Dinner in St Petersburg

I will have 3 days in St Petersburg in May on a Celebrity sailing. Am I understanding right that if I don't want to get a visa and instead book a 3 day tour that it will run about 8 hours each day and I'd have to book an additional tour if I don't want to return to the ship at 5 or 6pm?

I will have 3 days in St Petersburg in May on a Celebrity sailing. Am I understanding right that if I don't want to get a visa and instead book a 3 day tour that it will run about 8 hours each day and I'd have to book an additional tour if I don't want to return to the ship at 5 or 6pm?

Very broadly, yes. Kinda ;)

But - assuming that you use a local tour operator - it can be done with minimum fuss, intrusion & expense by asking the tour operator to book dinner for you, either at a restaurant which you've chosen or one they recommend.

The tour operator can then either

- drop you at the restaurant at the end of the day tour if the timing is appropriate (no extra tour ticket required)

- or drop you at a bar & collect you from there later to take you to the restaurant (no extra tour ticket required)

- or take you back to the ship at the end of the day tour, & collect you from the ship at an agreed time (you'll get an e-mailed "tour ticket" which you print-off to get you through immigration at the appropriate time). This would cost more, but you may want to freshen-up & change for the evening. So mebbe ask the cost of the different options.

Unless you want the driver or guide to stay with you, I'm 99% certain that having taken you into the restaurant (& mebbe helped you with the menu if needed) you'll be left alone, and a driver will collect you at an agreed time to take you back to the ship.

That should cost little more than the equivalent taxi fare/s.

But rather than rely on me or other CC members, I suggest you e-mail one or two or three tour operators with your plans - their replies are likely to be very prompt & helpful.

If you're absolutely set on using ship's tours for the daytime I can't see the ship being able to get involved, and I don't think local operators will want to be involved in only your evening plans. Best I can suggest in those circumstances is to ask the cruise line which operator they use, and see if you can fix up the evening direct with that operator.

You might need roubles - foreign currency is unlikely to be acceptable, and quite a lot of establishments (especially bars) don't accept plastic. Again, go by the advice of the tour operator.

(if you have roubles left-over, you can use them up on the guide's tip)

Plenty of tour operators mentioned on this forum, they all have excellent reputations & I don't think you can go far wrong with any of them. :)

JB :)

I will have 3 days in St Petersburg in May on a Celebrity sailing. Am I understanding right that if I don't want to get a visa and instead book a 3 day tour that it will run about 8 hours each day and I'd have to book an additional tour if I don't want to return to the ship at 5 or 6pm?

Yes, you are substantially correct. For example, if you wanna do an evening Vodka Tour on Day2 you would pay your ALLA or SPB-Tours or whoever more money for that Evening Tour. JOHNBULL said it well, as usual. LocoLoco1

We were in SPB for one day and used TJ Travel for our tour. We were out much longer than 8 hours. We were one of the first off the ship, toured all day, then had dinner out in town. Our guide gave us the option of staying with us, or just having the driver wait outside for us. We chose the driver waiting. We had a great, unhurried dinner, and when we left the restaurant he was right there.

I'd say it was about 12+ hours total.

FWIW, we at at Teplo, which was "homestyle" Russian cooking. It was very good, the waitress was delightful, and the check relatively inexpensive despite needing reservations months ahead. TJ had given us recommendations on restaurants then we picked which one sounded good.

When we were in St Petersburg (Zuiderdam) this August we met 3 passengers who did have dinner in St Petersburg (at a high end restaurant). They booked a full day private tour (with TJ Tours) which included their own vehicle and guide. They spent the entire day on the tour, went to dinner at a restaurant they had chosen, and then met us at the ballet to see Swan Lake. Those 3 had a ridiculously long day (they were on the go from about 9am until midnight) but were very pleased with their excursion and guide. DW and I had also booked 2 days of excursions with TJ Tours (we were part of a group of 10) and were very pleased.

If you do not have your own Visa, you must constantly be under the direct supervision of your licensed guide. This even includes dinner...although we never did ask if their guide joined them for dinner or sat elsewhere in the restaurant. But when our group was in town and decided to have lunch our guide insisted we all eat at the same restaurant (which our group chose). When one couple asked if they could have lunch at another place (next door) our guide told us she was required (by the government) to keep us all together as a group...unless we had individual Visas.

Hank