St. Petersburg Private Tours getting off ship

[ninapeter]

There have been several posts in the past about Princess not allowing non Princess Tour passengers to disembark early for their St. Petersburg tours. Happily, this year, (last week) Star Princess Hotel General Manager Mrs. Sheila Griffin allowed the non Princess tour passengers to be the FIRST off the ship. In a cruisecritic meeting Mrs. Sheila Griffin told us that she had heard of the difficulties of private tour passengers getting off last year to get to their tours and she made every effort to make sure that things went smoothly this year. And it did. The fact that Princess listens to its passengers and managers, this years ships visiting St. Petersburg did work very hard to insure the fast disembarkation of its non ships tour visitors. We were all impressed that Mrs. Griffin took note of past problems and fixed them. Thank you.

[Giantfan13]

Nice report Nina, and I'm glad all the Princess passengers will be treated as equals this year.

 

Cheers

 

Len

[potomacgator]

There have also been reports frrom the Norwegian Sun this month that independant travelers had no problem dismbarkinging early.

[janisutx]

Thanks for posting about this wonderful policy change. Passengers deserve to be treated fairly.

[Northern Light]

To echo Peter's comments (NinaPeter), disembarkation was a breeze off the Star last week. We used SPB Tours, which I would highly recommend. I worried about the disembarkation when the instructions in the Princess Patter told those participating in private tours to report to the Capri dining room for disembarkation tickets. Fears were totally unfounded and we left the ship in a timely fashion. There is a new immigration terminal in St. Petersburg now which also contributed to the ease of disembarkation. It was a pleasure to visit this country.

 

Sandy :)

[RedRover101]

We are on RCI Vision of the Seas and have a private tour set up with SPB tours for the day in St. Petersburg. We have our tour ticket from her/Russia. What is an disembarkation ticket and where to you get that?

 

BTW, what is the procedure going through Russian Immigration Control and Customs to leave the ship. Do they speak English? Are they suspicious, do they search your handbag? count your money?

 

And, conversely, what is the procedure for returning to the ship? you obviously need your passport-anything else?

 

Thanks - Jane

[ninapeter]

1)to get off ship you need a passport

2)your tour ticket from your tour company

3)a disembarkation thingy from NCL..... they should supply(Princess did)

4)a photo copy of your passport

 

no searches...2nd day is smoother and easier, nothing to worry about, have a great tour.

 

some US dollars, euros, credit card to pay for your tour, some incidentals, it is just like any other country. (almost) They speak a little bit of english, they have to check everything for their govenment, they do not seem to notice the idividual as much as checking the paperwork.

 

ENJOY and don't worry.