russian visa

we just received a email from our travel agent....warning us that if we didn't do a holland american tour in st.petersburg we would need to arrange our own visa....we have booked a tour with alla tours and they have said the ticket they supplied us with is our visa to get thru customs....has anyone used private tour companys in russia and needed to get their own visa's ....we will only be with the tour company and don't plan on going anywhere else

The tour companies organize a blanket visa for everyone in the tour, so there is no need to apply for a visa yourself if you are taking a private tour. The tour company should give you information about what paperwork to show to the Russian immigration officials.

yes you will be fine with alla's visa waiver. They will email you a copy of the visa waiver prior to your trip. Just make sure to double check that everything was entered correctly - your name matches your passport, and the dates are correct. Have a great trip!

be sure to print off a couple of copies of the Visa wavier from ALLA just in case the officials take one

Being pedantic :rolleyes:, but just to avoid any confusion.......

There's no blanket visa / group visa - the tours are actually visa-free, though the difference is immaterial.

And unless things have changed, Alla won't send a "visa-waver" - they'll just send you your tour tickets & it's those tour tickets that get you through immigration without a visa.

JB :)

thanks for all your replies....what you have said is what alla tours has told us, we already have copies of our tour tickets for day 1 and day 2 and have been told to take our passports with us....so I feel more confident now.....thank you

I put a 'courtesy hold' on a Baltic cruise last night (with HAL) and the first of four email I received was headed 'Important Information' and had the following information.....

VISA NOTIFICATION:

A Russian visa is required for St Petersburg only for those guests who want to

explore on their own. Guests participating on a Holland America Line-sponsored

shore excursion are not required to obtain a Russian visa prior to sailing.

This applies to all nationalities.

Guests who plan to sightsee independently or wish to go ashore prior to, or

after participating in a Holland America Line-sponsored shore excursion , must

obtain an Individual Russian visa prior to sailing. To apply for a Russian visa

guests will require a Russian Visa Support letter (Invitation) from a visa

service or from a Russian organization sponsoring independent visits.

Guests not going ashore in St Petersburg are not required to obtain a Russian

visa.

If you booked with a TA then you probably didn't receive this mail.

The final sentence is the most relevant, as it is not like other destinations, when, if you don't have the relevant visa you will not be permitted to board. For St Petersburg you will still be permitted to board without a visa, but will not be permitted to disembark in St P without a visa, or pre booked tour.

Is Vmax1700 deliberately trying to muddy the waters? As JB stated, if you book a tour with any of the 15 or so private tour companies inSPB. , you do not need a visa provided you stay with the tour. HAL is also bsing you. The independent tour cos have the same visa waiver rights as the cruise lines. The only difference is (new this year) the private tours may have to start a bit later. In that case, they will end later. The private tours are invariably better. You don't want many more than 6 on your tour.

We used redoctober.us in 2005 and we got the same BS that we wouldn’t be able to get off with ship without RCL’s ships tours.

Not only were we able to get off, we sailed thru customs in less than 4 minutes and those on the RCL tours tools much longer because there were many more people.

As long as you’re going with a reputable company, they handle the visas in the course of your reservation. Enjoy yourself and don’t stress

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We did a two day tour with Alla and they were excellent. Will probably book with them again as we are returning to SPB again this year.

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Is Vmax1700 deliberately trying to muddy the waters? As JB stated, if you book a tour with any of the 15 or so private tour companies inSPB. , you do not need a visa provided you stay with the tour. HAL is also bsing you. The independent tour cos have the same visa waiver rights as the cruise lines. The only difference is (new this year) the private tours may have to start a bit later. In that case, they will end later. The private tours are invariably better. You don't want many more than 6 on your tour.

Nope, the water is sparkling with clarity!

OP commented on what their TA's email said about Holland America stating that it was necessary to apply for a visa unless the pax was taking a HAL tour. This is patently untrue, as pointed out by John Bull.

As OP booked with a TA, I took the opportunity to quote the actual text of the message that HAL sends, regarding visas for St Petersburg. Just so they could be assured that it is not necessary to take the only options offered by the travel agent, namely a HAL tour or apply for a personal visa. There are alternatives.

Simples.

I think the cruise lines scare you into believing you have to go with them. However, it would be more accurate if the cruise lines stated they can't guarantee or take responsibility that you'll get getting off the boat unless you go through them.

This is more accurate in that the cruise lines can't vet every other private, non contracted company as to whether they will get you paperwork in order to get proper visas or guarantee your return to the ship on time.

Rather than scaring passengers to death, it would hold more integrity just to state the facts about what they do or don't have control over.

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I don’t think anyone’s going to stop you getting off the boat once you’re in Cuba. The Cuban authorities aren’t bothered about what your arrangements are, it’s just the USA authorities.

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I don’t think anyone’s going to stop you getting off the boat once you’re in Cuba. The Cuban authorities aren’t bothered about what your arrangements are, it’s just the USA authorities.

 

 

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How did this thread go from Russia to Cuba rules ???

Not the same at all

Hmmmm. You do know that if you book the excursions with the booking the TA commission increases.

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How did this thread go from Russia to Cuba rules ???

 

Not the same at all

Sorry - I got confused as I had just been reading a Cuba Cruise Roll-Call with visa issues. Just ignore my daft post!

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Hmmmm. You do know that if you book the excursions with the booking the TA commission increases.

 

 

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Commission does not increase with excursions booked. Excursions with the cruise lines are non commissionable.

we just received a email from our travel agent....warning us that if we didn't do a holland american tour in st.petersburg we would need to arrange our own visa....we have booked a tour with alla tours and they have said the ticket they supplied us with is our visa to get thru customs....has anyone used private tour companys in russia and needed to get their own visa's ....we will only be with the tour company and don't plan on going anywhere else

We did the 2 day Visa free tour with Best Guides and they arranged all formalities. They provided us with the tour tickets which worked perfectly. We just showed our tour tickets at the custom and didn't have any issues. I'm sure alla's tickets will work as well.

Jess