Do Canadians need a Visa for Russia if just joing excursions arranged by cruiseline ?

[GeminiA]

I'm deciding between 2 cruises on Crystal Serenity to Northern Europe next August, one of which goes to St. Petersburg Russia, & the other doesn't.

 

I've heard that if you just go with the shore excursions arranged by the cruise line & do not stay overnight in a Russian hotel (like if you're joining an overnight excursion to Moscow from St. Petersburg), then the "blanket visa" already included by the shore excursions will be sufficient & you don't need to apply for one independently - that's definitely true for Americans according to the shore excursion booklets printed by the cruiselines.

 

Since St. Petersburg alone already have more than enough choices for shore excursions arranged by the cruise line for 3 days, we'll be happy with just going to those & not doing it independently. I know if we choose to explore even just St. Petersburg independently, you have to apply for a Russian visa yourself.

 

Since it's not the most convenient to apply for a Russian visa from where I live in Canada - you have to mail your passport to Ottawa & it involves extra costs, I would rather avoid having to do that for now & go with an alternate Northern Europe cruise that does not go to St. Petersburg, but to other Northern European ports that I also haven't visited yet.

 

I actually would prefer to go to St. Petersburg as I heard it's a great port to visit, but would rather choose the alternate cruise if it's less troublesome regarding Russian visa. Do any Canadians here ever visited St. Petersburg & never applied independently for a Russian visa & got by just joining the excursions arranged by the cruise lines ? I would appreciate if anyone can share their experience.

[Susan-M]

We did a Baltic cruise in 2000, with 2 days in St. Petersburg. Same dilemma....did not want to pay for the Visas, so instead opted for the cruise line's shore excursions (no Visa required) and really enjoyed them. St. Petersburg was one of the highlights on our cruise, so if you are leaning towards the cruise that includes it, I highly recommend it. Be sure to include an excursion to the Hermitage.

 

My husband did try to get off the ship without a Visa one evening just to have a beer in one of the places next to where we were docked, but the immigration officers wouldn't let him.

 

One of our days involved just a morning tour. At our last stop on that tour we told the tour guide that we were leaving the tour and would get back to the ship on our own. We spent the afternoon wandering on our own and then arrived back at the ship around 4pm to go through customs & immigration with a busload of people from another tour. It worked and we enjoyed the afternoon on our own, but I was a little nervous about getting caught.

[LHT28]

Do any Canadians here ever visited St. Petersburg & never applied independently for a Russian visa & got by just joining the excursions arranged by the cruise lines ? I would appreciate if anyone can share their experience.

If you go with the ship's excursions or private tours with Red October or Denrus then no VISA is required.

You will be covered under the group VISA but you must stay with the group.

 

You will enjoy St Petersburg ...lots of tours to choose from .

[GeminiA]

Thank you for the replies :)

 

I have now decided to stick with the St. Petersburg cruise which I originally booked on board the Serenity last month. I haven't decided on a TA yet, but I called Crystal Cruises this morning & they checked with their documentation department which also said if you're a Canadian Citizen, you won't need to apply for a Russian visa for St. Petersburg if you go with the ship's excursions & stay with the group, which is fine with us.

 

The reason I posted this question is that I ' ve heard from a travel agent that they have a Canadian client that recently went to Russia by cruise ship & still needed to apply for a visa, contrary to what I've heard from others. Glad I have this cleared up now.

 

Looking forward to August next year . . .:D