We got our visas through Zierer. And we arranged a private tour for one day through Radisson for our party of 7. We thought it a good value becuase we could then customize to what we wanted and didn't have to wait on others as has been mentioned. It wasn't cheap but I don't recall it being outrageous either. We had a driver and guide for the entire day and thought it well worth the price for the experience. I didn't know about Red October at that time - but we figured that we may never get back to St. Petersberg and so seeing exactly what we wanted to see was worth the price. We did do some ship tours on other days and though they were fine we didn't like the crowds and lines.