Will tighter Russian security affect cruise ships?

[John&Betty1539128129]

Russian security at their airports has been reported as very lax. Dr Dean Odell just returned from there. He flew from Moscow to St Petersburg on similar planes to the ones that crashed. He said on his radio show that everybody that went through the metal detectors at the airports set them off, but nothing was done about it. They just continued on their way

 

According to the Washington Post, “Moscow’s Domodedovo Airport, where both doomed flights originated, has refused to install metal detectors because they supposedly would cause backups and crowd entrances.”

 

I’m sure all that is going to change. Putin has vowed to, “toughen national security and defend Russian unity.” We are booked on the Constellation next spring to arrive in St Petersburg on May 13th. I wonder what changes we will find then.

 

http://www.channelnewsasia.com/stories/europe/view/105019/1/.html

[Madeline815]

I just returned from the 8/31 sailing in the Baltics on the Noordam. I cannot speak for airport security, but we were affected by recent events. We were in St. Petersburg around the time of the Moscow subway bombing and the school hostage situation (9/3 and 9/4). Holland America cancelled all land excursions to Moscow because of the situation. Security getting on and off the ship was standard - scan your Holland America ID getting off the ship, show your passport at the Russian control desk, get a red shore ticket to keep with you at all times,and stay with your assigned tour throughout the day in St. Petersburg, unless you had an individual visa. Returning on board ship you once again passed through the Russian immigration control and returned the red shore ticket, then at the gangway scanned your Holland American ID and all bags were screened via machine.

[aztex]

I think we might be affected by two elements next year. One could be tighter security at ports meaning more time to get off and on the ship. The other seems to be emerging as Putin begins to move away from democratic reforms and toward more centralized power as a result of the terrorism.

 

If this last trend continues and solidifies over the next year, we could find ourselves facing reduced freedom of movement, higher fees and new restrictions in general.

 

We continue to hope for the best as Russia continues to politically and socially evolve but next year might be more interesting than some other years. We are looking forward to St. Petersburg regardless.

[canyousayvacation]

We also ported in St. Petersburg on the Jewel just a couple of days after the plane crashes. RCCL offered to give people back their money for the Moscow shore excursion if they opted not to go. I don't know how many people opted to stay behind, but they did not cancel the excursion.

 

Same for us as the Noordam getting off the ship and through immigration. The biggest bottleneck was all the tour buses showing up at one time at the end of the day.