St. Pete evening on your own - no visa?

[ja940]

We have booked Red October for both of our days in St. Pete. If we want to go into St. Pete on our own for the evening will we have any visa issues? Red October is arranging our visas for the day tours.

[ElleninNY]

If you do not have a visa issued by the Russian embassy--RO's tickets do not suffice--you will not be able to go on your own.

[dileep]

RO and your ship offer evening programs. We had signed up for RO's cossack's Show but cancelled beacuse we were too tired!

 

People who went on Celebrity White Nights cruise and concert liked it too.

[SaylorGirl]

You can not go out on your own at any time unless you have a Visa. Both RO and Denrus offer evening tours also the ship offers evening excursions. I don't know when your going but have you thought about getting your Visa? Then you would be free to go where you wanted on your own. We are getting ours and we are looking forward to the freedom.

[dbh62ark]

I don't want to hijack this thread but think that the OP's question was answered, and there's really nothing more to add.

 

Dileep, I was interested to note that you cancelled your evening plans in St. Petersburg. What kind of notice did you give to the tour company? Did you just tell them at the end of the day tour that you wanted to cancel? Were there any cancellation fees? That would be really good information for Baltics cruisers to have because I have heard from several dozen passengers that they are concerned that they will be too tired to go, so it's good to know that plans can be changed on short notice in St. Petes.

 

Thanks,

Donna

[ja940]

RO and your ship offer evening programs. We had signed up for RO's cossack's Show but cancelled beacuse we were too tired!

 

People who went on Celebrity White Nights cruise and concert liked it too.

 

We didn't want to book anything for the evening as we thought we would be too tired also. Just wondered if we could get off the ship at the last minute if we caught a second wind.

[saw17752]

We didn't want to book anything for the evening as we thought we would be too tired also. Just wondered if we could get off the ship at the last minute if we caught a second wind.

 

We too are using RO in September. What you need to remember is thay are not taking care of your Visa for you. Rather, you are entering Russia under a law that allows for you to be able to waive the requirement of a Visa if you arrive by cruise ship and are staying for less than 72 hours. In exchange for being able to forego getting a Visa, you must be accompanied at all times by a representative of the approved tour agency. That is probably you see that most postings on these boards talk about RO and Denrus. Most, but not all, the other companies that people privately arrange, i.e., not ship's tours, require that you do obtain a Visa. For example a while back some people were inquiring about a company called Travel in Russia. They do tours and will send you the sponsor letter to get a Visa, but are not licensed to participate under the Visa waiver exception. Thus, to pass by imigration, even to walk around the dock, you either need a Visa or a tour ticket for the time you are leaving. RO has evening tours that allow a little free time at night, but as I currently understand it, it is time only between the end of the "show" and when they bring you back to the ship -- perhaps stretched by 1/2 an hour to allow you to walk around.

[dileep]

Dileep, I was interested to note that you cancelled your evening plans in St. Petersburg. What kind of notice did you give to the tour company? Did you just tell them at the end of the day tour that you wanted to cancel? Were there any cancellation fees? That would be really good information for Baltics cruisers to have because I have heard from several dozen passengers that they are concerned that they will be too tired to go, so it's good to know that plans can be changed on short notice in St. Petes.

 

Thanks,

Donna

 

We had asked to be added to somebody else's group of 4. We realized after full days in Stockholm, Riga, and Tallinn that we would rather take it easy in the evening. We told the guide around 10 am on that day and she informed their office. I also told George that we would not be joining him and his friends. He had a great time - even got to dance with them on stage!

 

We had one couple in our regular tour who dropped out at the end of Day 1 since she was beginning to get sick. They only paid for that day.

 

If you are not sure you can tell RO that you want to make tentative arrangements, but you will confirm by noon on Day 1. They may be fine with that. The cost varies by the size of the group. When we dropped out there was a $2 difference in the per person cost - not enough for RO or George to be concerned.

[dbh62ark]

Thanks, Dileep! :)

[ja940]

Shelly and Susi,

Thanks for your very helpful reply.