RedOctober Questions - St. Petersburg

[lisalovlee33]

Hello all,

New to this site. Glad I found it, loads of information. I've booked with RedOctober on a 2 day St. Petersburg cruise and need to find out the following (I did read the site entirely and couldn't get any specifics to my questions).

I booked directly with RedOctober RUSSIA and have no dealings with RO USA

1) I was emailing back and forth with Laura and we agreed on a price via email where she said

"certainly everything I promissed you is valid and confirmed".

Is this sufficient as far as the price is concern? I read here that for the ppl who booked from RO USA, they get a signed copy of itinerary or the price itself. I have non of that except for my email correspondence with Laura.

2) Copy of the passport. Just to reconfirm, it's only the first page of the passport?

3) When does RedOctober send out the sponsorship letter? We were told that it will be sent out closer to our dates of being in St. Petersburg when they can find us more ppl. to join our group.

4) Just to reconfirm, the sponsorship letter is sent via email and not regular mail right?

[dpro]

Hello all,

New to this site. Glad I found it, loads of information. I've booked with RedOctober on a 2 day St. Petersburg cruise and need to find out the following (I did read the site entirely and couldn't get any specifics to my questions).

I booked directly with RedOctober RUSSIA and have no dealings with RO USA

1) I was emailing back and forth with Laura and we agreed on a price via email where she said

"certainly everything I promissed you is valid and confirmed".

Is this sufficient as far as the price is concern? I read here that for the ppl who booked from RO USA, they get a signed copy of itinerary or the price itself. I have non of that except for my email correspondence with Laura.

2) Copy of the passport. Just to reconfirm, it's only the first page of the passport?

3) When does RedOctober send out the sponsorship letter? We were told that it will be sent out closer to our dates of being in St. Petersburg when they can find us more ppl. to join our group.

4) Just to reconfirm, the sponsorship letter is sent via email and not regular mail right?

 

I got my sponsorship letter via email, but the actual RO tickets via snail mail, about um, maybe 3 months out, not sure now. Ours was arranged thru Laura also, and I have her emails showing the quotes.

 

PP I understand is the first page, but that is just from reading posts here, our cruise doesn't start until Sept 12, and RO is Sept 16th I believe.

 

RC

[lisalovlee33]

dpro,

Thanks for the reply. Just want to clarify something. So you're saying you also do not have a signed copy of the itinerary indicating the actual price correct?

In my case, Laura has guaranteed me in written email that if she can't match us with anyone, she'll just charge me the "4-people group rate" even though we're only a party of 2. But that's all in email and I do not have any signed copy whatsoever.

Thanks.

[mare s.]

We used Red October last year and everything, including price, was confirmed via email (the tickets for the first day did come in regular mail) We brought copies of our emails with us on our trip but everything was as promised and we were extremely pleased with our guide and our St. Petersburg experience.

[dpro]

dpro,

Thanks for the reply. Just want to clarify something. So you're saying you also do not have a signed copy of the itinerary indicating the actual price correct?

In my case, Laura has guaranteed me in written email that if she can't match us with anyone, she'll just charge me the "4-people group rate" even though we're only a party of 2. But that's all in email and I do not have any signed copy whatsoever.

Thanks.

 

I have our itinerary with her prices at the bottom for different group sizes.

We have a group of 8 for our tours. I am trusting on them to deliver, and per the recommendations here and other places, I have no reason to believe the price will be different than quoted.

 

Ron

[Cazz]

I used RedOctober for a tour on 20/21 July and the price was as quoted in the emails (there were 3 of us), the sponsorship letter arrived by email and the tickets by snail mail (from Finland!) although the immigration didnt actually keep these so we gave them back to RedOctober.

 

There was a slight confusion over number of lunch packs ordered and they charged in our favour, no problem and very efficient.

 

The passport photocopy needs to be of the page in your passport with the info and photo - for example my new UK passport has this on the second in from the back.

[lisalovlee33]

Thank you all for your responses. I think I have all my questions answered. Appreciate it very much.

[lisalovlee33]

Hi,

Sorry to have to start a new thread, I couldn't edit the existing RedOCtober thread I started yesterday.

 

We will be sailing the Star Princess in September. RedOctober has informed us that we should "stand our ground" in case they don't let us disembark early before the ship's tours. Does the Star Princess always try to stop the ones not on the official cruise's tours? We're both pretty timid and hates confrontation like that :(!!! What have your experiences been?

 

Thanks all.

[Reggie1]

We were on the RCL Jewel of the Seas in mid July and they tried to tell us the same thing. In reality they did not check as we left the ship. Customs had a separate line for us onshore and it took just a few minutes longer. Just make sure you have all of your paperwork with you.:D

[KND2006]

We were just on the Star in July. We waited by the photo gallery deck 7 all of the ships tours walked right by us, We just followed them down to the dock. We were off the ship no questions asked. Just get there early to get off with one of the first tours.:)

[JodiBB]

1)Is this sufficient as far as the price is concern?

The price is firm as they state in your emails. The only time when prices changed for us is when we made last minute changes to the itinerary with our tour guide while in St.P.

 

2) Copy of the passport. Just to reconfirm, it's only the first page of the passport?

Just the first page with your photo and information is needed.

3) When does RedOctober send out the sponsorship letter?

Laura can email it to you. I think we received ours about 3 or 4 weeks before we left for our trip.

 

4) Just to reconfirm, the sponsorship letter is sent via email and not regular mail right?

Yep!

[JodiBB]

Hi,

Sorry to have to start a new thread, I couldn't edit the existing RedOCtober thread I started yesterday.

 

We will be sailing the Star Princess in September. RedOctober has informed us that we should "stand our ground" in case they don't let us disembark early before the ship's tours. Does the Star Princess always try to stop the ones not on the official cruise's tours? We're both pretty timid and hates confrontation like that :(!!! What have your experiences been?

 

Thanks all.

No one is going to stop you. The cruise ships make these statements to encourage preferential treatment to their passengers and to encourage more people to use their tours. The fact is the cruiseline doen't check and they don't even ask to see paperwork. Get to the gangway at 7:00am on the dot. When they let passengers off the ship, go to the immigration line for NON-cruiseline tours with your passport, your copy of your passport (first day only), and the tickets provided from your tour organization (RO, DenRus, etc.). You can bring your sponsorship letter with you, but immigration won't ask for it (at least they didn't for us!).

 

They'll give you a red laminated ticket for each person. DON'T LOSE IT!!! You have to turn it back in to immigration each day you return.

 

Otherwise, have a great time and don't worry....

[seattlecruiser]

We were on the Star last month and had a private tour. Went directly to the gangway at 7:30 for our 8:00 meeting and walked off. No line, no hassle, no problem.

 

There were only a few people in front of us at that time but the lines to get thru immigration did get longer by 8am.

[lisalovlee33]

Thank you all once again. I feel much better now.. My understanding is that the STAR docks at 6:30am. So we should start heading down around 6:30 yes? Thanks all again.. really!

[JodiBB]

Lisa...on the ship, they will tell you what time the ship will be cleared via the nightly newsletters to get off the ship on the first day of St. Petersburg. Just make sure you're down there about 10 minutes before as it'll get crowded quickly. As soon as the ship is cleared by immigration, they'll let down the tethers and just disembark and head right over to immigration.

 

There will be a special line for those not taking a cruise tour.

[lisalovlee33]

Thanks all for the help