Rare HappyInVan Posted December 11, 2018 #1 Share Posted December 11, 2018 Hi All, First time to Russia. I'm on the April cruise to Baltics with 2D in St Petersburg. Do I need a visa for the two days? Alternately, I could stay on board and not need a visa. Just looks very annoying to get a visa in Ottawa. ?? Thanks, Jim Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare kazu Posted December 11, 2018 #2 Share Posted December 11, 2018 3 minutes ago, HappyInVan said: Hi All, First time to Russia. I'm on the April cruise to Baltics with 2D in St Petersburg. Do I need a visa for the two days? Alternately, I could stay on board and not need a visa. Just looks very annoying to get a visa in Ottawa. ?? Thanks, Jim If you are doing a private tour with the reputable guides who state they arrange the tourist visas, you don't need a visa. Don't worry about the emails or notices you may get. The reputable companies arrange them just as the ship's tours do. You will need to give them your passport info normally. If you do a ships' tour you don't need a visa. If you are going to travel independently off the ship, you do need a visa. Frankly, I don't recommend it. There are several wonderful private companies that do St. Petersburg. If you visit the ports boards you will see them discussed often. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare ontheweb Posted December 11, 2018 #3 Share Posted December 11, 2018 7 minutes ago, HappyInVan said: Hi All, First time to Russia. I'm on the April cruise to Baltics with 2D in St Petersburg. Do I need a visa for the two days? Alternately, I could stay on board and not need a visa. Just looks very annoying to get a visa in Ottawa. ?? Thanks, Jim If you either take a ship excursion or an excursion with one of the approved tour companies, you go on their group visa. No need to get one on your own if you do either of those two things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare HappyInVan Posted December 11, 2018 Author #4 Share Posted December 11, 2018 2 minutes ago, kazu said: If you are doing a private tour with the reputable guides who state they arrange the tourist visas, you don't need a visa. Don't worry about the emails or notices you may get. The reputable companies arrange them just as the ship's tours do. You will need to give them your passport info normally. If you do a ships' tour you don't need a visa. If you are going to travel independently off the ship, you do need a visa. Frankly, I don't recommend it. There are several wonderful private companies that do St. Petersburg. If you visit the ports boards you will see them discussed often. Thanks. I spoke to HAL operator and he said that I need a visa. I'll call again and clarify. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare kazu Posted December 11, 2018 #5 Share Posted December 11, 2018 Just now, HappyInVan said: Thanks. I spoke to HAL operator and he said that I need a visa. I'll call again and clarify. They like to tell you that you need a ship's tour to avoid the visa requirement. It's not true IF you are on a private tour with the operators that arrange them (and many of them do). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare HappyInVan Posted December 11, 2018 Author #6 Share Posted December 11, 2018 Thanks guys. You're rite. The second HAL operator said that ship excursions don't need visas. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taxmantoo Posted December 11, 2018 #7 Share Posted December 11, 2018 Basically, everyone who goes ashore in Russia needs a visa. There are several ways of complying: 1) You can arrange for your own through the embassy or a visa service before leaving Canada (more expensive and complicated but you are free to go wherever you want whenever you want without accompaniment) 2) You can book a HAL shore excursion and be covered by their group visa but must always stay with the group. 3) You can book a private tour and have the tour operator arrange the visa for you but you must always stay with the group. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Heartgrove Posted December 11, 2018 #8 Share Posted December 11, 2018 Make certain that on the first day you receive one piece of a two-piece card from the Immigration Officer when your passport is stamped. You will need that to return to the ship. Some of the morning officers neglect to provide that. It happened to my wife as she was detained for about fifteen minutes and two phone calls while it was sorted out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare ontheweb Posted December 11, 2018 #9 Share Posted December 11, 2018 1 hour ago, HappyInVan said: Thanks guys. You're rite. The second HAL operator said that ship excursions don't need visas. Well that's better information, but they still didn't tell you that you also do not need to obtain a visa if you go on a private excursion. And I doubt any of their representatives will tell you that fact. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
resistk Posted December 11, 2018 #10 Share Posted December 11, 2018 I've done this twice. Once with a private tour and once with a visa. You don't need a visa for the private tour but they really won't let you go off on your own either; you have to stay with the guide and their itinerary. If you get the tourist visa, good for three years, you can go when and where you please. Taxis are available at the port. Hardly anyone gets the visa though unless you are planning to return to Russia on a later date because of the cost involved. But if you don't speak a little Russian and have no firends in petersburg and don't have any immediate plans to return; go with the private tour. We had friends pick us up at the port, so the visa worked great. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
resistk Posted December 11, 2018 #11 Share Posted December 11, 2018 55 minutes ago, ontheweb said: Well that's better information, but they still didn't tell you that you also do not need to obtain a visa if you go on a private excursion. And I doubt any of their representatives will tell you that fact. They won't tell you you can take the private tour, but you can. These guys can answer all your questions: https://itravelspb.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HELENPSL Posted December 11, 2018 #12 Share Posted December 11, 2018 3 hours ago, HappyInVan said: Hi All, First time to Russia. I'm on the April cruise to Baltics with 2D in St Petersburg. Do I need a visa for the two days? Alternately, I could stay on board and not need a visa. Just looks very annoying to get a visa in Ottawa. ?? Thanks, Jim I would also suggest that you don't go floating around Russia on your own. I was looking at a street sign while there and realized that I couldn't read their alphabet and would have no way of explaining to anyone where I was if I got lost. We used a private tour company and it was very easy. Actually, we booked 5 tours with them throughout our Baltics cruise. As previously stated, we went into Russia under their visa and all was well. Don't know if I can mention the name of the company but I'm sure you'll see it prominently referenced on the ports board. Helen Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare HappyInVan Posted December 11, 2018 Author #13 Share Posted December 11, 2018 5 hours ago, taxmantoo said: Basically, everyone who goes ashore in Russia needs a visa. There are several ways of complying: 1) You can arrange for your own through the embassy or a visa service before leaving Canada (more expensive and complicated but you are free to go wherever you want whenever you want without accompaniment) 2) You can book a HAL shore excursion and be covered by their group visa but must always stay with the group. 3) You can book a private tour and have the tour operator arrange the visa for you but you must always stay with the group. Thanks. Good to know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare HappyInVan Posted December 11, 2018 Author #14 Share Posted December 11, 2018 4 hours ago, Heartgrove said: Make certain that on the first day you receive one piece of a two-piece card from the Immigration Officer when your passport is stamped. You will need that to return to the ship. Some of the morning officers neglect to provide that. It happened to my wife as she was detained for about fifteen minutes and two phone calls while it was sorted out. Thank You. Will do that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Please sign in to comment
You will be able to leave a comment after signing in
Sign In Now