Excursions in St Petersburg

[Margarita!]

Hello.  We are cruising the Baltic in May next year and have two days in St Petersburg. The last time we did a Baltic cruise, a few years back, we were able to book an 'excursion' that basically allowed us a free day in the city.For visa reasons, it was classed as an excursion as we had a guided bus trip in and we had to meet at a certain place, a gift shop, for the guided bus trip back to the ship.  This trip, there is no free day excursion available.  However, there is a half-day excursion to the Hermitage with free time after.  If we booked this do you think we  would  be allowed to wander off from the Hermitage tour as we do not want to spend a half-day in a museum?  Any other suggestions would be welcome.  Cheers.

[Essiesmom]

I do not believe this is allowed.  Perhaps if you also had a visa for Russia.  But the better place to ask is on the Ports of Call board for Europe.

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/116-northern-europe-amp-baltic-sea/

[paul929207]

Have you tried one of the private tour companies? Companies like Alla or SPB?

[Heidi13]

If you book a guided excursion through the ship or an approved local tour provider, you do not require a Russian Visa, as your daily tour ticket is your Visa for the day. You must return to the ship for the evening and cannot leave the tour.

 

If you wish to depart the vessel independently, or even leave a guided tour, you will require a Russian tourist visa.

[Margarita!]

Thank you all for the responses.  On the previous trip we were all free to wander as we had actually booked the 'Self guided tour' of the city via the cruiseline.  Perhaps that was proof enough of your 'visa'.  This next trip with Princes we can wander for a couple of hours after the Hermitage tour. Obviously we then have to meet at a central spot to return to the ship.  I will post on the Ports of Call board, thanks Essiesmom. 

[John Bull]

I do recall hearing about those "on your own" visa-free tours offered by cruise line(s?)

Just as you described.

And such freedom did surprise me.

 

Most (all?) operators allow you to wander  on your own away from the group at venues - but not to stray away from the venue. 

 

Some treat the whole of Nevsky Prospekt (the main shopping street) as a "venue" - you can browse the street & shops at will for 30 / 60 minutes & meet up back where you alighted.

 

Through Alla we had booked an evening at the folk show, the only ones in our van who'd done so. At the end of the day tour there wasn't time to take us back to the ship with the others so we were dropped at a bar unaccompanied. An hour or so later another rep arrived at the bar, took us into the show and left us there. At the end of the evening an Alla driver was waiting outside for us, and took us back to the ship. All went very smoothly, and we weren't challenged or sent off to a gulag. 

 

So I rather suspect that "accompanied tour" is open to interpretation, because different local tour operators have offered varying degrees of  freedom.

And I'll wager  that on tours like you'd been on  the cruise line(s) or their local operator had rather over-done the "freedom" thing, had their wings clipped, and had to get back more in line with the Govt interpretation..

 

It's worth e-mailing Alla and a couple of the others (they all have excellent reputations) to ask about how strictly they adhere.

 

JB  

[dogs4fun]

13 hours ago, John Bull said:

So I rather suspect that "accompanied tour" is open to interpretation, because different local tour operators have offered varying degrees of  freedom.

And I'll wager  that on tours like you'd been on  the cruise line(s) or their local operator had rather over-done the "freedom" thing, had their wings clipped, and had to get back more in line with the Govt interpretation..

 

It's worth e-mailing Alla and a couple of the others (they all have excellent reputations) to ask about how strictly they adhere.

 

JB  

Agree. I had also heard of cruise "tours" offering city free time in the past but have not recently heard of such tours. Some companies will offer free time as long as you do not stray too far. If the tour to which you are referring (I assume this is a ship tour) offers free time after your visit to the Hermitage, I cannot imagine that it would be an issue to leave the Hermitage and begin your exploration a little early. Just make certain that you know the time and location to meet up with your tour for the return to your ship.

Edited December 11, 2018 by dogs4fun

[Margarita!]

Thank you all.  Yes, John Bull, I guess on our Princess tour, the Nevsky Projekt is considered being 'near by' as we meet again for the commentated return journey. We have three hours here on our own after the morning tour of Hermitage. 

 

Thanks also to Adrienne TB.  Your tour sounds wonderful and I will look it up for day two.

 

Cheers to all.

[Sue Do-Over]

Our 'guided tour' visited the Summer Palace (with the gardens and fountains).  We had 'free time' to wander about, but had to be back at the meeting point to join the van for the next destination.

 

I seem to recall that port security waved through the tour vans/busses, but took more time to scrutinize taxis returning with individual guests.   May have been clouded by the vodka tasting, but that was my sense at the time.