NCLfamily Posted February 22, 2020 #1 Share Posted February 22, 2020 If booking a St Petersburg ships tour that allows free time in Arts Square (NCL Escape August 2020) will I be able to buy tickets and enter the Church of the Saviour on spilled blood? Any tips? Are guides available or necessary? Sent from my iPad using Forums Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogs4fun Posted February 22, 2020 #2 Share Posted February 22, 2020 1 hour ago, NCLfamily said: If booking a St Petersburg ships tour that allows free time in Arts Square (NCL Escape August 2020) will I be able to buy tickets and enter the Church of the Saviour on spilled blood? Any tips? Are guides available or necessary? Yes, you can purchase your tickets at the church ticket office. However, in the summer months there are usually queues - you can also purchase your ticket online to avoid the queues. http://isaak.ticketnet.ru/en/#id=1 You can rent an audio guide at the ticket kiosk - JMHO, I don't feel that a guide is actually necessary. The following link provides the history of the church: http://eng.cathedral.ru/ru/spas/building It is a magnificent church - enjoy! Photo of ticket kiosk below: 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NCLfamily Posted February 22, 2020 Author #3 Share Posted February 22, 2020 Thanks very much for that. We have 2 hours ‘free’ time from our ship excursion. It’s dropping us in Arts Square, so will try to squeeze this in. Will probably pre-book tickets as they seem to be very inexpensive. Sent from my iPad using Forums Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogs4fun Posted February 22, 2020 #4 Share Posted February 22, 2020 15 minutes ago, NCLfamily said: ... pre-book tickets as they seem to be very inexpensive Yes - very inexpensive - about 6 euros each. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MagnoliaBlossom Posted April 22, 2020 #5 Share Posted April 22, 2020 Such a magnificent site! If you buy your tickets at the door, they only accept Russian currency, but we were able to get a local vendor at the flea market to sell us some rubles. Probably wasn’t a good rate but we only had 45 minutes so it was worth it to us. No guide is needed,especially if you read up ahead of time. It is relatively small so it won’t take long to see. Loved it!76 past cruisesUpcoming:NCL Getaway 3/29/2020NCL Breakaway 1/10/2021CCL Dream 5/16/2021 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lagerta Posted May 21, 2020 #6 Share Posted May 21, 2020 The church is really fantastic! I think it's possible to go there without guide, but the visit was included in the tour and we had a guide, it was extremely interesting to know some background about the place Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogs4fun Posted May 21, 2020 #7 Share Posted May 21, 2020 (edited) 1 hour ago, Lagerta said: The church is really fantastic! I think it's possible to go there without guide, but the visit was included in the tour and we had a guide, it was extremely interesting to know some background about the place I agree - the history of the church is interesting. If you rent the audio guide you will learn the background/history of the church. 🙂 Either way, a tour guide or rent the audio tour. On 4/22/2020 at 11:46 AM, MagnoliaBlossom said: Such a magnificent site! If you buy your tickets at the door, they only accept Russian currency, but we were able to get a local vendor at the flea market to sell us some rubles. FYI - for those cruising into Saint Petersburg ... You can utilize the ATM in the cruise terminal to obtain rubles. If not on a cruise, you can use one of the many bank ATMs. Visa and MC are widely accepted - one should need very little local currency. Edited May 21, 2020 by dogs4fun Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MagnoliaBlossom Posted May 23, 2020 #8 Share Posted May 23, 2020 FYI - for those cruising into Saint Petersburg ... You can utilize the ATM in the cruise terminal to obtain rubles. If not on a cruise, you can use one of the many bank ATMs. Visa and MC are widely accepted - one should need very little local currency.It’s been 9 years since our last visit and there wasn’t an ATM at that time, and we were warned onboard not to use them as there had been a recent spate of credit card fraud via usage in Russia. If you are on a private tour, as said above, you will need very little, if any money. And if you want to purchase keepsakes, the Russians now are allowed to use USD, unlike our first visit where it was forbidden.It has been said repeatedly but do yourself a favor and do a private tour here. We had a group of 12 and actually came out a bit cheaper with private vs ship tour and the flexibility we had was wonderful. No big busses where someone is always late, no stops at multiple souvenir stands, and we preordered lunch so it was ready for us when we arrived at the restaurant. We were able to add on a canal tour the first evening and went past Church on Spilt Blood, which we saw the next day. Beautiful sight with a glass of champagne and chocolate.76 past cruisesUpcoming:CCL Dream 8/22/2020. Western Caribbean NCL Breakaway 1/10/2021 Western CaribbeanCCL Dream 5/16/2021 Western CaribbeanNCL Star 6/27/2021 - Scotland, Norway & Iceland Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogs4fun Posted May 23, 2020 #9 Share Posted May 23, 2020 (edited) 2 hours ago, MagnoliaBlossom said: It’s been 9 years since our last visit and there wasn’t an ATM at that time, and we were warned onboard not to use them as there had been a recent spate of credit card fraud via usage in Russia. If you are on a private tour, as said above, you will need very little, if any money. And if you want to purchase keepsakes, the Russians now are allowed to use USD, unlike our first visit where it was forbidden. We visit Russia on a yearly basis (since 2011) - this year will be our first miss due to the situation with Covid 19. There is an ATM is the cruise port and it is perfectly safe to use the ATM or one of the ATMs at a bank - this is how we obtain any rubles that we may need. We often hear stories about reputed credit card fraud in Russia. We use our credit cards in Russia for almost everything and have never had an issue with credit card fraud in Russia (or any other destination in Europe) - our issues with credit card fraud have all occurred within the USA (most recently with an online purchase). The ruble is the national currency of Russia & USD are not widely accepted except in tourist areas where you will not obtain a good conversion rate. IMHO, it is best to use plastic (Visa or MC) - preferably a card that carries no foreign transaction fee. If you are purchasing an expensive keepsake (amber jewelry, imperial porcelain, etc.), it may be wise to use your credit card as you have a method of disputing the charge should an issue occur with your purchase. We were able to use USD in tourist shops in 2011, nine years ago. I don't quite understand exactly what you mean when you state that it was "forbidden" 9 years ago but "Russians now are allowed to use USD". As mentioned above, the souvenirs vendors in the tourist shops/kiosks will accept USD (as well as rubles, euros, GPB, & credit cards). Cruise passengers booked on private tours usually need no rubles as stated above. Should you require a few rubles (say, at the post office or another venue where ONLY rubles are accepted), your private guide should be able to assist you in acquiring them with a minimum of fuss. Edited May 23, 2020 by dogs4fun Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Coral Posted May 23, 2020 #10 Share Posted May 23, 2020 31 minutes ago, dogs4fun said: We were able to use USD in tourist shops in 2011, nine years ago. I don't quite understand exactly what you mean when you state that it was "forbidden" 9 years ago but "Russians now are allowed to use USD". It has been awhile since I have been to Russia but we were told and it seemed to be true that "real stores were only allowed to accept rubles or cc". I think we were told it was illegal for them to take US dollars. It was only street vendors where we used dollars. I have never taken a cruise ship to Russia so I don't have that experience. It is funny - the first time I went to Russia - they had stores just for foreigners and they only took foreign currency. You would often give the US currency and they would give you German currency back. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MagnoliaBlossom Posted May 23, 2020 #11 Share Posted May 23, 2020 We visit Russia on a yearly basis (since 2011) - this year will be our first miss due to the situation with Covid 19. There is an ATM is the cruise port and it is perfectly safe to use the ATM or one of the ATMs at a bank - this is how we obtain any rubles that we may need. We often hear stories about reputed credit card fraud in Russia. We use our credit cards in Russia for almost everything and have never had an issue with credit card fraud in Russia (or any other destination in Europe) - our issues with credit card fraud have all occurred within the USA (most recently with an online purchase). The ruble is the national currency of Russia & USD are not widely accepted except in tourist areas where you will not obtain a good conversion rate. IMHO, it is best to use plastic (Visa or MC) - preferably a card that carries no foreign transaction fee. If you are purchasing an expensive keepsake (amber jewelry, imperial porcelain, etc.), it may be wise to use your credit card as you have a method of disputing the charge should an issue occur with your purchase. We were able to use USD in tourist shops in 2011, nine years ago. I don't quite understand exactly what you mean when you state that it was "forbidden" 9 years ago but "Russians now are allowed to use USD". As mentioned above, the souvenirs vendors in the tourist shops/kiosks will accept USD (as well as rubles, euros, GPB, & credit cards). Cruise passengers booked on private tours usually need no rubles as stated above. Should you require a few rubles (say, at the post office or another venue where ONLY rubles are accepted), your private guide should be able to assist you in acquiring them with a minimum of fuss.Yes, in 2011 the shops did take USD. I failed to mention that our first trip was 2001 and things were tighter then. But the ship, even in 2011, did repeatedly advise people to not use credit cards. And if memory serves me, our guide with Anastasia advised us of that also. I’m glad to hear that youve had no problems. Good to know.76 past cruisesUpcoming:CCL Dream 8/22/2020. Western Caribbean NCL Breakaway 1/10/2021 Western CaribbeanCCL Dream 5/16/2021 Western CaribbeanNCL Star 6/27/2021 - Scotland, Norway & Iceland Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogs4fun Posted May 24, 2020 #12 Share Posted May 24, 2020 16 hours ago, Coral said: It is funny - the first time I went to Russia - they had stores just for foreigners and they only took foreign currency. You would often give the US currency and they would give you German currency back. This was true prior to the fall of the Soviet Union - I did not realize that this was still the practice in 2001. Anyway, thank you for your clarification. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Coral Posted May 24, 2020 #13 Share Posted May 24, 2020 (edited) 8 minutes ago, dogs4fun said: This was true prior to the fall of the Soviet Union - I did not realize that this was still the practice in 2001. Anyway, thank you for your clarification. I think my trips were in 1988 and 2007 or 2008. Neither on a cruise ship. Edited May 24, 2020 by Coral Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogs4fun Posted May 24, 2020 #14 Share Posted May 24, 2020 3 minutes ago, Coral said: I think my trips were in 1988 and 2007 or 2008. Neither on a cruise ship. Apologies - was conflating your and Magnolia's posts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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