VISA question on Baltic/Russia cruise?

[rentlady]

Next May we are taking a princess cruise out of Denmark. I am confused as to if we need to obtain a visa for Russia , because our stay Will be only two days. Any thoughts? Will princess handle it, if required or how soon in advance do we need to move on this? Thanks

[kitkat343]

You have three options: get an independent visa that will allow you to explore St. Petersburg on your own, purchase a tour through the ship and the ship will process a visa waiver for you, or purchase a tour through a reputable independent company that will process a visa waiver for you. On the Baltic boards they list many of the popular tour companies (Alla, SPB and others). There are several large reputable tour companies that have been providing tours for years and are quite safe to use. If financially feasible, you should consider a private tour for just your family. This will enable you to maximize your time there, and focus on what is important to you. I'd strongly recommend staying away from the ship tours, as it takes awhile to load/unload everyone and at some of the museums we were able to skip in front of them on line, since some of the attractions limit the number of large tour groups that can be admitted at one time.

 

I don't remember exactly how much time they needed, but we only booked our cruise 4 weeks in advance (we weren't sure if I'd be pregnant and if we could handle our 3 year old on this trip so it took us awhile to make up our minds - thankfully everything went great). The Russian tour was the third thing we booked after the cruise and plane tickets, but I remember we actually still had some time before it became a problem.

Edited June 22, 2016 by kitkat343

[cheeseclan]

We just did this cruise and we did our tour with Princess. They were great with and our guide was a local historian that knew his stuff. We did not get pushed back to the back of the line and in many instances we were in before everyone else. We also went to Catherine palace the first night and it was only open to Princess tours. We also only had about 25 people on the bus and it was not a problem. Great group of people.

 

Do your research and see what is best for you and your family:) Once you decide then you can have one of them get your Visa for you. I personally would not tour on my own since it is not an easy country to get a round in.

[paul929207]

If you have not done so, join the Roll Call for your cruise. There will probably be people organizing private tours that you may be able to join

[Coral]

With the limited time in port - you are best to go with a ship's excursion or a private excursion that takes care of your visa for you (such as SPB or Alla). This way you won't have to apply for the Russian visa yourself.

 

I have gotten my Russian Visa 2x but both times, I had more time in Russia and was required to get a visa (trips were approx 2 weeks each time).

[vclaes]

We used SPB for both St. Petersburg and Berlin. Outstanding service and experience.

[DougH]

I just returned from the Regal Princess last month and used SPB in St Petersberg. They took care of the visa and I was very happy with the 2 day tour. Cost was 1/2 what the Princess tours were.

[caber]

I would go with an organised tour. Getting a visa yourself is complicated and expensive. We did it two years ago for a family wedding and it cost around £100 each.

[Grego]

We have booked SPB for both our St. Petersburg and Berlin tours because of their reviews and the cost is almost half of that offered through Princess for the same itinerary. SPB takes care of everything and guarantees that they will get you to the ship in plenty of time before departure while offering smaller groups on their buses.

[ontheweb]

The rules for Russian visas are that you must get one except for a stay of 72 hours or less from a cruise ship in St. Petersburg. For that you can avoid getting a visa by using a ship's tour or an approved Russian agency's tour. They will provide a group visa for the participants.

 

Do not let the cruise line tell you that your only choices are to get a visa yourself or use their tours! The local agencies provide a group visa the same way that they do.

[emmak8]

No need for a visa if you go on an organized tour. The tour company will take care of visa requirement for group. We used SPB and were very satisfied.

[DougH]

We have booked SPB for both our St. Petersburg and Berlin tours because of their reviews and the cost is almost half of that offered through Princess for the same itinerary. SPB takes care of everything and guarantees that they will get you to the ship in plenty of time before departure while offering smaller groups on their buses.

 

I also used SPB for tours in Stockholm and Helsinki. As we got closer to the cruise they sent me email offers with reduced rates to add other port tours. (guess they wanted to fill their buses) I would have booked other ports also but had some onboard credit I need to use so booked several tours with Princess SPB had cheaper.

[TracieABD]

If you are on either an organized tour - sponsored by the ship or a private agency- then you do not need a Schengen Visa.

[cherylandtk]

Maybe it was an auto-correct issue, but Schengen visas have nothing to do with Russian visas. Two separate visas.

[Pam in CA]

Another recommendation for SPB Tours. You can also book a package with them for tours in other ports and save even more. Can't say enough good things about them.

 

When booking with an independent tour company such as SPB, each passenger in your group provides their legal name, address and passport information to the tour operator. They obtain a visa for each person and issues a "tour ticket" for each. This is your visa and when you go through Immigration at the dock, you present your individual tour ticket/visa along with your passport.

Edited June 22, 2016 by Pam in CA

[Wehwalt]

As it happens given this is my fifth time in St. Petersburg in August, I have obtained a Russian visa. Actually, I hoped that they would give me a three-year multi-entry visa but that's for business purposes and so I settled for a tourist visa. I will do it again next year when I go on the Pacific Princess to both Murmansk and StP, as they are within 30 days. (I like the Baltics).

[Putterdude]

Per Pam's comments above, we booked a multi port tour package with TJ Travel. We were extremely pleased with the help and advice they provided during the booking period and their guides in each port were nothing short of outstanding.

[caribill]

Next May we are taking a princess cruise out of Denmark. I am confused as to if we need to obtain a visa for Russia , because our stay Will be only two days. Any thoughts? Will princess handle it, if required or how soon in advance do we need to move on this? Thanks

 

The only reason you would need a Russian visa is if you wanted to tour in St. Pete on your own without either a Princess tour or an authorized vendor's tour.

 

Princess may have some communications that imply that a visa is needed unless you are on a Princess tour, but that is not correct as you do not need one if you are on an authorized vendor's tour.

[TommyTV]

I too can recommend TJ travel. They have their own website, and are quick to respond.

We got into museums early, and into places like the room where Rasputin was murdered, plus a hydrofoil trip to the summer palace. They didn't ask us to pay until the tour finished. Our guide spoke excellent english and was very knowledgeable.

They handled the Visas, and it was a 12 seater minibus so not overcrowded.