Visa for Russia

[Misterscruff]

First time on a cruise so be gentle :p Having booked a cruise for the wife and I next year for Scandinavia & Russia. I am a little confused over the visa and hope someone could clear it up for me. With it being our first trip we were going to go on an organised trip in which they supplied the visa as part of the excursion. My question is as we will be there for two days will I still need a seperate visa if we were going into St Petersberg on our own on the second, or would this be unadvisable ? Thank you

[CruiserBruce]

You can not leave the ship without being covered by a Russian visa. You can be covered by getting a visa 3 ways. You arranging one your self, using the ship's visa- taking a ship's tour, or using a private tour vender's visa, which means you need to be on a tour with that vender.

 

So, no, you can't just wonder off on your own the second day if you used a private tour vender on day 1.

[Misterscruff]

Okay thank you, found a lot of information in 'Northern Europe & Baltic' thread. Some great reading looking forward to it even though its a while yet. No doubt more stupid questions on the way in the future. Have to say the wealth of information on here is quiet staggering ;)

[LHT28]

SPB is a very large city & getting from some sights to another may take some time unless you know where you are going & can speak or read the language

 

I would stick with a 2 day tour with a guide

 

Enjoy the trip & the cruise

Edited July 11, 2015 by LHT28

[Misterscruff]

I was thinking that too LHT28 :)

[John Bull]

I was thinking that too LHT28 :)

 

Add me to that chorus. ;)

 

As per those threads on the Baltic forum, if you take a pre-booked tour with either the ship or local tour operator (like most CC members I'd recommend using a local operator) you don't need a visa.

I'm being pedantic here but it's not an included visa or a group visa, it's a visa-free concession. Your tour ticket issued by the ship or e-mailed to you by a local operator gets you through immigration without a visa. It kinda harks back to the bad old days of visitors having a minder, though nowadays they're very much guides, not minders :D.

 

So as per Bruce's reply, no you can't go ashore independently on Day Two -or even the evening of Day One, without fixing up your own visas.

And most folk wouldn't want to, certainly on their first visit to this magnificent city.

A two-day tour, perhaps with an evening too, is the way to go. :)

 

If your budget is at the back of your mind, most other Baltic ports are easy to DIY so concentrate your budget on St Petersburg.

 

JB :)

Edited July 11, 2015 by John Bull

[silver surfer 2010]

When we went to Russia for our Silver wedding some 27 years ago the cost of a visa was about £80 then, I don't know what the cost is now a days!

There were 28 of us on the trip and we got lost on the underground not realising that there were 4 exits/entrances on Nievski Prospect.

It was just at the end of the Gorbachov era (forget the spelling) but even then we had no minders and were allowed to wander wherever we wanted to go.

We had 5 glorious nights there before flying back to Glasgow - direct, having spent 3 weeks touring in this massive country, Moscow - Odessa - Yalta - Leningrad (SPB)

Our guide was from Riga so did not consider herself Russian but she spoke 15 different languages, and we picked up local guides throughout Russia who always wanted more information about the West.

Was a great experience.

For 2 days I would recommend organised excursions and then no worries about visa's

Edited July 11, 2015 by silver surfer 2010

[altiva]

Add me to that chorus. ;)

 

As per those threads on the Baltic forum, if you take a pre-booked tour with either the ship or local tour operator (like most CC members I'd recommend using a local operator) you don't need a visa.

I'm being pedantic here but it's not an included visa or a group visa, it's a visa-free concession. Your tour ticket issued by the ship or e-mailed to you by a local operator gets you through immigration without a visa. It kinda harks back to the bad old days of visitors having a minder, though nowadays they're very much guides, not minders :D.

 

JB :)

All vetted and primed by FSB, that's why they are allowed to be guides in the first place.