Did you enjoy St. Petersburg?

[buggins0402]

Thank you.

 

I have always heard that going on a tour (private or ship's) was the best way to handle the visa requirement issue.

 

It is the most cost effective and time effective way to see St. Petersburg. We were there in June last year and the lines for sites were long, so skipping them saved a lot of time. I hate to think how long they are in July and August, when the season kicks into full gear.

 

But, I'm with Cruisemom, if we ever go back it will either be on a 72 hour port stay and we'll go through the Visa process, or take the Helsinki ferry.

 

One thing I remember reading when preparing for our Moscow trip, is that the way Russian translates to English, it can make Russian speakers speaking English appear more brusque then they really intend to be.

Edited June 20, 2015 by buggins0402

[Langley Cruisers]

Yes, that's unfortunately true in St. Petersburg. There is both cost and time involved in getting a visa... For most people, the private tours are an excellent choice. I just happen to be one of those folks that really doesn't like tours that much!

 

It is the most cost effective and time effective way to see St. Petersburg. We were there in June last year and the lines for sites were long, so skipping them saved a lot of time.... One thing I remember reading when preparing for our Moscow trip, is that the way Russian translates to English, it can make Russian speakers speaking English appear more brusque then they really intend to be.

 

Yes - thank you both. Good points.

 

Thank you all.

.

Edited June 20, 2015 by Langley Cruisers

[Giantfan13]

We, similar to Ashalnd, grew up in an era when Russia was the real enemy, you know 'Duck and Cover' the Cuban Missile Crisis and they were going to be the start of WWIII. We really had to pinch ourselves the day before we toured St Petersburg, that we were really visiting this once feared nation. It was like a dream come true.

 

Seeing St Petersburg is like seeing any other major city. You go to Paris to see the main sites, same for London or Rome, so the same for St Petersburg. On these tours you get to see all the main sites. Can that make you really like, or even love that city, it is hard to say.

 

As I said in a prior post, for us, getting to like or love, a city is really done by the city itself, the people, the atmosphere there. We loved London as we were able to talk to the Brits and get to know them and their city. Same for Rome (Paris and the French are a completely different story though :D:D:D:D). For us, being confined to a tour we got to see this amazing city, but we never got to know it. We never got to spend time with the locals and get a feel for the Russian people and how they see their city. You will never get that being on a tour. But being on a tour is the easiest and best way to see St Petersburg, so we did what most others do. Again, beautiful city, just wasn't our favorite port of call.

 

Cheers

 

Len

[pjs678]

We're booked on Celebrity Silhouette next summer (2016) and our cruise stops 3 days in SPb (first time for us). We are also toying with the idea of doing a pre-cruise visit to Moscow for a couple of days as the frequent flyer miles can get us there as easily as anywhere else in Europe (meaning also that we would likely get our own double-entry visas).

 

What do the experts here think of the idea of a 2 day intense tour of SPb to catch the main highlights and then taking the third day "on our own" to see more of the city from our own perspective?

[Got2Cruise]

St Petersburg is a fascinating place. The people are very proud of their city. It's amazing how the rebuilt the city to replicate it in its glory. You have to give props to the Russian government for that and how they were able to figure out how to create many tourism related jobs. You will be happy to have visited. If you enjoy the historical aspect you will enjoy it that much more.

[scubacruiserx2]

We're booked on Celebrity Silhouette next summer (2016) and our cruise stops 3 days in SPb (first time for us). We are also toying with the idea of doing a pre-cruise visit to Moscow for a couple of days as the frequent flyer miles can get us there as easily as anywhere else in Europe (meaning also that we would likely get our own double-entry visas).

 

What do the experts here think of the idea of a 2 day intense tour of SPb to catch the main highlights and then taking the third day "on our own" to see more of the city from our own perspective?

 

We applaud your idea and the courage that it takes to " blaze your own trail " . We , and others have been there and done it and believe that you will find it well worth your time , energy and money . We would recommend a 3 year visa . It only costs $ 20 more than a single or double entry and allows a much greater flexibility . Our's costs $ 300 , for photos , mail away , and the service to deliver it to the Russian Consulate in Houston . We have been to Moscow twice on the high speed train , Sapsan .

 

 

 

We thought that it was funny that this boy had a Flintsones suitcase .

 

 

Our guide there , Polina , had a great sense of humor and command of English . She met us at the train station , guided us and delivered us to the hotel . The next day she met us at the hotel , guided us with total flexibility and delivered back to the train station . The total cost was $ 375 for 2 -6 hour days . The rest was free time .

 

 

 

 

We stayed across from Red Square with breakfast included .

 

 

 

 

We enjoy our trips because we enjoy meeting people from other countries and with languages than ours . We are very fortunate that English is the most universal language . We make an effort to meet them , reaching out our hand first , or making an effort to try to learn a little of their language . Even a butchered attempt shows that you are interested in them and usually a good ice breaker . While on a cruise in South America we heard another couple speaking Russian . I said in broken Russian , " Hello , where are you from " . They seemed amazed that an American spoke any Russian . We spent the rest of the cruise speaking English . In fact we met them for dinner and visited several museums with them , while in Moscow . At dinner , our friend received a phone call from her grand daughter . Her grand daughter spoke to my wife for several minutes , on the phone - just to practice her English and wanted to meet our grandsons . Something that we did in St. Petersburg was to have lunch with a Russian family , which we scheduled through our guide agency . We found that we had a lot more in common - than differences . And we have also found that if you show an interest in people , they will usually reciprocate .

[pjs678]

We applaud your idea and the courage that it takes to " blaze your own trail " . We , and others have been there and done it and believe that you will find it well worth your time , energy and money . We would recommend a 3 year visa . It only costs $ 20 more than a single or double entry and allows a much greater flexibility . Our's costs $ 300 , for photos , mail away , and the service to deliver it to the Russian Consulate in Houston

 

We stayed across from Red Square with breakfast included .

 

 

Which agency did you use for the visa?

 

Which hotel is that near Red Square?

 

Thanks!

 

It seems that even with the visa cost x2, the falling ruble will allow us to visit Moscow for 3 nights/2 days pre-cruise for less than the cost of the 1 day cruise excursion to Moscow - especially if we use hotel points for the stay.

[scubacruiserx2]

Which agency did you use for the visa?

 

Which hotel is that near Red Square?

 

Thanks!

 

It seems that even with the visa cost x2, the falling ruble will allow us to visit Moscow for 3 nights/2 days pre-cruise for less than the cost of the 1 day cruise excursion to Moscow - especially if we use hotel points for the stay.

 

Here's the link :

 

http://ils-usa.com/main.php

 

 

Hotel National

 

 

http://www.national.ru/

[Donna_In_India]

Yes, that's unfortunately true in St. Petersburg. There is both cost and time involved in getting a visa. However, next time I will do it just because I'll be able to see the city on my own terms.

 

For most people, the private tours are an excellent choice. I just happen to be one of those folks that really doesn't like tours that much!

 

I don't like tours either but I think for my first time in St. Petersburg (for 3 days) the tours are going to work out well. I'll see all the highlights and next time I visit won't feel the need or desire to do the same so will be able to happily dig deeper with my own visa (and not by cruise).

 

I agree with your other comments as well...many Americans have long and deeply ingrained ideas about Russia, what cities don't have problems?, and how much do you really think you're going to learn about a place that you visit for 1 or 2 days on a cruise??!!

[roaming_kiwi58]

We have been to St Petersburg twice.

 

First time in 2009 we had three days there as part of a river cruise. We did not enjoy St Petersburg that much, preferring Moscow, where we also had three days. A still vivid picture in my memory is from standing in Red Square around midnight, with the GUM building and St Basil's cathedral all lit up - a real WOW sight!

 

Last year we returned to St Petersburg as part of a Baltic Cruise. Again it was three days. We booked a 3 day package with TJ Tours. Not private, but there were still only 4 of us in total. The guide was brilliant, fluent and knowledgeable, talked about anything and everything. The sights were great - we saw inside a number of buildings we only saw the outside of the previous time. We got so much more out of our second visit to St Petersburg, largely because of the guide we had.

 

We love to travel and see different places, love history, architecture. But does one ever get a truly balanced view of any place you visit? Difficult IMO. We just make the most of what we are able to do and feel honoured to be able to visit such amazing places.

[pjs678]

Here's the link :

 

http://ils-usa.com/main.php

 

 

Hotel National

 

 

http://www.national.ru/

 

Thanks - I was actually looking at that hotel as an option. Prices, at least this summer, seem very reasonable. Will definitely post a report if we end up doing this.

[Langley Cruisers]

I don't like tours either but I think for my first time in St. Petersburg (for 3 days) the tours are going to work out well. I'll see all the highlights and next time I visit won't feel the need or desire to do the same so will be able to happily dig deeper with my own visa (and not by cruise)....

 

We love to travel and see different places, love history, architecture. But does one ever get a truly balanced view of any place you visit? Difficult IMO. We just make the most of what we are able to do and feel honoured to be able to visit such amazing places.

 

Agreed, thank you.

 

Thank you all.

[kitkat343]

We greatly enjoyed our visit to St. Petersburg. My three year old son says that his three favorite cities are Stockholm, St. Petersburg and NY.

 

I was very glad to have visited St. Petersburg, and would agree with the previous posters that if you can afford it a private tour of just your family is worth it to get maximum flexibility in visiting this gorgeous city (or getting a visa if you can logistically handle the transportation and tickets).

 

The one criticism of the city I understood was that there is a lot of ornate architecture and gold everywhere, which some travelers have found overwhelming (not me personally, but I understood why some people felt this way).

[Langley Cruisers]

Thank you.

[RedVelvetEverytime]

We had a brilliant time in St Petersburg, we booked a private tour with Best Guides and there were only 4 of us in the group. We had such a good time that I'm still in touch with Nina the guide as we got on very well and she even offered when we go back to plan a catch up and I've offered the same if she comes over too! We did have fantastic weather which topped the trip up even more, the worst part of the trip if you can call it bad was the 20 minute wait on day 1 when we were going through passport control but even then it was very smooth and they kept opening new booths!

It is each to their own however I was unsure how I was going to find St Petersburg and I was very pleasantly surprised and would go back again! If you do get the opportunity to go, try it, if you don't go you'll always wonder if it's something you should have done! (At least that's what I keep telling my other half!)

[Langley Cruisers]

Thank you.

[Carolla5501]

You can count me in as one of those people who did not fall in love with St Petersburg. I felt that our two day guided tour was highly scripted and not a broad picture of the true culture, and history of this city/country. All my of the major sites are restored, rebuilt, recontructed and "polished". I would have been so much more interested to see the unrestored portions of Catherine Palace along with the newly created, and to visit places that weren't "show pieces"; or to hear about the interesting theories of all of the missing treasures, Of all of the places we've been, I felt that St. Petersburg was the least authentic. (Hard to describe.)

 

At the end of our second day our guide asked if we had any questions. It was asked how the people of Russia felt when the government was spending millions of dollars re-gilding the domes, and applying new amber to the palaces, while they were cold and hungry. The gist of the reply - Why of course, the people were very happy that the government was doing so much to rebuild positive morale. I wanted to inquire about the current inability of the country to provide adequate care for their orphans, but after the first response, felt it might be a question perceived as confrontational, so left it unsaid.

 

As a comparison, our guides in Prague gave comprehensive and "balanced" pictures of their cities: the good the bad and the ugly. Perhaps we just had a poor guide, but I don't beleive that. It was the entire two-day experience; just left us with an impression of a staged show (and a breath-taking visual display at that)!

 

We are glad we went, but of all of the places we've been, SPB is probably one that we have no desire to revisit.

 

 

Your questions might be perceived as confrontational because they were. You were on a guided tour not a political or diplomatic visit. I'm not sure that is the place to question the use of tax dollars.

 

 

Lots of tourism in Europe is basically staged. especially if you were on a cruise. For example large portions of Tallin were rebuilt after World War II. As were great portions of other cities that you see in Europe.

 

 

The difference probably is you did not come in with the political slant on those other locations. You came prepared to see evil Russians wasting money and not caring for orphans. Not surprising you didn't enjoy it

Edited June 26, 2015 by Carolla5501

[pjs678]

Your questions might be perceived as confrontational because they were. You were on a guided tour not a political or diplomatic visit. I'm not sure that is the place to question the use of tax dollars.

 

 

Lots of tourism in Europe is basically staged. especially if you were on a cruise. For example large portions of Tallin were rebuilt after World War II. As were great portions of other cities that you see in Europe.

 

 

The difference probably is you did not come in with the political slant on those other locations. You came prepared to see evil Russians wasting money and not caring for orphans. Not surprising you didn't enjoy it

 

Agreed. It's like a Russian tourist coming to NYC and asking a tour guide how he/she felt about the country spending billions (trillions?) in Iraq while there are homeless on the streets of New York. There are tactful ways to ask about daily Russian life and this is not one of them.

[Rosethorn40]

Just back from my Baltic cruise. We booked our 2-day with Alla, and it was a positive experience, but DH and I both agreed that it was "Palace Overload" for us. Granted the gardens/fountains at Peterhof were amazing, and Catherine Palace, and the next day the Hermitage were breathtaking, but it was a lot to take in over 2 days. My very favorite thing was a visit to the Mariinsky to see Giselle (The real deal, not a tourist ballet), but I did notice that very few Russians smiled (But then neither do New Yorkers).

 

Our guide explained to us that during the 70's & early 80's when money was in very short supply, a lot of sites were left to ruin, which is why parts of the city still need restoration. It takes time.

 

I agree with an earlier poster than loved Stockholm more. It is an amazing, beautiful city. I thought Helsinki had a lot of charm, even though no palaces, it's big white church has a plain interior, and more modern buildings.

 

Maybe the weather was bad when your co-worker went. I know a bit of sun and blue skies can make me like a place just a wee bit more.

[sippican]

Your questions might be perceived as confrontational because they were. You were on a guided tour not a political or diplomatic visit. I'm not sure that is the place to question the use of tax dollars.

 

Lots of tourism in Europe is basically staged. especially if you were on a cruise. For example large portions of Tallin were rebuilt after World War II. As were great portions of other cities that you see in Europe.

 

The difference probably is you did not come in with the political slant on those other locations. You came prepared to see evil Russians wasting money and not caring for orphans. Not surprising you didn't enjoy it

 

If you read my post carefully you would see that I asked one question, and did not ask the second in light of the way the first was perceived.

I am well aware of the restoration efforts in the places I visit - the difference being that all I saw in Russia was restored, not just some of it. I personally found no "balance". There was no more or less "politicl slant" on my visit in SPB than there has been on any other place we've traveled, sometimes we are pleasantly surprised, sometimes disappointed.

As far as the orphan issue, it is a personal and professional interest, not one I will apologize for. It is well-documented that children who cannot be adopted in Russia, come to the US with a whole host of needs and disabilities that are not exhibited by orphans in even the poorest third world nations.

I feel that just enjoying the fluff and glitter of a place without acknowledging the blood, sweat and tears behind it reduces one to nothing more than a casual tourist.

 

"Evil Russians" your words not mine, please keep your name-calling to yourself. I hold no such opinion.

 

 

Agreed. It's like a Russian tourist coming to NYC and asking a tour guide how he/she felt about the country spending billions (trillions?) in Iraq while there are homeless on the streets of New York. There are tactful ways to ask about daily Russian life and this is not one of them.

 

I see nothing wrong with asking an educated question, it was not directed at current Russian daily life. I was interested in history during reconstruction and wanted a real answer. It's like taking a tour of the Civil War Battlefields and asking the tour guide how the southerners felt when they lost, or how Americans felt during the Great Depression, how black people felt during segregation, why we fought in Vietnam. These are not wrong, they cannot be swept under the rug. Please tell me how I could have received some idea of the emotions of the time that is, in your opinion tactful.

And as far as your example on current events in the US, I think an Americen tour guide would feel differently about answering such a question.

[pjs678]

I see nothing wrong with asking an educated question, it was not directed at current Russian daily life. I was interested in history during reconstruction and wanted a real answer. It's like taking a tour of the Civil War Battlefields and asking the tour guide how the southerners felt when they lost, or how Americans felt during the Great Depression, how black people felt during segregation, why we fought in Vietnam. These are not wrong, they cannot be swept under the rug. Please tell me how I could have received some idea of the emotions of the time that is, in your opinion tactful.

And as far as your example on current events in the US, I think an Americen tour guide would feel differently about answering such a question.

 

I'm sure it didn't come off as badly when you add in the context (part of a conversation, tone of voice, etc.) It just looked less than tactful when written out without the context. Perhaps an American guide would take things more in stride, but then, that is part of the cultural difference between Americans and Russians.

[Reggiefan]

We visited SPB last summer and found the sum of the parts exceeded the whole. I am glad we visited, and SPB has extraordinary sites. But we have no desire to return and were glad to be leaving after three days.

 

On the other hand, I intend definitely to return to Berlin, and Stockholm is incredibly underrated.

Edited June 28, 2015 by Reggiefan

[Reggiefan]

There are those who found that SPB did not meet expectations, but we seem to be in the minority and those expectations were admittedly high. Whether one likes a particular city or port of call is very subjective, but I thought it would be helpful to the original poster to explain my response above.

 

I found the local populace at best reserved, if not indifferent and on occasion even brusque. I found the experience of being tied to a tour guide in a highly structured tour detracted greatly from the overall experience. But most significant I found the city and the culture to be depressing--in stark contrast to the "vibe" in places like Helsinki and Tallinn where I saw a vitality that I did not see in SPB.

 

We were there for three days. No, we did not have individual visas, so we were not able on own to walk through the city. I saw some incredible sights, we were able to walk with the guide through the central area and see the subway system, and again I am glad that we went. But a sight that lingers was a farmer's-type market in the downtown area where the quality of the meat and seafood featured was shockingly poor. We simply have no interest in returning.

Edited June 29, 2015 by Reggiefan

[Langley Cruisers]

To those recent contributors who answered my concerns, thank you so much.

[TeaBag]

To those recent contributors who answered my concerns, thank you so much.

I wish I could give you my phone # Langley Cruisers, so we could chat about our recent visit to St. Petersburg. We were on the same cruise as Red Velvet Everytime. We were blown away by St P. I would love to go back and spend more time as there is so much to see. Perfect weather added to our enjoyment, of course. We toured with Den Rus and our guide was wonderful. There were 10 of us. Before the cruise, I was worried that we had bitten off more than we could chew because we toured all day the first day and had signed up for the Swan Lake ballet in the evening. We had about an hour to get back on the ship, eat something and change. Den Rus was there to pick us up again and take us to the theatre. We thoroughly enjoyed our evening and when we returned to the ship, the folk dancers who were brought on the ship were only halfway through their dance. We stayed to see them also, we were so revved up by how we had enjoyed our day. Up at 6 the next morning again and off to see more. We found the Hermitage a bit packed because it was Sunday and the museum is closed on Monday. We were privileged to see the Faberge museum also and I do wish we could have had just one picture of those exquisite little trinkets. We also enjoyed the meals we had as part of our tour although the second one was better than the first.

 

Please book your Baltic cruise and enjoy St P. Sorry you had to cancel because of health problems.