spbstan

If you are buying anything of much value, use local exchange banks to change dollars or euros for local currency, you will save 10-20% in exchange compared to your bank. Buying a fur or art work could save you alot. About the only places in Russia which do not have credit card merchant accounts are street vendors, who have no fixed prices either. You often get better deals going to stores, which all have fixed posted prices.

If you are American citizens, you can apply for the 3 year multiple re-entry visa so that solved the problem. A double entry is "required" to enter twice, which is what you do each time you pass through passport control from the ship. BUT Immigration officers usually permit both entries, especially when with an organized tour.

For just one night it seems like a lot of expense, but the 3 year visa costs the same as a 72hr transit visa so it is a bargain if you plan to return.

The main street will be very crowded, many visitors don't venture away from it on foot so staying right on Nevsky Prospect is not recommended. 1-2 blocks north or south of the main street will be much quieter and more pleasant to walk around at night. There are so many events, festival, World Cup, and large symposiums this summer, being a little further away might be much more pleasant. It is going to be packed this summer, particularly on Tuesdays and Saturdays.

These strangely worded raves about a solo guide sounds rather suspicious as if someone is overly eager to promote a new small business. If she has gone on her own and gotten federal registration than it has to appear on her web site, the MBTXXXXX number is the registration number.

First off, guides are not full time employees and in fact only one company every had guides as employees, and all the rest use freelance guides, who ever is available that day. Some guides buy tickets for cruise shore excursions from one of the ticket agencies that sells them for 1500 rubles or so but that is not really legal, it is under the table and the actual sponsor is the unknown-to-the visitor ticket agency. There are thousands of tour operators with MBT numbers and 130 or so who are registered to enter the port. Of those only about 30 actually have regular tours and provide shore excursions as their specialty. In recent years there are is a higher percentage of tour operators specializing in foreign languages other than English. Some which are very active and have been for years just aren't mentioned on forums and reviews because they work through agencies. The number of non-English speaking visitors in the last few years has increased a lot. particularly Chinese, Italian and Spanish, and a lot fewer North Americans are coming to St Petersburg yet total visitors goes up a lot every year. There is an expected 20% increase this year over last which was a record. 263 port calls just at the main passenger terminal are scheduled for summer 2017, whereas last year had 203. Plus the ships are getting larger.

The increase in all types of visitors has really created a strain on some destinations. And this year the ships did not do anyone any favors by coming on the same days. For example most of the ships arrive on a Tuesday and few on other days except Saturday, meaning a lot of cruise passengers will not get to see Catherine Palace, on some days where there are 5-8 arrivals, pulse other types of visitors, there just are not any tickets available. Same with folkloric shows and ballet. I have heard guides tell groups that they were going somewhere else because "Catherine Palace is closed for tours today" by the dozens, when it was just they they could not get tickets. One ticket agent cornered the market so is charging 4000 rubles to tour operators on the busiest days instead of the normal 800 so that is an increase from $14 to $71 per ticket. As a result of the situation with Catherine Palace, many if not most are planning to drop that destination from their itineraries.

The ruble keeps getting stronger so expect all prices to rise before summer. Today the Ruble was 55 to the dollar and last year is was 68, and increased 16% just since the new year. That means some are going to lose money on tours purchased a couple months ago. Many of the companies are pooling group members into single vehicles, so a number of tour operators combine their visitors so the van or bus is full. Souvenirs will probably be higher all. All the museums increased prices this winter, some by 10-15% and some by 40-70%

Don't bother with companies, focus on interests and style you want. For example are the kids interested in some interest or hobby, or have interest in art, architecture, history or contemporary culture and daily life, or recreational activities? The larger companies feature set itineraries, none optimized for kids, they focus on very large groups divided into 15 passenger vans, all on the same route and timing.

The RCCL tours are usually 50 passenger buses. The primary difference is 15 versus 50 members, and price. If you want something more individualized to fit your family start designing your own tour. There are lots of guides and smaller companies who focus on customized experiences. What the kids want will be very different from what the ship or larger companies focus on. You and the kids might want something more free form without a strict itinerary, and lots of free time, or an itinerary optimized for a particular interest. Some offer free time in the evening where you can do as you want when you want to do it on your own, which might be attractive for your personal group. All the tour itineraries were developed over years that catered to the interests of people in the 50-70s, the great majority of visitors on cruise ships. They were also developed to cater to the interests of Americans because until a few years ago, 70-80% of cruise visitors were American because that has been the most popular way of foreign travel for Americans for years. Only in recent years have cruisers diversified and far fewer Americans are coming. You will see more Chinese, Indian Central Asian, Latin American and European visitors now arriving on cruise ships. World economics have changed and styles if recreation travel has changed. But the tours are still the same 8 destinations everyone sees, so they are VERY crowded but the city and its very diverse range of attractions, is not experienced by most cruise passengers. A few museums are no fun anymore because of the crushing crowds, and best visited on days when no cruise ships are in port or off season. The greatest museum in the world is a top choice, the Hermitage, for example and it is large enough to accommodate 15,000 people at a time but cruise tours all seem to arrive and follow the same limited path through a tiny portion of the 1005 rooms that are open in the Hermitage. It has gotten so densely crowded in the few rooms everyone sees, like the French Impressionists that the Hermitage got rid of them, transferred all the most desired 19th and 20th century European art to the General Staff building, which few if any cruise tours include. When 10-15,000 cruiser passengers are being shuffled through the same rooms at the same time, usually right at the beginning of the day, the vast majority of the wonderful exhibits are in rooms with few if any visitors. Catherine Palace is also on the standard must see list for cruisers and it has gotten so crowded and tickets so hard to get many will be dropping it next year.

So decide if you want a a traditional tour or one that is created around your interests, and whether you want a private small group of just your family. What Would you like to do...some just want to explore without firm time table, shop, take photos, meet locals...there are LOTS of kids your daughters ages who speak English, in fact most know some English so interacting with them might be interesting for the kids. From my observations over years, not many kids have the same interests as 50-70 yo for whom most tours itineraries were designed for.

If for example you like art, there are dozens of major galleries but the Hermitage will be extremely crowded unless on a day when only one ship is in port. But the largest gallery of Russian in the world art is just a couple blocks away and no cruisers visit the State Russian Museum. St Isaac is grand but very crowded since almost all cruisers visit it but there are dozens of cathedrals that are open and have no entry fee, are working churches and without crowds. There are so many exciting interesting activities that are not on the cruise tour itineraries if you want a less than crushing crowd in every destination.

A few of these posts sound very suspicious as not coming from visitors, just as some others promoting the same established companies day after day for years not only sound but ARE suspect. It is instructive in web promotion by looking at the posting history of some with thousands of posts, it is curious how 90% of the thousands of posts are hyping a particular company. It does not makes sense when someone has only visited once, and claims dozens of cruises, and 90% of posts are promoting one particular business and defending it when anyone questions the company.

Real visitors write about their experiences of the city and cruise, not some provider they have direct contact with for mere seconds while their credit card is being charged. It makes as much sense for a restaurant review that focused entirely on the cashier being so nice, a great value and was responsible for the wonderful meal. If they mention the owner more than their experience it is surely a fake review.

There are a lot of questions unanswered. The cathedral does have services now. The church taking over will change a lot. They announced the staff of 400 will be reduced to 40 which means it can't be kept in as good of condition and the continuous restoration processes will end. If the church follows with their tradition with other returned churches non-Orthodox will be allowed in and there will be no charge. That is fine in the winter but in summer 8000 or more people a day visit, most of those on organized tours with prearranged entry times, led by guides who passed exams conducted by the museum.

Without qualified guides or licenses the experience will be much different. The other cathedrals which are open to the public free have very few visitors because there is little information provided and in those that have posters with information it is solely information related to Orthodoxy and not the history, architecture and art contained. If 8000 or more a day try to enter, typical for a summer day, the church really will have to limit access since there will be no organized groups or coordinated entry times.

Kazan Cathedral is right on the main street and passed by thousands of people per hour in the summer but very few enter, most never learn they can enter since it is not publicized by the church.

There is still discussions regarding Church in Spilled Blood returning to the Church but there is much less validity to the claim since it was only part of the church for a limited period of its history. It was a private memorial paid for by the Tsar's family.

As it is, few attend services in St Isaac because few people live in the neighborhood and for the fact that more churches are open than worshipers. A lot of people are members of the church but not many attend any services, mostly elderly and they attend in residential neighborhoods. The city center has a large number of churches but the outlying residential districts have few churches, where most people live.

As it sits now, I would guess that only small private tours would offer St Isaac Cathedral and not larger group tours from the ship contractor. For cruise passengers, Church on Spilled Blood is the higher priority and most requested. If that one returns to the church, there will be more disruption in tours. Both of those are high maintenance locations so they are likely to not be maintained as well as they are now with restoration experts on staff.

There are a lot of experienced tour operators handling shore excursions but most work through agents so you don't hear of their names. The who field has changed in recent years and a shift in passengers. In the past, up to 80% of cruise passengers were American since that is how most Americans travel to foreign destinations but for a couple years they have not been coming very much, only about 30% last year but there were about 22% more visitors with 15% more ships arriving. The Chinese middle class have discovered cruising, Italians, German and various Spanish speaking countries now represent the other 70%. A lot of guides are studying Spanish and Italian and a number are studying Chinese because they are paid about 50-100% more for Chinese tours.

Also the big change is large booking agencies have become the most common way of booking shore excursions, with Viator, which is owned by Trip Advisor which also has Cruise Critic. Those tours are sold without reference to the actual provider, so 70-80% of cruise passengers booking independent tours do not even know what company is hosting them, but the tours themselves are reviewed and overall tours from all the companies are getting good reviews. A few companies became popular 5-6 years ago primary due to hyping on Cruise Critic, on of the most well known used full time boiler room style "cruiser" postings to hype on forums but with booking agencies now, fewer people are using forums for referrals so the most hyped saw dramatic drops in bookings. One used to have 10-15 15 passenger vans filled each ship and for the last two years was down to 2 or 3. Another one most mentioned moved its office to Istanbul Turkey so much of the most common repeat referrals, some "cruisers" have chimed in 2000 times to recommend the same company. The fact is that all of the 130 or so companies registered at the port and hundreds of individual guides who buy port access from ticket agencies provide pretty much the same tours with the same destinations because there is very little different to offer. The reason is that cruisers tend to want to do the exact same itinerary as those who came before them. There are hundreds of museums and restored palaces but the few everyone requests have jam packed interiors because of all 16,000 cruisers arriving on a typical Tuesday or Saturday(the 2 busiest arrival days) all want to see the same identical itinerary. If you are interested in anything else, you are in luck, there is a lot to see that has no crowding at all.

Some destinations are so over crowded due to this me-to tour planning that it has really started to negatively impact the museums and the experience. Catherine Palace used to have a limit permitted of 7500 tickets a day but last year, due to demand, they increased that to 15,000 a day. It is not like the Hermitage with over a thousand rooms and many paths through it, there are only two routes and which one you get in Catherine Palace is up to the museum, but 60% of both paths overlap. So it is single file with all groups following the same narrow path. The guides and tour operators would love to drop Catherine Palace because it is a pain to deal with and they keep raising prices. They are going to double it this next summer after a 35% increase last year.

For a better experience, create a custom itinerary and don't use the cookie cutter itinerary because it will be crowded. Even the gigantic Hermitage which can accommodate 15000 people at once is uncomfortably crowded because the route used by all tour operators is the same, so of 15000 people inside, 12000 are on the same route and filling the same rooms, leaving 880 rooms empty of visitors.

So decide what you want, compare tours that seem different for a better experience, and those others are likely to be lower priced also. Look on tour booking sites for the reviews of the tour itself and not the tour operator since they are not listed by supplier name. That is why tour operator names reviews mean very little in recent years. The ones which were popular 5-6 years ago are not the same as those 10 years ago or last year, although most using the same itinerary for cruise passengers. Tours have evolved to be provided the same way hotels and flights are booked nowaday, through big booking agencies. The biggest difference between any two tours is the guide but since they all work as independents, they work for all the companies. They might work for 20 different companies during the same summer. In tour booking, Viator.com come has grown to be the Amazon of tours in just a few years.

April is a great time for museum exploration, low density crowds, and still spring hotel rates. If you want to get a visa and are an American citizen you can get a 3 year multiple entry visa for the same price as a 72 hour transit visa. But you want to avoid the visa, check back periodically about news of a new proposal to allow 72 hour visa free entry for all tourists arriving by air.The rule has been proposed and it might be passed before this summer.

Otherwise consider the cruise on St Peterline from Stockholm or Tallinn which also offers visa free for up to 72 hours.. If you have interest in possibly returning, most people who visit do, the 3 year multiple entry visa is great. It means last minute 2-3 day getaways to St Petersburg any time when you find yourself in Europe is an option without prior planning. The 3 year visa allows single entries of up 6 months after which you must leave the country but can come right back in the same day for another 6 months, if you really wanted. A surprising number of people do that. Have a great visit

If coming on a cruise you can select the day when the fewest are visiting. On a busy arrival day, such as Tuesdays have 2-4 times as many ships arriving as a Monday or Wednesday. Find out which day all the ship sold tours are visiting the Hermitage and go the opposite day.

The cruise tours almost all go though in a 1 hour period before the opening of the museum but those are stricted routes through the museum, and very crowded. Individual land visitors usually queue up at 10am, then the line shortens about 1pm and builds again shortly there after and late entry, in the last few hours is usually less crowded. Buy tickets from the machines in the courtyard or on-line to avoid lines. They are a lot more on-line but a 1 day ticket on-line gives all the Hermitage administered museums included(no one can see more than 2-3 unless they are really quick and can get around to different locations in the city quickly)

If you are serious about museums, galleries and cathedrals you will use your visa during non-cruise months. It is an entirely different experience when leisurely strolling through in any order at any pace and not be bothered by impatient groups pushing you out of the way. Right now is a great time to visit cultural features of the city. June and July are not good at all. Last summer there were fights in lines due to short tempers of visitors due to overcrowding. In fact on a least one occasion the police shut down the entry to stop the commotion.

One difference also in the last few years, Americans who are used to cruising , really stopped coming to the Baltic. For 15 years around 80% of cruise passengers were American and almost no Europeans and Asians were arriving by ship. Now, it is about 30% or less are Americans and the greater number of larger ships means a lot of people are from Asia, Central Asia, the Middle East and Europe, particularly Spanish and Italian speaking visitors, and most are on their first cruise. So total visitors by cruise ship and land visitors, have increased a lot and next summer will likely be even more crowded. There are 263 large ships port calls next summer, a 20% plus larger ships, and more land based visitors will likely increase about 15-20%. Avoid the second half of June and July. Late September is a good time for a cruise visit.

With twice now in a row St Petersburg being voted the best cultural destination in the world, and the ruble weak making it a bargain(but increasing in value,10% rise in just the last 2 weeks), expect heavy crowding like never before in the mid and early summer. In the fall and early spring if winter is not your thing, although winters have been pretty mild for 10 years running, flights are a bargain so come on a more relaxed land visit. Hotels are cheaper, real bargains, no problem getting tickets to operas and ballets that would be almost impossible in June and July(the theaters are dark in August). With the weak ruble, restaurants are a bargain and 11,000 new restaurants have opened in the last 10 years, most of those in the last 4 years.

If you are coming on a cruise ship you can still spend all day in the Hermitage without getting a visa, lots of small companies or individual guides can get you off the ship visa free. You do not even have to stay with a guide, so you would be better off moneywise and logistics wise to just arrange for a visa free pro customized "tour" which would not even require a car. Just take bus 158 that visits each terminal every 30 minutes or less.

For real museum hounds, visiting the Hermitage Storage and Restoration facility in the northern part of the city, is fascinating. A large portion of the collection is in that facility and you can see not only that exhibit but also some of the restoration workshops. The workshops are where the collection is maintained and museums from all over the world send works of art or antiquities to be repaired or restored with its world leading restoration technology.

The cathedral was always owned by the church until the revolution and most churches and cathedrals have been returned to the church over many years. Kazan Cathedral for example had been returned years ago. St Isaac was expected eventually to return to the church, and had been delayed by the old governor and the current governor delayed it once but suddenly decided to return it. Kazan is still open to the public but few visitors even know they can just walk in without paying for a ticket. The big question is how would the church handle the demand from visitors,their other cathedrals are seldom visited by tourists. A protest might work however, although it DOES belong to the church based on policies in place long before the current administration.

Several years ago, the Gazprom natural gas company,one of the largest companies in Russia got permits to build a gigantic tower office building across the Neva River from Smolny Convent which sparked protests. The company spent many millions of dollars on site preparation and had major political clout. The protests including petitions and eventually the historical preservation organizations and citizen groups won, and Gazprom gave up and are building one across the river from the Marine Facade cruise ship terminals. It is all by itself and looks huge from a distance.

So there is a good chance that non-religious will protest and eventually win out. If the church receives their cathedral back, how it would handle visitors would be a problem they would have to work out. As with Kazan Cathedral, St Isaac would probably only be used on special religious events so would be open to the public as often or more than now.

The other church that is in discussions is not so clear cut, Church on Spilled Blood. That was never really a church until relatively recently, being built as a memorial fully funded by the royal family. Services where held there until closed in the 30s due to falling in to disrepair. After the war it was restored, a process that took over 27 years but was never consecrated as a church. It is administered by St Isaac Cathedral museum admin. If that one is transferred to the church, they might run into legal battles because it never belonged to the Orthodox Church. A major protest would be mounted if the governor gave it away.

People will still be able to see churches that are working churches but there would be a dress code, no shorts and women would need a scarf. Many such churches offer a wrap to cover shorts as visitors would walk in. You can visit hundreds churches for free in St Petersburg, some have very pleasant choirs and they have the unique bell ringing patterns that signal messages to the parishioners. The St Isaac Cathedral Colonnade would probably not be open however which would mean the great view access would be restricted. There are about 300 narrow steps to reach the first level so it not recommended for general tourists anyway. Every year a few tourists have heart attacks when climbing, not realising it is a quite strenuous climb.

I think you misunderstood, cards are settled at the end of the day at the worst rate of the day. I deal with conversions every day and if you do not mind losing 10-20% of your money in conversions using cards that is fine but for those who make larger purchases like tours or higher end gifts it becomes substantial. Multiple conversions increase the hit even more.

I keep two currency accounts, one in US dollars and the other in rubles and make note of the current rates, over a year it can be $10k-30k difference.

Those living in non-US dollar denominated countries are familiar with the juggling when prices are quoted in a local currency and conversion is automatically done when you use a card. The only legal tender is the local one, so conversion is automatic on every transaction and against your favor.

If paying for a large purchase, say a $1000 tour for 2, in Europe or Russia, paying in local currency is going to happen no matter how you do it, nothing else is legal, so I was suggesting you can save a lot by being in control of the exchange rate instead of letting banks take a big bite out of your buying power. If that does not matter to you, the advice did not apply to you but saying it is nonsense when it is clearly not, and is accurate does not help those who are more careful with their money.

To the OP, I would not suggest any cash other your local currency plus a little for getting to an exchange bank or ATM. Changing dollars to euros in the US is going to mean a lost in conversion with poor rates. Rates for currency trade are much better in countries that deal a lot on various currencies. Never exchange at airports or the exchange kiosks, unless you just want to give away money you did not use on the return leg.

Countries that deal a lot with foreign currency generally have lower margins since they are dealing in a lot of volume. Using credit cards is convenient but two banks make bad exchange rate conversions on each use so you lose 10% or more If there is much intraday fluctuation in the Forex market prices, your bank will use the worst(for you) rate of the day, and the best rate(for the bank) when it is settled after hours. A volatile currency, like the ruble and pound can swing 20% a day even if it closes where it started. You take the 20% hit even if the rate closed at exactly what is opened at. Dollars are strong right now compared to pounds, euros and the ruble but the ruble has been steadily increasing in value so bargains are not quite as good of bargains as a few months ago.

This is all interesting - I see from another post that RCI ( Serenade of the Seas) have a leaflet saying that if you have booked a private tour you must wait in the lounge till the ship's tours have left. They even claim that "Russian immigration officials have advised that priority is given to those with RCI tour booked"

 

This seems to be extraordinary disinformation coming from the company. Does anyone have experience of this? Needless to say we will now just ignore this instruction! ;)

That is something ships and their port agent got in trouble for in 2009. Once the ship is cleared, about 20-25 minutes after tie-down, immigration and the port administration have invited you to present your documents. There is no priority to ship sold tours and who disembarks and when is of no concern of the immigration officials, just that all those coming ashore do so as quickly as possible so officers do not have to man the inspection booths all day. Just be prepared to leave as soon as the gangway is opened, you have the right.

A few posts were giving wrong information. There are not just two inspection booths, but 6-12 open in the morning and you can get into any of the lines.

If going on an independent tour, leave as early as possible because getting stuck behind 1500-2000 people going on ship sold bus tours tend to be very slow due to chaos both on the ship and once they are off the ship.

Those taking ship sold tours usually did no research and have no clue as to what they are going to see and also are not sure where to go or what to do to join their buses. You can tell instantly who is on a private tour and one on the ship tours by their alertness and knowing more of what to do to get off the ship and join their group.

Each immigration officer has a list of all the independent and private tour members so the ticket is used only as a clue as to which tour operator list to look for the official sponsorship, checking passport details and you are done.

When in port, pay attention to what the tour operator and immigration officials say, not the ship cruise staff. The crew however are to be listened to for safety issues while on the ship, cruise personnel on the other hand have little knowledge what is going on ashore and are likely to give bad information like the claim that the ship sold tours have priority due to immigration request.

The best way to find a good guide for a tour is find any company you like and ask them for a kid friendly guide. All the guides work for who ever calls them since they are independent agents but book early because when a guide fills up their calendar they are not available. That is not Quite how it works, in reality the companies tell a guide to block off dozens of dates because bookings but in reality those booking are not usually there yet, if ever. Only when the date approaches do they find out they did not have a group so then scramble to find one. So the best time to book is very early and fairly late when a lot of guides have found themselves without a gig that day.

The guides are fighting back, they have a password, invitation only vKontact.ru club(Russian home grown version of Facebook with 100 million members) where they share information and gossip and are taking more control of their own work. By sharing they are finding which companies are trying to lock them in when they do not have a tour for them. There are about 2,500 guides and hundreds of companies. Same with vans, all independent agents.

The mag cards are phasing out, but some merchants are slow in adopting the newer card readers. The risk of using an old style card is being stuck with no cash and not able to access a ATM. I have seen that many times this summer. In fact one family was in a big argument with a tour operator who refused to let them join their group because they had no way of paying. A fellow cruise passenger came by and paid for them. When traveling in another country I make it a point of having positive access to funds, by having 2 or more different types of cards, to advise the issuers of the foreign travel, and carry enough cash to assure basic needs can be taken care of without the cards. This year, in Russia, do not depend on cards. They may work or they might not with out of system cards because a lot of western banks are not approving transactions.

This is more of a problem for land visitors since they need to interact with many more merchants. A cruise might only require one transaction per port, if that., so following rules of thumb based on very limited use of cards is risky.

Yes, Len, I agree everyone has a little different reason to visit a place. I have been to NYC a hundred times and never went the Statue of Liberty but spent a lot of time exploring and getting to know the local people.

Focusing on history from 1703 to 1917 of St Petersburg and missing out on the people and society is the point of my question in the first sentence.

It is just surprising to me that 16,000 people on a busy port day want to limit their engagement to looking at the same very crowded 8 points of interest. Staying home and getting a photo-book would meet the same goal. Visitors ought to ask themselves why they are going before planning their cruise

One point that should be brought up, is a personal question to ask yourself. What do you really want from the visit? If it is a list of must-sees to be checked off or is the visit to learn about a new place and its people or figure out how it tickets and have fun. I see most people want the exact same destinations because that is what others suggested but do you really go to those types of activities at home or is art and history your passion and seeing some of the must sees a dream long before someone on a forum said you must see a particular palace or church?

When everyone follows the same path, that path is horribly crowded. When everyone thinks 9 entrances is better than 6 despite the 9 are a rush and the 6 might be what you would like to do as it fits your interests and personality.

When the first companies started doing independent tours in the early 2000s, there were very few crowds because those 30-40 people who booked independently from the ship had destinations to themselves so more could be seen, really seen unlike now when 300 people are in front of you trying to see the small Leonardo da Vinci because 70 vans full of 16-18 people all have the exact same path and timing.

If no one told you what to see would you have spent 4-5 hours out of 16 off the ship driving? I know one family who recently came and did not want anything expect to explore. They did what they wanted and most of that was doing things others on the ship did not even know about. For example the kids were football(soccer) fans and the local team was playing their rival Moscow team. The kids spotted a poster advertisement so all the plans instantly changes and the family went to a world class football game, posting selfies for all back home . Posted images from climbing to the top of St Isaac's Colonnade(385 steps) for the most spectacular views in the city.

That was what they would have done other places because that was how they had fun.

There is a problem with crowding now that so many people are taking identical tours, and it is harder to do 9 major sites now with the crowds that was easy in 2000. Yet cruisers routinely select an itinerary based on how many sights seen, rather than the quality of the experience.

For those who want to take good photos or explore the contemporary society and learn about people they will not know about another way, taking a cookie cutter tour is not going to be very good use of the limited time in the city.

The big most advertised companies have become like the big bus tours from the ship, but driving in 18 passenger vans. Once arriving, 1,000 people are arriving with you. That also means those doing something more original have no crowds to contend with and can explore at the own pace and depth of engagement.

Few visitors even have access to the most interesting part of the city, getting to know locals. Very few ever meet someone on the entire voyage who was not paid to entertain them. It seems a shame that the most interesting parts of the city are not experienced

Check with any of the small companies or just guides, you can do tours using public transportation which saves $200 or more, yet get around as or faster than driving. Figure on $15/hour for a licensed guide, and $8-10 per museum or palace, and $5 per person for transportation, $10 per person for a tour ticket if you do now use a tour company. If you are not going into museums, you do not even need a licensed guide, but you need one who arranges the tour tickets and immigration to be able to get off the ship. At the end of two day walking and exploring tour, you will know more about the culture and people than on any expensive group tour. Few of the big group tours allow any contact with locals and to get so many museums and churches in, they are rushed. A two day port call is only 16-17 hour off the ship so using 4-6 hours of it driving means that 8-9 museums and palaces spread out by 20 miles does not mean much time to really explore any of them. The bus tours are even more rushed because little time is left after assembling 50 passengers and disembarking them again for each venue.

You can take a bus right from your terminal for 28 rubles($0.50) that takes you to the subway and from there for 31 rubles to take you anywhere in the city. You will need a sponsor and tour tickets that are registered with immigration before arrival but that is all taken care of by your guide/tour operator. If you plan for it in advance you can stay out and explore until midnight or later but you need to return to the ship to sleep and have the guide pick you up again in the morning of the second day. This is probably the best option for photographers or those interested in a particular subject like history or art, because group tours really can't accommodate personal preferences.

You would probably get a better answer by writing directly to them. Apparently they are a small company, one person, working out of their apartment in the city center, so quite likely they would be flexible that the large companies would not bother with. They all started making customized tours by as they started making a lot of money from 16 passenger group tours it is not as profitable to devote limited staff time creating custom programs.

There is a lot to do in the city for teens, rent a canal river boat, have catered and hire a DJ and sound system, invite some local kids to make it more interesting they would have a ball. If they are interested in activities, they could have a sky-diving party....without even leaving the safety of the ground at the vertical wind tunnels for static flying. It is Skydiving but without jumping from a plane, in a large wind tunnel pointed up and down. A night party would be more fun for older teens, held in one of the smaller dance clubs....they would have a great time and meet so many new friends.

How old of kids and how many?

That is too bad that no one told you how to apply. A visa is good for 2 consecutive days but you needed to apply for a longer visa. When you exit and re-enter within that visa validity date span makes no different. The Tourist Visa can be applied for up to 30 days or 3 years depending on the invitation you received. If the visa agency did not recommend a longer visa duration they did you a real disservice but probably did not know the rules.

These sorts of problems with bad or incomplete information is very common with 3rd party visa services which is why I always suggest doing the application yourself.

Getting local currency in your home country is usually for a far worse rate than in countries where there is real competition between exchange banks. You can save up to 10% by waiting until you arrive in one of the Baltic countries. Bring a couple different card in case one does not work in all places if your cards are not Chip and Pin. They will work many places however.

ATMs are convenient and everywhere so it is a good source but exchange banks have better rates. The settlement of a charge is done at the rate during the at the price most advantageous to your bank but is still better than getting currency at home. One of the risks in getting foreign currencies at home is counterfeit bills. They are easier to pass, for exchange outside the country that issued the bills and tellers can't tell the difference and accepts them, whereas a teller in the country which issued the currency would be able to spot bad bills from 20 feet away.

The airport is the very worse place to exchange money at exchange dealers. They give horrible rates, 30-50% is lost but many people use them when returning home and just want to get rid of the foreign currency and do not care.

If you are exploring on your own in Russia, about 1/2 as many cafes and restaurants accept cards now as 2 years ago so either have cash or be sure to ask before ordering whether cards are accepted.

Requiring the card billing address is done when cards are not present. They do not charge in Russia, it is done in their office which is in Germany, which also handles all the correspondence, web site etc. If a company changes using your card to swipe, none of that is needed, but if a company send it off to another location without the card present, they need it.

Check your visa entry and exit dates , it should be good for the number of days written on it . We have had 3 visas and have been told that a single entry visa is good as long as you don't leave Russia , or exceed the dates written on it . In other words , the cruise ship where you are staying is still part of Russian Federation - until it leaves Russia .

This is not correct information. Getting advice from the visa agency is usually not a great idea since foreign resellers of visa invitations and submission agencies don't usually know Russian immigration law.

The duration of the visa is the maximum length of time in the country on any one stay. The port goes by the published rules, a single entry visa is valid for a single entry through passport control. The problem of a single entry visa with a multiple re-entry can be solved by getting a local tour operator to create a tour for you that supplies a ticket that acts as a visa as long as you are on that tour. There is great latitude as to what a tour is, such as being picked up and escorted off the port security area and "supervised" free time where the tour operator is supervising your off ship time, which could even be phone contact as supervision. Or you could get a tour for sightseeing or whatever you are interested in, shopping, going to performances, museums, or whatever you wish.

The other way of solving the problem is not to leave St Petersburg until you are embarking on the ship to leave port. You can get a hotel, apartment, B&B, AirBnB, CouchSurf etc.

Princess has ships which have their turnaround base as St Petersburg so with a single entry you will have to disembark before reaching St Petersburg on the return and fly home from one of the other ports..

The ships have always given contradictory information on visas so they create this problem. Applying for a 3 year visa is the answer for American citizens, it is multiple entry and costs the same as any other type of visa.

If you need specific advice, pm me if you wish.

There is so much rumor and mythology concerning early entry.

It was created by the museum as a way of getting the thousands of contractor bus loads of cruise passenger in and out before the walk up visitors arrived. It is available only on days where the ship port agent, in most cases Arctur pays for the opening, paying the staffing for security in each room that is to be opened. Once early entry has been contracted for a particular day, other tour operators can use it also.

It was for the convenience of the contractor and museum, not the visitors because is limited in scope and time, and is often more crowded than any normal day in the museum. For just one alone this month early entry for one tour operator scheduled 670 group members entering the same time as the ship bus tours, making several thousand people are going to be following the same path, in the same limited number of rooms. Most of the museum was empty but visitors were not allowed in them because they were off the path that is contracted and paid for to have security in place.

The museum has 1005 rooms in main buildings and now has the north west wing of the General Staff where the French Impressionists and other western European art of the 19th century and later, have been transferred.

The idea that it is bonus designed for the visitor is strange when you consider the reality. If it was available, it means it was paid for at the morning for the bus tours by the ship contractor, it would not be open if it was not going to be full of ship passengers.

There are two entrances, one for ticketed visitors and one for tour operators, there might be long lines forming in the morning for the public entry, it does not mean the museum is crowded and is not hard to get into by reservation by groups during the rest of the day.

Remember groups, actually all tickets are appointment times. Buy a ticket and you have a 30 minute window to enter or it becomes void. Tour groups only enter at an agreed and approved entry time, and there is almost never any waiting unless the group arrives too early. Each ticket is applied for at a specific time of entry. The museum might alter that to a time when there are fewer groups a few days before the tour, it is not the mad house claimed to enter other times. Experienced guides know the best time to visit in in the afternoon when crowds are the lowest of the day.

Reading description based on one visit with unknown conditions is like having a blind man explaining an elephant, without seeing the whole picture brief encounters to not tell much of the story.

Other museums with controlled appointment times include Church on Spilled Blood, Yusupov Palace and the worst, Catherine Palace.

Catherine Palace has more requests for entries than are permitted per day, which is why walkup ticket purchases are highly restricted in time of availability and quantity. Few tour operators have contracts with these museums so they go to the open market to buy Catherine Palace tickets from agents, tickets stolen from the museum by employees and trading entry times between companies.

That is why it is not unusual for a group to say their guide told them the palace was closed suddenly for some reason and they rescheduled the time for another museum or park.

Don't believe it that contractors are there in the morning? count the motor coaches parked in the area Palace Square, 40 by 9 am is common. There are there for one reason, entering the Hermitage.

Yusupov Palace is not high on the list of most requested destinations but is thrown in on many standard tours.

Faberge has become a hit with visitors, the palace is gorgeous, after an extensive restoration. This year, finally more of the tour operators picked up on it. Only one had contracts with their first year.

Most of the standard tours are pretty rushed so if you want to add Faberge in the day, you will have to drop something, unless you forgo to standard evening folklore shows and just extend your day to include Faberge after 6pm when the 15 ticket rule ends and you can just get a ticket for 300 rubles($6)

There are a lot of options that increase the enjoyment and lowers the cost.

An extended private tour ranges from $300-650 for basically the same tour. A small group tour would be a lot lower. Don't just accept the first itinerary offered, the trend has been to offer just what is most convenient for the company and no customization. The prices being charged considering the ruble value, is very high with the standard tours. You ought to get what you want if you are willing to pay those prices.