Visa to visit St Petersburg Russia

[FredGee]

The HAL website says: St. Petersburg, Russia: USA Nationals o

Independent visa required if not participating on a Holland America shore excursion.

I am American, residing in France. I would like to be able to get off the boat in St Petersburg independant, if I wish, of a HAL excursion.

Would someone who has had experience in getting their visa, please share which embassy to approach and how they proceeded.

[RuthC]

First, every American needs a visa of some sort to visit Russia off the ship. How you obtain it changes, depending on what you plan to do.

 

If going on a HAL excursion, HAL covers you under a group visa. They have told you that much.

What they haven't said is if you plan to take an excursion with a private guide, who is from an approved agency, they, too, will furnish a group visa, and proof so that you can pass through the Immigration point.

 

It is only if you want to leave the ship and go off on your own---beyond the immigration point---that you need to obtain an individual visa.

That is not recommended, for several reasons. There is really no where to go, at least not easily, outside the terminal. even if you get somewhere, everything is in Russian, and most people don't speak English (or other languages), so communication would be close to impossible.

 

I hope this helps, and that you don't need an individual visa after all.

[cartervan]

On our Baltic Cruise a couple of years ago a group from our Roll Call booked a two-day tour of St. Petersburg with SPB tours. They took care of everything. They are a very well-known and experienced company. As Ruth says, you definitely need to book a tour, either with HAL or another company in order to get off the ship and see that fascinating city. Oh, and read up on Peter the Great and Catherine the Great so you can appreciate everything you're seeing.

[Haboob]

Talk to the folks at a Russian embassy or consulate to apply for a visa. (They'll tell you

that you need an "invitation to visit Russia" from a Russian citizen or tour company.)

 

Talk to the folks at an American embassy or consulate (They'll tell you there are

ongoing diplomatic tits-for-tats in progress over the Russian nerve agent attacks

in the UK, and you are potential collateral damage --denied entry, fined, or even

jailed-- as part of those tits-for-tats. Especially if you step out from under what

limited political protection being on a HAL excursion might offer.

[cartervan]

I just realized that, when I posted above, I wasn't really clear when I said SPB "took care of everything." As Ruth pointed out, the tour company sends you papers showing that you have a tour booked and you must show them to the officials when you get off the ship. We didn't have to get our own visas because the tour company took care of that. Even tho' relations with Russia aren't very good right now, I still wouldn't hesitate to book a tour with an established tour company whether an official HAL excursion or not. Tourism is too important to St. Petersburg to cause problems with cruise ship passengers--at least at this point. Although our SPB tour was really wonderful, and our guide was friendly and entertaining as well as informative--we still had the feeling that we were being strictly controlled. We never really had any "free time" to explore on our own.

[TAD2005]

We took a ship tour of St. Petersburg in 2006. It was a 2 day tour, staying on the ship for the night (no hotel). Our visas were handled by the tour operator. During many of the museums and palaces we visited, there were older, very stern looking women in each room, checking cameras to see if you had the photographer's sticker which you had to pay for. My camera was a Nikon D70, certainly not a professional photographer's camera, but I still was required to buy the sticker and they checked for it. They also hassle you if you use a flash. I had to turn off the flash and use available light on all indoor pictures. Possibly now, with everyone carrying a cell phone with a built-in camera, they may have eased off a lot about picture taking.

[tommui987]

Would someone who has had experience in getting their visa

 

There may be some method of being an "independent" traveler in a closed-society, but there are too many hoops to jump and not worth the time and effort.

 

We used Red October twice during the two times we were in St. Petersburg - Visas were provided by them and the tour guide ranged from terrific to OK. You can also tell them what YOU want to do and RO will arrange it. Do read about the city and what YOU want to see and do.

[Hlitner]

I agree with everything Ruth posted (above) except for one item. A personal Visa is an OK option for anyone who enjoys going off and doing their own thing. We got our own Visas for one of our trips to St Petersburg and had a terrific time. Getting around was a challenge, but that is what independent travel is all about....dealing with challenges :).

 

As to HAL, we think that the info they give to cruisers is poorly written at best, and purposely deceptive at worst. HAL wants passengers to purchase their overpriced and often over crowded excursions..since they are profitable to the cruise line. There are many excellent private tour companies (i.e TJ Tours, Alla, SPB, etc) that offer many different tour options (on their web sites) and provide small group (or even individual) tours at lower prices then the cruise lines. When we did 2 days of touring with TJ Tours, we had a group of 10 who traveled in a new Mercedes Mini-Bus (that could hold 20) with our own English speaking guide and driver (who also spoke some English). With a group that small, when we decided to have lunch in the city we simply walked down the main street (Nevsky Prospekt) until we saw a place that we all thought looked like a good choice (our guide agreed). And that is where we went for lunch. Later we walked by a really interesting candy store...so we all simply went in to browse (you could not have done this with a bus load of 50+).

 

Hank

[sandy999]

I have visited St P twice now and both times took an Alla tour. You can negotiate the price and they will meet you outside (after you have been through Customs) and drop you back at the ship. They will send you tour tickets which you will need to show to Customs. I loved the 2 day Faberge tour. I have also done the Grand tour but thought Faberge was the better itinerary. I recall about 12 of us in a small luxury van/minibus.

[cruisemom42]

To add to Hank's post, there are a (very) few people who prefer to do things on their own and it's not impossible to do this in St. Petersburg -- there are several posters on the Ports of Call forum here for the Northern Europe and Baltic Sea ports who have done it and can provide helpful advice if you are interested:

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=192

 

If you are one of these, don't feel discouraged by others.

 

However, realize that the Russian visas are expensive and time-consuming and considerable research is needed to figure out how to get around and see things on your own. The private companies provide a good alternative for most, and can work with you to help you arrange just about anything you want to see or do within reason, including evening ballet or folk performances, subway rides (or canal rides during the 'white nights', out of the way museums, etc. in addition to the main sites that are usually covered.

 

The one thing you usually cannot do, unless you have your own visa, is walk around on your own for any length of time.

[Hlitner]

Re Cruisemom's excellent post...when we did St Petersburg on our own (it was actually on a Maasdam cruise many years ago) it was our first visit to St Petersburg...when Russian Visas were reasonably priced. Given the current Visa pricing we now book private small group tours which essentially pay for themselves by the money we save not having to get our own Visa. For those who have never booked a private tour in St Petersburg its as easy as picking out your tour (on line) and booking. You will be e-mailed your Visa which you simply print-out and present to the Russian authorities. In August of 2016 we were in St Petersburg (Zuiderdam) and used TJ Tours. We actually were off the ship before the cruise line excursions, met our tour guide and group in the terminal..and were quickly on our way. We had friends who were on similar tours with Alla and they were also very pleased.

 

There have been some online rumors that the Russian authorities have recently changed the port procedures which might make it more difficult for those on private tours to quickly get through the Russian procedures.. We should soon begin seeing some posts as to whether this is true...or just more propaganda to "encourage" folks to book the cruise line excursions.

 

Hank