we booked the 7 night Scan Russia Cruise! Now lots of questions!

[GLOCKer]

My wife and I booked our second cruise ever, departing Stockholm on the Legend of the Seas in July. Now I am confused about the issue with visas. I know you're r or the cruise in genequired to have a visa for Russia, but on the Department of State website it says if you're on a cruise and only in Port for 72 hours and only engage in tours through the cruise line with your guides, you don't need a visa.

 

My wife and I are planning on doing a Flightseeing excursion through Royal Caribbean to Moscow, and it describes it as being with a St. Petersburg tour guide until you get to Moscow where you're handed off to a Moscow guide.

 

So the big question is, will we need visas for Russia? Any other things we should know about the other ports (Helsinki Finland, Tallin Estonia, and Riga Latvia) or the cruise in general? Thanks guys!

[JB77]

If you have an excursion booked through Royal or a registered private tour guide then you do not need a visa for Russia. When you go through the passport control you have to show your excursion ticket. But this means you can only leave the ship when on this tour. You are not allowed to go out on your own without a visa. As your trip continues with a guide and is booked through royal I don't think you will need a visa.

[Spurschick]

Me and DD did Russia last year.

 

We had excursions booked for both days we were in port.

The first day they took our excursion tickets and passports and stamped our passports. The second day we just showed our tickets for that day and passports opened to the stamped page and were straight through.

 

No visa needed and the price of doing the tours was less then buying the visas individually and organizing ourselves. In order to leave the ship you need one or the other.

 

Hope that helps

[GLOCKer]

Thanks guys that helps a bunch!

[Brigbound]

I love my Glock model 27

 

 

 

just sayin'..... :D

[GLOCKer]

I love my Glock model 27

 

 

 

just sayin'..... :D

 

Ha! I'm surprised someone got what my name means! I've got a GLOCK 22, 22C, 27, and I carry a GLOCK 35 every day for work!

[dancinman66]

anything in particular you want to do in regards to the other ports,

most would suggest doing your own thing as relatively easy walking

and buses are good

 

as far as tours, you can organise your own also, as they will organise the respective paperwork to get you through as with ship based tours

private tours although expensive are worth it as you will have likely 12 hours in port and it will bypass most ques and give you a fantastic insight others can't get

 

enjoy

Greg:)

[Cotswold Eagle]

OP, if you haven't already found it, your questions and many more are discussed extensively on the Northern Europe and Baltic board on Cruise Critic:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=192

 

Research and asking questions over there will help you a lot. The usual advice is to book private tours, not ship-sponsored ones, but you can read about the pros and cons over there.

[Ocean_Waves]

Ha! I'm surprised someone got what my name means! I've got a GLOCK 22, 22C, 27, and I carry a GLOCK 35 every day for work!

 

How do you like the 27? I carry a Glock 23 Gen 4 for work and like it because it is small enough to carry in my waistband off duty too. Was thinking about purchasing the 27 for off duty carry, for no other reason than I hear they are easier to carry off duty and it's an excuse give to the DW to purchase another gun!

[letsgoyakking]

private tour is the ONLY way to go in Russia. We were a party of four and our guide worked very hard for us. There is just too much to see in St. Petersburg that you can't waste one minute doing 30 minute restroom breaks with the ship tours. All of the main tour attractions will have long lines to get in but the private tour guides will pay extra and get you to the front of the lines, saving you hours. I would recommend reading up on some of the history of Russia and find out who all the major players were in the history of Russia. We didn't and therefore we were just overwhelmed with information overload from our guide.

[Brigbound]

Ha! I'm surprised someone got what my name means! I've got a GLOCK 22, 22C, 27, and I carry a GLOCK 35 every day for work!

 

That's alotta tupperware! :D They are super dependable in my experience.

[Brigbound]

How do you like the 27? I carry a Glock 23 Gen 4 for work and like it because it is small enough to carry in my waistband off duty too. Was thinking about purchasing the 27 for off duty carry, for no other reason than I hear they are easier to carry off duty and it's an excuse give to the DW to purchase another gun!

 

Just my .02

 

They are very easy to carry but since the grip is quite short, those with larger hands sometimes find it a bit awkward to handle. An easy get around is to purchase a magazine/grip extender but then that 'slightly' cuts into the conceal-ability of it.

 

Enjoy your cruise and happy shooting!

 

Brig

[GLOCKer]

How do you like the 27? I carry a Glock 23 Gen 4 for work and like it because it is small enough to carry in my waistband off duty too. Was thinking about purchasing the 27 for off duty carry, for no other reason than I hear they are easier to carry off duty and it's an excuse give to the DW to purchase another gun!

 

I purchased my GLOCK 27 for carry of duty and as an on duty backup. I originally carried it on my boot, but after a foot chase through a creek, I started carrying it on my body armor.

 

For off duty carry it conceals well IWB, but I ended up buying a Kahr PM9 (9mm) gor pocket carry. It's nice being able to throw a 9mm in my pocket!

 

The GLOCK 27 shoots well but does buck a little more. I use a one finger grip extension on it, which help out.

Edited February 25, 2014 by GLOCKer

[GLOCKer]

private tour is the ONLY way to go in Russia. We were a party of four and our guide worked very hard for us. There is just too much to see in St. Petersburg that you can't waste one minute doing 30 minute restroom breaks with the ship tours. All of the main tour attractions will have long lines to get in but the private tour guides will pay extra and get you to the front of the lines, saving you hours. I would recommend reading up on some of the history of Russia and find out who all the major players were in the history of Russia. We didn't and therefore we were just overwhelmed with information overload from our guide.

 

Any chance you remember what tour company you used?

[GLOCKer]

That's alotta tupperware! :D They are super dependable in my experience.

 

That dependable an SIMPLE! And I really like that I live really close to their HQ; makes for great customer service!

Edited February 25, 2014 by GLOCKer

[dancinman66]

Any chance you remember what tour company you used?

 

 

Try tj travel in st Petersburg

Tatiana churikova was our tour guide last time

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[markeb]

Have you checked out the Northern Europe and Baltics board in the Ports of Call? There's a lot of information on Russia.

 

We did the 12 day from Harwich in 2012, with two days in St Petersburg. Believe me, there is more than enough to see in St Petersburg without going to Moscow!

 

We did ship's tours, but if (when!) we do it again, we'd do a private tour, and we'd do St Petersburg again. There are a number of tour providers in the ports of call board, and you'll probably find them through your roll call.

 

Good luck, and enjoy!

[cruising twosome]

We also used TJ tours, very very satisfied. We had three mini buses, all of us meet with cruise critic roll call. One bus had children/teens with parents, another van wanted extra time at Jewish interests and the third just did the regular stops. Sometimes we overlapped, all great!

[dancinman66]

We also used TJ tours, very very satisfied. We had three mini buses, all of us meet with cruise critic roll call. One bus had children/teens with parents, another van wanted extra time at Jewish interests and the third just did the regular stops. Sometimes we overlapped, all great!

 

 

Yes they were the best and would use them again

Greg:)

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[GLOCKer]

Great! I'll look them up. Thank you!

 

I know there is a lot to do in St, Petersburg, but seeing the Red Square is kind of important to me. I am a child of the 80's (I'm relatively young at 34 yrs old), and I grew up overseas on Air Force bases, so the Cold War was a huge part of my life. As a teenager, I got to visit Berlin and see Cold War related sites, and for me, it was an amazing experience. To be able to stand in Moscow! Now that to me would be worth missing a chunk of St. Petersburg and dealing with a busy, tiring travel day!

[dancinman66]

Great! I'll look them up. Thank you!

 

I know there is a lot to do in St, Petersburg, but seeing the Red Square is kind of important to me. I am a child of the 80's (I'm relatively young at 34 yrs old), and I grew up overseas on Air Force bases, so the Cold War was a huge part of my life. As a teenager, I got to visit Berlin and see Cold War related sites, and for me, it was an amazing experience. To be able to stand in Moscow! Now that to me would be worth missing a chunk of St. Petersburg and dealing with a busy, tiring travel day!

 

 

I can understand that

If you do Moscow not sure how much time you will have though and Moscow has huge amounts of things to do

Suggest do a trip on the trains as the train stations in Moscow are out of this world

Cheers

Greg:)

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[TravelerThom]

...My wife and I are planning on doing a Flightseeing excursion through Royal Caribbean to Moscow, and it describes it as being with a St. Petersburg tour guide until you get to Moscow where you're handed off to a Moscow guide. ..

This is an insane tour. It is listed as 18.5 hours and the ship is not scheduled to dock until 9am, meaning you'll be lucky to get back to the ship by 4am the following day. There is way more to do in Moscow than is possible in the few hours the tour will actually be there. Two days will just skim the top attractions of St. Petersburg; expecting to be in shape to do much of anything in St. Petersbrug after a 4am return from Moscow is pretty optimistic. Why pay the money for a cruise to St. Petersburg (one of the most expensive routes out there) and then miss the main attraction? I get that you really want to go to Moscow, but IMO do yourself a big favor and schedule a separate trip there.

 

Thom

[dancinman66]

This is an insane tour. It is listed as 18.5 hours and the ship is not scheduled to dock until 9am, meaning you'll be lucky to get back to the ship by 4am the following day. There is way more to do in Moscow than is possible in the few hours the tour will actually be there. Two days will just skim the top attractions of St. Petersburg; expecting to be in shape to do much of anything in St. Petersbrug after a 4am return from Moscow is pretty optimistic. Why pay the money for a cruise to St. Petersburg (one of the most expensive routes out there) and then miss the main attraction? I get that you really want to go to Moscow, but IMO do yourself a big favor and schedule a separate trip there.

 

Thom

 

 

Yes I would be more inclined to only do st Petersburg

That would be a 12 or 13 hour tour anyway

Greg:)

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[cricketts]

My wife and I booked our second cruise ever, departing Stockholm on the Legend of the Seas in July. Now I am confused about the issue with visas. I know you're r or the cruise in genequired to have a visa for Russia, but on the Department of State website it says if you're on a cruise and only in Port for 72 hours and only engage in tours through the cruise line with your guides, you don't need a visa.

 

My wife and I are planning on doing a Flightseeing excursion through Royal Caribbean to Moscow, and it describes it as being with a St. Petersburg tour guide until you get to Moscow where you're handed off to a Moscow guide.

 

So the big question is, will we need visas for Russia? Any other things we should know about the other ports (Helsinki Finland, Tallin Estonia, and Riga Latvia) or the cruise in general? Thanks guys!

Which sailing are you on? We are on this itinerary on July 13th. I've started a roll call (very inactive so far) for the trip. Come over there to visit on trip details :) BTW, we are scheduled with TJ in St. Petersburg.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=39698608#post39698608

Deedee

[markeb]

Great! I'll look them up. Thank you!

 

I know there is a lot to do in St, Petersburg, but seeing the Red Square is kind of important to me. I am a child of the 80's (I'm relatively young at 34 yrs old), and I grew up overseas on Air Force bases, so the Cold War was a huge part of my life. As a teenager, I got to visit Berlin and see Cold War related sites, and for me, it was an amazing experience. To be able to stand in Moscow! Now that to me would be worth missing a chunk of St. Petersburg and dealing with a busy, tiring travel day!

 

I kind of get that, although I still think St Petersburg is amazing!

 

It's now been over 20 years (!), but I will never forget, in 1993, walking through the Brandenburg Gate. I never dreamed I'd do that in my lifetime (I've got not quite 20 years on you, I'm afraid)...