spbstan

I visit Tallinn every 3-6 months and love Old Town but one trip was during cruise season. A strong bit of advice, go there directly, not on a cruise ship because of two main reasons:
1 Ships only allow a few hours ashore
 2 When several ships in in port, it get extremely crowded.
Fall winter or spring is very different and far more interesting. The city of Tallinn is pretty normal and not the attraction but the walled city Old Town is a delight when not overrun with tourists. All other times is is slow paced, friendly, and engaging. Walking can be a challenge with the wrong shoes, the cobble stone streets are frequent causes of falls so wear something that has some protection for the soles of the feet like leather shoes, light walking shoes made for smooth pavement will cause burses on the feet, and look at your feet to make sure you are landing on where you intended.  It is is a lively living community there, when not overrun by tourists, so pop into any shop, pub or cafe that is not crowded and you will make new friends, but in busy season no one has time to talk or relaxed enough to engage.   Of the Baltic region, it is only second to St Petersburg as fun and interesting destinations.  
Either be good at map reading or use a smart phone to identify where you are and where want to go because the narrow, winding lanes can really disorient you so you can't tell what direction you are heading.   All the cafes and restaurants or pub fare seems reasonable or about 1/2 of the cost in Finland or Sweden. I usually stay in single bed hostels rooms for $12-20 a night but the last time stayed in a hotel further away that was very nice for $40 but it was a pretty good walk to get to Old Town, over a pretty steep hill. Climbing over the hill with lush parks was really nice, west of Old Town Nice hotels in Old Town, are USD65-190.  During peak season they can be a lot more and it is more like DisneyLand than an historical destination for relaxed exploration it is for 3 seasons.
Overall off season prices are low, lower than anywhere in the Baltic except St Petersburg,  A bonus is Tallinn to St Petersburg by bus or train then bus is low cost and easy so spending a week in Tallinn and 1-2 weeks in St Petersburg.

On 9/11/2019 at 12:06 AM, IDKaren said:

Did you need a VISA in Russia since you were not on a ship excursion?? My paperwork from NCL says if you are not on a ship excursion you cannot get off without a Russian visa. Thanks!

The cruise lines say that to intimidate their passengers into booking the more expensive very crowded bus tours instead of St Petersburg tour operators. A lot of first time cruisers fall for that and cancel their private or small group tours, and end up with  a less interesting more expensive bus tour.
The ironic fact is that the only visa free entry allowed are tours conducted by federally authorized tour operators, so the ship has no right to conduct tours. They contract with a local tour operator to organize and conduct the tours.   
There are 44 countries that have visa waiver agreements with Russia so citizens of those countries can just go into the city center by bus and Metro(subway) for the 4 miles. Bus 158 goes right to each of the 4 double passenger terminals at the new port, and the fare is 5 rubles which is about $0.60.  October 1st 2019 a new visa process is introduced for St Petersburg where you an apply on-line 3 days before arrival and need no visa for 8 days in-country during its 30 validity. 53 countries are included that includes EU citizens but not Americans or UK. It is free, and simple. They have been testing the system for a number of years at Vladvostock in the far east and Kaliningrad which is in northern Europe. Next year it might include visits to Crimea and Sochi.  

There are many 1 day visa free tours for cruise passengers to choose from on CC's sister company Viator.
https://viator.com and just type in the destination city of St Petersburg and then select Shore Excursion.  There are many other tours but most are for land tours and not offered by tour operators who can conduct visa free tours for cruise passengers. 
As others replied, you will be kicking yourself when you return home for missing the main reason Baltic cruises even exist since St Petersburg is the gem of the region that has more to see and do than all the other ports of call combined.  
If you select a private tour, only where only your party are included, you usually can modify it for being as active or as relaxing as you wish.   I live in St Petersburg and the Trip Advisor Destination Expert so see how visitors interact with the city intimately and anything can be accommodated regardless of your interests.  This year, mostly from May  to late September we had 9 million visitors and next year because of a new electronic visa system for 54 countries will go into effect Oct 1 so we have been told by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to expect 12 Million next summer. On busy port days plus the thousands of Chinese nationals who arrive daily, some of the  must -sees are getting over crowded, since the majority want to see the same 8 destinations out of the hundreds of equally great destinations. If 18.000 arrive by ship on a day, and 40,000 Chinese arrive on the same day and all want to see the Hermitage and Catherine Palace, they can be much too crowded so check how many ships will being more your day of arrival. If you are flexible and visit the Hermitage late in the afternoon, after 6-7pm the crowds will be gone. There are no lines after 6:30 and it is a much more relaxed and enjoyable experience. Coming in the fall is another way of having a more relaxed experience, everything slows down, as the normal pace of the city returns until late spring. 
If you have any hobbies or special interests, there is likely some museum or activity related to it. Have a great visit!

• As others have said, there is little reason for local currency in any of these counties since the Scandinavian countries are going cashless and almost no one carries cash. The only place cash, coins, I have seen it needed has been pay restrooms, 2 euros,  in Finland. In St Petersburg where ships stay 2 or 3 days, cards are accepted everywhere except street vendors without business licenses who accept dollars, euros or rubles. It is highly discouraged to deal with street venders in St Petersburg because they are frequently involved with  pickpockets.The roving street vendors distract a visitor by waving some item in front of them while a partner targets the distracted visitor by removing their wallet or purse, unseen and unfelt. The same tactic is used in many heavy tourist areas of  Europe.
• Tips are accepted by guides and drivers in convertible currency such as dollars or euros. So it not needed to go to the expense of bad exchange rates given by exchange banks at local banks in your home country.  You can lose 10-20% on each exchange. Exchanging in the destination country usually gives a 1-2% spread between buy and sell..
• If using your home currency for tips be sure bring only clean unmarked bills because any torn, worn or marked bills are not exchangeable.  Any ink marks for example makes the currency worthless outside your home country.Even wear marks, such as lightening of the print on the bill, such as in creases.

For those planning in evening activities, have your tour operator set a return time of 10 or 11pm when booking originally so you have the option of staying out or returning to the ship. The itinerary is filed with immigration 4-5 days in advance to technically you are limited to the time listed in the documents submitted to the port. One tour operator just files for a late night return which gives the visitor a lot of flexibility. For people who have the energy after a long day of touring there are late night bridge tours starting at 01:30 to watch the craw bridges and nightlife. A lot is going on until about 06:00, with lots of people out on the streets. Many restaurants are open until 06:00 You ticket is not your visa, it is just used to help find your name on the documents filed earlier in the week. The company printing new tickets did not change the fact that the visa-free end of the day was set before you arrived. That document is your visa.

For St Petersburg: May was hot, June was cool and windy this year. May had clear skies all but 2 days. July this year was warm in the second 1/2 and early August has been hot and humid, in the 80s. September, for the last 10 years since Baltic weather changed so much is the best time, After September 1st all the kids are in school for a lot fewer families out with the kids. The cultural season starts up again so it is easier to great tickets for plays, operas, ballet or classical concerts in the 54 concert halls. The pace is more relaxed in the fall, Museums and palaces are not crowded, If there are cold nights the leaves turning color is a beautiful time in parks

It is too bad they did not give you time in the evening to explore, I guess the guide was tired. A few companies have pretty much free time until 10-11pm to do as you please. The city is safe and fun at night so exploring and engaging with the very friendly locals is the highlight of the trip for many.

There is a new rule in the port that on really busy days they want the ships to spread the disembarkation our a little so people don't have to wait long. The ships took in upon themselves to make the fast claim that everyone not booked with the ship had to wait hours. That is not what the port says and it is being addressed. They do not want to get the blame for the chaos on the ship. In mid-May a record number disembarked, 18,000 plus crew. The ships keep getting larger and more congested. The very worst is Norwegian Breakaway due to its size and lack organization. Holland America ships are telling passengers they can't disembark for several hours even on the days where there are not 15-18,000 disembarking.

The port has won the award in the port association consistently as the best run and efficient passenger port in Europe.

The ship has no authority to tell you when to disembark once the ship has cleared customs, usually 20-25 minutes after tie-down. If you want to be off fast, just leave.

But consider that nothing is open a 0730 or 0800. Getting off at 10: means the tour just ends later without driving around for a few hours.

One rule helps, that buses and vans should stay outside the port gates so there is no traffic congestion. The rep from the company will call the van driver and guide when their guests are through passport control.

This thread started with worrying about US warnings to not come to Russia for reasons that make no sense, it was purely political and had no possible increase in threats to people arriving. As all who came for the World Cup noted, it was the best, friendliest and best organized WC in history. Americans and Brits did not come but everyone else did and had a great time.

If the US or UK banned visitors it would make no difference to the cruise lines, here is a whole trend for South American, European, Asian visitors filling the cabins. More Brazilians came than Americans this summer, and far more Chinese, over 1.1 million, and they do not get discounts from cruise lines. The ships will not abandon their most profitable destination.

The WC had about 600,000 come for a couple weeks each and in the 11 cities games were held, there were no arrests, fights or any reported problems. It was like Carnavale every day and night. A lot of those first time visitors are already buying tickets and booking hotels for this fall or summer. Having the state department tried to hoodwink citizens into not coming got a lot of people angry by being deceived. By the way, St Petersburg recently was awarded the top destination in Europe, in a multi.factor ranking. It is and has been certainly safer than any large cities in the Baltic, Europe, or London.

It looks like TJ Travel has overtaken Alla and SPB Tours in total head counts. The big increase in visitors not speaking English has created a market for companies specializing in Spanish, Italian, German and Mandarin. The ships have has a windfall with all these countries that were not traditional cruising societies, most book with the ship since they do not know that there are alternatives that are cheaper and better. In a few years that will all change again since the saw all the small groups and private tours.

There are a few quick tests to see if it is plastic or amble but is really hard without tests because it both are about the same weight and appearance.

It is a very big sales item in St Petersburg particularly with the million or so Asian visitors each summer. Amber buying is a highlight of the trips for many.

Anywhere in the Baltic has some but Kaliningrad Oblast of Russia has about 90% of the worlds supply of Baltic Amber, one of the 5 types of amber and the one most sought for jewelry.

Generally everything is lower cost in Russia but prices vary a lot between stores. There are a few rules of thumb in buying

Fine Jewelry stores usually have the best items and offer documents of authenticity.

Gift shops are all over, some very elaborate and high end, with lots of amber-like items at low to high prices. If you see it hanging on a peg where you can touch it and it looks really good...it is a plastic resin which is almost indistinguishable from amber since they are both resins.

If it has identifiable insect parts, particularly wings or segments of wings, it is fake. Good insect encasement amber is the stuff of bidding wars between museums, not gift shops. Specks of sand, dust, and veins of minerals are good indicators of real amber.

If it is fashioned into necklaces or jewelry and pieces are very similar in size or shape, there is little chance of it being real amber since the pieces found are random shaped fragments.

I was hosting a visitor a few years ago, just showing her around when she decided to buy amber so I took her to the nearest store to look and she found a necklace she liked and was about to buy it when I interrupted to ask "while it is nice looking, do you really think a souvenir store is going to hang a real 30 piece necklace on a peg on a rack with 6 others, each priced at $5000, without being in a tempered glass case and an armed guard next to it? I would guess that 90% of the amber offered in gift shops plastic. The real amber is usually ignored because the affordable type is smaller and less flashy, and often yellowish as less finished in its transformation into transparent amber that needs many thousands of years to go.

But real jewelry grade amber is available in many jewelry stores and they will provide certificates from recognized gemology associations. It might not be any more expensive than the gift shops which create high prices of poor value.

Some of the gift shops have specialty shops just for amber and they usually do have some real amber of quality but at pretty amazing prices....amazingly high prices.

I would ask myself first, before looking, "do I want an attractive item of art or beauty in its own right or do I want an appreciating investment?" If the former I would look for what looks nice and forget whether it is real or not and negotiate a much lower price. If I was looking for investment grade amber, I would go to a certified gemologist. Gold is more common than true Baltic type Amber so it will appreciate but only if having certification from a major reputable gemology association. Personally, I think jewelry is a poor investment if the expectation of gain is in mind. Only the best pieces have real investment interest. It is like art, get it if you like it for what it is, not future value. The odds of a non-expert picking future winners in art trends are pretty long.

Ironing bills works where bills are not rejected due to any abnormality but they are either rejected for exchange or exchanged at very poor rates, like 30% of face value outside your own country. Look at your bills, do they have ANY marks such as ink or stains? Any slight tears or any white creases, they will be rejected in most countries for exchange. The Central bank will usually accept them but for that deep discount as damaged bills but regular banks, currency exchanges or stores won't. IF you are going to bring cash for tips and use US dollars or euros(no other currency is traded much so have less favorable exchange rates unless going to a very high volume specialty exchange bank that trades hundreds of thousands of those secondary currencies a day. Your bank which makes the exchange on CC use in a foreign country at the most disadvantageous rate of the day. The published rate is opening or closing rate but as active ForEx markets are volatile intraday rates can vary by 5-15% and close at the about where it opened. The banks take the most profitable price of the day to record the exchange. It is a whole division of the bank that generates a lot of profit for them while still claiming they have 0% commission but actually profit by up to 20% on the exchange depending on intraday peaks. The worst exchanges rates are found outside the country with non-reserve currency status. There is no good deal buying Rubles in the US or UK but you and get excellent rates from higher volume exchange banks in Russia, less than 1% fee. If you are going to buy small items, they usually are cheap enough to not worry about losing 5-10% by using the card but if buying serious artwork or furs or diamonds(some good deals can be had here, furs are much lower and excellent quality as is original art and jewelry), it is worth exchanging dollars for rubles in a high volume exchange banks, you can save hundreds of dollars pretty easily.

IF you bring dollars, tell your bank a week in advance that you want uncirculated bills. Some will not bother but try another branch if they balk. If a Russian goes to the back and gets US currency, it is uncirculated new crisp bills. Most bills printed never are circulated inside the US but are constantly being supplied to central banks around the world. That keeps the dollar afloat, by it being used between trading nations for trade settlement. If I go to my Citibank ATM here for dollars, every time it is new never used bills. So foreign stores and banks are very suspicious of bills with any ink marks or wear. I never figured out, why are most bills in circulation in the US marked with writing or ink stains? Why write on money, it might become useless in currency reading machines. I never see that on euros or Pound notes, or Chinese Yuan, the new reserve currency for a growing number of countries. Anyway, if it is not clean, tearless, or unworn, don't bring it. Giving it to the guide is like giving her a grocery list, not much use. Sometimes in the past, they would pool their dollars to give to a friend who was going to visit the US but that sort of travel is pretty rare now. If you want dollars or rubles for the guide and driver, there are banks that have dollar ATMs...CitiBank on Nevsky Prospect, AlfaBank which are all over, the central lobby ATM at the Grand Hotel Europe, and Corinthia Hotel on Nevsky Prospect and Lion Palace 4Seasons Hotel next to St Issac Cathedral are the ones I have used. Rubles from any ATM are going to be fine. ATMs that dispense rubles only are everywhere.

Interestingly when I called Chase to let them know of our travels, I was told that my debit card wouldn't work in Russia. Then my husband called separately and was told the same thing. Debit won't work in Denmark either. All other countries ok. We are planning on using cc for everything but just wanted to have a backup.

In Europe and Russia, Chip and Pin cards are the norm so if your debit card is not that type, there is a good chance it would not work. Most people in Russia use Debt cards almost entirely, they do not like debt, most have none but own their home debt free, 70-92% own their homes, in fact, depending on the region. So they are reluctant to create debt when not needed.

When I am back in the US, my Russian cards work in most stores but always are declined at gas stations because they use a quick address verification that is limited to zip code, but zip codes here are 6 digits while the gas station quick verification only uses 5 digits in the US. There is more separation of systems in the works as Europe, Russia, Middle East and Asia move to other systems. So people who travel a lot will need two types of cards, one for the Americas and one for the rest of the world. NFC is used almost everywhere, even the buses and metro(subway).

That is free evening extension for a few companies, just the cost of the boat tickets. Viator has several listed small group tours that at the end of the day give you the option of staying in the city after the tour for no extra cost and exploring(with the aid of an English speaking guide trainee university student. Anything you want to do; shop, dining, going to night musuems, concerts, jass clubs, river cruises on restaurant boats, a blues boat, or one of the most popular is just hanging out meeting locals in the popular socially active pubs. It is all free unless there are tickets involved like the restaurant cruise or a ballet. Here is the one that has been doing it the longest:

https://www.viator.com/tours/St-Petersburg/St-Petersburg-Shore-Excursion-2-Day-Small-Group-Introduction-to-the-City-and-Local-Culture/d908-7692P1

Next year is likely to be pretty crowded mid-summer in St Petersburg in the most request cruiser destinations. May is a lot less crowded than June and August which used to be the traditional month-long vacation time for Russian, this year has more bookings than every before for hotels and port calls. The two best months are May and September. May this year was the warmest on record, dating to 1728 when hourly weather measurements were started. Only 2 cloud-obscured days in May while June was cool and rainy. July has been pretty good but all this next week has rain forcast on some of the busiest port days of the year. September has fewer ships arriving, usually has good mild weather and is much less crowd because September 1 is the day, the most loved day of the year for kids in Russia, when they all return to school and greet their teachers with small gifts, flowers or even a poem. Kids seem to love school and their teachers. That means another 300,000 visiting family members are absent. By late September the cycle of frequent school field trips means more groups of kids are in museums and galleries. The kids are very well behaved so they are not a distraction in cultural venues. A late August cruise such that it arrives after Sept 1 is going to be a more relaxed and less crowded few days of exploration. European ships are arriving earlier and leaving later each season it seems. So April to the end of October is the cruise season now.

All the ports are highly variable for weather, rain or wind can come up at any time but if dressed for it, it is still pleasant. If you have a heavy museum/palace/cathedral itinerary, the weather will not make much difference.

One thing that struck me was how many people are planning to book excursions with the ship....it makes no sense to pay twice as much for a poorer more crowded experience. Waiting around for the slowest of 50-55 passengers has got to be very frustrating for younger family members. For 1/2 the cost you get a much more personal experience with any of 30-40 tour operators, all of whom have better reviews than the ships.

Russian tour operators are the only ones authorized to conduct visa-free tours despite what the ship says. They just buy bus tours from an ex-Soviet company Arctur. Many of their guides are 10 years past retirement age. Does anyone have a reason to pay that much for less?

That’s good to hear, John. Just came across it on tripadvisor when I was searching for excursions with children. Does $335 sound excessive for a private tour? And what currencies would we take on a Baltic cruise whilst you have the experience [emoji6]?

 

/quote]

If it includes lunches it is a normal and decent price, certainly better than the ship sold tours. There are many offered on Viator in that range or lower for private tours. The devil is in the details, what is included?

A lot more children are arriving in St Petersburg because more countries are represented in cruising now, and because St Petersburg has gained the reputation of being one of the safest and friendliest cities in Europe. The recent World Cup certainly added to that reputation. Because of the increase in families with small children most tour companies have family-friendly tours. Not many cities in the world have more kid-focused cultural programs, arts and creative facilities, or recreation for kids. If your child has a photo ID from his school they can even get into all the world-class opera, ballet and classical music concerts for free. One activity most remembered by kids is simply going to one of the hundreds of parks and go meet other kids their own age. Communications is not a problem if they are young. For those over 6-7, Russian kids that age have already had a full year of English in school. One of the prettiest palace estates in the city is devoted to children's creative activities after school.

Another large complex on a center quiet residential street is the St Petersburg Children's Technology Center. A perfectly restored 19th century massive building filling a city block is focused on any tech interest of childs, everything from computer programming to satellite communications to robotics to biology, Maker activities, sound, optics, lasers and anything else in science that a kid might be interested in building or experimenting with down to early ages.. The antenna farm on the building is so elaborate, few tech universities have such facilities. The amateur radio stations connected to those towers would be the envy of any adult geek..All for free for kids, just show up. Seeing 7-year-olds writing machine code for a robot is pretty intimidating.

It is not required to dress formally, it is in full daylight so the magic of the main ballroom is lost compared to fall and winter. A sport coat, leather shoes for men and a nice dress or pantsuit would be fine for women. For dressing up, one should come after normal tourist season, when most who attend the opera, ballet or concerts certainly dress for the occasion. Tourists have more difficulty justifying formalwear, hard to pack without having pressing or steaming services and seeing half the others in jeans and sweatshirts takes some of the potential glamour out of the occasion.

Flying into Berlin will have more price span with some real bargains, and Berlin is a very interesting city to visit. Arriving a day or to early is well worth the time exploring it. That is IF your preferred cruise is home port of Germany. Copenhagen is a better cruise starting point, however. So is Stockholm. Probably the best starting point are the few ships that start the cruise in St Petersburg which allows as many days before or after the cruise to explore, being the most interesting city of all the Baltic by far. The only downside is needing to get visas. Getting visas, however, saves a lot of money on lodging and tours so money-wise you would be far ahead by exploring in leisure on your own. It is a very accessible visitor-friendly city, and much less expensive than other Baltic ports..

As others have mentioned, Rubles are the only legal tender for commerce but it is perfectly legal to have and trade in currencies. The best exchange rates are not going to be banks outside the US, 10% is middle to low in the loss in conversion. There are specialty exchange banks in St Petersburg where all they do is exchange and are very competitive, usually 1% or less. No coins just bills, are accepted for exchange. The two best ones I know of are within a block of each other across the street from Moscow Station on Ligovsky street and Ligovsky lane. The latter is named Avangard Bank and does a lot of volume so rates are low and updated hourly. The other one is only 50 meters away on the larger street of Ligovsky Street next to Crowne Plaza Hotel. Other small exchange offices are not such a good deal, and some on Nevsky Prospect targeting visitors not familiar with foreign exchange are almost as bad as retail banks outside the country from which the currency comes. The worst place to exchange is at the airports where 25-50% loss is encountered. For small purchases or a meal, allowing your own credit card issuing bank make the bad exchange is tolerable but for larger purchases, go to the high volume exchange banks. Buying a fur, for example, can easily save you $200 in exchange on a modest fur or $1000 on a quality let-out fashion fur.

UK Pounds are not traded easily otherwise in Russia, unlike euros and US dollars. Canadian dollars are not easy to trade either unless at the high volume exchange banks. For larger tips such as multi-day tours to guides and drivers, US dollars or euros are gladly accepted. Euros are often saved for the next trip to Europe or Finland, if not exchanges in Russia. The general rule is if your exchange bank branch is not exchanging $100,000 or more a day in your currency, it is not going to be competitive in rate.

Another point that needs to be mentioned, only clean unmarked, unworn notes are going to be accepted. A US $100 bill if in circulation is not going to be accepted because of a strange habit of writing on bills as done in other countries. Banks in Russia only receive uncirculated new bills from the Central Banks, which is what you get when taking US currency from ATMs in Russia. You an still exchange marked or worn bills at the Central Bank but depending on the condition you will only get 30-60% of face value. Far more $100 bills are in circulation outside the US than inside the US.

Stan, Would you please provide specific information about how to arrange the opportunity to meet local residents at a pub or to tour for a few hours independently? I'm especially interested in the company using the tourism students. Thank you!

I am sure there are others. About 1/5th of recent ship passengers have been people from countries which need no visa(Russia has visa waiver agreements with 44 countries, an increase in 10 just in the last year) so a lot more people are just taking a taxi or the bus 158 to the metro station or into the city center.

Most of the ships do have a folk variety show but they are somewhat limited in cast and musicians. The most popular show is "Feel Yourself Russian" in Nikolus Palace. It is not very big so unless any wanting to see it, they should have reservations well before arrival. It is a fun light night of entertainment, although it has little to do with St Petersburg.Ballet opera or classical music is the "folk music" of St Petersburg. There are two performances in high season, the first one is pretty early so you might not have time to return to the ship to change, but the later one starts about 9pm and would allow returning to the ship for dinner, or staying out in the city to dine in one of the 11,000 nice restaurants that have opened in the last 15 years. There are a number of Jazz restaurants where the food and decor are very nice, such as 48 Chairs (yes, that is the name), or for real jazz fans, JFC Jazz club is a small jazz club that is for real fans, DownBeat Magazine rated it as one of the top 30 clubs in the world, not fancy but very authentic and excellent shows.

There are several season folkloric shows, the ships usually contract with those since they are cheaper and hold more people in a seating. Tickets or Feel Yourself Russian are about $45. It is going to be a better show than what the ship has. Some pretty talented singers, and especially dancers. There is a buffet at intermission that is included with the ticket price.

To answer the question, most do not allow backpacks, too many priceless items that could turn up missing or damaged by acid attacks that have plagues art museums around the world. There are cloakrooms in every museum, theater and restaurant so checking it can be done but if in a group tour the group would be needlessly delayed by going downstairs to the cloakrooms and leaving trying retrieve items left. Best to not even take it off the ship since you really have no use for it. If it for cameras, a sling strap and a general purpose wide zoom is really all that is needed so no case is needed. I usually take several lenses but hang the heaviest for a Black Rapid sling strap, a 70-200 2.8, and a wide zoom(14-24 2.8) in a belt pouch. You really do not need long FLs, getting wide enough is the challenge. Be sure your tour operator arranged for camera permits in each museum.

Traveling around the city with less is better than trying to cover all bases by taking everything you MIGHT need. The same restrictions apply to large purses.

No, I am not associated with SPb Tours, nor would I want to be. That is my old nickname from 15 years ago I have used in forums all that time. I am an American living full time in St Petersburg 17 years, 18, in a month. I have worked with various companies, as a consultant or even contracted for software development for 3 companies for internal office automation, such as ticket generation and port documents filed before every port call that is the actual visa free entry process. The tickets sent are really just to show the passport control officer which logo to look for to consult the correct list for all the tour operator sponsored guests. Each tour operator submits details of the tour and the passport information, dates and timing and a copy is placed in each passport control booth, 32-36 duplicates for each tour operator, for each ship.

I know a lot about all the companies who go to the port regularly and as I mentioned, never seen the signs or port lists for that one new company.

I see a lot come and go, predating all the companies except Red October and arriving about the time Denrus was started. As independents those were the only two but Denrus was a ship contractor also as their primary focus. I was not until Denrus created the first small independent group tours that more than 5% of the passengers booked with independents. Guides who worked for those two split off over the years and started little startups out of their apartments and with only cell phone. Now there about 130 companies. The companies mostly split on who their customers are. The US based visitors primarily use a few that started in the late 2000s, 3 of them primarily they started with the intense promotion by forum spamming in the period around 2008 with fake referrals and one had a full time staff to just do that. It was pretty successful, generating millions in profits, but the spamming hurt credibility of the forums so a little effort was put on cutting it out. Notice any time a question comes up about a tour, the same 5000 post people pop up and push one company? If one had been to 50-100 ports, why 90% of all their posts concern recommending one tour operator in just one port? It made no sense, still doesn't.

I was the first one to develop the Trip Advsor presence in St Petersburg, the forum had 1 post per week or less until they had someone who answered all the questions and it became the main go-to place for visitors wanting information about St Petersburg. That was about 2004-5. So I imaging some have read my posts answering questions there at the first designated Destination Expert. I post a lot less there now that there is a large self sustaining community there now, with lots of guides posting and using to seek clients. I got a lot of hate mail when I caught spammers posting fake reviews, same here. One of the big three was caught using the same text, and link back to the site, and glowing reports of the owner.....and nothing about the "tour" supposedly taken. She does not do that any more but that is how she got going and now is probably the most reputable of the big companies now.. One is the least reputable of all the tour operators, most are in the middle, small 1-2 person businesses started by a guide, and perfectly capable of a highly personalized quality tour. I usually recommend the small guide services,although shoestring operations, that is how to get personal service. My GF is a lawyer and young lawyer and I see how much effort she puts into making it personal.

I hate to see that all shut down when Arktur cuts off access to the port for independent companies. With no competition the ship tours just get more expensive, more crowded and less personal. 44 Countries now have visa waivers with Russia so those citizens are coming a lot more, particularly from South America, and just getting off the ship and hopping the bus at their terminal and heading to the metro station, and in 10 minutes standing on Nevsky Prospect. I use the bus myself and every single day I go there, there are a few families or groups of friends doing just that, so I have given the same instructions on how to get the bus, buy subway tokens, and where to go once we arrive in the city center. The number of countries with visa waivers has increased by 10 in just the last year, and despite the record poor relations with the US and UK, much of the rest of the world looks very favorably on Russia and trade agreements and closer ties with many countries has resulted in much more tourism. First visitors are reporting back how great it is to visit and how well they were treated, which just generates more visitors.For land tours, Chinese visitors outnumber Americans now. If Arktur shuts down independents, it will hurt the passenger counts but increase the profits, with people who can't get the personalized tours anymore will be more favorably inclined to just come by air.

But the real miking goes on in the roll calls where you see someone, a new member post a comment about a great deal they got for a group and there was still a couple seats left. Dozens of people jump on it. These posts start about 10 months before the arrival date, and often means 10-15 vans are filled by the arrival date and the original poster has drift off or reported their father in-law was ill so had to cancel. I know a woman who created that and had a number of people working for her doing that. There were a lot of roll calls to cover, but it represent millions in extra profits per year.

But Americans, as the total share of the market has decreased yearly since 2010 or so, with a 2015 where where they represented only 35%of passengers down from 85% replaced by Asians and southern Europeans. Now the ships are filled with a united nations of nationalities. This year, despite the wall to wall negative fake news about Russia, Americans are back, up to about 55%. That is still a lot because the ships have gotten so much larger, many are twice the capacity and they are full. India and the Middle East represent a big growing segment. The explosion of the middle class in so many countries in Asia and Central Asia means the cruise lines have tapped into an almost unlimited market. The middle class in China now it the largest in the world, and ironically also has the most English speakers of any country other than India. These people have entirely different channels of communications so the spamming of forums that focused on US and Canadian travelers had no impact on sales to these new groups, and new tour operators who specialize in those languages, particularly Spanish are getting a lot of business. Much of the new cruisers are using large booking agencies instead of tour operator web sites, and one of the biggest is Viator which was purchased by the company that owns Cruise Critic and Trip Advisor. So the biggest competition for the regulars pushed on CC happens now to be CC's parent company's new division.

It is interesting to watch, and see both behind the scenes and the public side. Sometimes they do not match much;>)

There is a lot of confusion and questionable information given, mixed in with good information...and always is the case on any topic.

There are tour operators who have free time options, which usually after the day tour, by choice one can stay out in the city center or return to the ship with the rest of your party. Often, people are really tired by 6pm since they have been on the go since getting up at 6am. But some prefer to stay in the city center. Technically they need supervision but that is a pretty broad term. One company I know of has college students who are going through the tourism program in college as escort to lead one to shopping or restaurants or whatever they want and meet up again at an agreed time to head back to the port. That is a free option. The suggested activities include shopping, fine dining, jazz clubs, dance clubs, walking around exploring,river dinner cruise, a pub crawl, or just sit in an outdoor cafe people watching. Of all the options the most popular is going to some social place like an English style pub and interact, chat with locals. That seems to be what people enjoy the most. It IS fun because Petersburgers are rather social and well traveled so enjoy conversation with visitors. Most patrons of pubs are like all evening activities, young university educated people and usually outgoing, fun and speak English. In pubs or trendy cafes, you will find that most customers are young women, who seem to be more social, and gather with their girlfriends for an outdoor or roof top terrace glass of wine, or pubs. Pubs are social centers, where it is normal to strike up a conversation with anyone. St Petersburg is the most educated city in Russia which is the most educated country on earth. You probably will not meet anyone who does not have a college or university degree, by age 20. The best thing about St Petersburg is the people and it is a shame most visitors from ships never have direct interaction with locals. When read to return to the ship the escort is met and using public transportation(about $1.50 total per person) or a taxi, about $8-10, return to the port. One of the most popular entrances in the evening is the Faberge Museum and palace and another is the climb up St Isaac Cathedral's colonnade which offers spectacular views. Great opportunity for photographers to get shot with fewer people in the way that is a problem during the day. No charge for any of this but it is nice to tip the escort. They will know where to point you to for what you want to do, for example shopping, away from the expensive tourist shops. If you want specific advice, just ask. I know the laws very well, and practical application of them as it pertains to cruise visa free visits.

There are evening programs with free time however, and also specific tours during the day that include a few hours of free time to do as you please but then meet up with your guide to return to the ship.

I am doing the Baltic this summer, September 1st on the Norwegian Getaway, with my husband. I did the same cruise here 3 years ago with a friend. We toured St Petersburg with TJ and can't say enough about them. We had no problems entering Russia with our tour tickets which provided a blanket visa. The fly in the ointment is that Norwegian has informed me, by phone, that we must have a Visa, not tickets, to board the ship in Copenhagen. I have asked them to put that in writing however, after a week, have no response from them. TJ tells me this is the first time they have heard of this twist. Has anyone else encountered this problem?

The ships want you to have no choice either. The ships more and more are being booked by people living in countries that need no visas so they will only increase. The visitors seeking Spanish, Italian and Mandarin language guides has increased by a factor of 20x over the last 5 years.

Another problem for next year is an expected price increase of all the museums and sites, the World Cup will bring millions more visitors and tickets will be big demand. They already increased about 50-80% from 3 years. There is far more demand for tickets than there are entry totals available. It is more important than ever to choose a cruise and line carefully, smaller ships and off days will make it much less crowded. It took 3.5 hours to disembark from Norwegian Getaway this morning! That is average this year for all their port calls. 4300 passengers plus about 1500 crew disembarked. They docked at 7:00, cleared customs at 7:20 and there was a steady stream until only private tours were left, at 10:45. Pick a smaller ship if your want easier and earlier access. to your tours. 263 port calls this summer, mostly concentrated on Tuesdays and Saturday arrivals. That is a heck of a lot of people who are going to be in the same exact rooms of the Hermitage or Catherine Palace.

So in summery, no, you do not need a visa to leave the ship, but you must be received by an authorized tour operator.

I never heard of RedSun, no contact information on the web site except a cell phone number. I was just curious when seeing a number of rave reviews of tour operators who were not even working the season last year, and I have never seen at the port. Admittedly I am not there every day but enough to know all the tour operators who meet guest there. Maybe she is working as a guide for another company or goes by a different business name.

Basically, all tour operators in St Petersburg get high marks. Checking her prices on the web site, she sure is not cheap, about $40-80/per day per person higher than others. With the ruble weak now, should be bargains out there.

One key in having a great time is shopping for number of destinations. Most of the 2 day programs have pretty much the same items so those destinations are crushed with crowds. If you have any special interests, design the itinerary around that since there are real museums for any taste that are a lot less crowded than the big 3, Hermitage, Catherine Palace and Peterhof. Catherine places is the biggest variable, you might request it but not get it the day of the tour. I see that a lot, since it increased the number of entries allowed last year from 7,500/day to 15,000 but the number of visitors has increased a great deal, and the cruise ships coming are much larger and more in number so daily demand for Catherine Palace tickets is about double those available. It is not unusual to hear a guide telling their clients that "Catherine Palace is closed today because of some sudden event" because no tickets were available. Also, tour operators have to reserve their appointment times and prepay by the 20th of the month before arrival. But they can't reserve them before that date either. When there were 170 ship port calls and the largest ships were Star Princess, it was easy to get tickets but this year there are 263 port calls and the ships are getting gigantic. Norwegian GetAWay for example had 4,300 disembark this morning plus about 1500 of the crew, and there were 5 large ships in port arriving the same day. Everyone one of those passengers wanted to see Catherine Palace and a lot of them are not seeing it due to tickets.

Packing a tour with must sees means a rushed tour, it has to be, with little or no flexibility to linger in a place you like more than others. It is precision timing running from place to place to get in all the destinations on the more comprehensive tours.

Before booking a cruise, check the cruise port calendars to see which days do not have 5-9 large ships in port. It can make a very significant difference in the enjoyment of the tour. This year, after sever overcrowding in June last year, most of the cruise lines shifted their port calls to later in the summer thinking they could avoid the crowds that generate fights between tourist in the Hermitage a few really crowded days. So they made it worse, while thinking they were moving to less crowded days. They all ended up on Tuesday and Saturday arrivals, resulting in even more crowding. The Confederation Cup Championships that just ended brought hundreds of thousands of additional visitors in June.

So design a tour about your preferred pace, pick arrival dates with fewer events or other ships in port, for example a Thursday arrival arrival will mean any place you went to visit will have less crowding and ease of ticket reservations.

By focusing on sites and topic of interest to you, like concerning a hobby, or photograph or architecture you can have an unhurried uncrowded authentic experience without the cattle herding, or come in September when the weather is great, kids are in school and crowds are not a problem at all. The cookie-cutter 2 day excursions, essentially identical between the companies, are not the only choices, indulge your interests. If, for example you love art...there are real options that will please you and no one else on the ship will have experienced it. If contemporary culture and life is of interest, again, great options and low costs which are not crowded. Be a bit more creative. And don't forget evening activities, when the real fun is found: pubs chatting with outgoing fun locals, exploring the 11,000 quality restaurants opened in the last 10 years, a river dinner or blues cruise, ballet, opera, classical music, parks, shopping, people watching in the hundreds of outdoor cafes meeting locals who speak English to compare lives and experiences. You can have a lot of free time in the evening. Some museums are open late, and better seen at night like Faberge Museum and palace, St Isaac Cathedral, or just walking to streets and exploring. That is when the city reveals itself most.

On a sad note, this might be the last year you have any choice in tours. The independent tour operators day's are numbered. The passenger port has been turned over to Inflot, a old Soviet era port operator company that owns Arktur, the company that has almost all the ship contracts in St Petersburg and it has been a goal for years by them to stop access to the port by independent tour operators and now they have that ability for the first time and have announced plans to drive out the "pirates" as Arktur calls all tour operators conducting tours. They want all tours to be sold through the ship alone so the tour available will be large bus tours for a lot higher prices. The ships have wanted that for a long time but had no legal way to stop federally registered tour operators from hosting visa free tours. They seek to return it to the days when 95% of passengers were herded into 55 passenger buses. More will be known towards the fall but Arktur's director was pretty happy about the changes in an interview in the paper recently. Their plan apparently is to simply not permit tour operators to come to the secure port and receive guests, and guests can't just leave the terminal unless received by an authorized tour operator. But that does not impact this year, 2018 likely however.