St Petersburg without scheduled tour?

[Suiteaft]

Does anyone have recent experience leaving your ship WITHOUT a pre arranged tour? Do the ship provide a "day visa" to those not booked with a tour company?

[Kamloops50]

Does anyone have recent experience leaving your ship WITHOUT a pre arranged tour? Do the ship provide a "day visa" to those not booked with a tour company?

 

If you don't take an organized tour thru the ship or independent tour operator a visa is not required. If you want to do your own thing , you need to get a visa before you board the ship. If your not an a tour , you might be denied boarding for not having the proper documentation.

[John Bull]

If you don'ttake an organized tour thru the ship or independent tour operator a visa is not required. If you want to do your own thing , you need to get a visa before you board the ship. If your not an a tour , you might be denied boarding for not having the proper documentation.

 

Beware the typo !!!!

Kamloops' post is totally wrong, but I think that's simply down to a typo - delete the highlighted word & it makes sense.

 

Cruisers visiting SPB who take a pre-booked tour arranged by an accredited local operator, or by the ship, don't need a visa. This is because they qualify for the Russian govt's visa-waiver scheme.

But if you don't have a ticket for a tour, or a visa, you will not be allowed through immigration.

 

There is no facility to get a day visa. If you want to go ashore without a pre-arranged tour you will need a pre-arranged visa - this is expensive & long-winded, & needs to be fixed well ahead of your cruise.

Somewhere on this forum was an interesting thread from someone who had done that successfully, but 99.9% of cruisers will advise that its not worth the grief, esp if you don't speak the language & can't read the cryllic alphabet.

 

If you book a tour, with either the ship or a local operator, that visa-waiver applies only to the tour. You will be in the custody of the operator, so you can't wander off too far & do your own thing.

By the same token, if you want to go ashore in the evening - for instance to the ballet or to tour SPB by night - that will also need to be organised by the ship or a local tour operator.

 

Sounds quite restrictive, but believe me it makes a great deal of sense.

 

Because the scheme is a visa-waiver & not a group-visa, there is no govt deadline. How far ahead you need to book is entirely up to the ship or local operator.

Check ship's literature for their deadline.

Check with local operators for theirs.

Because of the need to prepare tickets (and for you to download a local operator's tickets) it makes sense to fix it up before your cruise. And of course tours do book-out

 

A minor technicality, but I don't think you will be denied boarding without a visa or tour ticket. But you will have to stay on the ship in SPB.

 

A super port-of-call. the highlight of any Baltic cruise, & not one to skimp on.

 

JB :)

[aquilegia]

As John Bull says. Unless you've booked a ship's tour or a tour with an accredited Russian private tour company, you will be obliged to acquire your own visa before you board your cruise. Otherwise you certainly won't be getting off in St Petersburg.

[Kamloops50]

Beware the typo !!!!

Kamloops' post is totally wrong, but I think that's simply down to a typo - delete the highlighted word & it makes sense.

 

Cruisers visiting SPB who take a pre-booked tour arranged by an accredited local operator, or by the ship, don't need a visa. This is because they qualify for the Russian govt's visa-waiver scheme.

But if you don't have a ticket for a tour, or a visa, you will not be allowed through immigration.

 

There is no facility to get a day visa. If you want to go ashore without a pre-arranged tour you will need a pre-arranged visa - this is expensive & long-winded, & needs to be fixed well ahead of your cruise.

Somewhere on this forum was an interesting thread from someone who had done that successfully, but 99.9% of cruisers will advise that its not worth the grief, esp if you don't speak the language & can't read the cryllic alphabet.

 

If you book a tour, with either the ship or a local operator, that visa-waiver applies only to the tour. You will be in the custody of the operator, so you can't wander off too far & do your own thing.

By the same token, if you want to go ashore in the evening - for instance to the ballet or to tour SPB by night - that will also need to be organised by the ship or a local tour operator.

 

Sounds quite restrictive, but believe me it makes a great deal of sense.

 

Because the scheme is a visa-waiver & not a group-visa, there is no govt deadline. How far ahead you need to book is entirely up to the ship or local operator.

Check ship's literature for their deadline.

Check with local operators for theirs.

Because of the need to prepare tickets (and for you to download a local operator's tickets) it makes sense to fix it up before your cruise. And of course tours do book-out

 

A minor technicality, but I don't think you will be denied boarding without a visa or tour ticket. But you will have to stay on the ship in SPB.

 

A super port-of-call. the highlight of any Baltic cruise, & not one to skimp on.

 

JB :)

 

Thanks I did make a typo in my post.

[SweetGG]

Someone has recently done this and posted info try a search.

[rosepark]

I recently posted about getting a Russian visa with a UK passport and used an agent to process the application.

I have just come back from the Baltic trip and it is not possible to go off the ship without a visa unless as part of an organised tour, eithe from the ship or from a recognised tour company. Immigration officials are perfectly pleasant but require sight of tour tickets unless you have a visa in your passport.

Fellow passengers on a ship's tour to the Hermitage were not allowed to leave the group and walk back to the ship which was only about 20 minutes walk away. They had to return on the tour bus and I gather that the guides and ship escorts were very concerned to make sure everyone stayed together and that no-one wandered off.

With visas, we were able to come and go as we pleased. There was no hold up at immigration beyond a few minutes and we could, and did, walk freely round st Petersburg with no hassle from anyone whatsoever.

Rp

[gosport11]

I recently posted about getting a Russian visa with a UK passport and used an agent to process the application.

I have just come back from the Baltic trip and it is not possible to go off the ship without a visa unless as part of an organised tour, eithe from the ship or from a recognised tour company. Immigration officials are perfectly pleasant but require sight of tour tickets unless you have a visa in your passport.

Fellow passengers on a ship's tour to the Hermitage were not allowed to leave the group and walk back to the ship which was only about 20 minutes walk away. They had to return on the tour bus and I gather that the guides and ship escorts were very concerned to make sure everyone stayed together and that no-one wandered off.

With visas, we were able to come and go as we pleased. There was no hold up at immigration beyond a few minutes and we could, and did, walk freely round st Petersburg with no hassle from anyone whatsoever.

Rp

Your were docked in town on a smaller cruise ship,because the main cruise terminal is a lot more than 20 min walk to the hermitage :)