dayers66

Thank you for your assistance.  I do not plan to leave things to chance, and although I appreciate Citronella's offer to report back from their experience, it will be too close to our trip to base decisions on. 

Thanks again! 

Hi everyone -  Thank you for for your responses.  I really appreciate it. You're right the immigration officers there are very rigid and speak little to no English.

One last similar but different query:  Do ship excursions or independent tour guides count against the visa entry, when using the cruise visa process? So on day 1 we could do a ship excursion and on day 2 use our single entry visa? 

It's difficult to find a definite answer to this question online, and in message boards. We have 3 days in SP and having been there before, want to strike out on our own to enjoy sites at our own pace, and in the evening enjoy some entertainment.  SP organized tours tend to be exhausting and more like speed dating for tourists.  I will be submitting our visa apps soon.  It's a pain, but not too difficult.

Our plan is to return to the cruise ship each evening rather than get a hotel in the city.  Do we need a single entry visa, or a multiple day entry visa?  In other words, is each day seen as it's own entry into Russia?

Some posts have said to get a multiple day (since you have to go through customs each day), and some posts have said only a single entry is needed (since the ship has not left Russian waters, like a ferry would).  They seem to be more rhetorical arguments than actual experience.  I am hoping someone reading this can say for sure.

Spasibo.