My husband and I will be in St. Petersburg on a cruise in late May for two days, and would be most appreciative of any recommendations of guides in that area--websites, email addresses, etc. Also, would we need to get our own visas, or would those tours include a group visa? Thanks for any information you can give us.

My understanding is that when you come with a cruise you receive a temporary day visa from the cruise line for traveling with the group tours. I'm not sure if this is valid if you go off on your own. I would check with the cruise line to see what they provide.

I'd recommend taking a look at the www.cruisecritic.com boards, lots of folks over there take private tours and may have more up to date referrals.

When we went a couple of years ago, whether you need a visa or not depended on the company you selected. Typically the less expensive outfits required you to have your own personal visa which you have to apply for directly with the Russian consulate at $100 per person. The cruise ship does not supply you with a visa, if you go off with them you are covered under a group visa.

Some of the others did not require a visa, you were technically under a visa with them which meant you could leave the ship with them but could not wander on your own. I think Red October is one of the companies that does it this way and I think Denrus is another.

See the following site for information about visit to St Petersburg for cruise ship passengers:

http://www.russianguidenetwork.com/new_page_58.htm

We used Olga during our cruise last June, following recommendations here and on other forums. She was terrific and very reasonably priced. We were very glad to have made arrangements with her. She quickly got us into everywhere we wanted to go (even the Treasury at the Hermitage) and provided excellent commentary (she has quite the collection of licenses for venues). We especially enjoyed the canal cruise. Our cruise was Moscow to St. Petersburg with Viking Rivers. Viking provided visa applications with clear directions and our visas were received promptly. After being with our "group", setting off on our own with Olga could not have been more fabulous. She met us at the ship both days and was full of wonderful recommendations and suggestions. You can e-mail her [email protected]

I can't say enough good things about Olga---she's exactly what djkbooks says.