St. Petersburg

[cdn.cruiser]

could someone tell me where the Marina docks for St. Petersburg?

How long a drive into the city?

Thank you.

[LHT28]

Looks like they dock at Marine Facade about 3 miles from the city center

http://www.portspb.ru/en/Ships_Schedule#

[Pet Nit Noy]

Looks like they dock at Marine Facade about 3 miles from the city center

http://www.portspb.ru/en/Ships_Schedule#

 

 

Traffic in city center St Petersburg tends to be congested so the drive between the Marine Facade and the central destinations like The Hermitage is likely to be in the 20-25 minute range. (I'm finding estimates ranging from 3 miles to 6 miles.)

[pinotlover]

Why would you want to drive? Is someone picking you up other than a tour guide company? If your driving, finding a parking spot will take longer than the actual drive time to and from. Let someone like STP Tours do the driving and don't waste the brain cells.

 

It's called Venice of the North, with all the canals for a reason.

[RJB]

Why would you want to drive? Is someone picking you up other than a tour guide company? If your driving, finding a parking spot will take longer than the actual drive time to and from. Let someone like STP Tours do the driving and don't waste the brain cells.

 

It's called Venice of the North, with all the canals for a reason.

If you are with a tour guide you still will drive, which I think was the question. Seemed to take us about 30 min. to get just about anywhere in the city and sometimes longer.

[LHT28]

The distance may be 3 miles but the traffic conditions can make it seem like 20 miles

It seemed to take longer to get places because you crossed the river several times back & forth

with a population of 5+ Million not surprising ;)

 

Worth the trip though

[Pet Nit Noy]

If you are with a tour guide you still will drive, which I think was the question. Seemed to take us about 30 min. to get just about anywhere in the city and sometimes longer.

 

I share Pinot's surprise. All my energy went into making sure the places we visited were the most appealing, but I didn't get involved with logistics. I trusted the tour company to know when we needed to begin our days, how much time to allot at each destination and to travel between destinations. The better tour companies know these details thoroughly, and our experience, in particular, proves this.

 

It's one thing for a tour company to execute the same tour for client after client. We created a unique itinerary since our most recent visit was our second trip to St Petersburg, in effect, days four and five. Our trip include such atypical destinations as a behind-the-scenes tour of the historic Mariinsky Theater and the Cottage Palace in Peterhof Park. The company was able to accurately calculate the time for our tour ticket. We never felt rushed; we were able to see everything we had planned. We still returned to the ship within 15 minutes of the end time on our tour ticket.

[arima22]

The amount of traffic/time to drive depends on the day of the week. We were there on Marina on Sat., Sun. and Monday. Our guide company, SPB Tours, worked the schedule to fit around the traffic. Sat. and Sun. doing the downtown tourist sights when traffic was lightest, then Monday getting out of town, away from the traffic, to do Peterhof and Catherine's palaces.

[cdn.cruiser]

Thanks everyone for your replies. We are taking Alla tours, so we are not driving.the reason I asked is because Oceania advertises that their ships are smaller so can port closer to town. I think, (I may be wrong) , that larger ,cruise ships port farther away and take 1 hour to get into the city.

Thank you in advance.

[Pet Nit Noy]

Thanks everyone for your replies. We are taking Alla tours, so we are not driving.the reason I asked is because Oceania advertises that their ships are smaller so can port closer to town. I think, (I may be wrong) , that larger ,cruise ships port farther away and take 1 hour to get into the city.

Thank you in advance.

 

All Oceania ships -- both the R and O ships -- are classified as big ships and dock at the Marine Facade. Oceania's ships have been using this new, somewhat distant port at least since 2015. That's the port everyone has been talking about when we've mentioned drive times. If the drive to/from Marine Facade takes you an hour it will be because of extra-ordinary traffic conditions, not because of its location. There is no more distant port for the behemoth ships from other cruise lines. For example, Norwegian Getaway which Cruise Critic ranks as the 14th largest ship at 145,655 gross tons, will dock at the Marine Facade in early July.

 

Post #2 provides a link that will let you see your ship in the port schedule, even down to the level of detail of which of four buildings within the complex you'll use.

Edited April 14, 2017 by Pet Nit Noy

[RJB]

Thanks everyone for your replies. We are taking Alla tours, so we are not driving.the reason I asked is because Oceania advertises that their ships are smaller so can port closer to town. I think, (I may be wrong) , that larger ,cruise ships port farther away and take 1 hour to get into the city.

Thank you in advance.

About 5 or 6 years ago we were on Regatta and docked in the middle of the city.)I think it was called the Embankmant) and it was great. Took no time to get anywhere. 2 years ago on Marina we were in the boondocks and it took forever to get into the city. 30 min. or longer. We used Alla Tours twice and the tours were very good. They have a good handle on everything and do their best not to get caught in traffic. A very nice part of her tour was riding the subway, but maybe not now. Still a great city to visit. Have a great cruise.