St Petersburg questions

Hi- Can anyone tell me where Silversea docks in St Petersburg? Is it right in the city or 1/2 hour away? Has anyone been on their shore excursions in the Baltic region? I'd love some recommendations!! Or can one do it on one's own? Any info will be appreciated. Thanks!!! Sue

I don't know where it docks but I have a little knowledge of St Petersbug - even since it was Lenningrad!

I do not wish to sound alarmist- just cautious so for what it's worth I'd be wary about arranging anything independently in St Petersburg unless it's pre-arranged through a reputable agency ie I would not take a public taxi "on the street". 9 times out of 10 - it's safe - but the odds aren't sufficiently in your favour in my opinion. This is one city that I'd currently take the SS tour if that is possible.

Jeff

HI, we did a cruise on board the Silver Cloud in 1999. We docked right in the city center. It was only a few minutes walk. Concerning the tours. We did the tour to the Grand Palace and to another one. The tours have been really good. The palaces are quite far outside so I am not sure about a private arrangement. But what I recommend would be a private tour to the Ermitage. Because only if you are a couple or maybe 3 or 4 people you are allowed to visit the Gold Room (if they didn't change it since then). We had a private driver and a private tour guide arranged by the tour desk and it has been wonderful. And everybody who did the tour with a big group has been disappointed not to see the gold room.

I hope I've been able to help you a little. Oh and I don't know if you will also stop in Tallin. There you can do almost everything on your own. It is very safe.

Miriam

I also had a private car and a driver arranged through the tour desk, and it was wonderful. The guide got us in to the palaces without waiting in line everywhere. I don't know which local operator it was arranged through, but I see the name of Red October mentioned repeatedly in various lines boards. You might want to check into it. By the way I think UK1 is right. From what the guide said, I gathered that it's not safe for tourists to be there on their own. When we went to a main shopping area locals go to, not a tourist area and rather a highend shopping according to guide books, didn't look dangerous at all to me, but our guide was watchful, sure kept very close to us. That told me something.

hi, we did a baltic cruise on the silver cloud way back in its inaugural year in 1994 and it docked right on the neva river in the center of town. everything was within walking distance. we did a couple of the ships tours to the hermitage, dostoevskys apartment and the yusopov palace. we are returning there this summer on seabourn and this time i have made arrangements thru red october for a private car and driver for two days. the nice thing about this is they will arrange any tour you want according to you likes and needs and you are not held hostage by a busload of other travelers. also they get you in front of any lines and make the experience very easy. on our third day this time we will take the one day trip to moscow. i know its a long day but having been to st petersburg before and not knowing when and if ill get to moscow on my own we think its worthwhile. im sure seabourn like silversea will do a great job.

Which ship are you on? The size of the ship might determine where it docks. While the Cloud and Wind can dock in town, Whisper and Shadow may not.

Hi Sue:

My husband and I sailed on back-to-back cruises on the Silver Cloud to St. Petersburg last July. Months prior to sailing, we applied to the Russian Embassy for visitors' visas and we were very glad that we did. The Cloud landed on the Neva River right in St. Petersburg. This was a pleasant area of the City, and we walked to many of the major attractions. Siversea provided free shuttle buses every half hour to the center of the city and back. Only those passengers with visitor visas were allowed to go ashore and use these buses. The rest were obliged to take the Silversea Land Excursions if they wanted to go ashore. Late on our last afternoon in St. Petersburg, I was asked by several of the passengers to go across the road and pick up souvenirs for them. Having said that, we did take Silversea tours to the Hermitage and the Catherine Palace. Both of these were well worth the price.

We found that one of the biggest attractions of the Siversea Cruises, was that the ships were allowed to dock at such a wonderful location. This enabled us to visit most of the attractions on our own schedule. We also found that we enjoyed being with the people of St. Petersburg. We were warned in advance about the criminal element, but saw no sign of it. We did not however, venture out alone at night, and we tried to remain alert during the day - as we would in Rome, Paris or any big city.

Have a wonderful trip.

Penny

Hi Sue:

My husband and I sailed on back-to-back cruises on the Silver Cloud to St. Petersburg last July. Months prior to sailing, we applied to the Russian Embassy for visitors' visas and we were very glad that we did. The Cloud landed on the Neva River right in St. Petersburg. This was a pleasant area of the City, and we walked to many of the major attractions. Siversea provided free shuttle buses every half hour to the center of the city and back. Only those passengers with visitor visas were allowed to go ashore and use these buses. The rest were obliged to take the Silversea Land Excursions if they wanted to go ashore. Late on our last afternoon in St. Petersburg, I was asked by several of the passengers to go across the road and pick up souvenirs for them. Having said that, we did take Silversea tours to the Hermitage and the Catherine Palace. Both of these were well worth the price.

We found that one of the biggest attractions of the Siversea Cruises, was that the ships were allowed to dock at such a wonderful location. This enabled us to visit most of the attractions on our own schedule. We also found that we enjoyed being with the people of St. Petersburg. We were warned in advance about the criminal element, but saw no sign of it. We did not however, venture out alone at night, and we tried to remain alert during the day - as we would in Rome, Paris or any big city.

Have a wonderful trip.

Penny