Disembarking in St. Petersburg, Russia

[Kugel]

I just received instructions from the tour company we booked (Red October) for our tour in St. Petersburg. They said the ship might tell us that all passengers who booked with the ship get off first because of immigration laws in Russia and this is not correct. Legally in Russia everyone is considered the same when departing from the ship and no one has the human right over another.

 

Does anyone know what actually happens on the ship. Russia may legally allow all to leave at the same time, but what about RCCL - how do they handle this.

 

Thanks.

[critterchick]

It depends. When we were on the Jewel in 2007, the CD said that the Russian authorities sometimes won't allow independent travellers to disembark early, which is also a lie. He said it at our Meet & Mingle, which was probably the worst place to try to get people to believe him.

 

What they did was not announce that the gangway was open when it did open, hoping that most people would wait until the announcement. We just went to the gangway and walked off. Another group in front of us met with token resistance and insisted that they be allowed to disembark, which they were.

 

I know why the cruiselines (Princess do it as well) started doing this - the popular venues are jammed and it's critical to get your smaller groups in early in order to enjoy the benefits of the private tour. But it's been going on for quite a few years, and you'd think they would give it up...

[madforcruising]

I just received instructions from the tour company we booked (Red October) for our tour in St. Petersburg. They said the ship might tell us that all passengers who booked with the ship get off first because of immigration laws in Russia and this is not correct. Legally in Russia everyone is considered the same when departing from the ship and no one has the human right over another.

 

Does anyone know what actually happens on the ship. Russia may legally allow all to leave at the same time, but what about RCCL - how do they handle this.

 

Thanks.

 

Do exactly what Red October told you to do. It´s true the ship wants to get their groups out first and it´s true the Russian Immigration doesn´t care.

[cruisenfever]

When we did the Baltic's on Jewel in 2005, we also used Red October. As Gunnar as told you, listen to their instructions.

 

The ship will tell you that all independent excursions must wait until the RCI excursions have departed the ship. This is rubbish. If you have a group, meet at a specific time and walk off together.

 

I don't know if they are still doing this, but when we did our excursion through RO, they sent us small cards that we had to keep with our passports. These cards we gave to the immigration people as we went through the gate.

[dramaqueen4lyfe]

We used Alla Tours in 2008 and we met as a group on board and walked off as soon as the gangway was in place. We had to have the documentation from our tour company and a copy of our passport which we handed over to the authorities. They in turn gave us a red card which we had to have with us and was our permit to enter Russia. We found our van and guide and were on our way well before the RCI tours.

[Kugel]

Thank you all for the positive words. Yes RO did send us cards which we received from Finland within 5 days of them mailing it. Takes longer for mail from Florida to New york!

 

I plan on walking off when the gangway opens.

 

Thanks again.

[madforcruising]

Thank you all for the positive words. Yes RO did send us cards which we received from Finland within 5 days of them mailing it. Takes longer for mail from Florida to New york!

 

I plan on walking off when the gangway opens.

 

Thanks again.

 

If you are with a group and know the otheres in the group, make sure to be all on the same page. It wouldn´t benefit you if you had to wait for some people not following the advise to get off early;)

ENjoy your cruise:)

[Jolimont]

We went thru this a couple of years ago on Carnival. Debarkation is pretty slow in St Petersburg because of all the passport stamping that goes on with each individual (usually the ship takes care of these things for us). So on the PA they make announcements that folks who booked ship tours have priority, but in actual fact it's first come first out. So get in line and don't give up just because of the PA announcements. It went pretty fast in the end, but we were nervous about the lines. Alla was waiting for us, it all went smoothly. Lots to see there, enjoy your visit!

[Twaincruisers]

We were with Red October on a Princess cruise. Just before our cruise there were reports of very nasty interactions--shouting and shoving--with cruise staff on some of the cruises. Our group gathered in the atrium and walked off together just as the "guard" was directing a couple to go to a central gathering place. On the second day there was no harassment at all. Several cruiselines do this mainly to get you to be scared enough to buy their tours.

[lauderdalebob]

Have been reading posts over at the Destination Board (Europe) for St. Petersburg and what a mess this whole thing COULD be. Some stories on that board where everything regarding disembarking went as smooth as glass and other stories telling of screaming matches, etc. How horrible for the cruise lines to basically lie or twist the truth just to make money and ruin the start of one's experience in SPB. I'm booked on the 5/22/11 Vision of the Seas and I can tell you I will be waiting for the gangplank door to open when we dock and clear customs and when of the first ones off. I've already been in touch with DenRus and planning on using them and really looking forward to it. When I looked at the prices for similar tour that RCCL does in SPB I was shocked. The private tour companies are WAY WAY cheaper for the same thing. Shame, shame, shame!

[SRQfireman]

Here is a whole chat section in case you have more questions. You will find people with similar interests here that may/may not be able to get you the information you need.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=192

One thing I found interesting when we did the Baltic, there are "natives" that hang out on that board and are a great source of information. For example there was a person that lived in Copenhagen that offered a lot of great info in a timely manner when people had questions.

Enjoy your cruise over they.....it's fabulous !! When we did the 2 day tour with Alla, our tour guide was GREAT. As mentioned, going with a private tour company is the only way to fly.....ya save a lot of money and also have a lot smaller group.

I can tell ya this....we didn't listen to the cruiseline about not being able to get off "early"......we knew better !!

[MercedMike]

This is a constant and recurring problem in St. P.

 

There are two causes -- one is that the ship's published information is full of LIES. All the cruise lines do this and surely they are aware of all the bad publicity it generates for them.

 

But the second cause is that all the tour companies, such as Red October, try to put a fear into their customers and urge them to be pushy so they can get THEIR tours off fast. There is so much to see in St. P that everyone wants to go go go.

 

Now the honest fact is that disembarking from even a very large ship can all be accomplished in an hour and a half at most, pretty much the same amount of time it takes at a tender port. Frankly all the worrying and pushing and shoving and yelling to gain an advantage of a few minutes seems way out of place to me.

 

In point of fact, although Princess passed out the same LIES that all the other lines do, what actually happened on our trip was that the disembarkation was organized pretty much the same as disembarkation at tender ports. Ship's tours met one place, independent tours met another place, landing cards were handed out and numbers called. It really worked very efficiently. The ship was scheduled to disembark at 7AM. We got to the lounge about 6:45 and were in pretty much the last of the independent groups. We sat in the comfortable lounge and watched loooong lines of people stand in the rain to get their passports stamped. About 8:00 our numbers were called and we went down to a line of about five people, breezed right through and were with our guide one hour and 15 minutes after disembarkation started.

 

Frankly, my suggestion is to let your guide know you are NOT fighting lines and will disembark in an orderly fashion, and since you are paying them you expect them to be there waiting for you to complete the procedures in a proper fashion without worrying or shoving

[Giantfan13]

We sailed NCL last year, in August and NCL was one of the few crusie lines that did nothing to harass their passengers with stories like those that have already been said. Before we went, we read story after story of past passengers, who, on coming back, told of their trials trying to get off their ships to meet their tours. Many were very annoyed at their crusie lines for lying and passing on so much false info, just to get people to tour with them.

One thing is for sure, no matter which crusie line you use, you have the same rights as anyone else to disembark the ship when you would like to. this is not tendering where you have to wait for a tender to get off. Here you can just walk off. I agree with Mike though that many of the tour companies want you to be more forceful than you need to be. they all want to get their tours going ASAP.

One thing I can assure anyone doing a tour. That tour company will NOT leave without you, even if you are an hour late getting off the ship. You are booked with them and they will wait for you or else risk having a big time demerit posted against their name here on boards like this. As was said, it is a good idea to try and meet up with others from your tour group and try and disembark together.

 

On a final note, many of the problems at immigration were the Russians fault. We heard so many stories of the huge lines because the Russians had maybe 3-4 lines open, trying to process 2000 passengers, and believe me, they sure ain't in any hurry to work fast. By some lucky stroke, by time we cruised the Russians had this thing figured out and we had up to 10 lines for immigration so we breezed thru.

Let's hope they learned their lesson.

 

Cheers

 

Len

[sbhdmh]

 

One thing I can assure anyone doing a tour. That tour company will NOT leave without you, even if you are an hour late getting off the ship. You are booked with them and they will wait for you or else risk having a big time demerit posted against their name here on boards like this. As was said, it is a good idea to try and meet up with others from your tour group and try and disembark together.

 

 

 

It is more than just a big time demerit posted against their name. When they issue you a tour ticket the tour companies are declaring to the Russian government that they are responsible for you. They do not have the option of not being there to meet you, just like they do not have the option of returning you late to the ship. Once Russian immigration allows you through they must escort you every minute. Not being there to meet you would mean allowing you to roam freely at their legal expense - not gonna happen...

 

Once we got past MSC personnel who had roped the exits closed we were through immigration in a matter of minutes. No problems for us at the new cruise terminal last August. Hopefully this new terminal has helped to alleviate the issue of understaffing.

 

I hope all goes smoothly for anyone travelling this summer. Once you get off the ship, through immigration and onto your tour you will have the experience of a lifetime. St Petersburg is truly worth whatever the effort may be and you will certainly see more and pay less on a private tour than with a ship's tour. Enjoy!

[madforcruising]

One thing I can assure anyone doing a tour. That tour company will NOT leave without you, even if you are an hour late getting off the ship. You are booked with them and they will wait for you or else risk having a big time demerit posted against their name here on boards like this.

 

Cheers

 

Len

 

As sbhdmh said, they can´t let you there stranded for obvious reasons, but depending on how big the group is and how many people are missing I wouldn´t be so sure they´ll wait an hour for you.

 

Of course being late won´t benefit anyone anyway. It wouldn´t benefit the tour company and it for sure wouldn´t benefit you as you srew up the tours schedule which will result in the tour not being able to be what you booked.

[RoadTripFanatic]

I hope all goes smoothly for anyone travelling this summer. Once you get off the ship, through immigration and onto your tour you will have the experience of a lifetime. St Petersburg is truly worth whatever the effort may be and you will certainly see more and pay less on a private tour than with a ship's tour. Enjoy!

 

Can I ask how much cheaper it is? From what I've read if you book through the cruise line they take care of your Visa for you. ($181 if you don't leave near a Russian Consolate) If you do an independent tour you must arrange for your own Visa.

[madforcruising]

Can I ask how much cheaper it is? From what I've read if you book through the cruise line they take care of your Visa for you. ($181 if you don't leave near a Russian Consolate) If you do an independent tour you must arrange for your own Visa.

 

Many tour companies take care of the visa for you, just as the ships tours.

[sbhdmh]

Can I ask how much cheaper it is? From what I've read if you book through the cruise line they take care of your Visa for you. ($181 if you don't leave near a Russian Consolate) If you do an independent tour you must arrange for your own Visa.

 

Ah, the cruise lines' misinformation again... Yes, you need a visa for Russia BUT there is an exception for cruise passengers who will be in the country for less than 72 hours. You can book with a registered tour operator and they will cover you under their "blanket" visa. The cruise lines serve as the middle man with some of these tour operators but you can also book directly. It works the same way but the price is significantly lower to do it yourself. We paid in the neighborhood of $200 per person for a 2 day tour with 9 people (7 adults/1 teen who was reduced price/ 1 child who was free). No visa needed. The most extensive cruise tour was more than this for one day. There was no combination of ship's tours available that would have allowed us to see even half of what we saw privately.

 

The main tour operators mentioned over and over on the cc boards are Alla, Anastasia, Denrus, Masha (now Best Guides), Red October, SPB and TJ. Everyone is convinced that they had the best tour and the best guide. Unless you book a tour for less than 4 people you are almost certain to pay much, much less than you would for a ship's tour and have a small group rather than a 50 passenger bus. Some of these companies will take your reservation and put together a group from your sailing. For others you arrange the tour and put together a group yourself. Just go to the roll call for your sailing. You may find someone else has put together a tour and is looking for people to join or you can post that you are arranging one and ask others to join you.

 

Hope this clarifies. Any more questions just ask.

[lwf99]

I have to admit to having nightmares over this situation with Princess. We are going in June and hopefully they will be more relaxed in their attitude to independant tours. We are taking our two sons, 8 and 9 and I would hate for them to see adults acting inappropriately. I called Princess and they suggested I speak to the head of excursions when we get on board.

[cruisemom42]

I have to admit to having nightmares over this situation with Princess. We are going in June and hopefully they will be more relaxed in their attitude to independant tours. We are taking our two sons, 8 and 9 and I would hate for them to see adults acting inappropriately. I called Princess and they suggested I speak to the head of excursions when we get on board.

 

I hope you will post your experience here when you get back. I got a lot of flak last year on the Princess boards from the "cheerleaders" who could not believe that what people were reporting was accurate. However, there were finally enough posts of similar experiences from different people that I think they were convinced.

 

It is a shame that cruise lines play this game, and I will keep the issue visible if it occurs again this summer.

[floridatravelersforlife]

Any one know on Celebrity Cruises, if you are an Elite Level Captain Club member do you get priority debarkation at STP, thus avoiding the situation?

[MercedMike]

Can I ask how much cheaper it is? From what I've read if you book through the cruise line they take care of your Visa for you. ($181 if you don't leave near a Russian Consolate) If you do an independent tour you must arrange for your own Visa.

 

THIS IS A FLAT OUT BOLD FACE LIE!!!

 

All the cruise lines try to pass out this crap to sell their own cruises. It is amazing they do not realize how much ill will they are generating for themselves.

 

Any of the licensed tour companies recommended on this board have a blanket visa for their tours. All that is necessary is to show the immigration official the voucher they send you, along with a photocopy of your passport. You do NOT need the Individual Tourist Visa if you are with a licensed tour company.

 

In some instances it is possible to save money by booking with the independent tour companies, especially if you do their Group "Value" Excursions. Often, it is possible to book a private tour for a small group at a price similar to the cruise line's mass excursions. This is what we chose with DenRus and it worked very well. Check out our trip report and pictures at http://www.bully4.us/baltic.html

 

I too was very worried about Princess' attitude. We were constantly warned against taking independent excursions. Even as late as two days before arriving at St P, the cruise staff member at our Cruise Critic gathering was still handing out the same old LIES! What incredible stupidity to stand there and lie to a group of Cruise Critic regular posters.

 

However, all the worry was for nothing, as the night before disembarkation they finally revealed that they had a fair and equitable disembarkation procedure, essentially the same one they use in tender ports. Ship's tour passengers met in one lounge, independent passengers in another, and got numbers as they arrived. We arrived among the last, about 6:45, and were off the ship, through a very short line, and meeting our guide by 8:00.

 

Sadly even with this excellent and fair procedure, there were some pushy and obnoxious passengers who made loud protests and forced their way out of the lounge instead of waiting their turn.

 

The LIES told by the ships start the problem. The pushiness of the independent tour companies and the advice they give contributes to it. And then the rude selfish minority among the passengers exacerbate it.

 

IMAO, it could all be avoided if the cruise lines would openly recognize the independent excursions at the get go, and not worry everybody needlessly.