St. Petersburg- Do I need a shore excursion to get off the ship?

[justtrustmedude]

Going on Legend of the Seas departing May 29th. Friend of ours stated that in St. Petersburg, you MUST buy a shore excursion or have a VISA or they won't even let you off the ship. Does anyone know if this is true?

[Doughboy139]

Going on Legend of the Seas departing May 29th. Friend of ours stated that in St. Petersburg, you MUST buy a shore excursion or have a VISA or they won't even let you off the ship. Does anyone know if this is true?

 

Yes it is true.....Russia requires all foreigners to have a visa in order to enter the country.....this can be accomplished 1 of 3 ways, you can apply for a visa but it will cost you a couple hundred dollars per person, you can do a ship excursion and be covered under their visa or you can find a tour company in St Petersburg such as TJ Travel, Denruss, Alla, etc and be covered under their visa.......most people on this board go with a tour company in St. Petersburg and have had no problem......I'm going to be in St.Petersburg on the NCL Sun on 8/9 and 8/10 and i'm using TJ Travel for my excursion

[Giantfan13]

FONT="Comic Sans MS"]Doughboy speaks the truth. If you read thru many of the threads dedicated to private tour groups you will see this is really the way to go. If you are visiting St Petersburg for the first, and maybe only time, you want to be able to see as much of this magnificent city as you can. With a ships tour you will NOT accomplish this. Unless you speak Russian, I would strongly advise you NOT to even try to get your own visas and go off on. your own.

 

 

Again, do some research by reading thru several pages of this site and you will gain a huge insight into how to tour St Petersburg, and that should be with an independent tour company.

We used SPB tours and they were just magnificent. Most people who post here after touring will say the same thing about the group that they used. But if you decide to use a private group, search out the main ones and stay away from some of the offshoot new outfits that spring up. Write to each of them, explain what you wish to do (most have a 2 day set itinerary which makes a perfect tour). but if you wish to alter it in any way, they will all work with you. See which one makes you feel comfortable, answers your questions or emails right away, and how they respond to you. As I said, we used SPB tours because of the pleasant personality of Viktoria. she made us feel so comfortable selecting them, reassuring us at every question or concern. And they did a terrific job with our tour.

Believe everyone who tells you this, a private tour is the way to go.

 

Cheers

 

Len[/font]

[editor@cruisecritic]

The easy answer is no, you don't need a visa to get off the ship. IF (and this is a big "if") you book through a licensed, approved independent operator, you do not need to worry about a visa. Of course if you book your tour through the cruise line you don't need to deal with that either.

 

Otherwise, if you just want to get off and wander around on your own, you must go to a consulate (as I did, was living near San Francisco at the time and there was a Russian consulate there) or send your passport away to an approved handler.

 

Our Dan Askin, who's heading out next week on a Baltic cruise on Celebrity Constellation, is putting final touches on a very complicated story about how to tour St. Pete if you don't do the cruise ship excursion, so stay tuned. And I'm happy to answer any questions about my experiences (I've done the cruise thing, the independent tour operator outing, and poking around on my own); post your questions here, preferably, or if you want to email me, that's okay too (but it's better to post here so all can see the answers!).

 

Regardless of the complications the reason that St. Petersburg is as much of a marquee port as it is -- is because it's worth it. It's the most fascinating place in "Europe".

 

Carolyn

 

Carolyn Spencer Brown

Editor in Chief

Cruise Critic

[Giantfan13]

Nice to meet you Carolyn. When where you there last??.. Whereabouts in jersey are you from?? (Hope you are a Giantsfan :):):))

 

Cheers

 

Len

[billlampkin]

I understand you are on the constellation. Do you have any idea if they try to hold up your leaving the ship in st petersburg like some of the cruise lines do by giving misinformation?

 

Thanks in advance

[KirkNC]

Yes it is true.....Russia requires all foreigners to have a visa in order to enter the country.....this can be accomplished 1 of 3 ways, you can apply for a visa but it will cost you a couple hundred dollars per person, you can do a ship excursion and be covered under their visa or you can find a tour company in St Petersburg such as TJ Travel, Denruss, Alla, etc and be covered under their visa.......most people on this board go with a tour company in St. Petersburg and have had no problem......I'm going to be in St.Petersburg on the NCL Sun on 8/9 and 8/10 and i'm using TJ Travel for my excursion

 

While I agree with what you say, I believe the visa is $70 per person.

 

Kirk

[Dan Askin]

Here's the law, which I've quoted from the US State Department Web site [http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis/cis_1006.html]: "International cruise ship passengers are permitted to visit Russian ports without a visa for a period of up to 72 hours. Passengers who wish to go ashore during port calls may do so without a visa only if they are part of an organized tour, operated by a licensed Russian tour company approved by the Russian Immigration Service. According to Russian legislation, cruise passengers on organized tours must remain with their tour group and/or a representative of their tour company at all times while ashore. Tour operators affiliated with cruise companies as well as a variety of local tour operators in Russia are licensed to provide tour services to cruise passengers."

 

 

So the answer is really a qualified "no" -- if you book with an operator licensed by the RIS, you're good to go visa-free. Truly independent touring requires that you get a visa.

 

 

 

As to the second question, the officially stated cruise ship policy on disembarkation is pretty clear. Ship-sponsored tours get to disembark first in Russia. Then folks with visas and those booked on independent tours.

[makiramarlena]

"A couple hundred dollars" may be accurate if you are applying for personal visas for a couple or family. Russian tourist visas can cost between $60 and $100 per person. The prices given are : about $30 for a "visa invitation" issued by an authorized Russian agency, like a travel agency, and about $50 fee for processing paid to the consulate. There seems to be lots of hoops to jump through for the application. Can't tell if there are any additional fees involved.

[baggal]

Here's the law, which I've quoted from the US State Department Web site [http://travel.state.gov/travel/cis_pa_tw/cis/cis_1006.html]: "International cruise ship passengers are permitted to visit Russian ports without a visa for a period of up to 72 hours. Passengers who wish to go ashore during port calls may do so without a visa only if they are part of an organized tour, operated by a licensed Russian tour company approved by the Russian Immigration Service. According to Russian legislation, cruise passengers on organized tours must remain with their tour group and/or a representative of their tour company at all times while ashore. Tour operators affiliated with cruise companies as well as a variety of local tour operators in Russia are licensed to provide tour services to cruise passengers."

 

 

So the answer is really a qualified "no" -- if you book with an operator licensed by the RIS, you're good to go visa-free. Truly independent touring requires that you get a visa.

 

 

 

As to the second question, the officially stated cruise ship policy on disembarkation is pretty clear. Ship-sponsored tours get to disembark first in Russia. Then folks with visas and those booked on independent tours.

 

Absolutely not true last year on the Eurodam. Everyone, whether you were on a ship excursion or private excursion, lined up in a very orderly fashion and the line to leave the ship moved quickly once the ship was cleared. There was never a time when we were asked by HAL crew if we were on a ship excursion or not. Kudos to HAL!

[Dan Askin]

"A couple hundred dollars" may be accurate if you are applying for personal visas for a couple or family. Russian tourist visas can cost between $60 and $100 per person. The prices given are : about $30 for a "visa invitation" issued by an authorized Russian agency, like a travel agency, and about $50 fee for processing paid to the consulate. There seems to be lots of hoops to jump through for the application. Can't tell if there are any additional fees involved.

 

Hi,

 

Those prices are not quite accurate:

 

1. For US citizens, Russian visas are $131 for single entry visas (4 - 20 day processing). For expedited processing it's $250. Here's the price list: http://www.russianembassy.org/Embassy_eng/Consulate/tourist_visa.html.

 

2. Then you'll have to get a passport-size photo and the necessary invitation letter from a hotel/licensed agency. The cruise line cannot provide you with such an invitation letter, but can refer you to a licensed agency (I've heard it costs a minimal fee; in my experience, the tour agent for Celebrity said they'd send the invitation letter for free). Or you can pay a visa processing company to take care of the invitation letter for you. This is typically $50.

 

3. You must pay a visit to the Russian consulate in D.C. and drop off your package of information. Unfortunately, according to the embassy Web site, "The Consular Division no longer accepts mailed applications. Applicants unable to be present in person are referred to the following visa agencies:"

 

4. If you cannot make it to D.C., you must use a visa processing agency to basically mail the package for you. Here's a quote from CIBT, a popular processing company (includes consular fee, invitation letter, processing fee):

 

Standard Pricing: $231.59

Rush Pricing: $398.75

 

(Note: In addition to the fees listed below, please add $25 per family for return shipping by UPS.)

 

Thanks,

 

Dan

[Dan Askin]

Absolutely not true last year on the Eurodam. Everyone, whether you were on a ship excursion or private excursion, lined up in a very orderly fashion and the line to leave the ship moved quickly once the ship was cleared. There was never a time when we were asked by HAL crew if we were on a ship excursion or not. Kudos to HAL!

 

Hi baggal,

 

I can't speak to last year -- this is just the "official" word from HAL reps this week. I'll be visiting SPB on Celebrity Constellation in early June, so I'll definitely let everyone know what happens!

 

Dan

[Ashland]

Going on Legend of the Seas departing May 29th. Friend of ours stated that in St. Petersburg, you MUST buy a shore excursion or have a VISA or they won't even let you off the ship. Does anyone know if this is true?

At this point in time you are out of luck to obtain your own visa...Get in touch with one of the private tour operators if you want to see St. Petersburg or you will have no option but to be part of a large ship group and limited by all that entails...Good luck !!

[Ashland]

Yes it is true.....Russia requires all foreigners to have a visa in order to enter the country.....this can be accomplished 1 of 3 ways, you can apply for a visa but it will cost you a couple hundred dollars per person, you can do a ship excursion and be covered under their visa or you can find a tour company in St Petersburg such as TJ Travel, Denruss, Alla, etc and be covered under their visa.......most people on this board go with a tour company in St. Petersburg and have had no problem......I'm going to be in St.Petersburg on the NCL Sun on 8/9 and 8/10 and i'm using TJ Travel for my excursion

You'll be just ahead of us we will be in St. Petersburg Aug 17 & 18th on the RCI's Jewel and will also be using TJ Travel....You're probably just as excited as we are :D