St. Petersburg

[ehogan]

Can anyone tell me how long of a trip it is from the pier to the major sites in St. Petersburg. I am trying to choose NCL ship shore excursions, but I want to choose two to three per day, so I need to know if I will have enough time to return to the ship for meals and for the next excursion. (We want to avoid the all day excursions that include lunches - our prior experience is that it just takes too much time away from actual sightseeing, the meals are rushed and not of much value. We are not interested in private excursions.

 

So far, I am thinking of the Peterhof (a must see for me) in the morning, till 12:30 the tour of the Metro and markets in the afternoon starting at 2:15 and the Russion ballet at 7:15. Any opinions on these tours?

 

Thanks for your help.

[cberge]

Can anyone tell me how long of a trip it is from the pier to the major sites in St. Petersburg. I am trying to choose NCL ship shore excursions, but I want to choose two to three per day, so I need to know if I will have enough time to return to the ship for meals and for the next excursion. (We want to avoid the all day excursions that include lunches - our prior experience is that it just takes too much time away from actual sightseeing, the meals are rushed and not of much value. We are not interested in private excursions.

 

So far, I am thinking of the Peterhof (a must see for me) in the morning, till 12:30 the tour of the Metro and markets in the afternoon starting at 2:15 and the Russion ballet at 7:15. Any opinions on these tours?

 

Thanks for your help.

 

You may want to post this on the Baltic board as you will get more replies,and you may find some info there to help you as well...here is the link.

Cruise Critic Message Boards - Baltic Ports

[tobes]

So far, I am thinking of the Peterhof (a must see for me) in the morning, till 12:30 the tour of the Metro and markets in the afternoon starting at 2:15 and the Russion ballet at 7:15. Any opinions on these tours?

 

Thanks for your help.

 

Peterhof's fountains were the highlight of my trip and one of my favorite places so far in the world!:)

[tcdcruiser]

My recollection is the Peterhoff and Catherines Palance are both within an hour of the docks. BTW (unless something has changed) you must be on a cruise ship sponsored tour unless you have a visa. The visas must be obtained directly from the Russian government and well in advance of your cruise.

[dbh62ark]

My recollection is the Peterhoff and Catherines Palance are both within an hour of the docks. BTW (unless something has changed) you must be on a cruise ship sponsored tour unless you have a visa. The visas must be obtained directly from the Russian government and well in advance of your cruise.

Actually, that's not correct. If you tour with a private guide, which I highly recommend to make the most of your time in St. Petersburg, there are several tour operators that provide group visas. So no individual visa is needed if you tour with Denrus (our favorite after having toured on seperate cruises with Denrus and Red October), Red October, and Alla (beware that some cruisers had a very bad experience with her company this summer). Having personally used this option, I can verify the laws allowing cruise visitors in for a period of less than 72 hours without a visa if the private tour guides are used. I suggest reading the Baltics boards as recommended by Karen above for more information.

 

Happy travels,

Donna

[zeitgeist]

Sorry, but Russia is still very different from the civilized world.

 

It starts with immigration. Expect to stand in line for one hour or so to get the clearance by immigration - regardless if booking a ship's tour or a private tour.

 

Secondly, the port is a fenced area. You need a written permission to leave the port (private tours have a permission). Takes more times.

 

Thirdly, the road within the port may be blocked by a train. The blockage can last for an hour or more. I have heard stories that ships had to postpone their departure, because tour buses could not arrive in time.

 

Fourthly, driving time to Peterhof is about an hour - if there are no traffic congestions. Otherwise, it can be more.

 

Fifthly, if you take a ship's tour expect waiting everywhere - at the entrances to museums, in front of toilets, in souvenir shops...

 

I highly recommend hiring a private guide. You must do this well in advance. We made excellent experiences with Anastasia. http://www.anastasiaworld.com

[FLsunshinegal]

We were greeted by a band on our arrival into St. Petersbury; customs and immigration took about 10 minutes; Red October arranged all of the visas etc; met us at the ship and we had a delightful private 2 day tour of St. Petersburg and the surrounding area. We had Alana and she was great - but we pressed to see things not on the ordinary tour. I recommend you consider them as well.

 

Visit a subway station - they are lovely. Also a Russian supermarket - but bring your ATM card to get Rubles before you enter. There are lots of things there to buy - not just food - that are MUCH cheaper than the other stores, but they don't take credit cards. Also see if you can get to the Seige of Leningrad memorial. It is beautiful and not on the usual stops. Ditto with the Jewish memorial. We also asked to stop outside of Putin's palace and at one of the small towns we passed through. We wanted to see where the Russian families lived, shopped and spent their lives, not just the tourist places. We brought a bagged lunch - from the ship - so that we could see more places instead of spending our time at a restaurant.

 

If you book with red October do it on the ".ru" site instead of on the ".com" one. It's cheaper and has better service.

 

Enjoy!

[2irisheyes]

I agree with Zeitgeist about a private tour. As we only had one day we didn't want to waste time travelling to & from the ship for each one. We went with Anastasia World. Morning started with drive around parts of SPB, visit to church at Peter & Paul Fortress then to Peterhof, back to city for short trip on metro, next to Hermitage for about an hour, then a couple of famous churches. A short walk on Nevsky Prospekt, and something to eat. We ended with a folklore show at a palace and then back to ship absolutely exhaused after our 12 hour day. We did our souvenir shopping at the Hermitage and during the interval at the theatre. We had no problem leaving ship. Immigration took place on the ship where the Russian officials had set up a couple of tables. It was much quicker than we expected and they looked pretty bored by the whole thing. We didn't have to queue at all during the day only a couple of minutes wait while the guide organised the entry tickets. Peterhof wasn't on our itinerary as we didn't think there would be time but the guide suggested it as the weather was so good. I'm glad we didn't miss it. We had a relaxing stroll around the lower gardens, viewed the cascades/fountains and stopped for coffee in the Orangery. I'm sure you will enjoy SPB whatever you decide to do.

[yldwest]

We were in St Petersburg for 2 days & took ship tours. The 1st day we did an all day tour w/ lunch & I agree the lunch wasn't great & took away from sightseeing time...but on day 2 we booked a morning tour & then an afternoon tour which did not work well- we wish we would've booked both days as all day tours...we were supposed to have 75 mins between the morning & afternoon tours but we were stuck in horrible traffic coming back from our morning tour & got back to the ship w/ just barely enough time to jump on the bus for our afternoon tour...luckily I had granola bars tucked in my bag as we did not have time to go back onboard & get anything for lunch. (some morning tours did not make it back in time & did miss their afternoon tours) The all day tour was a long day but we all agreed better than wasting time going back & forth to the ship & risk missing your afternoon tour, etc.

 

However, if I was to do it all over I would book private tours...our afternoon tour was to Peterhof & it was so crowded...we had to wait behind other tour groups in every room & some guides took longer than others but the big groups couldn't move ahead of them so we were standing around quite a bit of time inside the palace waiting for groups in front of us to move on...meanwhile we saw private guides w/ their small groups breezing right along...we ended up spending so much time waiting around inside that we only had 5 mins to barely glimpse & take a few photos of the fountains outside which is what we really had wanted to see more than the palace itself. There were also several souvenir booths on the way back to the buses but we were not allowed to stop because we were behind schedule.

 

Either way- enjoy yourself...we found St Petersburg to be incredibly fascinating despite our few setbacks...

[WYB!]

Can anyone tell me how long of a trip it is from the pier to the major sites in St. Petersburg. I am trying to choose NCL ship shore excursions, but I want to choose two to three per day, so I need to know if I will have enough time to return to the ship for meals and for the next excursion. (We want to avoid the all day excursions that include lunches - our prior experience is that it just takes too much time away from actual sightseeing, the meals are rushed and not of much value. We are not interested in private excursions.

 

So far, I am thinking of the Peterhof (a must see for me) in the morning, till 12:30 the tour of the Metro and markets in the afternoon starting at 2:15 and the Russion ballet at 7:15. Any opinions on these tours?

 

Thanks for your help.

 

Depending on the day and time, I estimate it can take anywhere between 36 - 90 minutes from the time you put your card in the machine to get you off the ship and processed by immigration to get to St Isaac's square, which is the center of the city. According to my photos, I made the trip with my group of 6 in 36 minutes.

 

You will not have time to return to the ship for meals. Imagine 36 minutes minimum, double that for a round trip. I guess if you left out the eating part, maybe.

 

I wrote about a 2 day DenRus itinerary in another post. Just do a search for it.

 

Safe travels,

 

- CWipes

[moomax6]

So no individual visa is needed if you tour with Denrus (our favorite after having toured on seperate cruises with Denrus and Red October), Red October, and Alla (beware that some cruisers had a very bad experience with her company this summer). Having personally used this option, I can verify the laws allowing cruise visitors in for a period

 

Hello Donna -

Would you please tell me any particulars on the "very bad experience" that was experienced with Alla Tours that you may know.

I have just about decided on choosing them to be our guide as they have been very responsive and helpful with all e-mails and their price is better than Red October.

If there is anyone else who has used Alla Tours in SPB, I would appreciate hearing about your experience.

Thank you.

Beachgirl

[houch]

We were in St Petersburg for 2 wonderful days last Sept. We were on the Princess tours both days, each was about 9 1/2 hours and both included very good lunches with vodka and entertainment. We with the first groups off the ship as we left a little after 7 am. No lines and through Russian immigration quickly without delays. We were also the first group into Catherine's Palace so no lines there either. Plenty of time to enjoy it. Plus on the way out of St Petersburg were able to stop at the Lenningrad monument. An incident caused us to be a little late to Peterhof, thus no big crowd ahead of us there either. We also had time to shop for souviners at a local market of vendors and lunch between the 2 palaces. Because of the incident we were going to be late getting back to the ship and this was our second day. Because it was a ship's tour, the ship waited for us and took off late. (a good reason to take the ship tours). Our first day of tours was just as full. We were at the Hermatage in the afternoon so it was a bit crowded but we still moved through ok. The traffic in St Petersburg seemed worse than LA to me!

[Peregrina651]

It starts with immigration. Expect to stand in line for one hour or so to get the clearance by immigration - regardless if booking a ship's tour or a private tour.

 

Took us only 10 minutes (because we got in the wrong line).

 

 

Thirdly, the road within the port may be blocked by a train. The blockage can last for an hour or more. I have heard stories that ships had to postpone their departure, because tour buses could not arrive in time.

 

Don't worry!! The tour buses and the private companies know all about this and deal with it all the time. The private companies are sure to take this into consideration in getting you back to the ship. We tried to linger in town a bit longer but our guide would not let us; she knew that it was time to head back to the ship.

 

I highly recommend hiring a private guide. You must do this well in advance. We made excellent experiences with Anastasia. www.anastasiaworld.com

 

Not necessarily. We had a couple join our group just two weeks before we sailed. They found us on our roll call.

 

Yes, you should book well in advance but if you are just finding out about the private guide option, don't let this warning stop you from trying to book no matter how close you are to your sail date. You have nothing to lose by trying--and so much to gain.

 

As long as there is enough time for exchanging the necessary information (some companies work entirely on e-mail and can complete the exchange in 24 hours), do not be deterred!

[Gram Cape Cod]

So no individual visa is needed if you tour with Denrus (our favorite after having toured on seperate cruises with Denrus and Red October), Red October, and Alla (beware that some cruisers had a very bad experience with her company this summer). Having personally used this option, I can verify the laws allowing cruise visitors in for a period

 

Hello Donna -

Would you please tell me any particulars on the "very bad experience" that was experienced with Alla Tours that you may know.

I have just about decided on choosing them to be our guide as they have been very responsive and helpful with all e-mails and their price is better than Red October.

If there is anyone else who has used Alla Tours in SPB, I would appreciate hearing about your experience.

Thank you.

Beachgirl

 

Hi Beachgirl - We toured 2 days with Alla last Sept. and had a wonderful experience-no problems at all. She was waiting for us at the terminal as planned when we docked. We were back at the ship in plenty of time and saw all that we had planned to see. We were a group of 10. We paid for our tour in the morning of the second day in US $'s. When we were leaving Alla gave us a DVD of St. Petersburg, which is nice to look at now and then to remind me of a wonderful trip.:)

[Peregrina651]

So no individual visa is needed if you tour with Denrus (our favorite after having toured on seperate cruises with Denrus and Red October), Red October, and Alla (beware that some cruisers had a very bad experience with her company this summer). Having personally used this option, I can verify the laws allowing cruise visitors in for a period

 

Hello Donna -

Would you please tell me any particulars on the "very bad experience" that was experienced with Alla Tours that you may know.

I have just about decided on choosing them to be our guide as they have been very responsive and helpful with all e-mails and their price is better than Red October.

If there is anyone else who has used Alla Tours in SPB, I would appreciate hearing about your experience.

Thank you.

Beachgirl

 

I do remember reading last summer some posts from one woman who had a problem with the tour she had booked and had some unresolved issues with the tour company that she was airing here on CC. If you wish to read the details, you will find it in this thread. http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=589312

[Reebster]

Did any of you guys choose to do an evening tour? We booked a two-day package tour with Alla for our upcoming May cruise, but if we do an evening tour and opt not to return to the ship, will we be underdressed at the ballet/opera/folk show? I don't want to spend a long day touring in a fairly dressy outfit, but I also would not want to stand out at the evening program.

[Peregrina651]

Did any of you guys choose to do an evening tour? We booked a two-day package tour with Alla for our upcoming May cruise, but if we do an evening tour and opt not to return to the ship, will we be underdressed at the ballet/opera/folk show? I don't want to spend a long day touring in a fairly dressy outfit, but I also would not want to stand out at the evening program.

 

We went to the folkloric show--and we loved it!!. Most everyone there were tourists who had spent the day touring and had not returned to ships or hotels to change. Don't worry about dressing up but in May you might want to have a jacket for the evening.

 

Don't bother paying extra for the buffet; it is just a few canapes and drinks. If you can't figure out how to get a snack or light meal in before the show, then you might want to bring some sort of snack to tide you over until you get back to the ship.

 

Everyone has different reasons for choosing ballet or folkloric. We chose folkloric mostly because it is harder to come by in Boston than ballet.

 

 

[2Fltravelers]

Did any of you guys choose to do an evening tour? We booked a two-day package tour with Alla for our upcoming May cruise, but if we do an evening tour and opt not to return to the ship, will we be underdressed at the ballet/opera/folk show? I don't want to spend a long day touring in a fairly dressy outfit, but I also would not want to stand out at the evening program.[/quote

[2Fltravelers]

Did any of you guys choose to do an evening tour? We booked a two-day package tour with Alla for our upcoming May cruise, but if we do an evening tour and opt not to return to the ship, will we be underdressed at the ballet/opera/folk show? I don't want to spend a long day touring in a fairly dressy outfit, but I also would not want to stand out at the evening program.

 

 

We did a 3-day with Alla last June and did the folkloric one night. it was wonderful and my husband was chosen to dance on stage with them-great pictures. Anyway, it is a relatively small theater and it seemed that all seats were pretty good. It was very professional. We enjoyed it immensely. Don't spend extra for the buffet-have Alla arrange for the driver to wait for you and take you to a more local restaurant-no tourists. She made reservations for us at her favorite Georgian restaurant where my DH had the most incredible hot chocolate of his life (I digress-sorry). The restaurant is Tbilso and the driver waited for us and took us back to the ship at 11:30 PM while it was still light! It cost extra but was a wonderful evening. We never went back to the ship to change but left some things in the car trunk and used the theater restrooms. It was fine and no one was "dressed". That might be different at the ballet.

 

One other thing-bring rubles for the great souvenirs, etc that locals sell before, during intermission and after the show (I believe they also took euros). The prices were considerably cheaper than most other places and it saved time. I bought some Russian lacquer boxes (5 euros each) and a beautiful hand loomed floral shawl like the ones worn by the performers-stunning!

[22go]

We were greeted by a band on our arrival into St. Petersbury; customs and immigration took about 10 minutes; Red October arranged all of the visas etc; met us at the ship and we had a delightful private 2 day tour of St. Petersburg and the surrounding area. We had Alana and she was great - but we pressed to see things not on the ordinary tour. I recommend you consider them as well.

 

Visit a subway station - they are lovely. Also a Russian supermarket - but bring your ATM card to get Rubles before you enter. There are lots of things there to buy - not just food - that are MUCH cheaper than the other stores, but they don't take credit cards. Also see if you can get to the Seige of Leningrad memorial. It is beautiful and not on the usual stops. Ditto with the Jewish memorial. We also asked to stop outside of Putin's palace and at one of the small towns we passed through. We wanted to see where the Russian families lived, shopped and spent their lives, not just the tourist places. We brought a bagged lunch - from the ship - so that we could see more places instead of spending our time at a restaurant.

 

If you book with red October do it on the ".ru" site instead of on the ".com" one. It's cheaper and has better service.

 

Enjoy!

I didn't know the ship would pack a sack lunch! What cruise line? How did you go about making this request?

[22go]

We were greeted by a band on our arrival into St. Petersbury; customs and immigration took about 10 minutes; Red October arranged all of the visas etc; met us at the ship and we had a delightful private 2 day tour of St. Petersburg and the surrounding area. We had Alana and she was great - but we pressed to see things not on the ordinary tour. I recommend you consider them as well.

 

Visit a subway station - they are lovely. Also a Russian supermarket - but bring your ATM card to get Rubles before you enter. There are lots of things there to buy - not just food - that are MUCH cheaper than the other stores, but they don't take credit cards. Also see if you can get to the Seige of Leningrad memorial. It is beautiful and not on the usual stops. Ditto with the Jewish memorial. We also asked to stop outside of Putin's palace and at one of the small towns we passed through. We wanted to see where the Russian families lived, shopped and spent their lives, not just the tourist places. We brought a bagged lunch - from the ship - so that we could see more places instead of spending our time at a restaurant.

 

If you book with red October do it on the ".ru" site instead of on the ".com" one. It's cheaper and has better service.

 

Enjoy!

I didn't know the ship would pack a sack lunch to take along? What cruise line? How did you make this request?

[PINEY10]

We did a 3-day with Alla last June and did the folkloric one night. it was wonderful and my husband was chosen to dance on stage with them-great pictures. Anyway, it is a relatively small theater and it seemed that all seats were pretty good. It was very professional. We enjoyed it immensely. Don't spend extra for the buffet-have Alla arrange for the driver to wait for you and take you to a more local restaurant-no tourists. She made reservations for us at her favorite Georgian restaurant where my DH had the most incredible hot chocolate of his life (I digress-sorry). The restaurant is Tbilso and the driver waited for us and took us back to the ship at 11:30 PM while it was still light! It cost extra but was a wonderful evening. We never went back to the ship to change but left some things in the car trunk and used the theater restrooms. It was fine and no one was "dressed". That might be different at the ballet.

 

One other thing-bring rubles for the great souvenirs, etc that locals sell before, during intermission and after the show (I believe they also took euros). The prices were considerably cheaper than most other places and it saved time. I bought some Russian lacquer boxes (5 euros each) and a beautiful hand loomed floral shawl like the ones worn by the performers-stunning!

 

 

2FlTravelers--Was Tbiliso expensive? Also you noted that you went to a restaurant near the Pavlosk palace--do you remember the name of it? We are going to Catherine's Palace, the Peterhoff and the Pavlosk Palace and are trying to find a good restaurant. Many that have been recommended are touristy and expensive (Podvorye and the Russian House) but I was just curious to know what the name was of the restaurant that you went to for lunch

 

Thank you

[2Fltravelers]

We went for lunch at the Russia House, supposedly Putin's favorite restaurant. We enjoyed it very much. while there are tour groups downstairs, our guise, Natalya, took us upstairs where there were mostly locals. We found the prices to be relatively inexpensive and we had a wonderful lunch (too much food actually but great) of borscht, grilled sausage, pelmeni, black bread and berr and vodka (Standard is considered the best).

 

Tbilso was moderately priced but it is all a la carte so it really depends on what you eat. We had some appetizers, a main couse with a side dish, dessaer, coffee, drinks (beer & vodka). I can't remember the exact price but the food was very good. This was a restaurant recommended by Alla and there were no tourists. There was some English spoken so we didn't have a problem communicating. We wanted to stay away from the very touristy spots but i have heard that some are quite good so it depends on what you are looking for, etc.

[PINEY10]

Thanks for the quick answer. Apparently every restaurant is Putin's favorite because Podvorye also is reputedly his favorite. Was the Russian blue on the outside? We also are going to do the Regatta next July and your review was great and very helpful. Any tips? If you want to email me my address is jvb1128@yahoo.com

 

Thanks

[2Fltravelers]

No, there was no Russian blue. Actually, the restaurant is weathered dark brown and looks like an old barn structure with some interesting turrets, gables, eaves, etc. with a pretty garden in the front. It's about 10 minutes from both Catherine's Palace and Pavlovsk and is a nice break between the two. Let me know if you have any other questions about St. Petersburg on this thread. Otherwise, I can respond by email. We may be moved if we discuss other topics on this thread.