St Petersburg

[oesd31]

Just booked our first Thomson cruise onboard the Thomson Spirit for May 2012. Can anyone advise me if we need to obtain our own visa for St Petersburgh or if we do an organised trip is the visa included in the cost. Many thanks

[kruzseeka]

Just booked our first Thomson cruise onboard the Thomson Spirit for May 2012. Can anyone advise me if we need to obtain our own visa for St Petersburgh or if we do an organised trip is the visa included in the cost. Many thanks

 

 

If you book Thomson excursions, you are covered by a group visa so it's included in the cost. We've been on a Thomson's cruise to St P on three occasions and done pretty well all of their excursions - and they're brilliant. St P is an absolute stunner!!!

 

Hi :) The only other way to get off the ship (and out of the scrap metal yard which masquerades as a port) is to obtain your own visa - but then you'd have to be able to make your way into the city. There are no taxis dockside and I think public transport would be a bit of a nightmare. Not an option I'd consider.

 

You can however book a private tour company which will tailor a programme to meet your needs - and obtain a visa as part of the cost. They meet you at the port once you are through immigration. This is popular with American tourists especially as many cruise companies charge considerably more than Thomson so private firms become a more cost effective option.

 

If you go on the Europe Forum 'Ports of Call' into the Baltics you would pick up a lot of info on private tour firms should you be interested but we've always been very satisfied with Thomson's trips.

[oesd31]

Thank you for taking the time to reply.

[fern]

YoU do not need Your own visa if you use a Russian firm like Red october. We used them & they were fantastic. Celebration Was late arrivinbg in St Petes but they knew & were waitinfg for us. Thomson security were relucatnt to let us leave the ship but we had no problems with immigration as Red October had arranged everyting. We visited far more places than on Thomson trips and ate in Russian cafes(quickly as we didn't want to waste time). Plus factor was we never queued. front of queue at Hermitage etc.

We had sent Red October passport details etc. in advance but no payment was made until on tour(4 people)

[Len Baker]

We too are going to St Petersburg in 2012 as part of the Cities of the Baltic cruise on the Thomson Spirit which leaves Newcastle upon Tyne on 29th May 2012.

 

Using a Russian firm to do a full 2 day tour seems a good investment so will research later in the year.

 

To pay for such a tour do you suggest credit card (with fee of say 2% to 3%) or cash USD or Euros)? If cash is used I've been told the Russians insist on crisp new notes. Is this the case & how do you guarantee this when ordering as we've used banks & other companies in the past & ended up with a mixture of tatty old notes & new notes?

[fern]

We paid Red October in cash as we didn't like the idea of using a credit card there.(not sure if you could).We paid in US$ with no problem. We joined with another couple (Via cruise critic) & had a 6 seater mini bus guide & driver.. It was cheaper than Thomson's, more convenient & we saw a lot more.

[andy mac]

We paid Red October in cash as we didn't like the idea of using a credit card there.(not sure if you could).We paid in US$ with no problem. We joined with another couple (Via cruise critic) & had a 6 seater mini bus guide & driver.. It was cheaper than Thomson's, more convenient & we saw a lot more.

we were on spirit 2007, we were on thomson excursion ,because of visiting dignitries road back to ship was closed,bus was diverted,tour guide told thomson rep we would not make it back to ship on time.

rep phoned ship, ship waited ,we were appox 45 mins late.

my question is,i know it did not happen to you,would ship have waited for red october? i know the odds on this happening are long,but it could.

guide told us this visit must have been hush hush as they were usually kept informed.

[fern]

Sorry but Red October like to give more time to return to the ship so I am certain we would always have been back on time. Also they would not want the bad publicity& I feel they would have notified the ship as well- we were not the only group using them or another Russsian tour firm. If you were 45minutes late does that mean 45minutes after "last on board"time -if so they were cutting it fine anyway.

 

We did not have to waste time in queues, waiting for "stragglers",or long lunch & made sure our timings suited us with plenty of time to return to ship at least 1 hour before sailing).

I would have no hesitation in doing it again. We always do our own tours & have had no problems anywhere in the world.

[andy mac]

Sorry but Red October like to give more time to return to the ship so I am certain we would always have been back on time. Also they would not want the bad publicity& I feel they would have notified the ship as well- we were not the only group using them or another Russsian tour firm. If you were 45minutes late does that mean 45minutes after "last on board"time -if so they were cutting it fine anyway.

 

We did not have to waste time in queues, waiting for "stragglers",or long lunch & made sure our timings suited us with plenty of time to return to ship at least 1 hour before sailing).

I would have no hesitation in doing it again. We always do our own tours & have had no problems anywhere in the world.

yes we were due to sail at 5-30 we got backto ship at 6-15 we should have been back at ship for 3-00 as it was a canal cruise ,it was only a 4 hour excursion,we were held up in traffic, bus did not move for almost 2 hours .traffic was then allowed to turn and sent back the the way we had come.this is why we were late.i'm not knocking private tours, this may never happen again.yes we have used private tour s and will do so again.

i was just wondering if the same thing had on a private tour if ship wouldwait as it was unforeseen circumstances. i'm talking about any private tour company,not just red october.

[oesd31]

We too are going to St Petersburg in 2012 as part of the Cities of the Baltic cruise on the Thomson Spirit which leaves Newcastle upon Tyne on 29th May 2012.

 

Using a Russian firm to do a full 2 day tour seems a good investment so will research later in the year.

 

To pay for such a tour do you suggest credit card (with fee of say 2% to 3%) or cash USD or Euros)? If cash is used I've been told the Russians insist on crisp new notes. Is this the case & how do you guarantee this when ordering as we've used banks & other companies in the past & ended up with a mixture of tatty old notes & new notes?

 

We are book on this cruise too. Really looking forward to it

[Maianthemum]

Quote: "To pay for such a tour do you suggest credit card (with fee of say 2% to 3%) or cash USD or Euros)? If cash is used I've been told the Russians insist on crisp new notes. Is this the case & how do you guarantee this when ordering as we've used banks & other companies in the past & ended up with a mixture of tatty old notes & new notes?"

 

We've just booked with a Russian tour company. They do insist on new bank notes - I was told that their bank will refuse to accept old or torn notes. Check with the company you use - ours will accept Euros and Pounds as well as Dollars. As for guaranteeing that you get new notes, just ask and explain why. It really shouldn't be a problem.

[DrPT]

We've just returned from a cruise on the MS Eurodam where we had a two day stop over in St Petersburg. As stated above, an absolutely amazing city. The art and architecter and mind blowing. Passengers on cruise lines do no need to organise Visas when visiting St Petersburg when they are accompanied by an accredited tour company guide. The company organises everything and emails you an itinerary that you present at customs on the way in. Easy.

 

We organised a private tour with White Nights tours and they were absolutely brilliant. Couldn't recommend them highly enough. Organised, friendly, nothing was too much trouble, perfect English, fantastic. Much more flexible than a large group tour and if you have 4 or more people, much the same price but so much better. Also less than half the price of the ship tours. We just paid them in cash in US dollars (which I forgot to do until about half way through the tour). No fuss about notes, she didn't even count the money.

[kruzseeka]

We've just returned from a cruise on the MS Eurodam where we had a two day stop over in St Petersburg. As stated above, an absolutely amazing city. The art and architecter and mind blowing. Passengers on cruise lines do no need to organise Visas when visiting St Petersburg when they are accompanied by an accredited tour company guide. The company organises everything and emails you an itinerary that you present at customs on the way in. Easy.

 

We organised a private tour with White Nights tours and they were absolutely brilliant. Couldn't recommend them highly enough. Organised, friendly, nothing was too much trouble, perfect English, fantastic. Much more flexible than a large group tour and if you have 4 or more people, much the same price but so much better. Also less than half the price of the ship tours. We just paid them in cash in US dollars (which I forgot to do until about half way through the tour). No fuss about notes, she didn't even count the money.

 

Hello DrPT and welcome to the Forum :)

 

Thanks for you input. We've been to St P three times and taken the ship's excursions. So, if we go again we would be very interested in an independent tour company on the basis of being able to tailor the trip to our own requirements and see something different from our previous excursions.

 

Would you mind giving me an indicative price - approx what did you pay and what visits/excursions were included? (I appreciate for four it would be much more economical than just a couple.) Thomson is actually fairly reasonable in its trip prices (at least compared with some cruise lines) so what could be 'half the price' for you may not be quite the same savings for us.

 

Pleased your trip went so well and that the tour company so good. It is a fantastic city to visit.

[happy v]

Hello DrPT and welcome to the Forum :)

 

Thanks for you input. We've been to St P three times and taken the ship's excursions. So, if we go again we would be very interested in an independent tour company on the basis of being able to tailor the trip to our own requirements and see something different from our previous excursions.

 

Would you mind giving me an indicative price - approx what did you pay and what visits/excursions were included? (I appreciate for four it would be much more economical than just a couple.) Thomson is actually fairly reasonable in its trip prices (at least compared with some cruise lines) so what could be 'half the price' for you may not be quite the same savings for us.

 

Pleased your trip went so well and that the tour company so good. It is a fantastic city to visit.

 

You may be interested in this, a couple of weeks ago when I was getting a guide to St. P. from the libary a lady asked me if I was going on the baltic cruise, and she recommended DenRus saying they had used them and they had been very good. I've had a look on the website, and it does give full details of the tours and prices for this year, there is also a section on tailor made tours which may be of use to you. I didn't pay too much attention to this as it would be our first visit and what we want to see is included in their basic tours, but if you have been several times before it could be what you are looking for.

[cruiseanywhere2]

Hello Len

We (myself and husband) have booked this cruise and when we went last time used the ship's tours but weare interested in going independant using a tour company. Wondered if you or anyone else would like to form a group with us We will be 54 and 55 but have a young outlook.

 

Christine

[Len Baker]

Hello Len

We (myself and husband) have booked this cruise and when we went last time used the ship's tours but weare interested in going independant using a tour company. Wondered if you or anyone else would like to form a group with us We will be 54 and 55 but have a young outlook.

 

Christine

 

Hello Christine. Many thanks for your invitation to form a group for a St Petersburg.

 

We have not visited it before and therefore intended to do something like an alla tours 2 day complete St Petersburg Grand Tour. There are a few tour companies offering tours according to the informed posters on this site. We have no firm plans at this early stage so are open to suggestions.

 

I dont know how to exchange views outside the full public domain on this website. No issue with ages as similar:). Its Monday 4th and Tuesday 5th June 2012 for out tour by my calculations :confused:?

 

Any ideas?

[kruzseeka]

You may be interested in this, a couple of weeks ago when I was getting a guide to St. P. from the libary a lady asked me if I was going on the baltic cruise, and she recommended DenRus saying they had used them and they had been very good. I've had a look on the website, and it does give full details of the tours and prices for this year, there is also a section on tailor made tours which may be of use to you. I didn't pay too much attention to this as it would be our first visit and what we want to see is included in their basic tours, but if you have been several times before it could be what you are looking for.

 

 

Thanks for that happy v :) - I'll look that up. Not got as far as booking yet but it's a serious contender for next year - but we'd be looking at sailing out of Harwich.

[cruiseanywhere2]

Hello Len

 

My email is chrismoore1957@hotmail.com if you would like to contact me.

[Len Baker]

Hello Len

 

My email is chrismoore1957@hotmail.com if you would like to contact me.

 

Hi many thanks. Email sent.

 

Len