new cruiser

[joyb52]

I am a new cruiser headed for Regent's 7 day Baltic Cruise in August. I was told by my travel agent that I would need to get a visa to take a private tour of St. Petersburg. The private tour through Regent is $499.00 for 4 hours and would cover a visa. Is there a better, cheaper private guide out there? Also, is my agent correct about needing a visa if I don't take Regent's private tour guide?

 

What about the other ports? Is there a way to do Helsinki and other ports without being herded around? Need advice and links of where to look! Thanks.

[Travelcat2]

I am a new cruiser headed for Regent's 7 day Baltic Cruise in August. I was told by my travel agent that I would need to get a visa to take a private tour of St. Petersburg. The private tour through Regent is $499.00 for 4 hours and would cover a visa. Is there a better, cheaper private guide out there? Also, is my agent correct about needing a visa if I don't take Regent's private tour guide?

 

What about the other ports? Is there a way to do Helsinki and other ports without being herded around? Need advice and links of where to look! Thanks.

 

First, your TA is absolutely correct regarding the necessity to take a ships tour or private guide in St. Petersburg in order to avoid the necessity of getting a visa. I suggest you look up the "Ports" section of CruiseCritic. There are recommendations for private guides. While I am not familiar with Helsinki, it is doubtful that you would be able to see the major sites in St. Petersburg without a guide. There are bus loads of people lining up for each site. Private guides are able to circumnavigate the lines -- an important plus!

[Dreps]

Just to clarify, you have decided to do the private tour despite the fact that Regent has unlimited "free" excursions on all the Baltic cruises this year? We were going to do a private tour on our Baltics cruise in August--probably with Red October--but once Regent added the all-conclusive excursions, we changed our mind. I'm sure there will be advantages to a private excursion, but we've had very good luck with Regent excursions in the past.

[RachelG]

Go over to the Baltic section of the Europe board and you will find extensive information regarding visa requirements in Russia.

In short, if you have pre-reserved a tour with a licensed private guide, you do not need to personally obtain a visa. The guide will take care of that for you as part of the tour. You won't be able to go wandering around by yourself (you have to stay with the guide), but you don't have to pay "extra" for a visa.

[wripro]

RachelG is right. If you have a private tour booked with a licensed agency such ass Red October, Denrus or Alla you do NOT need a visa. Only if you want to get off the ship on your own will you need one.