Departure from St Petersburg

[SoBaycruiser]

Our scheduled departure from St Petersburg on the second day of our visit is 6pm. Normally we like to be in the forward lounge with a cocktail while departing an interesting port. However we have the early 6pm dinner seating. Is there anything worth seeing as we depart St Peterburg? Should we eat later in the buffet that night and enjoy the view during departure or are we better off eating as scheduled?

[KirkNC]

The port is new and there is really not a lot to see as you leave, I would go to dinner.

[roothy123]

I agree, there isn't much to see. However, about 50-60 minutes out of the port is something that I had read about here on CC and found pretty interesting. Others may not find it so interesting, but just in case it appeals, here's a little info.

 

There is a long bridge that goes from one side of the St. P area to the other. At one point the bridge becomes a tunnel, and we passed fairly close to this point. It really just looked like a big area with a lot of lights which looked a bit spooky as it was maybe 7PM, a bit foggy, and starting to get a little dark. If you search for St. Petersburg tunnel or something like that, you might find it. I believe there is also some kind of sea gate around this point, which I also read about on CC. Also, a little before or after we passed the tunnel, there was a large, old fort on an island, and three lighthouses. I'm a lighthouse nut, so I LOVED that. I googled it when I came back, but never really figured out what fort it was, however, although one site I ran across looked to be close to what I saw. It was a former military site.

 

I'm attaching a few pictures to show you what these things looked like. The pictures aren't the greatest, but it might help you decide whether to look for them or go to dinner instead! I suppose most people would go to dinner, but I found them pretty interesting!

 

They were on the port side as we left St. P for Helsinki, maybe 50-60 minutes after leaving the Marine Facade.

[SoBaycruiser]

Thank you both. I think we will go to dinner on schedule. Luckily our ship's MDR has windows so for something specific we could get up momentarily to see it.

Thanks again.

[John Bull]

16 miles out - that's about 60 to 90 minutes after departing SPB, a 14 mile-long highway crosses the Gulf of Finland. The purpose of the highway is partly to provide a road connecting north & south sides of the Gulf, & partly a defensive measure controlling shipping approaches to SPB.

The highway enters a short tunnel on the south side of the island of Kronshtadtskiy rayon, to provide a narrow shipping channel within yards of the island, very very close to shipyards and a Russian naval base with mothballed/scrapped ships. Quite spooky.

The interesting stuff will be on your starboard side.

Passing through the narrow channel is squeaky-bum time for cruise ship captains.:D

Don't miss it.

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=Kronshtadtskiy+rayon&hl=en&ll=59.977349,29.888992&spn=0.243926,0.788269&sll=55.791422,37.808706&sspn=0.137043,0.394135&hnear=Kronshtadtskiy+rayon,+St+Petersburg,+Russia&t=m&z=11

 

JB :)

 

Edit: aha. Roothy beat me to it:mad::D

[roothy123]

Well, I may have (narrowly) beat you to it, but you provided the info that I was struggling to remember from a post of yours before. Thanks for providing the link to the map. I now see the little island with the fort, and the shipping lane running right along side it. (Yes, we were definitely close at that point.) However, now I'm not sure if I was on the port side or the starboard side, as it looks like there would have been nothing much to see on the port side as we went from SP toward Helsinki. I am also wondering how I could have missed seeing mothballed ships - although it WAS quite a bit foggy at that point, so maybe they just weren't visible. Do you happen to remember if the ships were at the part of the island closer to SP (assume that would be east) or on the far side?

[John Bull]

. Do you happen to remember if the ships were at the part of the island closer to SP (assume that would be east) or on the far side?

 

At the SPB (eastern) end, the first part of the island that you see & before you enter the narrow channel. If you flip the map to satellite view, you'll see the wharves & ships, through its pretty indistinct. There's also quite a few photos if you ask google.

 

I think it's this island that was the source of great amusement on my first-ever cruise, a school-kids' "educational" cruise on a converted troopship.

This was during the Cold War, about 1959.

We passed some distance from the island (long before the road across the Gulf), but were instructed that it was a Russian naval base & under no circumstances were we to take any photos.

Tell 800 schoolkids not to take a photo? :rolleyes:

Unfortunately I've long since lost mine, but there's probably another 799 out there somewhere :D

 

JB :)

[Nitemare]

I'll add to the prior (and disagree, perhaps) that it depends on where you dock. If you are on a megaship, and are docked at the large cruiseship terminal, then the prior advice is spot on. And going by that fort and under the bridge was very interesting to me.

 

If you're on a smaller ship, and dock in the Neva River, than the "Retreat from Saint Petersburg" is a VERY interesting one, as you go by all sorts of old and new shipyards, docks, defense sites, etc, etc, etc. As suggested, use Google Maps and trace the route from the English Embankment out to that bridge. Our route on Azamara took us through the narrow channel that heads southwestward before heading WNW through the marked shipping channel. Very close on both sides for quite some time.

[SoBaycruiser]

Thanks Nitemare. We will be on one of Princess' RShips (same size as Azamara) and so hopefully will be at the same dock that you were. The more I hear, the more I'm thinking this might be a good night for the buffet.

 

Do you know how many small ships can dock in the Neva River? It looks like a number of "small" ships will be there during our two days in June 2013. (It looks like there will be 3 ships with 800 or less passengers already at dock from their arrival the day before)

[missliberty]

Where do you go on the web to find out who will docking where and when? We will be there in June also on a small ship. I assume that you see these sights coming into Spb as well as leaving but it may be more convenient to see them as you leave.

[SoBaycruiser]

I used: http://www.cruisetimetables.com/

 

Be sure to scroll down to the second section for destinations. Since so many ships come to St Petersburg for more than one day be sure to check which ships arrive the day before and have a "+1" next to the date.

[missliberty]

Thanks for that link, it will be very useful. It looks like the English Embankment has a place for three ships. See: http://www.inflotww.net/ee.htm Enjoy your cruise!

[SoBaycruiser]

That's very interesting. It shows room for 3 ships but only if they are less then 144 meters in length. The R ships are longer than that, as are most of the smaller ships. I wonder if, in actuality, they only put 2 ships there. Do you know if they use the Lt. Schmidt dock for cruise ships too? That could accommodate 2 more small ones.

[MeHeartCruising]

That's very interesting. It shows room for 3 ships but only if they are less then 144 meters in length. The R ships are longer than that, as are most of the smaller ships. I wonder if, in actuality, they only put 2 ships there. Do you know if they use the Lt. Schmidt dock for cruise ships too? That could accommodate 2 more small ones.

 

I just looked at the pictures taken from St. Petersburg stop in 2008. The Oceania Regatta was docked there and it's length is listed as 593 feet (181 meters). There is a second, significantly smaller ship behind it as well, but I can't see any names on it to know what it was. I can't tell if there was a third ship in that line that day or not.

[John Bull]

For those who are booked on larger ships & are drooling over the last few posts ;), yes the little'uns parked on the Neva are in the heart of the city.

But the new cruise terminal is a drive of only 10 to 20 mins away, depending on traffic.

 

BTW, there was a programme (The Russian Revolution in Colour) on UK's Discovery channel today, majoring on the sailors from Kronshtadtskiy (that's actually the name of the little town on the island, the island itself is called Kotlin), which your ship drives-by in/out of SPB.

After the 1917 revolution, in which the sailors based there played a major part, they became disenchanted with Lenin's Bolshevik government & in 1921 they revolted. Their island was attacked by Trotsky's troops, on foot across the frozen sea. The fort(s) mentioned by roothy were part of the defences. Trotsky's first attack was repelled, leaving 80% of the attackers dead, but the second succeeded - most of the sailors (about 6,000) fled across the ice to Finland, but those who fought to the end were executed or imprisoned.

Details by googling kronstadt sailors russian revolution

Fascinating stuff

 

JB :)

[Nitemare]

That's very interesting. It shows room for 3 ships but only if they are less then 144 meters in length. The R ships are longer than that, as are most of the smaller ships. I wonder if, in actuality, they only put 2 ships there. Do you know if they use the Lt. Schmidt dock for cruise ships too? That could accommodate 2 more small ones.

 

When we were there in June, our ship took up pretty much all of the English Embankment, and a Seabourn ship took up the Schmidt. I believe we saw an Oceania parked out with the big boats, but I'm not 100% certain.

[Anubi]

DH and I have a tradition of toasting each other with champagne as we leave port on each cruise. On our Baltics cruise we're thinking of doing it as we leave St. Petersburg. Never having thought we'd get to Russia, or as we knew it growing up, the USSR ;), we really want to do it while cruising away from St. Petersburg. Won't matter if there is nothing to see...its the thought of where we are.

[SoBaycruiser]

DH and I have a tradition of toasting each other with champagne as we leave port on each cruise. On our Baltics cruise we're thinking of doing it as we leave St. Petersburg. Never having thought we'd get to Russia, or as we knew it growing up, the USSR ;), we really want to do it while cruising away from St. Petersburg. Won't matter if there is nothing to see...its the thought of where we are.

 

I like your thinking. I think we will do the same.

[bornfreenowexpensive]

We were on Oceania Nautica, R ship, docked in the cruise terminal. I had forgotten about this bridge/tunnel and we were eating dinner in the MDR. We passed right next to everything mentioned, about 7:15 pm.