Cruising out of St Petersburg

[Womble99]

We are considering cruising out of St Petersburg next year for something different. Anyone care to share their experiences of departing or arriving from St Petersburg?

 

Interested to hear what you thought about flights and accommodation etc.

[Beanb41]

I think you are in the wrong forum. St Petersburg is in Russia not Australasia

[possum52]

1 hour ago, Beanb41 said:

I think you are in the wrong forum. St Petersburg is in Russia not Australasia

 This is the Australian and New Zealand CRUISERS forum - the OP is asking for advice from any Australian or New Zealander who may have cruised to/from St Petersburg. 

 

Leigh

Edited December 25, 2019 by possum52

[Kiwi Kruzer]

11 hours ago, Womble99 said:

We are considering cruising out of St Petersburg next year for something different. Anyone care to share their experiences of departing or arriving from St Petersburg?

 

Interested to hear what you thought about flights and accommodation etc.

When you say cruising out of St Petersburg ,are you meaning to  start a cruise from there or would you be looking at a cruise that goes to St Petersburg ? 
Most cruises that I know of cruise to St Petersburg and because it’s such a fantastic place to visit and with so much to see, spend 2 full days there. 
 

 

[Aus Traveller]

53 minutes ago, Kiwi Kruzer said:

When you say cruising out of St Petersburg ,are you meaning to  start a cruise from there or would you be looking at a cruise that goes to St Petersburg ? 
Most cruises that I know of cruise to St Petersburg and because it’s such a fantastic place to visit and with so much to see, spend 2 full days there.

I agree with the comment that St Petersburg is a fantastic place to visit. The OP mentions accommodation so it appears he/she is enquiring about cruises starting in St Petersburg. If there are any available, it is not an option I would recommend because of practical difficulties (visas, personal security etc). Years ago, we stayed in St Petersburg on a land tour of parts of Ukraine and Russia. We saw the highlights of St Petersburg when we visited on the usual two-day cruise ship port call.

[lissie]

I'd be curious if any cruises start from St Petersburg too - would be cool to do the trans siberian and then connect to a cruise to the baltic from there 

[By The Bay]

A quick search has no Ocean cruises starting from St Petersburg, only river cruises to Moscow on Scenic Tsar starting at around $900 a night.

[Docker123]

Princess run some Baltic cruises out of St Petersburg.

 

Perhaps also Ponnant. 
 

[By The Bay]

Thanks Docker123. You are better than my TA.

[Kiwi Kruzer]

1 hour ago, Docker123 said:

Princess run some Baltic cruises out of St Petersburg.

 

Perhaps also Ponnant. 
 

Thanks for the lead . Looks like Sky Princess is offering cruises. 
I have only done the 2 day cruise ship call to St Petersburg and we used one of the private tour companies that advertise tours to the many highlights . If I were going for a pre cruise stay I would definitely work through one of them , They would supply guides as Russia can be a mine field to negotiate without local knowledge .

[Womble99]

Thank you for the feedback, yes we are looking at one of the Sky Princess cruises that originates out of St Petersburg. Though the more feedback we are receiving on the difficulties associated with travel to Russia we are reconsidering if the extra time pre or post cruise is going to be worth the effort.

 

Maybe altering our plans to a cruise originating elsewhere with just an overnight stay may have to be sufficient for now.

[Blue Elephant]

Princess and MSC have cruises starting in St Petersburg in 2020.

[flyingron]

Last time I was in St. Petersburg it was called Leningrad.

 

[lyndarra]

On a return flight from Russia I read (from info magazine in plane seat pocket), that one should never drink Russian vodka and Russian champagne at the same time (session). My wife and a few of our friends would have liked to have known that before our canal day cruise in St Petersburg which included a lot of vodka and champagne but bugger all water. A few queazy tummies on that flight. I was ok as I don't like vodka and only drank champagne - there was no beer!!

[MicCanberra]

St Petersburg is wonderful, and plenty to see and do there. One thing the OP will definitely need is a Visa for Russia,

Normally you can do without one if just visiting on a cruise for the two days and use authorised travel agents or the ship's tours.

[Marjule]

On 12/26/2019 at 6:49 PM, Womble99 said:

Thank you for the feedback, yes we are looking at one of the Sky Princess cruises that originates out of St Petersburg. Though the more feedback we are receiving on the difficulties associated with travel to Russia we are reconsidering if the extra time pre or post cruise is going to be worth the effort.

 

Maybe altering our plans to a cruise originating elsewhere with just an overnight stay may have to be sufficient for now.

Definitely give yourself extra time is St Petersburg.  You will need a minimum of 2 days to view the wonderful palaces.  We used Alla Tours and they provided our visas.  Excellent and well worth the money as we skipped all the long tourist lines.  I would surely make St Petersburg a destination.