Pack lunch from ship to tour St. Petersburg

[ACHOI]

We'll be on Constellation in May to have a 2 day tour at St. Petersburg.

 

We plan to pack our own lunch and bring it to the tour.

 

Will the ship pack the lunch for you on request ? Will they charge for it ?

 

Are we allowed to bring 'sandwich' or 'fruit' on shore at St. Petersburg ?

 

Will appreciate if anyone can share their experience with us. :confused::confused:

[c-to-sea]

You are not usually allowed to take food off the ship. I don't think any cruise line provides packed

lunches. If you are taking a tour in St. Petersburg, most include lunch and eating in the

local restaurants is part of the tour experience.

[willysgrandma]

The above is correct - you are not permitted to take food off the ship into port - any ports.

[hylasgirl]

Oh boy... time to pop some popcorn and sit back and watch.:)

[jojop]

Please take a look at a similar thread which may "answer" your question or provide opinion about "removing" food from the ship:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=946031

[spearmint]

Oh boy... time to pop some popcorn and sit back and watch.:)

 

ah-ah-ah! you little devil!!!!!:D

[halbfl2]

We'll be on Constellation in May to have a 2 day tour at St. Petersburg.

 

We plan to pack our own lunch and bring it to the tour.

 

Will the ship pack the lunch for you on request ? Will they charge for it ?

 

Are we allowed to bring 'sandwich' or 'fruit' on shore at St. Petersburg ?

 

Will appreciate if anyone can share their experience with us. :confused::confused:

 

Why would you want to do that? if you're on a ship's excursion for the day, I'm sure it will include lunch. If you have arranged a private tour, your guide will make sure you have lunch. When we were there, we told our private guide that we didn't want a 2 hr. lunch w/all the drinks, etc. We ate at rather inexpensive places and had local soups/sandwiches and totally enjoyed it. If you have a private guide, you should be buying their lunch.

[j!m]

we find that waffles/pancakes and pizza pack nicely in a backpack and dont take up that much room. so grab a few before you leave the ship and have them for lunch later. why should you pay for your own lunch when there is all that food on the boat?

[hylasgirl]

we find that waffles/pancakes and pizza pack nicely in a backpack and dont take up that much room. so grab a few before you leave the ship and have them for lunch later. why should you pay for your own lunch when there is all that food on the boat?

 

 

hee hee... they also fit nicely in your back pocket.

[cruisestitch]

I'll never forget the sight of all the apples thrown into the sea as people who had been told not to take ANY food ashore in Chile realized that they authorities were serious -- inspectors were going through backpacks and purses, dogs were sniffing around -- I wonder if the seals and sea lions like apples?

 

cruisestitch

[alpal1993]

We booked the ship tour and were able to experience feasting on Russian Cusine at 2 very lovely restaurants that both had Folklore and entertainment.We really enjoy sampling foods from other countries.

[Karynanne]

I'll never forget the sight of all the apples thrown into the sea as people who had been told not to take ANY food ashore in Chile realized that they authorities were serious -- inspectors were going through backpacks and purses, dogs were sniffing around -- I wonder if the seals and sea lions like apples?

 

cruisestitch

 

New Zealand is also very strict about bringing any food or plants into their country. They have port dogs that sniff and seek out any contriband (in this case food).

 

If I remember correctly, years ago (maybe 10 yrs. ago) Celebrity did have a "sandwich-to-go" item in the Daily. I know that isn't allowed now.

 

And Hylasgirl....you'd have to have a mighty big back pocket for that pizza! Or you'd have to really like squished pizza!

[sheilauk]

If you remove the auto tip from your account, you might find that you can actually afford to buy lunch. How's that for a novel idea.

[SuzCruise]

I just got a quote for a private tour from Red October for a two day tour of St. Petersburg and they said they do recommend you take a sandwich from the cruise ship to eat while in the car between sites so that you can spend more time at all the sites. I'll direct them to this board to get chewed out for suggesting it.

[sanbmet]

We did a 2 day tour with Alla tours this past August and since we wanted maximum touring time and didn't want to lose several hours at a restaurant, they suggested bringing something with us for lunch on one of the days. Most of our small group just planned ahead and brought power bars or protein bars ....sealed in original wrappers....and a bottle of water. A few The second day we had lunch in a wonderful Russian lunchroom (Stolle's).

[hylasgirl]

Personally, I would budget in a lunch and take a Private tour of St. Petersburg. I can't imagine traveling all that way and then taking a ship tour. It is the biggest rip off. Nothing like a special 2 day tour of Russia with 50 others. The tour with ALLA was amazing! Even if we did have to buy lunch.:)

[sanbmet]

Personally, I would budget in a lunch and take a Private tour of St. Petersburg. I can't imagine traveling all that way and then taking a ship tour. It is the biggest rip off. Nothing like a special 2 day tour of Russia with 50 others. The tour with ALLA was amazing! Even if we did have to buy lunch.:)

 

We did do our tour with Alla and chose to buy lunch one day and to just keep on trekking along the other day because we didn't want to miss a thing. Time was the issue and having done ship's tours that include lunch, we always find that most time is spent at lunch.

 

We agree.....the Alla tour is amazing..they really pack in a lot.

[hylasgirl]

We did do our tour with Alla and chose to buy lunch one day and to just keep on trekking along the other day because we didn't want to miss a thing. Time was the issue and having done ship's tours that include lunch, we always find that most time is spent at lunch.

 

We agree.....the Alla tour is amazing..they really pack in a lot.

 

Yes, it is great! And it makes for such a personal experience. There is nothing personal about a ship tour. I can't imagine spending my days in Russia that way.

 

I have also found the "lunch" portion of a ship tour is a drop off at a place that is making a bunch of American style food for a bunch of tourist. While some may like this, our day was so interesting. We stopped at a local Russian restaurant. Our wonderful guide helped us through the menu... and it truly was an experience.

[jammer5122]

We'll be on Constellation in May to have a 2 day tour at St. Petersburg.

 

We plan to pack our own lunch and bring it to the tour.

 

Will the ship pack the lunch for you on request ? Will they charge for it ?

 

Are we allowed to bring 'sandwich' or 'fruit' on shore at St. Petersburg ?

 

Will appreciate if anyone can share their experience with us. :confused::confused:

We did the two day Alla Tour and lunch was provided both days. The first day the driver picked up box lunches, cookies, candy, yogurt drinks, juice and bottled water for us that we ate enroute to our next stop and the second day we had lunch in a restaurant.