Saint Petersburg: Maps , pictures and information.

[scubacruiserx2]

Thanks again for more helpful info. Glad to hear a purse is okay. I can always transfer valuables to it from our vest pockets if need be.

 

Did you go to the Russian Museum? Reviews of it seem pretty positive. If you went, what was your impression?

 

No , we have not , but it's the first thing scheduled on our first full day , later this fall. It's next to Spilled Blood so - we're looking foward to using a up-graded camera for both.

[scubacruiserx2]

One of the things that Cruise Critic does is to link people. We have met and made a number of friends by sharing shore excursions and experiences. Unfortunately , the only people that most visitors to St. Petersburg will meet is their guide and driver. Of course there is nothing wrong with this , but staying in St. Petersburg allows you to see and do more and allows you more time and opportunities to develop relationships.We hope that others will be encouraged to visit St. Petersburg - maybe post cruise. When we stayed in May 2009 , We met Doug Pullar , owner of The Other Side gastropub and his Russian wife. When we first ate there in 2011 - we missed connections. We got his phone number and arranged a meeting. He brought his young daughter along- asleep in her stroller. We had a great visit with Doug and he gave us a nice gift. When his daughter woke up , she seemed kind of shy hiding behind her dad. So I tried to engage her. Taking my wedding ring off , I held it balanced on a table with one finger and snapped it sharply with the middle finger of the other hand. It spun rapidly on edge , like a gyroscope , for about minute. When it slowed , I rapidly snatched it up and spun it again. She became mesmerized . Adding a couple of coins spinning only increased her delight , so much so ,that she wanted to give it a try. After several unsucessful attempts , I got her to balance the coin , on edge with her finger. Striking it with my finger tip produced the desired result . Many giggles latter , she was bouncing around like we were old friends. She was so cute and reminded us of how we missed our grandchildren - triggering a long distance phone call.

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

We thought these kids outside of the Hermitage were so cute.

 

 

 

 

They were lined up like little dolls.

 

 

 

 

 

We thought this guy , in front of the Hermitage , would fall into the river. Click on picture for the video.

 

 

 

[judyrabbit]

[quote name=GTAgal;38173786 I wonder if you recall what the rules are at the Hermitage & at Peterhof' date=' at Catherine's Palace, etc regarding taking in purses, small backpacks, water containers. I have read that some places do not allow you to wear 'outer' garments which I presume means coats but does it also mean vests with pockets which is what we wear to carry our personal items.

[/quote]

It's for sure no water inside the museums. We had small backpacks and we were asked to carry them in front. In Peterhof palace they don't allow taking pictures so we had to put the camera into the locker too. Vests were OK.

[scubacruiserx2]

It's for sure no water inside the museums. We had small backpacks and we were asked to carry them in front. In Peterhof palace they don't allow taking pictures so we had to put the camera into the locker too. Vests were OK.

 

 

Thanks for the info upgrade Judy,

[scubacruiserx2]

We had planned to take our oldest grandson on the May 7th NCL Baltic cruise to St. Petersburg. But plans got changed - so we went to Orlando.

 

 

Typhoon Lagoon

 

 

 

Surface diving Shark Reef. Click on picture for video (When diving with sharks , look out for Manta Ray shadows ).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Ride the Crush 'n' Gusher in this video clip.

 

 

 

 

After Typhoon Lagoon , we tried indoor skydiving with the grandkids.

 

 

 

 

 

Getting ready for our flight.

 

 

 

 

We are taking a break for SCUBA diving with friends in Cozumel tomorrow, enjoy your weekend and Bon Voyage !

[dolfans0704]

Typhoon Lagoon remains one of our favorite water parks! You have beautiful grandchildren, scuba! Enjoy your time in Cozumel and will catch up with you in June after our Baltics cruise. Thanks again for all the valuable information and fabulous photos you provide on this thread...safe journeys! :)

 

 

Dolfans from Miami

[scubacruiserx2]

Good news ! The Palace Bridge is open.

 

http://www.sptimes.ru/index.php?action_id=2&story_id=37324

 

 

A funny thing happened in Cozumel Sunday. After a welcome unplugging from the TV and internet , and a weeks worth of diving , we chose to drive around the island to the "other side". It is full of secluded beaches with rough surf.

 

 

 

 

After many miles of beaches , we decided to stop at an oasis for some liquid refreshment.

 

 

 

 

 

Up in the T-shirt roof we spied a soccer jersey that looked out of place. It is for Zenit , the team sponsored by Газпром (Gasprom). The largest natural gas producing company in the world.

 

 

 

 

It seems that we can't get away from St. Petersburg.

[dolfans0704]

Hi scuba

Wanted to take a moment to express my gratitude to you in providing such beautiful photos and valuable information on this thread. I have been a "loyal" subscriber from your very first post and it has been the highlight of my research! I begin my travels this Saturday and will report back upon my return. Safe travels and thanks again for all your dedication!

 

 

Dolfans from Miami

[scubacruiserx2]

Hi scuba

Wanted to take a moment to express my gratitude to you in providing such beautiful photos and valuable information on this thread. I have been a "loyal" subscriber from your very first post and it has been the highlight of my research! I begin my travels this Saturday and will report back upon my return. Safe travels and thanks again for all your dedication!

 

 

Dolfans from Miami

 

Hi Dolfans

 

Have a great trip ! We look forward to your report . Can't resist posting this photo from Cozumel ( from one Dolfan to another). After one of our dives last week we saw a pod of 10 wild Dolphins and a couple of the guys jumped in with a mask and fins. I took a video , but forgot to turn off the filter and it turned out with a red tint.

 

 

[dolfans0704]

Beautiful pic of the dolphins! We visited Cozumel in August on our Allure cruise and did a private bar hop tour to the "other side of the island" for my 50th birthday. :eek: It was spectacular! Visited 4 bars where we were welcomed with a "shot" and views to die for. Truly amazing that this area of Cozumel still exists. Our guide Tom was a great guy and had a fabulous day off the beaten path.

Thanks for bringing back a great memory...;)

[Joulupukki]

http://www.geocam.ru/view/cam1289x7871_peterhof_museum_webcam.html

[scubacruiserx2]

http://www.geocam.ru/view/cam1289x7871_peterhof_museum_webcam.html[/quote]

 

 

спасйба! Joulupukki

[scubacruiserx2]

Beautiful pic of the dolphins! We visited Cozumel in August on our Allure cruise and did a private bar hop tour to the "other side of the island" for my 50th birthday. :eek: It was spectacular! Visited 4 bars where we were welcomed with a "shot" and views to die for. Truly amazing that this area of Cozumel still exists. Our guide Tom was a great guy and had a fabulous day off the beaten path.

Thanks for bringing back a great memory...;)

 

 

We are glad that you enjoyed Cozumel. It is our favorite place to dive and with 30+ trips , our most visited place outside of the U.S. So much so that we are starting a new thread. Cozumel: Dolphins , diving and driving.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1850190

[Alaskanb]

http://www.geocam.ru/view/cam1289x7871_peterhof_museum_webcam.html

Very cool-- will be there on June 9 :D

[scubacruiserx2]

Any visitor to St. Petersburg this year should consider a stop at this Soviet icon . The ship is to be moved , for repair , in August or September. The story is below the photo.

 

 

 

 

 

 

http://www.sptimes.ru/index.php?action_id=2&story_id=37355

[scubacruiserx2]

We found a group that offers free walking tours (including White Nights). We have not used them yet , but we booked a dacha/banya tour in September .

 

 

http://www.sputnik8.com/en/st-petersburg-free-tours

[scubacruiserx2]

The Summer traveler to St. Petersburg will experience three T's : Traffic , Temperature and Time.

 

 

With the increasing popularity of St. Petersburg , traffic has become a major problem. A bridge closed for repair , and many cruise ships = buses and traffic which results in lost time.

 

 

With Winter the major player in Russia many places are not air conditioned. If you're stuck in traffic , at least you're in the A.C. while you wait.

 

Time , or lack of , is the real culprit. Waiting on the ship , crowded immigration , traffic , crowded sights and a three - day or less visit only further limit time. But there is a better way.

 

 

We advocate a pre or post cruise stay - in the off season. We like early May before season or late September/ October post season. Spring is nice and not too cold and the same for Fall with it's colors. With the nice temperatures comes less traffic and crowds. Most of our traveling is on the Metro. No delays even when traffic is at stand still. Walking is faster than traffic sometimes and more enjoyable. When you stay there is less hurry because you have more time and can see more. If choose to cruise instead , please consider one of the first or last cruises to minimize , and manage the three T's.

[fellowtraveler]

We recently toured St Petersburg and I'd say the last poster summed the difficulties up quite nicely. We were over an hour and a half waiting in line on the cruise ship to even get into the port to be checked in by immigration which was another long wait. Fortunately, we were with TJ Tours and they handled the delay expertly, they made sure that we got to see everything we'd hoped to see.

 

When first planning our vacation we were thinking of driving ourselves around in St. Petersburg and now we know for certain that this would have been madness. I've never seen traffic like that even in the mean streets of LA during rush hour. Luckily for us the driver was like some sort of Ninja. We'd be at a complete snarl and then like magic we'd be out of it. I never even saw the openings he slipped into to get us from point A to B. In addition he obviously knew all the back streets and where to park and wait for us in a city which appeared to have millions of vehicles and no parking places.

 

The guide was charming and knowledgeable and answered all of our questions, even the awkward ones that guileless Americans ask like "Do Russians like Putin"? (They do). she was always interesting and informative, not just relating history, but also current affairs and how the people of St. Petersburg live, their hopes and dreams, etc.

 

Even though we went in May all the sites were nevertheless crowded. The guide said that it would be getting much worse with little wiggle room as the summer progressed. In hindsight it was genius to go in May when temperatures were a bit cooler, flowers were in bloom, tourists were fewer and it's actually the least rainy month as well.

 

St. Petersburg is a charming city and anyone touring the Baltics should be sure to see it! I'm certain there are other great tour companies, but I can say for sure TJ's was super excellent in every way! As a matter of fact, I registered at this site just to say so. I can well imagine how it could've been a pointless nightmare without them.

 

In addition all three cruise ships I've been on were excellent too. Royal Caribbean and Norwegian and their crew provided superlative service.

 

Happy Trails!

[Quilting_Cruiser]

I'm happy to read your glowing report of your time there. We're very much looking forward to our visit to St P.

 

BTW, if you read this board much, you'll see many similar raves about all the tour operators mentioned here--Alla, SPB, Denrus, etc. :D

 

 

 

We recently toured St Petersburg and I'd say the last poster summed the difficulties up quite nicely. We were over an hour and a half waiting in line on the cruise ship to even get into the port to be checked in by immigration which was another long wait. Fortunately, we were with TJ Tours and they handled the delay expertly, they made sure that we got to see everything we'd hoped to see.

 

When first planning our vacation we were thinking of driving ourselves around in St. Petersburg and now we know for certain that this would have been madness. I've never seen traffic like that even in the mean streets of LA during rush hour. Luckily for us the driver was like some sort of Ninja. We'd be at a complete snarl and then like magic we'd be out of it. I never even saw the openings he slipped into to get us from point A to B. In addition he obviously knew all the back streets and where to park and wait for us in a city which appeared to have millions of vehicles and no parking places.

 

The guide was charming and knowledgeable and answered all of our questions, even the awkward ones that guileless Americans ask like "Do Russians like Putin"? (They do). she was always interesting and informative, not just relating history, but also current affairs and how the people of St. Petersburg live, their hopes and dreams, etc.

 

Even though we went in May all the sites were nevertheless crowded. The guide said that it would be getting much worse with little wiggle room as the summer progressed. In hindsight it was genius to go in May when temperatures were a bit cooler, flowers were in bloom, tourists were fewer and it's actually the least rainy month as well.

 

St. Petersburg is a charming city and anyone touring the Baltics should be sure to see it! I'm certain there are other great tour companies, but I can say for sure TJ's was super excellent in every way! As a matter of fact, I registered at this site just to say so. I can well imagine how it could've been a pointless nightmare without them.

 

In addition all three cruise ships I've been on were excellent too. Royal Caribbean and Norwegian and their crew provided superlative service.

 

Happy Trails!

[scubacruiserx2]

We recently toured St Petersburg and I'd say the last poster summed the difficulties up quite nicely. We were over an hour and a half waiting in line on the cruise ship to even get into the port to be checked in by immigration which was another long wait. Fortunately, we were with TJ Tours and they handled the delay expertly, they made sure that we got to see everything we'd hoped to see.

 

When first planning our vacation we were thinking of driving ourselves around in St. Petersburg and now we know for certain that this would have been madness. I've never seen traffic like that even in the mean streets of LA during rush hour. Luckily for us the driver was like some sort of Ninja. We'd be at a complete snarl and then like magic we'd be out of it. I never even saw the openings he slipped into to get us from point A to B. In addition he obviously knew all the back streets and where to park and wait for us in a city which appeared to have millions of vehicles and no parking places.

 

The guide was charming and knowledgeable and answered all of our questions, even the awkward ones that guileless Americans ask like "Do Russians like Putin"? (They do). she was always interesting and informative, not just relating history, but also current affairs and how the people of St. Petersburg live, their hopes and dreams, etc.

 

Even though we went in May all the sites were nevertheless crowded. The guide said that it would be getting much worse with little wiggle room as the summer progressed. In hindsight it was genius to go in May when temperatures were a bit cooler, flowers were in bloom, tourists were fewer and it's actually the least rainy month as well.

 

St. Petersburg is a charming city and anyone touring the Baltics should be sure to see it! I'm certain there are other great tour companies, but I can say for sure TJ's was super excellent in every way! As a matter of fact, I registered at this site just to say so. I can well imagine how it could've been a pointless nightmare without them.

 

In addition all three cruise ships I've been on were excellent too. Royal Caribbean and Norwegian and their crew provided superlative service.

 

Happy Trails!

 

Thank you for honoring us with your first post and welcome to Cruise Critic ! We are so glad that you enjoyed your visit to St. Petersburg and thumbs up for TJ's . It sounds like you had a small group. We have always advocated smaller , private groups. Our largest was 4 people and a guide and driver. While everyone has their own travel style we prefer to keep it small. BTW not everyone in Russia likes Putin .

 

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/news/article/thousands-protest-putins-rule-in-bolotnaya-march/481563.html

[goldie888]

We found a group that offers free walking tours (including White Nights). We have not used them yet , but we booked a dacha/banya tour in September .

 

 

http://www.sputnik8.com/en/st-petersburg-free-tours

 

This site looks real good for DIY to St. Petersburg.

[buggins0402]

The Summer traveler to St. Petersburg will experience three T's : Traffic , Temperature and Time.

 

 

With the increasing popularity of St. Petersburg , traffic has become a major problem. A bridge closed for repair , and many cruise ships = buses and traffic which results in lost time.

 

 

With Winter the major player in Russia many places are not air conditioned. If you're stuck in traffic , at least you're in the A.C. while you wait.

 

Time , or lack of , is the real culprit. Waiting on the ship , crowded immigration , traffic , crowded sights and a three - day or less visit only further limit time. But there is a better way.

 

 

We advocate a pre or post cruise stay - in the off season. We like early May before season or late September/ October post season. Spring is nice and not too cold and the same for Fall with it's colors. With the nice temperatures comes less traffic and crowds. Most of our traveling is on the Metro. No delays even when traffic is at stand still. Walking is faster than traffic sometimes and more enjoyable. When you stay there is less hurry because you have more time and can see more. If choose to cruise instead , please consider one of the first or last cruises to minimize , and manage the three T's.

 

Wonderful pictures - thanks for posting this thread and giving some ideas for attacking St. Pete. I have been agonizing how to see this city - land vs. Baltic cruise. We can't afford the cruises that spend three days there and avoid tours in favor of DIY when possible. We have done Moscow DIY prior so know that Russia isn't that daunting. Haven't thought about considering a land trip to St. Petersburg with cruise - brilliant. The Hermitage is just so huge we'd need one day there alone.

[scubacruiserx2]

Wonderful pictures - thanks for posting this thread and giving some ideas for attacking St. Pete. I have been agonizing how to see this city - land vs. Baltic cruise. We can't afford the cruises that spend three days there and avoid tours in favor of DIY when possible. We have done Moscow DIY prior so know that Russia isn't that daunting. Haven't thought about considering a land trip to St. Petersburg with cruise - brilliant. The Hermitage is just so huge we'd need one day there alone.

 

Thank you for your kind words. Please don't agonize - we are here to help . When we fly we like a pre- stay, cruise and a post- stay. This year its London , Norway and St. Petersburg. Our longer stays we like apartment rentals. If you have done Moscow then St. Petersburg should be a snap. We agree with your assessment of three day cruises to St. Pete. They are usually premium cruise lines that exceed our budget. A more affordable option may be a budget cruise like the one Royal Caribbean offers. They have a 7 day cruise from Copenhagen with 15 hours in St. Petersburg. Maybe a Copenhagen/Baltic/St. Petersburg sandwich ? A visa would cover both visits.

[buggins0402]

Thank you for your kind words. Please don't agonize - we are here to help . When we fly we like a pre- stay, cruise and a post- stay. This year its London , Norway and St. Petersburg. Our longer stays we like apartment rentals. If you have done Moscow then St. Petersburg should be a snap. We agree with your assessment of three day cruises to St. Pete. They are usually premium cruise lines that exceed our budget. A more affordable option may be a budget cruise like the one Royal Caribbean offers. They have a 7 day cruise from Copenhagen with 15 hours in St. Petersburg. Maybe a Copenhagen/Baltic/St. Petersburg sandwich ? A visa would cover both visits.

 

LOL! My first search after finding this thread was cost of double entry visa - looks to be the same. Now I'll have to look to see if the dates for the RCI cruise can work and CPH/LED r/t's are decently priced. I had been concentrating on May - for less crowds, but your fall pictures have me considering a late season cruise. Had been stuck on May in my head because I've seen so many flight sales through May to Scandinavia in year's past.

 

Thanks for giving me some more ideas to with which to work.