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Does st petersburg cruise terminal have cafe


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9 hours ago, ldubs said:

 

I don't understand why this has become such a big deal  (other than the need for fault-finding).  I see nothing wrong with paying customers expressing their wants to the tour guide. And, if the guide decided he wanted to ignore his customer's desires, then why would he get a tip.  It all seems reasonable to me.  Of course, if the KGB is someone involved, I guess that could change things. Lol.   

I totally understand and agree with you.  Someone who wasn’t there, who didn’t hear the conversation decided to pass judgement on the situation.  There are people who simply enjoy criticizing others, as if they are perfect themselves....we all handle conflict differently.  I think it’s better to stand up for oneself, then to become angry at not saying anything.  I wasn’t pleased with my Moscow guide, and the tip showed it. But that was between her and me.   And not everyone gets to see the KBG, hahaha!!  🤣

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11 hours ago, sverigecruiser said:

 

I hope that you are correct that the tourguides are allowed to change the itinerary. I have always thought that it's easier to get a "tour visa", compared to an "individual visa" , because the Russian government then know where people go and what they might see.

 

You say that the guides are allowed to change the itinerary  and as I said, I hope that is correct.

We actually discussed this with our Russian guide during our last visit.  She explained that the licensed tour companies don't actually go through a visa process, but essentially have blanket authority to waive Visas.  So the paperwork that we get from the tour company, which gets us through the Russian port security folks, is a Visa waiver...not an actual visa.  As such, there are none of the strict requirements that Russia imposes (especially on those with a USA Passport) with their complex (and expensive) Visa process.   (In defense of Russia, they would argue that obtaining a USA Visa is also complex and expensive for those with Russian Passports).

 

The Russian government has better things to do then "track" small tour groups.  Our guide quickly altered our itinerary when it made sense, and we had no restrictions on us when walking around town...other then we had to stay within range of our guide.  She was responsible for supervising the group, and since we did not have individual tourist Visas (I have had a Russian visa on a previous trip) we were not permitted to simply go wandering away...on our own.  When we were out at Peterhof, we all went exploring on our own and were supposed to meet our guide at a certain meeting point.  One couple failed to show-up on time and after waiting 15 minutes our guide got quite annoyed (rightfully so).  I asked her what happens if she "loses folks" and she said that if they did not soon show-up we would just leave.  She explained that she would first call her office (TJ Tours has an office in town) and tell them we had lost a couple who would then have to find their own way back.  Fortunately, the missing couple did finally show-up.  

 

So why the Visa waiver program for cruisers?  It simply encourages more ships to visit Russia (and bring in tourist dollars) and also fosters the use of licensed tour companies.  Actually, this program has annoyed cruise line's who count on their overpriced excursions to enhance their own bottom line.  The cruise line's do not want passengers using private tours that do not pay anything to the cruise lines.  So besides attempts to scare passengers into booking their excursions ("you might miss the ship if you take a private tour") the cruise lines and their local tour contractors have managed to convince the Russian authorities to give them some priority at the port.  Previously, the Russian authorities could care less who got off the ship first and private tours were often the first to get going despite some attempts by certain cruise lines to discourage those, not on their excursions, from leaving the ship.    Lots of "games" have been played when it comes to private tour groups in Russia.  We actually had one cruise line send us an e-mail explaining that if we did not want to obtain our own Visa (a very expensive process) we must take a cruise line excursion.  Of course they neglected to tell cruisers that they had every right to book a private tour.

 

I should also mention that we met one group of 3 (during our last visit to STP) who had hired a private guide through TJ Tours.  They paid to have this guide for 2 days (and at night) and did pretty much whatever they pleased.  They even went to a nice local restaurant (and treated their guide) for an elegant dinner and we met them at the ballet.  They spent two days exploring STP and some areas outside the city.  They told us their guide/driver would simply take them wherever they wanted to go and also made some interesting suggestions.  Although they had agreed on a basic 2 day itinerary, they made all kinds of changed "on the fly."

 

Hank

 

 

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3 hours ago, Floridiana said:

I don't know which is the terminal 3. The port is horse shoe shaped. If your ship is docked on one side and terminal 3 is on the other side, it takes longer to get there than to go back to the ship for lunch unless your tour drops you off at terminal 3 and the next tour picks you up there as well. I took the photo from our ship docked on one side of the horse shoe. Our pier only had souvenir shops with one before passport control.

 

I don't know which pier I was at either. Once past Passport control there were alot of vendors all selling interesting Russian souvenirs. Their stands were located as in a hallway,  the length of the building. There was nothing before Passport control. On our third day in port...I had a tour booked for the ballet in the evening, but nothing in the daytime (I had gone to Moscow on Day 2 which was a long, but enjoyable day).  I thought I'd go look at the souvenirs in the afternoon...but Passport Control wouldn't let me through because it was too many hours before my 'tour'.  So they're very strict about letting us non-citizens any roaming around time.  Just a heads up.  😊

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51 minutes ago, Hlitner said:

We actually discussed this with our Russian guide during our last visit.  She explained that the licensed tour companies don't actually go through a visa process, but essentially have blanket authority to waive Visas.  So the paperwork that we get from the tour company, which gets us through the Russian port security folks, is a Visa waiver...not an actual visa.  As such, there are none of the strict requirements that Russia imposes (especially on those with a USA Passport) with their complex (and expensive) Visa process.   (In defense of Russia, they would argue that obtaining a USA Visa is also complex and expensive for those with Russian Passports).

Hank

 

 

Thank you Hank for clearing that up. You said it alot better than I attempted.  Sorry for cutting out most of your post, but it wasn't really necessary for my answer. 😊

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1 hour ago, ladysail2 said:

Someone who wasn’t there, who didn’t hear the conversation decided to pass judgement on the situation.  There are people who simply enjoy criticizing others, as if they are perfect themselves....we all handle conflict differently.  

 

If you are referring to me I already apologized for misunderstanding your comment about the museums. 

 

I am not sure that you very clear about whether it was just your group on the tour and whether everyone was in agreement re: spending time shopping. If it was just your group, then clearly no harm/no foul.

 

To me this is a very important point. I've arranged private tours quite a few times and I always specify that there will be NO SHOPPING STOPS.  Anyone who signs up for the tour is aware of this. But I've still had "entitled' passengers go behind my back and talk to the tour guide on the day about adding shopping stops.

 

Just one more reason why I generally prefer to DIY...

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2 hours ago, cruisemom42 said:

 

If you are referring to me I already apologized for misunderstanding your comment about the museums. 

 

I am not sure that you very clear about whether it was just your group on the tour and whether everyone was in agreement re: spending time shopping. If it was just your group, then clearly no harm/no foul.

 

To me this is a very important point. I've arranged private tours quite a few times and I always specify that there will be NO SHOPPING STOPS.  Anyone who signs up for the tour is aware of this. But I've still had "entitled' passengers go behind my back and talk to the tour guide on the day about adding shopping stops.

 

Just one more reason why I generally prefer to DIY...

One more time....I signed up for a tour, on-line, with a tour company. Their groups total about 15 people, no one knows each other, unless they’re together.  So, we all meet outside the ship at a designated spot.   We have a tour description and that is all.  I had contacted the company re:souvenir shopping and they said to ask the tour guide.  Our group established the time to be back to the ship, the tour guide agreed and we went on our merry way.  She decided where we went and what we saw. I asked about dropping into a souvenir shop, as did others ask. She wouldn’t answer the question, she would just look away and talk about the next stop.  She wasn't the most pleasant of people, but seemed to know her job.  There was no ‘no shopping rule’ established. Really, she should have warned us at the beginning. Perhaps she hated shopping too.  We were only asking for 20 minutes out of a 10-hour day. I didnt think that was unreasonable.  Sure, if you organize ‘no shopping rules’ for your tours and everyone is fine with that....then everyone will be happy. Not everyone feels the same.  I showed my displeasure by the size of the tip...as did about 4 or 5 others.  I wasn't nasty or outspoken about it.  She did her tour guide duties in a professional manner. The 5 of us who asked her were disappointed in her non-response, but we all behaved like an adult. I was able to buy a book on Moscow in St.P, in the Museum, of all places.  😊

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Thank you for uploading the terminal map.  Trying to look online to see if it says which terminal jewels ots will dock at but not finding anything yet.

I hear that excursion buses sometimes get stuck in heavy traffic.

I guess we will just see how our day is going and how are feet feel on whether we get lunch in terminal or walk back up to wdj..

 

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12 hours ago, Sunshine3601 said:

Several different places to shop souvenirs with prices cheaper than the ones tour guides take you too is nice to know too.

 

OT, but we're find a lot of those 'cheaper' souvenirs weren't made in the country we're visiting.  Somehow that matters to us.

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10 hours ago, Sunshine3601 said:

Trying to look online to see if it says which terminal jewels ots will dock at but not finding anything yet.

The 2020 schedules have not yet been uploaded to the port of St. Pete website. Check after the first of the year and they should be there. 

 

10 hours ago, Sunshine3601 said:

I hear that excursion buses sometimes get stuck in heavy traffic.

Traffic in Saint Petersburg is, as best, chaos. You are correct - buses do get stuck in traffic. The cruise port where your ship will dock (Marine Facade) is located on Vasilyevsky Island (you can check it out on Google Maps) - count on a minimum of 25 - 30 minutes to reach the center of the city and the same on returning to the ship.

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On 10/9/2019 at 12:16 PM, ladysail2 said:

I showed my displeasure by the size of the tip...as did about 4 or 5 others.  

And I hope the other 2/3 showed their pleasure by increasing their tip.  As I would have done.  As I mentioned so many "tourist shops" have a bunch of poorly made items that weren't even made in the country we're visiting.  We saw this towards the end of our Antarctica trip and again in Norway.

 

Here's an example.  A little penguin that we found in a non-souvenir type place that was head and shoulders above the junk being sold from the kiosks.  Sure, it cost a little more but it's a piece of art.  In Norway we actually bought some Norwegian made goods when they were 50% off on the ship 🙂 cause everything we saw (except some food items) were made in China.

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5 hours ago, clo said:

And I hope the other 2/3 showed their pleasure by increasing their tip.  As I would have done.  As I mentioned so many "tourist shops" have a bunch of poorly made items that weren't even made in the country we're visiting.  We saw this towards the end of our Antarctica trip and again in Norway.

 

Here's an example.  A little penguin that we found in a non-souvenir type place that was head and shoulders above the junk being sold from the kiosks.  Sure, it cost a little more but it's a piece of art.  In Norway we actually bought some Norwegian made goods when they were 50% off on the ship 🙂 cause everything we saw (except some food items) were made in China.

I don’t know what you expect from me?  I’m not you, I’m not going to be like you, I don’t even know you.  All I wanted was a cheap magnet. I’m smart enough to know that it probably was not made in Russia, so what, big deal. I paid enough for the book, which was probably overpriced. Should that bother you? No it shouldn’t. It was my choice, not your’s.  Go criticize someone else. Your comments are boring.

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5 minutes ago, ladysail2 said:

I’m smart enough to know that it probably was not made in Russia, so what, big deal.

Why not just come home and order through Amazon if you don't care?  What's the difference?

https://www.amazon.com/Russian-Magnets/s?k=Russian+Magnets

You were complaining pretty vehemently about something that didn't matter, did it?

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19 minutes ago, ladysail2 said:

I don’t know what you expect from me?  I’m not you, I’m not going to be like you, I don’t even know you.  All I wanted was a cheap magnet. I’m smart enough to know that it probably was not made in Russia, so what, big deal. I paid enough for the book, which was probably overpriced. Should that bother you? No it shouldn’t. It was my choice, not your’s.  Go criticize someone else. Your comments are boring.

 

Gosh,  yours is cheap souvenir junk and theirs, of course is costlier "art".  Just roll your eyes and move on.  

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45 minutes ago, clo said:

Why not just come home and order through Amazon if you don't care?  What's the difference?

https://www.amazon.com/Russian-Magnets/s?k=Russian+Magnets

You were complaining pretty vehemently about something that didn't matter, did it?

I’m not you, I’m not going to be like you, what does it matter to you what I do?  Get over it, move on, criticize someone else.  If I wanted to buy a magnet through Amazon, then I would have...it’s my business, not your’s.  I can complain as vehemently as I want, what’s it to you?  Go criticize someone else....maybe they’ll care about what you’re blathering on about, ad nauseum.

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5 minutes ago, ladysail2 said:

 I can complain as vehemently as I want, what’s it to you?  

When you do it on a public forum then it's open to disagreement.

 

@ldubsI got interrupted when I wrote that and had intended to put "art" in quotes.  We joke that we have upper case art and lower case art.  We have traveled a good bit internationally over the years and have eliminated a lot of 'souvenirs.'  We've been getting magnets for so long that I finally donated some to a thrift store.  We now tend to buy a 'thing' that's actually from the area.  I've been enjoying "Christmas" ornaments that aren't really 🙂  Like a glass evil eye from Turkey. But I can still remember a trip some years ago where the "souvenir shop stop" was really annoying for those of us - a majority - who had no interest.

Here's my little penguin, who sits on my kitchen window sill with other things, some travel related and some not.

20191010_131931 - Edited.jpg

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1 hour ago, ladysail2 said:

I don’t know what you expect from me?  I’m not you, I’m not going to be like you, I don’t even know you.  All I wanted was a cheap magnet. I’m smart enough to know that it probably was not made in Russia, so what, big deal. I paid enough for the book, which was probably overpriced. Should that bother you? No it shouldn’t. It was my choice, not your’s.  Go criticize someone else. Your comments are boring.

 

So, to be sure I understand, you and a minority of passengers on a group tour wanted to make a stop for shopping, which was unplanned, in order to buy a cheap magnet that was probably not even made in Russia? And when the guide was reluctant, perhaps not wanting to cut short time somewhere else, you lowered your tip?

 

It is just incomprehensible to me that someone would travel halfway around the world to visit a country and then instead of enjoying the visit and spending all possible time seeing the sights (which cannot be seen anywhere else), spends time arguing over the right to shop for a pseudo-souvenir. I'm honestly not trying to give you a hard time, it just completely boggles my mind. Sorry, but it does.

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15 minutes ago, clo said:

When you do it on a public forum then it's open to disagreement.

 

@ldubsI got interrupted when I wrote that and had intended to put "art" in quotes.  We joke that we have upper case art and lower case art.  We have traveled a good bit internationally over the years and have eliminated a lot of 'souvenirs.'  We've been getting magnets for so long that I finally donated some to a thrift store.  We now tend to buy a 'thing' that's actually from the area.  I've been enjoying "Christmas" ornaments that aren't really 🙂  Like a glass evil eye from Turkey. But I can still remember a trip some years ago where the "souvenir shop stop" was really annoying for those of us - a majority - who had no interest.

Here's my little penguin, who sits on my kitchen window sill with other things, some travel related and some not.

20191010_131931 - Edited.jpg

 

Yes, your penguin art is very special. 

 

 

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7 minutes ago, ldubs said:

Yes, your penguin art is very special. 

 

I love to cook so therefore I spend a lot of time in the kitchen.   He's a reminder of our incredible Antarctica trip.  PS:  Their poop is the worst smelling of any I've smelled.  LOL

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"Traditional Russian Delicacies"..LOLOLOL  Love it...thank you for the information.

 

I am solo traveler so a bit nervous booking a tour off the cruise line, but so many people have recommended Alla tours and TJ Tours..kind of rethinking.  Costs are far less than the cruise line and itineraries are more inclusive.  Princess, for example, only visits Catherine Palace in the evening and includes a dinner at the palace...not really interested in a dinner though I want to see Catherine Palace...I have never been to the Baltic area, this is probably my only time, so do not want to miss "major" sites, but also don't want to do dinner at the Palace!

 

I appreciate all the comments.  Very helpful.

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