St Petersburg/Russian visa question

[PrincessPete]

Good evening, we will be in St Petersburg for two days on Eclipse and are in the process of booking tours. We plan to do an afternoon shopping tour (Nevsky Prospect) followed by an evening ballet visit on day one and then a full day to the Hermitage on day 2.

 

My question is how far does the ship normally berth from the centre of St Petersburg? If it was quite close I would be happy to incur the costs of Russian visas so we could go ashore on the first morning on our own prior to the tour that afternoon. If it is some way and would only allow the briefest of visits it would probably not be worth it.

 

Any responses from previous visitors to St Petersburg would be much appreciated and thank you for your help.

 

Kind regards.

 

Peter

[Honeymoon sailors]

Main point to consider: would you like to venture out on your own? With ship excursion or local tour companies you MUST be accompanied by your guide the entire time you are on land.

Cruise port will be Marine Facade. After immigration you have choices.

1. By Taxi around 600-800 R for a ride downtown. If not taxis are standing by try looking for someone with a TAXI clip-board inside the terminal

2. By bus/metro. Front of the terminal there is a stop for bus #158 (twice hourly) Fare is 25 R. Get of the bus at the Primorskaya Metro station. Take the metro 28 R take the Green line (toward Rybatskoye) 2 stops to Gostiny Dvor station. You will arrive @ Nevsky Prospekt (city's main Avenue) where everything is Hermitage, Palace Square, St. Issacc's Catherdral...

[pl281]

We were in St Petersburg for a couple of days on an Oceania cruise (2011). There was a berth right in town (only one ship - smaller) could dock there. Most were at the cruise terminal which was about 15-20 minute bus ride as I recall. We opted not to get visas as we didn't know where we were going to dock and as we weren't about to venture on own anyways as it was the first time there, we just did the ship tours and it was perfect

 

Philip

[voyager70]

Agree with the other posters, you really are much better off doing tours either through the cruise line or a private operator and not venturing off on your own. They will take care of the visa for you. As said you are a good 20 minutes or so from the city center (and traffic can be horrendous)! Also, very few people speak English, so unless you know Russian it would be very difficult to communicate.

[Happy Cruiser 6143]

I would highly recommend that you book privately with one of the reputable tour companies for the entire visit. Then you can do exactly what you want. If you don't want to go to the tourist ballet, your tour operator can book you at a different one. Ours got us excellent seats in the fourth row center and sent us there and back via cab. Getting a visa on your own is costly and a pain. And, as others have mentioned, the ship will dock quite a distance from town.

 

[gosport11]

Unless you speak and can read Russian, you will find it hard to get around.The ship docks quite away outside SPB unless its a smaller ship ie PO Adonia size.The private tour companies can organise a private tour for you

[lawgirl]

In Russia last year...highly recommend a tour company! Can't imagine how hard this city would have been on our own. Impossible really...and we travel a lot and have done many places on our own.

 

Honestly it is NOTHING like you expect....you cannot read signs, people can't or won't speak English and while we loved it, I am not sure residents (other than shop owners) would be overly helpful. Russians seemed to me to be more reserved than most countries and because of their culture, are probably a bit hesitant around Americans. Please don't misinterpret this....they are pleasant and nice, but one must remember the Cold War was not that long ago. Plus, you see a ton on an organized tour, and many places are far from the City, such as the Summer Palace and Fountain Park. There is no way, IMO, to see as much on your own. The tour groups all offer evening ballet trips. Finally, check out the port forums for more info. Good luck!

[TravelerThom]

We were in St Petersburg for a couple of days on an Oceania cruise (2011). There was a berth right in town (only one ship - smaller) could dock there...

One ship can dock at Admiralty Embankment on the South side of the Neva, and another at Lt. Schmidt Embankment on the North side. I'm not sure what the maximum ship size is for the Neva embankments; probably not much bigger than the 30,000 GRT / 700 passengers of the old "R" ships (I was on Azamara). I speak no Russian, but have done St. Petersburg with a personal visa (including having a metro train I was on go out of service) - if you are adventuresome it can be done, but ship or some of the highly rated local guides with blanket visas would fit most people better.

 

Thom

[JVilleGal]

On a Regent sailing a few years ago we did not dock at the in town Dock, I am pretty sure there was one of the smaller Seabourn ships berthed in that spot and it seemed to be about as large as that spot could handle.

 

The Seven Seas Voyager was docked much further out and had no easy access to transportation to town with out a tour guide. We had our private guide for 2 full days, best money we ever spent!

 

We did not have a private visa, we toured under a blanket one provided by our guide.

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Edited January 23, 2015 by JVilleGal

[Maya_C]

Peter, If you are able to book a full day at the Hermitage, please share how. I have only been able to find 1/2 day tours to the Hermitage, and they all have basically the same description. While I wouldn't mind going on 2 half-day tours, I'd like to see something different each time.

Thank you,

Maya

 

Good evening, we will be in St Petersburg for two days on Eclipse and are in the process of booking tours. We plan to do an afternoon shopping tour (Nevsky Prospect) followed by an evening ballet visit on day one and then a full day to the Hermitage on day 2.

Kind regards.

Peter

[Dick in Falls Church]

Have been in St Petersburg twice. First time, we used a local tour agency (Red October) for two days, as opposed to the ship tours. It was Very good--we had some 10 folks in a 16 passenger Mercedes. Guide spoke excellent English, took us to the regular places plus places we wanted to see. Cost was probably about the same as the ships tours, but when we hit a rest stop, didn't have to wait for 34-40 to get off the bus and do their business in a two-holer.

 

Next time, on a river-boat cruise, with visas. Still had guided tours, but were also able to go off on our own. Since I can read and speak some Russian, I found it most interesting. But wouldn't pay the visa fee for an overnight.

[fleckle]

.... While I wouldn't mind going on 2 half-day tours, I'd like to see something different each time.

Actually, that should be quite easy to do with 2 half-day tours, if you know what you want to see.

 

Officially, you are supposed to stay with your guide.

But what we found actually happens at museums and palaces and parks and churches is that once inside the place, people get scattered about and wander around on their own.

 

The guide tells you the time and place for the group to meet up at the end of the tour.

Then you can choose to stay with the guide or not in the interim, just so you show up at the scheduled meeting time.

 

We went with SPB tours and our guide gave us different options at various stops, describing possibilities of what to see and how we could spend our time there, staying with her or not.

 

If I wanted to do what you propose on a Hermitage tour, I would contact the tour operator in advance and discuss which galleries I wanted to see, just to make sure it would be okay and to find out if there would be any unforeseen complications involved.

They may even provide some additional suggestions for you.

 

 

[alenushka]

there are taxis and "private" cars that work as taxi drivers - be aware of second! Public transportation is great, but yes, you need to speak Russian or find someone there who speaks English (which is very easy these days....especially younger generation).

[alcpa1]

You will indeed dock at the Marine Façade terminal. As noted it is not near any sites.

The lure of Nevsky Prospect is not really reality unless you have specific shopping in mind. Although not always noticed by the casual tourist many of the stores and hotels and businesses are housed in former palaces within proximity of churches, The Hermitage and Yusopov Palace, and others.

I cannot imagine shopping and missing Catherine's Palace, Peterhoff, the Peter and Paul Fortress, to Rostal Columns and the list goes on and on.

As for an entire day at The Hermitage you will be on art overload. I have been there three times, never seen it all and couldn't handle everything I saw. (I am a needleworker and art is my passion.) One of those days was spent with a former curator of The Hermitage.

And just a note about the season of your trip. If you are going in late July through August do note that there is no air conditioning in any palace and the crowds make every venue even hotter. There's nothing like walking up to a Raphael next to an open window!!!!!

Taxis are more prevalent now than 10 years ago but finding an English speaking driver who is willing to take you back to the Marine Façade in the afternoon or evening might be challenging.

Perhaps one of the recommended tour companies can arrange an itinerary that meets your needs. But to do 2 half day tours of The Hermitage means you have to return to the ship and the transit there and back would be over an hour you don't want to waste. A real conundrum.

Good luck

[wally_bushy]

It does depend on the size of your ship.

We were on the Nautical and it berthed in town not far from the Hermitage.

Regardless, you are better arranging a private tour for the price and flexibility.

There are a number of these but we can only comment on Red October who were great.

They suggest places to see and you can select the ones that interest you.

As said it is not the easiest place to do on your own for only two days