St Petersburg Russia....do I need a Russian Visa?

[Airlinedeals]

Hi Cyndi, and welcome to Cruise Critic,

 

You've already received good advice on this thread.

 

But just to ram home a point...........

Most cruise lines are very crafty about their phraseology, they tell you that you need a visa to go ashore on your own (true) but that you don't need a visa if you book a ship-sponsored tour (also true).

What they fail to tell you is that you can go ashore visa-free for a tour pre-booked with one of the many excellent local govt-approved tour operators.

 

Princess is slightly different. They don't mess with crafty phraseology - they simply lie by saying that the only way to go ashore visa-free is by taking a Princess tour. Grossly untrue, and they know it !!

 

You do have to pre-book, because the tour ticket that the local tour operator e-mails to you (or the ship's tour ticket that's given to you aboard the ship) gets you through immigration without a visa.

You don't have to pay with your booking - the local operators trust you, you pay (USD or roubles or plastic) during the tour.

 

Note that you can only go ashore visa-free for the tour/s that you've booked. A tour ticket for day one won't get you through immigration on day 2.

 

Local operators use 16-seat vans, not large coaches. They sell seat-in-van - you don't have to fix up a tour-share. Much more personal, much more flexible. And they include for instance a trip on a hydrofoil and a subway - impossible with larger groups.

Google Alla Tours, SPB Tours, Best Guides, TJ Travel, DenRus, Anastasia. And there are others. All very good, you won't go wrong with any of them.

 

Lots more info on the subject, and your other ports of call, on the Baltic forum

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?s=&daysprune=&f=192

 

JB :)

 

Thank you JB for the full and frank discussion on this subject I have found it most informative.

I am currently getting the run around from Princess Cruises about the need to book a Princess shore excursion for St Petersburg or get a visa. However the third option is book a tour in advance with one of the manny Russian licensed tour operators mentioned above. I have even been threatened with being unable to disembark the ship in SPD.

 

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[John Bull]

Since this thread is over a year old, an update for the benefit of anyone reading it all through for the first time...........

 

The situation regarding visas hasn't changed - if you pre-book a tour through a local operator ( Alla Tours, SPB Tours, Best Guides, TJ Travel, DenRus, Anastasia & other equally-excellent operators not mentioned on this thread), or though a ship-sponsored excursion, the tour ticket is good to get you through immigration for that tour without a visa.

 

But one thing has changed since those early posts on this thread - those on ships' tours do now have priority disembarkation. This has been agreed by the immigration authorities.

So this year the local tour operators put the timing of their tours back by an hour to compensate. That for Day One, I don't know about the second or third days - immigration takes time on Day One because of the paperwork, but is quick on subsequent disembarkations

I'm not aware of any problems or delays arising from this.

 

JB :)

[Go-Bucks!]

However, that is not surprising as cruise companies are famous for either directly lying about stuff or using language that seems to say one thing but really means something else.

Many of the cruiselines are doing something similar for cruises to Cuba. They tell passengers that they must buy ship tours or cannot get off the ship or the cruiseline won't purchase them a Cuban visa! It's a lie and causes alot of confusion and anxiety. So sad.

[davecttr]

Since this thread is over a year old, an update for the benefit of anyone reading it all through for the first time...........

 

The situation regarding visas hasn't changed - if you pre-book a tour through a local operator ( Alla Tours, SPB Tours, Best Guides, TJ Travel, DenRus, Anastasia & other equally-excellent operators not mentioned on this thread), or though a ship-sponsored excursion, the tour ticket is good to get you through immigration for that tour without a visa.

 

But one thing has changed since those early posts on this thread - those on ships' tours do now have priority disembarkation. This has been agreed by the immigration authorities.

So this year the local tour operators put the timing of their tours back by an hour to compensate. That for Day One, I don't know about the second or third days - immigration takes time on Day One because of the paperwork, but is quick on subsequent disembarkations

I'm not aware of any problems or delays arising from this.

 

JB :)

 

I can see the new procedures being open to abuse by the cruise lines. Staggering their tour departure times to make private tours look less attractive. these would need the co-operation of the local authorities, on the other hand the local economy makes more money from the local tour companies?

[Velvetwater]

I am going to disagree with Suite Traveller's advice. St Petersburg is a place you can purchase a Visa and go it alone. I have met cruisers and general travellers that have done this. However, they were all European and we are known for being more adventurous in our wanderlust for the most part.

 

We looked at going it alone too and priced up a 2 day tour vs 2 days on our own (Visa, Visa admin costs, hotel stay, money for food and transport to the sights,hydrofoil, transport to and from the port which is a way out)

 

We found it was much cheaper to do a 2 day tour (TJ travel) and a night tour with vodka and entertainment than going alone so opted for the latter and there was a lot of paper work involved too. If you do decide to go down this route I still have the research on my email somewhere I can send.

 

If we were go to back we would probably go alone as we have done the things all the 2 day tours do.