Dress Code for Ballet

[Lancashire Lad]

We have booked to go to the ballet in St.P on our Baltic cruise 07/07/12. Can anyone tell us the correct dress code for this or is smart casual good enough. Also can anyone tell us which is best to buy the Russian Dolls, onboard or ashore. We have heard that they were cheaper onboard.

[cruiserdru]

Suggest you check out the Baltics ports board and search on each of these items.

 

There are some good discussions on each topic. One poster said the evening events were casual chic (no shorts, tank tops) like most of our dining.

 

Read several on the dolls and one suggested checking the prices onboard and then looking at prices in port. Said there might or might not be a sale on the ship after leaving Russia. Also said that the same dolls could probably be had for less in Talinn. Another recommended that you let your tour guide know what you were interested in (level of quality, type, etc) and some will give you good advice.

 

One interesting point was that he Hermitage does not sell nesting dolls in their gift shop as the director/curator does not feel that the are authentic Russian folk art as they originated in Japan.

 

See you on our cruise real soon.

[caribill]

Quality and origin of the nesting dolls will vary widely which can make it hard to compare prices, especially when in a rush onshore.

 

Those made in Russia by well known (in Russia) Russian artists will cost the most.

[Coolcruise02]

We received an email from our private tour agency and they said casual clothes and jeans are fine, but NO shorts for the ballet.

[chaz2010]

Hi- we wore casual chic, but others wore shorts. No one was checking. The show we were taken to (through Denrus) was a tourist show, no Russian people were in the audience. It was not the Bolshoi, but it was still high quality and very enjoyable. The ballet the night we went was "Swan Lake".

 

One annoying thing was some audience members kept taking pictures with flash after being told not to. Went on for most of the show.

[eetonaee]

After a full day touring and another one to come you might consider pyjamas ;-)

[Neuhoftraveler]

Re dress code: Two weeks ago at the Mihailovsky, which is definitely not a "tourist" venue, the patrons wore a variety of outfits ranging from "smart casual" to nice-looking dresses to (for men) sport jackets with and without ties. Few suits absolutely no formal wear.

 

Re dolls: My understanding is that there is nothing "authentically Russian folk" about the Matrioshka nesting dolls. They were created in the 1870's-1880's by a charitable organization that had set up arts-and-crafts workshops to train and employ freed serfs, and decided they needed to have a line of toys to supplement the decorative items. The target market was apartment-dwelling Muscovites, who were then in the throes of a "folk art" craze. The model was a Japanese nesting-doll toy, as reflected in the comments attributed by the prior poster to the Hermitage gift-shop director.

[chaz2010]

Re dress code: Two weeks ago at the Mihailovsky, which is definitely not a "tourist" venue, the patrons wore a variety of outfits ranging from "smart casual" to nice-looking dresses to (for men) sport jackets with and without ties. Few suits absolutely no formal wear.

 

Re dolls: My understanding is that there is nothing "authentically Russian folk" about the Matrioshka nesting dolls. They were created in the 1870's-1880's by a charitable organization that had set up arts-and-crafts workshops to train and employ freed serfs, and decided they needed to have a line of toys to supplement the decorative items. The target market was apartment-dwelling Muscovites, who were then in the throes of a "folk art" craze. The model was a Japanese nesting-doll toy, as reflected in the comments attributed by the prior poster to the Hermitage gift-shop director.

 

I meant no disrepect to the Mihalovsky Theatre with my "tourist" remark. Our night at the ballet was there as well,and the theatre is magnificent. I described it as a tourist show because the entire audience was made up of passengers from our cruise ship. So I am not sure if they would have the ballets there is cruise ship passengers did not come to them.

 

As far as dress code, I always believe that when in doubt, it is better to over-dress than under-dress. They can't kick you out if you are dressed too nicely!

[Alaskanb]

On our recent Alaska cruises many Alaskan-style items on the ship were made in China or Malaysia so if made-in-russia is important to you check the origin.

[Goldiedog]

We have just returned from a Russian Ballet trip which was at the Alexandraius (not sure I have spelt this correctly) it was Swan Lake and was amazing, this was an authentic ballet and not for tourists, it was amazing and nearly everyone in the audience was dressed up in evening wear, there were definately no jeans or casual wear.

[Goldiedog]

We bought Russian Dolls and presents for home at the new cruise terminal, they were much cheaper than in the shops that the tour guides took us to, these shops are open until late, we were shopping after the ballet and ut was nearly midnight, and ut was still daylight.

[Neuhoftraveler]

Interesting that Chaz2010 found the Mikhailovsky audience to be all from his cruise ship. At the Mikhailovsky two weeks ago (for opera not ballet), although there was a group of 20-30 passengers from our ship (not including us, we did it indendently -- and far more cheaply, with better seats), virtually everyone else in the full house appeared to be local. All we heard spoken, at least, was Russian. Maybe the cruise passengers make it economically justifiable, but the locals seem to enjoy the opportunity.

 

On the other hand, the Alexandriinsky is widely reported to be strictly a tourist venue, although not by any means bad. But "touristy" or "for tourists" in the SPB ballet context seems to mean merely "not connoisseur quality," rather than unauthentic, and is said to apply in summer to the Mariinsky and Mikhailovsky too, whose star performers often are on tour in the summer at various festivals and the like.

 

There is much discussion of all this, including exactly what are the good and bad seats in the Mariinky and Mikhailovsky, on CC's sister website TripAdvisor.com, including a new "sticky" on "Ballet in SBP" posted by a local "Destination Expert."

[Grammyluvs]

We have just returned from a Russian Ballet trip which was at the Alexandraius (not sure I have spelt this correctly) it was Swan Lake and was amazing, this was an authentic ballet and not for tourists, it was amazing and nearly everyone in the audience was dressed up in evening wear, there were definately no jeans or casual wear.

 

My question regarding the ballet is the logistics of doing a day tour and having time to do the ballet. I read there were long lines around 6 pm to return to the ship. Did you encounter this? Is there a place in the cruise terminal to maybe buy a sandwich and wait for the tour? What time were you picked up for the ballet? We are considering using Alla for our day tours but their ticket prices for ballet are cheaper than SPB-tours and we were afraid they might be inferior seats. How was the seating? Are there any bad seat? Stadium style? Thanks

[Jrhmdtraum]

No wonder Americans get such a dirty name.

 

How would ou dress for a ballet in New York? You old wear a suit!

 

That is what ou Shold wear in a foreign country

[Goldiedog]

My question regarding the ballet is the logistics of doing a day tour and having time to do the ballet. I read there were long lines around 6 pm to return to the ship. Did you encounter this? Is there a place in the cruise terminal to maybe buy a sandwich and wait for the tour? What time were you picked up for the ballet? We are considering using Alla for our day tours but their ticket prices for ballet are cheaper than SPB-tours and we were afraid they might be inferior seats. How was the seating? Are there any bad seat? Stadium style? Thanks

 

We returned to the cruise terminal at 5.45pm, it took us about 15 minutes to get through the lines, we grabbed a couple of muffins from the buffet, quickly changed and went back out to meet our pre booked transport at 6.45pm. Our seats were brilliant,right in the middle of the theatre, 6 rows back from the front. This ballet is nearly 3 hours long but was absolutely brilliant,all booked through Alla at a very reasonable price, we got back to the ship at 11.45pm and the shops in the cruise terminal were still open. The style of the theatre was olde worlde with tiers and boxes looking down onto the stage, it was certainly not to be missed.

[MrsTW]

We returned to the cruise terminal at 5.45pm, it took us about 15 minutes to get through the lines, we grabbed a couple of muffins from the buffet, quickly changed and went back out to meet our pre booked transport at 6.45pm. Our seats were brilliant,right in the middle of the theatre, 6 rows back from the front. This ballet is nearly 3 hours long but was absolutely brilliant,all booked through Alla at a very reasonable price, we got back to the ship at 11.45pm and the shops in the cruise terminal were still open. The style of the theatre was olde worlde with tiers and boxes looking down onto the stage, it was certainly not to be missed.

 

A few questions! I'm using Alla.....

 

Did you have a tour ticket to get off the ship? Were there programmes and souvenirs for sale at the ballet? Did you need rubles?

 

Interesting that there are shops at the cruise terminal. Thanks for the info. :)

[Goldiedog]

A few questions! I'm using Alla.....

 

Did you have a tour ticket to get off the ship? Were there programmes and souvenirs for sale at the ballet? Did you need rubles?

 

Interesting that there are shops at the cruise terminal. Thanks for the info. :)

 

Alla gave us a tour ticket for the ballet on our first day of our two day tour, the tour ticket for the 2 days was sent viace mail to us a few weeks before our cruise,all you have to do is print it off, Russian customs only need your passport and Alla printed ticket. There were programmes at the ballet and a few souvenirs but they were expensive and not very interesting, glasses case, small binoculars, those sort of things. We paid in dollar bills and paid tips in Rubles, but they will also accept tips in dollars, tips were 10%. You can pay by credit card if you want, there is no additional charge for this.

[MrsTW]

Alla gave us a tour ticket for the ballet on our first day of our two day tour, the tour ticket for the 2 days was sent viace mail to us a few weeks before our cruise,all you have to do is print it off, Russian customs only need your passport and Alla printed ticket. There were programmes at the ballet and a few souvenirs but they were expensive and not very interesting, glasses case, small binoculars, those sort of things. We paid in dollar bills and paid tips in Rubles, but they will also accept tips in dollars, tips were 10%. You can pay by credit card if you want, there is no additional charge for this.

 

Thanks for the reply! :)

 

I have printed off our tour tickets and assumed that we'd be given the ballet tickets and details of meet time etc the first day. I have a small amount of rubles so will use them as needed. I have sorted $s for paying for the excursion.

[Grammyluvs]

We returned to the cruise terminal at 5.45pm, it took us about 15 minutes to get through the lines, we grabbed a couple of muffins from the buffet, quickly changed and went back out to meet our pre booked transport at 6.45pm. Our seats were brilliant,right in the middle of the theatre, 6 rows back from the front. This ballet is nearly 3 hours long but was absolutely brilliant,all booked through Alla at a very reasonable price, we got back to the ship at 11.45pm and the shops in the cruise terminal were still open. The style of the theatre was olde worlde with tiers and boxes looking down onto the stage, it was certainly not to be missed.

 

Great info. Thanks for reply. if we choose to stay in the cruise terminal rather than rushing and pick up a bite to eat there is that a problem? Also, did you pick which theater and production you wanted or did Alla decide that? Oh, one more question, which tour did you use the Grand or Comfort or did you book privately? Thanks

[Goldiedog]

Great info. Thanks for reply. if we choose to stay in the cruise terminal rather than rushing and pick up a bite to eat there is that a problem? Also, did you pick which theater and production you wanted or did Alla decide that? Oh, one more question, which tour did you use the Grand or Comfort or did you book privately? Thanks

 

We chose the theatre and ballet we wanted to see and Alla booked it for us. There was nowhere to eat in the cruise terminal that I an remember, just shops.

It was the Comfort tour we booked with Alla.

[pv girl]

We booked ballet at the Mariinsky direct on their website. Tickets were immediately charged to our credit card and a voucher emailed to us for ticket pickup at the box office right before the performance.

 

We had the 2 day tour with Alla and she arranged for transport to the ballet for extra charge. She gave us a tour ticket for that to show to immigration.

 

Our day tour dropped us off at the ship and we had about an hour to reboard the ship and change clothes. WE DID DRESS UP FOR THE BALLET AND WERE GLAD WE DID! There were some cruise passengers at the ballet - but mostly locals and they were dressed up, nice dresses for the ladies and sports coats or suits for the men. We got back to the ship in time for a bite to eat at the late-night snack in the Lido, which stayed open a little later for all the folks who were coming back from night activities. We thanked the Lido manager for this.

 

The theatre is so elegant and it was fun to dress to the venue and the occasion. The gift shop took USD for my small purchase and some were paying with credit cards. They were taking Euros and Russian currency also. We tipped our driver is USD.

 

I suppose for the lesser ballet venues and the folk shows that casual dress would suffice. But for the Mariinsky, the venue warrants dressing up - like going to the Met or Kennedy Center in NYC.

[Grammyluvs]

Great info thanks. We love to dress up for events. I am just worried about missing a meal. LOL.

[Neuhoftraveler]

Grammyluvs,

 

So this thought from my prior post doesn't get overlooked, consider rerturning to the ship just a half-hour earlier, and have a nice room-service dinner in your cabin that you foresightedly arranged the day before.

[Grammyluvs]

Grammyluvs,

 

So this thought from my prior post doesn't get overlooked, consider rerturning to the ship just a half-hour earlier, and have a nice room-service dinner in your cabin that you foresightedly arranged the day before.

 

Glad you reposted as I missed it. That sounds like a great plan!