rivap2018

OP here.....thanks to CC, the importance of the docking location for SP became clear to me early on in our planning process, so I made sure to book a cruise on a small ship (around 700 passengers, with Oceania) that would use one of the spots close to the Hermitage.

 

For others considering a Baltic cruise, there is a similar size issue in Stockholm. It seems the small ships have all the advantages for these port intensive cruises! Except the prices tend to be higher, but we decided a little bit of extra cost would be worth it in reduced aggravation and more flexibility. And while the smaller ships might not have the gee-whiz stuff of the big behomoths, climbing walls and all that, we can cope with that!

So I must have been typing while another poster relied so missed it, but we are on Silversea which appears to dock at English Embankment. Should solve a lot of the transportation issues.

River boats do not dock in town. There are 2 piers quite a bit away from the center of the city where the river boats dock.

Is the port on Vasilyevsky Island the docking area for the larger ships? If so, that doesn't seem to far from city center (<9km). Are there cabs/bus right from the port or would we need to get to a station somewhere. Also heard Uber is an option, anyone use them while visiting?

(I'm new to this forum, so please let me know if I need to create a new thread with this discussion as it is moving away from original question).

We'll be doing this as well. My biggest question is just ease of transport to/from cruise and city? From what I've read there are two separate ports, one which is much easier than other? I've also heard that at night the bridges come up and can cause issues trying to get back?