St Petersburg Russia visa

[angie7911922]

We did a private tour with Anastasia's Travel. It gave us the best of both worlds. We didn't need a visa, because we were with a tour group and since it was a private tour, we could do what we wanted, when we wanted to, just like not being on a tour. Also, quite a bit less expensive than the cruise ship tours, so that was a bonus. 

Our tour guide was very knowledgeable, and able to share a lot of information about the city that was not in the guidebooks, etc. We got to learn all of the extra little tidbits that you don't get when you do it on your own. For us, this was the way to go. We would do it again.

[CintiPam]

Another advantage to the private tours (we used SPB Tours; just four of us) is that a smaller number (8 or less, I believe) gets entrance priority at the busier sites, such as Catherine’s Palace.  

 

Because I had visited with a group of 18 on a land trip for 3-1/2 days with my sister a few years earlier, I knew exactly what my husband would most enjoy, and SPB tailored the tour accordingly.

 

 

[mriguySeattle]

We are sailing on the Marina next month and booked a 2 day private tour in St. Petersburg with a local tour company. We need to present our passports along with tour voucher/visa waiver to clear immigration in the terminal. Will the ship give us back our passports for these two days? They typically collect the passports at embarkation and keep them until the end of the cruise. Thanks.

[Sny]

You retain your passport while on Oceania cruises.  Keep it locked in your safe, except for the few ports that require it... like St. Petersburg.

[ORV]

On 4/22/2019 at 6:54 PM, napoxoguk said:

 

Well, no, but it will show me the way to the next whisky bar - and that's where most interesting conversations ensue anyway.

 

While there you can teach them the Alabama Song, oh, don't ask why. 

On 5/10/2019 at 2:09 PM, Sny said:

You retain your passport while on Oceania cruises.  Keep it locked in your safe, except for the few ports that require it... like St. Petersburg.

Not always do you retain it, it all depends. 

[Sny]

We have been on Oceania for the Mediterranean, Alaska, and Baltic. 

Never were our passports collected. 

[ORV]

26 minutes ago, Sny said:

We have been on Oceania for the Mediterranean, Alaska, and Baltic. 

Never were our passports collected. 

Just because you haven't seen it doesn't mean it don't happen. 

 

Trust me, they do it on certain cruises. I'm sure some others can chime in here with the same experience. 

[Mura]

Agree, Orv.  While on our most recent cruises we've been likely to have our passports on hand at least SOME of the time, but by no means is it a rule that you'll have your passport the whole time.  It does depend on the itinerary.  Some ports require you to carry your passport but that's far from universal.

 

But to answer OP's question (I haven't checked to see if anyone has done so recently) you can also request your passport if you are on a private tour.  Be sure to give them a head's up.

'

[Charles4515]

14 minutes ago, Mura said:

Agree, Orv.  While on our most recent cruises we've been likely to have our passports on hand at least SOME of the time, but by no means is it a rule that you'll have your passport the whole time.  It does depend on the itinerary.  Some ports require you to carry your passport but that's far from universal.

 

But to answer OP's question (I haven't checked to see if anyone has done so recently) you can also request your passport if you are on a private tour.  Be sure to give them a head's up.

'

 

If they take your passport they will return it for St. Petersburg. Everyone whether on a ships tour or private tour must take their passport off the ship. Russian authorities will check it in the terminal building.

[Paulchili]

1 hour ago, ORV said:

Just because you haven't seen it doesn't mean it don't happen. 

 

Trust me, they do it on certain cruises. I'm sure some others can chime in here with the same experience. 

Indeed this happen quite frequently.

Collected passports allow smooth and efficient clearance of the entire ship in some foreign countries.

[ropomo]

46 minutes ago, Charles4515 said:

If they take your passport they will return it for St. Petersburg. Everyone whether on a ships tour or private tour must take their passport off the ship. Russian authorities will check it in the terminal building.

 

Exactly, if they didn't return your passport, no one would get off the ship, including ship organized tours, and there would be a lot of VERY unhappy people.  Passport required to enter Russia, bottom line.

 

[Mura]

1 hour ago, Charles4515 said:

 

If they take your passport they will return it for St. Petersburg. Everyone whether on a ships tour or private tour must take their passport off the ship. Russian authorities will check it in the terminal building.

Yes, of course.  This is true in any Russian port.  A few years ago I was informed that in BARCELONA they expect you to carry your passport with you.  Even so, the attendant let us in for our reservation to Sagrada Familia even though all we had was our NYC drivers' licenses.  Our passports were locked up in the safe in our hotel room ...

 

[Charles4515]

53 minutes ago, Mura said:

Yes, of course.  This is true in any Russian port.  A few years ago I was informed that in BARCELONA they expect you to carry your passport with you.  Even so, the attendant let us in for our reservation to Sagrada Familia even though all we had was our NYC drivers' licenses.  Our passports were locked up in the safe in our hotel room . Tted hey accepted

 

 

 Barcelona is certainly the last place you would want to carry your passport with you. Many pickpockets and they love working Las Ramblas. Might not expect it but there are pickpockets and robbers in St. Petersburg too. On my sailing someone on a ships excursion was pickpocketed and also a lady had her handbag was stolen.  Passport was in it. So best to keep passport and money it in a money belt there.

Edited May 11, 2019 by Charles4515

[CintiPam]

12 hours ago, Mura said:

Yes, of course.  This is true in any Russian port.  A few years ago I was informed that in BARCELONA they expect you to carry your passport with you.  Even so, the attendant let us in for our reservation to Sagrada Familia even though all we had was our NYC drivers' licenses.  Our passports were locked up in the safe in our hotel room ...

 

That is why I always carry a color photocopy of the identity pages from my passport when I read those requirements, also good for those VAT refund vendor paperwork requirements should my spouse actually enter a store with me while we cruise!  

 

BTW, Barcelona one week ago was glorious. (Posting from Marina docked in La Spezia, enjoying lovely days on our Barcelona to Rome cruise.)

[LHT28]

On 5/10/2019 at 3:09 PM, Sny said:

You retain your passport while on Oceania cruises. 

 not always

We had to hand our in on our recent TA cruise

then collect them  before  a F2F  with officials in Ireland  & again in the UK

[alwalaska]

On ‎4‎/‎19‎/‎2019 at 4:40 PM, Paulchili said:

Our experience was much like that of the 2 posters immediately above.

Had a private tour for 6 people with considerably more flexibility and lower cost than ship’s tour. One evening we arranged to go back to town with the driver and had tea & cakes at the Singer Building (gorgeous) on the Nevsky Prospect. He drops us off and picked us up an hour later.

While these private tour operators include visas, one cannot just walk off the ship at will - you have to leave the ship with your group but may have some limited freedom while in town. To have complete freedom to wonder you need your own visa - a rather long and complex matter and IMO not worth it.

 

We still have a long time to plan, we don't travel until 2021, but I was wondering if could provide me with contact information for your private tour.  Thank you.

[Paulchili]

1 hour ago, alwalaska said:

We still have a long time to plan, we don't travel until 2021, but I was wondering if could provide me with contact information for your private tour.  Thank you.

We used SPB tours for this trip. We have used them once before and were quite happy with them.

If interested, they do offer tours in other Baltic ports, including Berlin, where the Russian owner of the company currently lives with her German husband and children.

[alwalaska]

1 hour ago, Paulchili said:

We used SPB tours for this trip. We have used them once before and were quite happy with them.

If interested, they do offer tours in other Baltic ports, including Berlin, where the Russian owner of the company currently lives with her German husband and children.

Thank you for the info.  We typically prefer to try and do our own thing, but not sure if we will be able to get Russian VISAs, let alone if it will be worth the time and effort.

 

Luckily we have lots of time to think about it and this thread has provided a number of tour companies to research.

[RJB]

3 hours ago, alwalaska said:

 

We still have a long time to plan, we don't travel until 2021, but I was wondering if could provide me with contact information for your private tour.  Thank you.

We used ALLA tours twice in SPB and she was great.   Her guides are top noch and will change and customize anything you want to do.  Both times we had 2 overnights and spent 3 days touring.  Including some evening shows.  ALLA has a blanket visa for her tours so you do not need to get one.  First time we were 6 people and next time we were 4 people.  Much less money than the ship and you get to see much more of SPB.  Good luck.