My wife and I selected this cruise to celebrate our 50th Anniversary with our daughters and their family and my wife's brother and his spouse. This was the fourth time we have sailed on the Silhouette, so we knew our experience on board would be outstanding. However, what really made this particular cruise for us were the above and beyond private tours we booked with independent tour groups. The most notable of all was our two day adventure in St. Petersburg touring with Alex's Tours.

Words cannot express our pleasure and appreciation for the two days of touring in St. Petersburg through Alex’s Tours. Our guide, Inna, was the very best, being most informative and excited about sharing the history of this very beautiful city. Our driver, Alexander, always managed to get our party of eleven as close as possible to each site visited. Alex’s Tours arranged for everything including tour visas. There were NO waiting in lines, there were no glitches. Alex’s Tours far exceeded our greatest expectations not only in the reasonable price paid, but also in the sites we visited and the time we spent at each. Travelers to any of the Baltic Capitals would most definitely benefit from choosing Alex’s Tours whenever possible. They cannot be beat!

Our tour included an overview of the city in our comfortable, air conditioned mini-bus down Nevsky Prospect passing Anichkov Bridge and Palace, the Fontanka and Moika Rivers, Kazan Cathedral, Admiralty, Winter Palace, Palace Square and many other sights. We then visited Pushkin to tour Catherine’s Palace, the Amber Room, and Catherine’s Park stopping for a traditional Russian lunch at a delightful café before continuing on to tour Peterhof and its numerous gardens and beautiful fountains, ending our first day with a tour of the Tsars Bathhouse. After returning to the ship to refresh, Alexander drove us to the Ballet where we enjoyed excellent seats and an outstanding performance of Giselle, before meeting Alexander again to return to the ship. The next day we relaxed on a canal cruise of the “Venice of the North” and toured the Hermitage including the amazing Gold Room. Following another delightful lunch we continued to tour the Peter and Paul Fortress where we visited the Peter and Paul Cathedral. Before returning to the ship we visited the magnificent Savior on the Spilt Blood Cathedral. Everything was included in the price quoted.