Should I be scared?

[woohoo21]

Should I be scared to go independently with my husband into St. Petersburg? In process of getting tourist visas. How will I get from the port to the city? Has anyone had experieince of this? Going with RCCL in summer.

[dakrewser]

Scared? No, it's not as bad as, say, Tangiers. But prudent? Certainly. Travellers on their own in Petersburg spend most of their time in line waiting for something - a bus/tram, entrance to a museum, etc. Look through some of the other threads on this board for lot's of info on the port, including how to handle it on your own.

 

We've done dozens of European, African, Mexican, Caribbean and South Pacific ports on our own. On our upcoming 11-port Baltic cruise we'll be doing 10 on our own. The only exception is Petersburg where we'll go with a local tour guide & driver for all three days we're in port.

[giraffenana]

I agree with dakrewser. My husband and I have only taken 2 ship sponsored tours in our 10 cruises. However, in St. Petersburg we do not care to be "independent travellers". We are going with Denrus on their two day Value Excursion.

 

Joy

[spuds]

We are doing one day St Petersburg with a guide on the first day (Peterhof, Hermitage, Cathedrals, City Orientation (with Metro)) until 5:30 pm and the evening and following day on our own. We did get our Independent Visas. On the second day we just plan on seeing Peter & Paul Fortress, the Summer Garden, maybe take a canal ride and just experience the city by walking the streets.

 

We are will be back by mid-July and I will try to post our experiences shortly after our return.

 

Have Fun!

[spuds]

As far as I can tell you have 2 options... one is by taxi and the other by bus. Apparently not all taxis are allowed into the Cargo Port area but there is a Bus (for crew) that apparently runs all the time (schedule may vary) that is free and will take you to the port gates. Then you can get on a bus (#22) that will take you to the centre of St Petersburg (Nevesky Prospekt).... or you can probably find a taxi from there to take you to the city. I believe the bus ride takes approx 35 minutes. At least this is my understanding for now... I will know more when we return.

 

Search for user 'Saylor Girl' as she has a lot of good posts on getting from the port.

[swdke]

Should I be scared to go independently with my husband into St. Petersburg? In process of getting tourist visas. How will I get from the port to the city? Has anyone had experieince of this? Going with RCCL in summer.

 

I don't think there's a need to be scared at all. However, I would believe that getting around will be difficult. I too generally prefer independent travel, but unfortunately, St. Petersburg is probably best done via tour. I think you will be able to see and do more on a tour, than independently.

[daju22]

I agree with dakrewser. My husband and I have only taken 2 ship sponsored tours in our 10 cruises. However, in St. Petersburg we do not care to be "independent travellers". We are going with Denrus on their two day Value Excursion.

 

Joy

 

Hello Joy,

We're also going with Denrus on their value ex. in August. Did you get your tickets yet? Just wondering as Stan said they would come in email about a month ahead of time.

 

Thanks,

Judy

[freddiebud]

My understanding is that St. Petersburg is not a tourist friendly town, i.e. no signs in English and no English speakers. Just something to keep in mind.

[aqua]

I agree with the other posters that you will waste a great deal of time if you try to tour on your own. One of the best parts of our Red October tour was that they paid people to stand in line for us. When we arrived at each destination, we walked to the front of the line, even bypassing other Celebrity passengers. We were able to see much more in 2 days that I think we could have seen on our own. We did the other ports on our own but were glad we had a guide in Russia.

[easy22]

we're the same as others who've answered here. we NEVER do tours but in St Petersburg we were VERY happy we did. we saved $800 just by not having to get visas for instance. we had our own 14 seat van for 8 of us and we got to plan our itinerary exactly as we wanted for less money than the ship's tours. got to see a lot more because we were small group. if money is no object, you can get a private car/driver/guide for just the two of you. we talked to people who tried it on their own and they said the biggest problem was they couldn't get in anything. it was monday and tuesday when Star Princess was there and everything is closed unless you are on a pre arranged ticket. also, if you don't know your way around the Hermitage intimately, you can never cover the ground we did and see all we did in 5 buildings in 2-3 hours. just orienting yourself wastes time. just trying to figure out how to get there and to other sites takes too much time and energy which is in limited supply. You lose 2 hours in time zones between Copenhagen and St Petersburg and we noticed it. Rest up when you're at sea.

 

Denrus, Alla, Red October would all be good choices for you. you don't give up independence to use them. you tell them what you want to do. you just give up unecessary inconvenience and disappointment.

 

we did a 4 hour night tour on top of the 2 all day tours which I must admit made a long day-17 hours. the ship's Russian dinner and Russian entertainment sounded good to us when we got back. we didn't think the ones who went back were so crazy after we did it. but then, we can rest when we die. i want to see as much as possible in every place i visit and i don't care if i'm tired or feet are blistered or whatever. my idea of a successful vacation is when we're so exhausted when we get back, we need a vacation! the night tour was $225 for 5 of us with a car and driver and guide and we went to a bar for vodka and caviar, a grocery store, rode the metro three stations, ate blinis at a corner stand and just generally absorbed the feeling of Russia at night. we were going to do it alone at first and quote was $128 for the two of us. it's not that much money. we were with Denrus but the Red October people and the Alla people were all VERY happy independent travelers as well.

 

Don't do it! listen to us who have been there.

[sueernieb]

I agree with easy22. We have been there. DO NOT do it on your own. Take a ships tour or Red October or Denrus.

 

Sue

[virgenia]

Judy. I will answer for Joy in case she does not come back to this thread. We are both going on the same cruise/Denrus tour. Both of us had to follow up frequently with Stan from Denrus to make sure we got our tickets. Joy had more trouble than I, but I know she got them via email several weeks ago. I got mine before her. In both cases, Stan said he had sent them but we had not received. Both of us use AOL and he said he has a particular problem with AOL blocking emails from Russia. He resent mine and I got it, it took Joy a few extra tries.

 

After reading other threads, it appears that Denrus is overwhelmed with business and is currently dealing with cruises from early July.

 

If it were me, I would call Stan and discuss. He is an American living in Russia, so his English is good. The number you call will actually connect in Russia, so you should figure out the time difference. Good luck. I have read nothing but good comments about Denrus except for the frustrations of slow response to emails.

[SaylorGirl]

I have to jump in here! Do not be scared! The only think to be scared about is the other passengers trying to talk you out of it! The time we spent in St. Petersburg on our own is priceless. We had the best two days and we did not spend all our time waiting, in fact the ones we laughed at were the ones that were always waiting at the tour buses. They wait to board, they wait to get off, then they wait to board again. During that time we are off walking to the next destination. St. Petersburg is a great walking city we saw everything we wanted to see. In fact we went to the Church of the Spilled Blood, 3 times because we loved it so much. We went to the Hermitage first thing, you don't have to wait in line you can pre-order your tickets on the internet. We went to the Peter and Paul fortress, in fact we walked across the Trojasky Bridge. We took a small train out to the fountains at Peterhoff. In St. Petersburg we took one of the canal boat rides. We found places to eat, stores to go into, churches to enter.

 

As Spuds said take the port bus to the front of the port and walk a couple of blocks to get on bus #22 it will take you into Nevsky Prospekt. Also taxis are everywhere and they are very cheap!

 

Don't be afraid just smile and have a great time!

[Louise1]

As you plan your upcoming SP visit, you might want to read my June 15th post under Baltic ports that provides extensive details on how my husband and I recently spent the 2-day port visit traveling independently throughout SP and surroundings. We had an outstanding 2-day visit. The posting also tried to provide a balanced view to help others make plans and choices, and for those who do it on their own to learn from our mistakes.

 

we felt that the cost of our Visas was a very tiny price to pay for being able to experience the life of the city, its fascinating historical sites, and its culture on our own terms (and as Sailorgirl says, it's such a wonderful walkable city). We didn't set out to save money by being independent, but as it turned out, we certainly did (even counting the Visa costs). The buses and metro were very inexpensive, efficient, convenient, and close-to-the-people; and some metro stations are worth a visit just for their architecture. We never waited in any lines (nb. we were there in May, but on a weekend). Our only major costs were food purchases and entry costs, and of course souvenirs! If/when we get another opportunity to go to SP, we'll positively do it again completely on-our-own.

 

One added point that I didn't stress in the other posting: Safety-wise, SP felt like your typical large city, yet also clearly "tamer" in our view than the busy tourist areas in the great cities of Barcelona and Rome that we have visited (where even locals can be seen clutching their handbags in front of their bodies and keeping their hands in their front pockets in order to protect themselves from solo or team pickpockets). Of course, as I stated, we NEVER take security and safety for granted--I recall someone being pickpocketed on the platform at the tiny train station in Villefranche-sur-mer, France and a relative of ours who had her napsack (with passport!) swiped inside a car rental office in Paris when her back was turned. So to avoid pickpockets just take the usual precautions in SP as you would elsewhere during your travels (e.g., decentralizing your possessions, keeping criticals hidden under clothing). Have a great trip!

[aqua]

I read Louise's post on her tour of St. Petersburg, and I must admit that I am impressed by her preparation for the trip. It sounds like she did a fantastic job in planning and executing the tour. However, I still stand by my comments about timing; but of course, this is based on my experiences. We were there two years ago in late June and the lines for all of the museums were very long. For example, Red October arranged for us to tour Catherines's Palace before it opened to the public. When we emerged, the line was huge. It was also wonderful to have a private guide to expain what we were seeing. We also love the DK books and have a collection of them, but the guide saved us the time of trying to match the book to what we were seeing and she quickly navigated the museums towards our interests. We used the book when we returned home to read additional facts and identify photos. We toured non-stop for two days and wasted little time. As much as we like to go off on our own, I was glad to have the guide. Louise's account of considering staying in a hotel if they couldn't return to the ship would cause too much stress for me. However, it seems like she did very well dealing with the obstacles. Louise and Saylorgirl were able to tour well on their own, and I admire them. However, in my opinion, most people will see more and have a more stress-free vacation if they hire one of the tour agencies. Whatever you decide, good luck. St. Petersburg is an amazing city and you will be glad you visited.