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Now is the time to be concerned...


baggal
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Ok, let us stop already the scaremongering and Anti-Russia bashing that we see on the Western Media...:rolleyes:

 

The Russian Federation is at this moment considering several scenarios to protect their Military and human interests in the Crimea, which is an Autonomous area within the Ukraine, with its own Parliament. Most inhabitants of the Crimea are Russian and feel threatened by the Civil anti-Russian interest in the Ukraine.

Any responsible state would protect its main naval base and more than 1.5 Million ethnic Russians who , through the Crimean government ( democratically elected by the way ),ask for protection.

 

The USA will never put any embargo on Russia. Remember that Russia is a permanent UN security council member and a Superpower.

 

the USA is invading souvereign countries on a regular basis...in order to protect its interests by the way, and so do the EU nations, including my own. That is not war, it is called Military Tactical Action.

 

Russia is not some loose cannon that FOX news pretends it to be. Not at all.

 

Visiting St. Petersburg is safe for all, and will continue to be safe.

 

By the way, Cruisecritic is a US based website where 95% of participants are American. It is unknown to the vast majority of cruise passengers, especially those not from the USA.

 

I live in Riga. 40% of the population here is ethnic Russians. In some of the cities here in Latvia the ethnic Russian population is more than 50%. Would you support a "military tactical action" in Latvia as well? So Russia could protect their interests in Latvia as well? For example to "protect" Ventspils since it is a strategical important oil terminal.

 

(For the information: I am not Latvian or Russian. I am Norwegian).

 

From a demonstration earlier today:

 

DSC_0105NEF_zps4ec46b89.jpg

 

 

..and to quote the Swedish foreign minister Mr. Carl Bildt:

"When Russian forces demands that Ukraine forces in Crimea surrender weapons it's clearly a military occupation that is taking place."

Edited by Norwegianlatvian
adding a word
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Sec. Kerry said the "magic words" on Meet The Press today:

 

Because Russia is inviting opprobrium on the international stage. There could even be ultimately asset freezes, visa bans. There could be certainly a disruption of any of the normal [/b]trade routine, and there could be business drawback on investment in the country

 

I have no idea what cruise lines would do in the event they couldn't spend three days in St. Petersburg. I know that, as one poster pointed out, the ships are not US flagged, but pax need some sort of Russian tourist visa to disembark. So, the ships could dock, but only certain nationalities could be allowed off. This is a potential real mess for the cruise lines. We're booked for Russia in July, but it's a land tour and, if our visas are refused, our travel insurance should cover us as that is the only stop on the tour.

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Many views on this subject but none change the fact that people need to pay attention and see how this unfolds.

 

I have a Baltic Cruise booked for August and while missing St. Petersburg would be disappointing I'm sure my cruise (Celebrity) would do their best to make up for it by either adding new ports or perhaps adding an overnight or two in one of the other ports.

 

And while we can talk about how this affects our cruise plans, let's not forget the people of the Ukraine who are dealing with this life changing struggle on a daily basis. Let's hope the situation cools down and tensions subside.

 

Very well said.

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I don't have a Baltic cruise scheduled, but if I did I would cancel if within the time limits, but just hope for the best if it would cost to cancel. I would prepare to rebook even on very short notice if things settle down. US actions can affect Americans regardless of the flag of the ship. The most severe economic sanctions, which I doubt would be instituted because of American business interests in Russia, would prevent any economic or financial activity by Americans, a la the Cuban sanctions.

 

To me, to exclude St. Petersburg from a Baltic cruise would render the cruise of little interest. It's all about St. Petersburg, and if a stop there is in doubt, I would cancel if possible and wait for a better time.

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I live in Riga. 40% of the population here is ethnic Russians. In some of the cities here in Latvia the ethnic Russian population is more than 50%. Would you support a "military tactical action" in Latvia as well? So Russia could protect their interests in Latvia as well? For example to "protect" Ventspils since it is a strategical important oil terminal.

 

Yes, it's not a valid reason for invasion/occupation, just something some use as a defence, or argument to try to justify it.

 

That said, as it stands St Petersburg is far removed from this action, and I'd say scenarios that prevent it being visited are unlikely.

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I think you are probably right, St Petersburg will probably remain available to visit, and also continue to safe to visit with the oh-so-strict controls of the Russian tourist visas. Private visas might more frequently get denied, but that doesn't affect most cruisers.

 

But some may choose to NOT enable the Russian Federation by spending their tourist dollars in St Petersburg. Some may choose to deliberately hurt the economy of those poor Russian locals, to send a message.

 

Others will continue to spend their dollars and euros as before, because they feel all the beautiful ports of the world are here simply to entertain them. There is alot of talk of the history of these places, as if history and all the bad things that once happened are in the past.

 

We are still living history...

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I'm a bit confused...I am reading a number of posts from people talking about cancelling thier Baltic cruise if it turns out we are unable to stop at St. Petersburg due to unrest. Granted I REALLY want to go to St Pete....however I am also looking forward to the other 5 or 6 ports and would not thinkof cancelling at all. I'm sure they would add another port to make upfor the port missed. Copenhagen, Berlin, Estonia, Stockholm....wow...it sounds great...St Pete or not.

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I'm a bit confused...I am reading a number of posts from people talking about cancelling thier Baltic cruise....however I am also looking forward to the other 5 or 6 ports and would not thinkof cancelling at all. I'm sure they would add another port to make upfor the port missed. Copenhagen, Berlin, Estonia, Stockholm....wow...it sounds great...St Pete or not.

 

Totally agree GailnBrad.

 

We booked a Baltic cruise, not an SPB cruise. Scandinavia, Estonia, Nth Germany....can't wait. :)

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I'm cruising for st. Pete. If it was cancelled then I would be out. I have until 5/14 for final payment. Flights are booked, so we would likely just rent a car and do our summer 2015 land trip early.

 

I hope that it doesn't come to that, but the visa ban that john Kerry mentioned had me thinking more. Putin is notorious for his tit for tat moves. I don't think he gives one iota about ticking off the USA.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

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I'm a bit confused...I am reading a number of posts from people talking about cancelling thier Baltic cruise if it turns out we are unable to stop at St. Petersburg due to unrest. Granted I REALLY want to go to St Pete....however I am also looking forward to the other 5 or 6 ports and would not thinkof cancelling at all. I'm sure they would add another port to make upfor the port missed. Copenhagen, Berlin, Estonia, Stockholm....wow...it sounds great...St Pete or not.

 

And for others of us SPB is the reason for the cruise. The other cities are nice but I can travel to most of those cities by plane, train or automobile. The relative difficulty of SPB by any other means but cruise ship means, for us, the cruise is about that city. I respect that others may not agree, and that's great. But we will will be monitoring very closely and if there's a hint of economic sanctions or boycott of the G8 in Sochi, we'll cancel and take our chances another year.

 

Lots of great places to go in the world.

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I'm a bit confused...I am reading a number of posts from people talking about cancelling thier Baltic cruise if it turns out we are unable to stop at St. Petersburg due to unrest. Granted I REALLY want to go to St Pete....however I am also looking forward to the other 5 or 6 ports and would not thinkof cancelling at all. I'm sure they would add another port to make upfor the port missed. Copenhagen, Berlin, Estonia, Stockholm....wow...it sounds great...St Pete or not.

 

Although I mostly agree, truth be told, I wouldn't want any of the ports I visited cancelled. ;)

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Tiggerr and I are booked on the same cruise. The final payment date is six weeks away. We should have some clarity both in terms of the political situation and the plans of the cruise lines in the next few weeks. The final payment date must be approaching for many Baltic cruises scheduled for early June.

 

For a cruise that begins or ends in Stockholm, I am not sure what itinerary options the cruise lines have. SPB is the top attraction on a Baltic cruise. There is a reason that cruise lines spend one or two overnights there. I will consider itinerary changes, but without a major discount I will have to consider other options as well.

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I have to agree with most of the posters that I scheduled this trip specifically for St. Petersburg. There are 6 of us from different parts of the country who met on different cruises that are celebrating a big 60th birthday. This is a bucket list cruise that I would not have scheduled if it didn't have St. Petersburg on it. My final deposit is due this month for our May 26th cruise, so we have some serious decisions to make. Will we get in under the wire? will we be diverted? Will we (US citizens) not be able to get off the ship? This is a lot of money to spend to not visit the city we booked for. True, the other cities will be great, but this is the icing on the cake. We were lucky enough to visit Egypt and the Pyramids in 2010...I would NOT go there today under any circumstances. I'll be monitoring the situation and hope for the best.

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Having just taken a Baltic cruise last year, I will say that St. Petersburg is definitely the highlight of the trip.

 

While the ability to sail into St. Petersburg may continue, my concern would be the saber-rattling about visa bans. As mentioned up-thread, Russia will likely retaliate if the West were to impose visa restrictions. How this would impact the "blanket visa" program for cruise ship passengers is unknown. However, I wouldn't be surprised if Russia did something to tighten up the process. Even as it is, it took us an hour to get off the ship and through immigration last year.

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Yea, that is my concern. The problem is that most of the G8 countries will rally together (I don't think any one country would go it alone)....so that would be a huge hit since that would take out Canada, US, and the UK.

 

All this worry could be for nothing...I think it'll all shake out in the next couple of weeks.

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Ok, let us stop already the scaremongering and Anti-Russia bashing that we see on the Western Media...:rolleyes:

 

The Russian Federation is at this moment considering several scenarios to protect their Military and human interests in the Crimea, which is an Autonomous area within the Ukraine, with its own Parliament. Most inhabitants of the Crimea are Russian and feel threatened by the Civil anti-Russian interest in the Ukraine.

Any responsible state would protect its main naval base and more than 1.5 Million ethnic Russians who , through the Crimean government ( democratically elected by the way ),ask for protection.

 

The USA will never put any embargo on Russia. Remember that Russia is a permanent UN security council member and a Superpower.

 

the USA is invading souvereign countries on a regular basis...in order to protect its interests by the way, and so do the EU nations, including my own. That is not war, it is called Military Tactical Action.

 

Russia is not some loose cannon that FOX news pretends it to be. Not at all.

 

Visiting St. Petersburg is safe for all, and will continue to be safe.

 

By the way, Cruisecritic is a US based website where 95% of participants are American. It is unknown to the vast majority of cruise passengers, especially those not from the USA.

 

No offense Despeque - but you know nothing more than any other poster on this forum. And please keep your drivel about the U.S. media to yourself - geesh.

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I, too, booked our Baltics cruise primarily for St. Pete and would be really disappointed if that port was taken out. This is a very expensive cruise and clearly I wouldn't pay as much to visit just the other countries, no matter how nice.

 

I am hoping that Kerry was referring to imposing restrictions on Visas for certain Russian leaders, diplomats. That is more in line with the thoughts of news sources. Frankly, Putin will not give a hoot about diplomatic or economic sanctions. Long term, he wants this area due to the oil pipelines. So, this won't likely end soon, but we can hope that our travel isn't affected.

 

I think we may already have visas issued thru our tour company? We sail in July and they confirmed and sent me the papers to get off the ship. I guess they could be revoked. Final payment due mid April. If itinerary is the same then, I will probably pay final payment and keep fingers crossed, as we have had this cruise booked already for a year.

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Yea, that is my concern. The problem is that most of the G8 countries will rally together (I don't think any one country would go it alone)....so that would be a huge hit since that would take out Canada, US, and the UK.

 

All this worry could be for nothing...I think it'll all shake out in the next couple of weeks.

 

BIB I am tending to agree with you - and am praying that it will.

 

We are going on AoS Baltic Cruise in June and we have already paid for the cruise (unfortunately we have to pay well in advance here in the UK!). I don't think it will affect our stopover in St Petersburg.

 

Here's hoping, anyway!!

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Totally agree GailnBrad.

 

We booked a Baltic cruise, not an SPB cruise. Scandinavia, Estonia, Nth Germany....can't wait. :)

 

Same here. Actually St. Petersburg seems better to do on a land trip with a visa - it just needs more time. They could throw in Latvia and Gdansk on my cruise and I'd be ok with it.

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I'm cruising for st. Pete. If it was cancelled then I would be out. I have until 5/14 for final payment. Flights are booked, so we would likely just rent a car and do our summer 2015 land trip early.

 

I hope that it doesn't come to that, but the visa ban that john Kerry mentioned had me thinking more. Putin is notorious for his tit for tat moves. I don't think he gives one iota about ticking off the USA.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums mobile app

 

I agree. This is not political, but, after seeing the Syrians walk all over Obama, this is probably child's play for Putin. I still believe this won't impact travel, but I am less confident the past few days than I was earlier.

 

My flights are booked as well. We were going to fly to Amsterdam for three day pre-cruise and then go to Copenhagen, but might make a detour and head to Paris (easy 3-hour train ride) from Amsterdam and then do something else before heading off to Copenhagen for what would have been our post cruise vacation.

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In contemplating whether to do some dummy bookings for hotels and a car rental. Not sure....definitely monitoring the news.

 

I would be ok with a few other stops (Oslo, Latvia), but the high cost makes me cringe. We're paying a premium for st. Pete.

 

I'd love to know in advance too since I am planning a weekend in Oslo earlier in the summer and would put it off.

 

I also looked at a few other cruises at that time, but man...this was the one I wanted.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

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Same here. Actually St. Petersburg seems better to do on a land trip with a visa - it just needs more time. They could throw in Latvia and Gdansk on my cruise and I'd be ok with it.

 

Agree BUT 2 more sea days would not be acceptable. Don't think Putin will back down & he will try to subvert new Ukrainian govt. Will probably succeed. See how quickly the new navy chief defected,

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