Private Tour Companys

[SiBreeze]

Does anyone know how the disembarkation process works in St. Petersburg if you have booked a tour with a private tour company? thanks

[bajacoral]

Does anyone know how the disembarkation process works in St. Petersburg if you have booked a tour with a private tour company? thanks

Last year we were booked wirh a private tour in St Pete and were off the ship as soon as anyone. Simply not a problem. On the other hand the Russian imigration process was very slow. Slow whether you were on a Princess tour or a private one. And we have been on many tours. This one is one of the most memorable we have ever enjoyed.

[caribill]

Last year we were booked wirh a private tour in St Pete and were off the ship as soon as anyone. Simply not a problem. On the other hand the Russian imigration process was very slow. Slow whether you were on a Princess tour or a private one.

 

You can ignore any signs by the immigration booths that say "Princess Tours" or "Independent Tours."

 

These signs are put up by Princess with 90% of the signs saying "Princess Tours."

 

The immigration personnel do not care who supplies the tour that you are going on.

[Pam in CA]

Does anyone know how the disembarkation process works in St. Petersburg if you have booked a tour with a private tour company? thanks

If you book a private tour, they will make arrangements for your entry visa. You will send them the names, addresses and passport info for each person and they will issue each of you a "tour ticket." When you disembark the ship and go through Russian immigration, you present your passport and the tour ticket. They will hand you a card that you should keep with your passport. When you are back in the port area, you hand in that card and your passport before embarking the ship.

 

When we disembarked for our private tour, we ignored the signs and went to the shortest line for immigration.

 

FYI, I highly recommend SPB Tours. One of the best tours I've taken anywhere. They were terrific. If your itinerary includes Berlin and you want to go there, they have a great tour there as well. You only have to contact one person, Viktoria Rather, for both cities. She's the owner and takes a personal interest in every tour she sends out, going from van to van to make sure everything is going well.