bill and Sue

17 Mai 2011
Vika…. 
Our tour today of St Petersburg was great and Catherine was outstanding. We thoroughly enjoyed the tour. The one thing that would make our tour more enjoyable would be if the she used the walkie talkie all the time.   Her voice was crystal clear with the walkie talkie, but  when she used the microphone on the bus, the sound was  very muffled.  My husbands hearing is not the best, so if the sound is not clear, he can’t hear.   Again, we had a great day today and look forward to our tour tomorrow.
Thank you  Judy and Bill Manca

17 Mai 2011
Anthony and Viktoria,
Just a short note to tell you how much we enjoyed our tour with Elena and our driver.   Elena is just amazing.  It's clear that she loves her country and we were just astonished by her knowledge of the history of Russia.    Your tour offered us a chance to see a bit of everything - both old and new Russia.  Of course, we loved Catherine's Palace and The Hermitage, but also really enjoyed seeing your OKEN market, the subway ride, the pirogi lunch we LOVED and all the photo stops.   Russia is a beautiful country and we Americans are so happy that we now get to share each others' cultures.   I hope you all can plan a trip to America.  I would recommend New York City, Washington, DC, and then our beautiful states such as Colorado, Alaska, California, Florida - and Texas, of course!
I plan to post on Cruise Critic and TripAdvisor, but wanted to send you this note first.  
Many, many thanks for great memories from our trip of a lifetime!
Sincerely,
Bobbie and Paul Brodsgaard
 

Read more testimonials from 2007 - 2010