'journey through st petersburg'tour

[jennifer eccles]

We are travelling to St Petersburg with HAL Aug'09. Their tour 'Journey

through St Petersburg' states 'at the end of tour you will have an opportuniyt to spend 3 hours as you wish. This free time is your chance to be deep in the atmosphere of a Russian city.' The implication being that we can walk around freely by ourselves without the group. Can anyone

confirm this and also does the group visa cover the 'independent walkabout.'

[msmoger]

We are travelling to St Petersburg with HAL Aug'09. Their tour 'Journey

through St Petersburg' states 'at the end of tour you will have an opportuniyt to spend 3 hours as you wish. This free time is your chance to be deep in the atmosphere of a Russian city.' The implication being that we can walk around freely by ourselves without the group. Can anyone

 

confirm this and also does the group visa cover the 'independent walkabout.'

 

From EVERYTHING I've read this sounds a bit suspicious. The blanket visa covered by the cruise line or the tour companies means you must stay with your group at all times. You would need your own visa to travel around independently. At least that's my understanding. I would call HAL and get the details.

[Kingsbridge]

I called HAL and according to the Shore-EX desk the description means what it says. You can wander around on your own and do whatever you want. Yes, you are covered under the visa waiver. The excursion is already very popular and is waitlisted for both days for June 6 and 7th.

 

I've already been to St. Petersburg several times and I've visited every museum, every palace, every major church, the opera, the ballet, etc. I have taken every mode of transportation including private limo, shared taxi, the metro, the hydrofoil, the river cruise and the canal cruise. I am thrilled to have the opportunity at very low cost to do a short drive around with free time in the center of St. Petersburg.

 

I agree that SPB tours and Anastasia, etc. offer good value and the ship excursions to the major sites are fine as well. While most of my fellow passengers may be better served by those options, the Journey through St. Petersburg is perfect for me.

[jennifer eccles]

The text comes directly from the HAL website tours. Specifically Fri 14th August, 2009.

It really does say 'spend three hours as you wish' and then goes on to give examples of what you might do in those 3 hours.

Thanks everyone for your input.

[Kingsbridge]

Hi Jennifer. I'll be boarding the Eurodam on Saturday May 23 and will ask more questions of the Shore Excursion desk. I am planning to take the tour on June 6 & 7 and will report back on my experiences.

Kingsbridge

[jennifer eccles]

I look forward to hearing the definitive answer.

I hope you have a great time whatever trips you take.

[Kingsbridge]

This is a message for Jennifer. The previous poster is mistaken. The tour really does include 3 hours of free time. I am now on the Eurodam and I met someone who took it on the May 13 sailing. He told me that the Eurodam docked at the new cruise terminal. On day 1 he and his wife did a ship's all day tour and on day 2 they took the Journey through St. Petersburg. After the drive around the city, the bus parks near the Church on Spilled Blood. You are given a map and the location of a clean restroom and you're on your own to go wherever you wish. This particular couple went over to Nevsky Prospect and changed some money at Citibank and then went to the Kazan Cathedral and found a priest who was willing to give them a blessing for their 40th wedding anniversary. Obviously that was very personal to them and not something most people would do, but it does illustrate that you're not being herded around. The bus waits at the same location, so if you get back early you can get on board. It's not a substitute for an all day private or ship's tour but it's a good option for the person who prefers to be on their own. By the way those people on this ship who took tours with Alla were very pleased. Those who toured with Red October were less satisfied. Hope this helps.

[GuideDiva]

This is a message for Jennifer. The previous poster is mistaken. The tour really does include 3 hours of free time. I am now on the Eurodam and I met someone who took it on the May 13 sailing. He told me that the Eurodam docked at the new cruise terminal. On day 1 he and his wife did a ship's all day tour and on day 2 they took the Journey through St. Petersburg. After the drive around the city, the bus parks near the Church on Spilled Blood. You are given a map and the location of a clean restroom and you're on your own to go wherever you wish. This particular couple went over to Nevsky Prospect and changed some money at Citibank and then went to the Kazan Cathedral and found a priest who was willing to give them a blessing for their 40th wedding anniversary. Obviously that was very personal to them and not something most people would do, but it does illustrate that you're not being herded around. The bus waits at the same location, so if you get back early you can get on board. It's not a substitute for an all day private or ship's tour but it's a good option for the person who prefers to be on their own. By the way those people on this ship who took tours with Alla were very pleased. Those who toured with Red October were less satisfied. Hope this helps.

When the immigration authorities find out about this, heads will roll. This is expressly against the visa waiver law. The tour company may be subject to prosecution and major fines. If any of the passengers were stopped by police with out a visa, they would be arrested for visa violation.

[Kingsbridge]

This is a message for Jennifer. I checked with the Shore Excursion Desk. The "authorities" whoever they might be are well aware of the tour. It is a perfectly legitimate tour, regardless of the opinion of the previous poster. It was highly successful on the last leg of the cruise and is waitlisted for both days on the upcoming Baltic Cruise. I think that no one individual can know everything about the arrangements that a cruise line makes for its passengers but HAL is not in the habit of endangering its passengers. I feel very confident taking the tour since I know my way around in St. Petersburg and will enjoy the free time to do as I please. I don't know if it's the right tour for you but don't be scared off by dire warnings of heads rolling. That's just silly. Have fun in St. Petersburg whatever you do. After I take the tour, I'll let you know whether I enjoyed it.

[jennifer eccles]

kingsbridge

looking forward to hearing how it goes with you.Sounds like we should pre book if we want to do this one, although I suppose we have time yet.

Hope you're loving your cruise.

[LobstersLass]

Hi Jennifer,

I'm on this cruise at the end of June and booked on this tour.

I had exactly the same concerns as you so I e-mailed HAL in London.

 

This is the pertinent part of their reply...

 

"I can confirm that, as long as you are on a HOLLAND AMERICA LINE orgainsed excursion, you will be covered by our ship visa & will not require any additional paperwork for Russia. This is irrespective of whether you are totally guided or has free time included."

 

I feel a lot better about it now!

[jennifer eccles]

Lobsterlass, Kingsbridge had quite reassured me but I too feel better now reading your post. Thanks

[blrabbit]

I have agree with Guidediva regarding the touring on you own without guide. You can check this out on US Department of State web site and it said:

Special entry/exit requirements for international cruise ship passengers:

 

International cruise ship passengers are permitted to visit Russian ports without a visa for a period of up to 72 hours. Passengers who wish to go ashore during port calls may do so without a visa only if they are part of an organized tour, operated by a licensed Russian tour company approved by the Russian Immigration Service. According to Russian legislation, cruise passengers on organized tours must remain with their tour group and/or a representative of their tour company at all times while ashore. Tour operators affiliated with cruise companies as well as a variety of local tour operators in Russia are licensed to provide tour services to cruise passengers.

Note: These special entry/exit requirements do not apply to river boat cruise passengers and travelers coming to Russia on package tours. These travelers should follow the general guidelines provided for entry/exit requirements.

The bottom line is you are on your own if you get into any trouble locally.

[RicardoC]

I'm so glad I found this thread!

 

We'll be on Eurodam in July(the 12th Sailing) and decided to do the ship's tour because of the visa already included.....so we'll be in a group of 9(all family) and decided to do "Glories of St. Petersburg" in the first day and "Journey Through St. Petersburg" day 2.....my concern was about these 3 hours....and I have a question: Is it possible for us to go to Peterhof and back in these 3 hours? Too Complicated? Not enough time? SAFE? It is the only place it is not included in both tours we chose and It seems awesome so If we can I'll go :D.....also anyone did the "Glories" tour I talked about in the first day?? How is it?

Thanks :):cool:

[Kingsbridge]

I am still on the Eurodam but I did the Journey Through St. Petersburg tour for both days. It is a Holland America tour. You do not need a visa and you may go wherever you want during the free time. There are two guides on the bus. After the double decker bus drives around the city and shows you the key sites (with an audioguide), the bus parks by the Church on Spilled Blood. One of the guides escorts the group to a nearby souvenir shop with clean, free restrooms. She then answers questions and everybody goes their own way. Most of the passengers simply shopped and had lunch locally. On the first day, I went to the Russian Museum. On the second day when the weather was better, I went on a canal boat ride, walked through the gardens, visited the Catholic Church and then the Russian Orthodox Kazan Cathedral where they were having a Pentecost Sunday service, and on the way back to the bus, I visited the Church on Spilled Blood. I brought rubles from the US that I got at Travelex, but there were many ATMs available. I needed the rubles for admission to the museum and to the Church on Spilled Blood. To the previous poster who asked if you could go to Peterhof in the available time, the answer is definitely no. You could go to the Hermitage which is within easy walking distance but it is such a big museum and often so crowded that you might find yourself pressed for time. There were two bus loads of people each day and no one got lost, got arrested, missed the bus, or got robbed. Our guides did emphasize that everyone should take care with their passport, but there were no special problems. I was delighted with the tour because of the low cost and the flexibility. It was an extremely popular tour and was sold out before the cruise started.

[jennifer eccles]

So glad to hear you enjoyed your tour both days.After that I think we will do it on one of the days.You seemed to fit a good lot in. Enjoy the rest of your cruise and thanks again for all the info.The scaremongers were actually begining to scare me.Ha Ha

[totoro]

Does anyone know if the farmer's market (Kuznechny Market) is a walkable distance from the Church of the Spilled Blood?

 

Kingsbridge - where did you take the canal boat ride?

 

thanks for any advice!

[zhenya]

I am in a process of setting up a private tour for 4 people in St. Petersburg. When discussing possibility of including free time (all 4 of us speak native Russian) I got the same answer from multiple people. Visa waive only covers you if you are as a group with your guide. So deal for us is that we'll have 3 hours of free time but the driver will stay with us for the duration as companies representative.

 

Whatever HAL arrangements are they are definitely different from common understanding of the law

[Kingsbridge]

I took the canal boat ride at the Griboyedev Canal and Nevsky Prospect, which is right near the rest room stop and within sight of the Church on Spilled Blood. It's more of a river cruise than a canal cruise. It goes out the Winter Canal of the Hermitage onto the Neva and goes up to the Bronze Horseman statue and then comes back and goes around the island where the Peter and Paul Fortress is and back in through the Fontanka Canal. The route covers many things that you will already have seen from the bus, but you can get better pictures from the open boat. It cost 500 rubles. The ride took 1 hour and the commentary was only in Russian. I'm not sure it was the best use of my time. On another trip I had taken a canal cruise with a better route from the Admiralty Dock, but it would have taken me longer to walk there.

 

As for the Kuznechny Market, it's about a mile and half from Arts Square where the rest stop is. You would make a left on Nevsky Prospect and walk down past the Fontanka Canal and make a right on Vladimirskiy Prospect and you should run into the market just past the Vladimirskiy Cathedral. On my map it also shows a Metro stop there and it would be one or two stops on the metro. Just remember that these words are written in our alphabet and the signs are in the Cyrillic alphabet. If you walk, you'll have to factor in the time for walking back as well. I was very careful not to stray too far from where the bus would be waiting. Another option would be to go right up Nevsky Prospect and take a left on Morskaya Malaya Ulitsa to visit St. Isaac's Cathedral. You'll need rubles for admission.

[totoro]

kingsbridge - thanks for the addl info