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We will be in St Petersburg for 3 days on a cruise ship (Regatta) in August 2010. Has anyone taken any of the tours such as Denrus? We are unsure about visas and the attitude of the cruise ship to the taking of independent tours. Are the 3 day tours very rigorous (we are seniors)? Does one need to take the three days? Any advice would be appreciated. SJF
St Petersburg
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We went to St Petersburg by train and needed a visa. The way I understand it is if you are on a cruise ship you do not need a visa. Check with your cruise ship company to be sure.
There is much to see in St Petersburg and I would encourage you to see everything you have a chance to see. It is a beautiful city.
I fyou are on a cruise ship and take their tours you don;t need a visa - since they have arranged it for you as a group. If you visit on your own from the ship I believe you do need a visa (which wold be organized by a tour you go with - or you would obtain on your own if you plan on independent travel). But do check with the nearest consulate on this - since my info is second hand from a neighbor who did this.
We did St Pet on our own via air and train and had to get out own visas from the consulate here in NY.
I have been to St Petersburg but not on a cruise, I cannot comment on whether the cruise line will obtain a visa for you if you join their shore excursions. However, I can tell you the Russia visa is a pain in the you know what, allow yourself plenty of time if you need to apply by yourself.
In St Petersburg, I recommend hiring a private guide, there is alot to see, and even three days isn't enough to see the main sights. If you have a private guide, you can tour at your own pace and you will definitely see more than you would on a ship's shore excursion.
Thanks for the information. I have been assured by two tour companies that if we take their tours we they will organise group visas. Also I believe the ship will do the same if we take tours with them. We are Australians so I hope this applies to us as well!!!! SJF
You will find plenty of advice on the Cruise Critic boards. Try this one:
http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=192
There has been some discussion there about some cruise lines actively discouraging independent tours by holding back passengers until all the ship's tour passengers have disembarked. They state in a letter (falsely it appears) that this is a Russian Immigration policy, but it seems that it has emanated from the tour company which provides tours for these lines. You might want to check if your line is part of this "conspiracy"
Be prepared to not be let out of their sight. You may do a more relaxed tour without the cruise ships' enormous groups.
I took a Baltic cruise a couple of months ago with 2 days in St. Petersburg. I made arrangements for a 4 person private tour with Alla Tours for both days and we had an excellent time.
We really got to cover a lot of ground because of our small group size, most times entering into the various sites in front of the large tour groups. Being able to decide how long we wanted to spend at each site was a plus too.
If you arrange for a tour on your own, the companies will arrange for the visas.
We did not experience any of the debarkation problems that I read about on cruisecritic.com. We received a form in our stateroom several days prior to arriving in St. Petersburg regarding tour arrangements and what time it started. After we turned it in we later received a note that told us to meet somewhere at a certain time. As soon as the ship was cleared we were in the first group allowed off and we met with our tour guide with about 15 minutes to spare.