Passing Passport/visa Control At St. Petersburg

[ACHOI]

Someone told me that if we opt for private tour company at St. Petersburg, we may have a long waiting time when passing through the Passport/Visa control area. In some cases, it may take until noon to be cleared despite the fact that the tour should really begin at 8 am.

 

Is it true that only those who take the tour organized by the cruiseship may get the privilege of being at the front of the line up ?

 

Your experience and comments will be very much appreciated. thanks.:rolleyes::confused:

[Lair Bear]

I am sure that every ship has its own way of discouraging pasgengers to disembark early. Ignore the instructions and insist that after the ship has been cleared with imigration/passpost control etc. you want to go ashore.

Be firm, but there is no way they can keep you from leaving. Be at the gangplank early, so the excuse is not

'go to the end of the line'.

Have a great trip and let us know how you did.

[TLCOhio]

Someone told me that if we opt for private tour company at St. Petersburg, we may have a long waiting time when passing through the Passport/Visa control area. In some cases, it may take until noon to be cleared despite the fact that the tour should really begin at 8 am. Is it true that only those who take the tour organized by the cruiseship may get the privilege of being at the front of the line up ? Your experience and comments will be very much appreciated. thanks.:rolleyes::confused:

 

For our three days, July 30-Aug. 1, 2008, we had an easy, smooth time departing our ship and returning. No hassles or long lines. Our ship had about 800 passengers on board. It is possible on some larger ships, that there is more time delays just because of basic logistics. Next to our ship was a new Carnival ship having 3000 passengers, but things didn't seem that backed up there, either. They have different passport control buildings (with a gift shop built in) for each ship docking points. I would assume they staff up or down depending on the size of the ship to make things go smoothly. It is in Russia's interests getting people off of the ship quickly so that they can do and spend more in their country.

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

[Rickdabear]

Don't ya just love the lies the ships are telling people? Russian port is very fast. You MUST have a copy of the information page of your passport and if you are not doing a tour with either the ship or a private tour copy (their blanket visa will cover you), and you want to do St. Petersburg on your own (not something I would recommend unless you've been there before and got the straight scoop on how to get around) then and only then would you need a visa.

 

That was about as clear as mud. Okay you only need a visa if you are NOT going on a tour. You only need one if you are going out on your own.

 

The Russian port folks are military. They will take your information copy and keep it and they will stamp your passport and give you a stub that you must give back to them when returning to the ship. I don't know what it is for, because I didn't ask. We were off the ship at 8:30 and through the port thing in ten minutes and on our Anastasia tour bus two minutes after that. It is all fairly efficient.

 

If it took someone until noon, they didn't leave the ship until 11:45. Do NOT let the ship's tour folk lie to you. You will want to either be in line early or (here's a secret for you) if someone in your tour group is staying in a suite, have them arrange for a member of the crew to take you off. You will avoid the lines, but it will tick people off. I know. Someone got in my face and then after I rather forcefully set him straight, he had the gaul to tell me to calm down. I told him I wouldn't need to if he hadn't been so ignorant. Oh well, done and over with.

 

Russia is the best port you will go to on this trip. Enjoy it.

Da Bear

[TLCOhio]

The Russian port folks are military. They will take your information copy and keep it and they will stamp your passport and give you a stub that you must give back to them when returning to the ship. I don't know what it is for, because I didn't ask. We were off the ship at 8:30 and through the port thing in ten minutes and on our Anastasia tour bus two minutes after that. It is all fairly efficient. Russia is the best port you will go to on this trip. Enjoy it. Da Bear

 

Great points by Da Bear on the military efficiency and speed. That was exactly our experiences. They might not have lots of personality in working those booths and stamping your paper work, but there's an advantage to them in NOT dragging it out. The sooner they get us through, then they can relax and take it easy. It's just a job and they are doing it.

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

[WeBeGone]

On Princess ships, people on ship tours gather in one place, people on private tours in another place, and independant travelers in another place. These 3 groups are rotated off the ship so that everyone has a timely exit. Most reports I've read have everyone who wants off by 8, off by 8.

 

You do not need a visa if taking a tour, either ship or private.

There are many good companies reviewed here. Just start reading.

[Rickdabear]

Great points by Da Bear on the military efficiency and speed. That was exactly our experiences. They might not have lots of personality in working those booths and stamping your paper work, but there's an advantage to them in NOT dragging it out. The sooner they get us through, then they can relax and take it easy. It's just a job and they are doing it.

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

They would have to rent a personality to have one, but I did get the potato lady to smile at me.

Da Bear

[MercedMike]

On Princess ships, people on ship tours gather in one place, people on private tours in another place, and independant travelers in another place. These 3 groups are rotated off the ship so that everyone has a timely exit. Most reports I've read have everyone who wants off by 8, off by 8.

 

You do not need a visa if taking a tour, either ship or private.

There are many good companies reviewed here. Just start reading.

 

I agree with this. We were among the last to get disembarkation tickets, arriving at the designated lounge about 6:45, and were off the ship by 8, and had a line of about 4 people at the passport window. It was all very easy.

 

Some pushy passengers barged out of the lounge and demanded to be let off earlier. They wound up standing in very long lines (in the drizzling rain) so we were much happier sitting in the lounge waiting for our numbers to be called.

 

The ship will LIE to you until the very last minute to try to get you to buy their tours. There is no truth to it. Relax and go with the flow and you will be off in plenty of time.

 

I do have to say that the tour companies are also partly responsible as they advocate pushing through the line and being rude too, and you can see some of the posters above also advocate this. If everyone just relaxes and takes their turn, the ship will disembark very quickly and efficiently.

 

There have been very occasional reports of delays by Russian officials, but they are in fact rare. They seem to be at the whims of the officials and totally beyond the control of the ship.

 

Have a GREAT cruise!