Problem getting off the Emerald Princess in St. Pete.

[donnajo53]

I thought I should share this with Princess passengers that have independent tours planned in St. Pete.

We had a tour planned for July 9th and 10th for 8 of us at 8:30 a.m. with Anastasia Tours.

The Patter said we could NOT disembark until ALL PRINCESS TOURS had disembarked (which would be around 9:30)!!! The Patter also said that the Russian Authorities informed Princess that they would not allow independents into the country until all the Princess tours had been processed. They warned that if you attempted to get off the boat early, you could lose your entry into the country.

A Princess employee met with us the night before St. Pete and assured us that if we met him at 7:00 a.m. he would escort us off the ship. We decided to get up and get off early.

Well, we showed up at the meeting place at 6:45 a.m. and the employee never showed!!! We waited and waited. Finally, after quite a hassle, I located him and he said that there was nothing he could do, that the Russian authorities were NOT letting anyone but the Princess tour groups off first and that we needed to wait until 9:30 in the Explorer Lounge. You can imagine how frustrated we were. We got up early, and then were told to wait 2 1/2 hours!!! It was really frustrating.

Meanwhile, we followed directions, and politely went to the lounge. I later went downstairs to see how things were progressing and there was a huge lineup of independent tour groups waiting to disembark. People were yelling at the Princess employees and it was quite an ugly scene. I was really upset and felt that we would never get off the ship.

Fortunately, I reconnected with the employee who had promised us early disembarkation and he escorted us from the lounge off the boat ahead of the huge lineup at 9:45!! (after ALL the Princess Tours had left the ship).

We had a wonderful tour of St. Petersburg, but it certainly soured my view of Princess Cruise Lines. I will probably NEVER cruise with them again! I have only been on two other cruises, both with Celebrity, and the quality of the Celebrity Cruise was far superior to the Princess. Good luck in St. Pete!!! Enjoy your tours, but be warned that it's not easy getting off the Princess ship.

[bigwally]

Wow, that sucks.

 

On HA Rotterdam, we had a 15 minute window between the ship being cleared and the start of disembarkation for the ship's tour participants. We were warned that once this window closed, independents would not be allowed off until after the ship's tours had gotten away. We were told this is a Russian rule, not a HAL one. This was not only very fair, but also seemed to work out very well.

[mk0520]

O.K. we are also booked with Anastasia and this is not the first time we heard of this happening. What do you suggest we do about this? In other words if you had to do this again would you take the Princess tour or still do the private tour with Anastasia. I'm so sorry this happened to you - this would have really upset us.

[dog]

Did this a couple of years ago. We got the letter, although it does sound different this year, saying Princess tours get off first.

We met our own group of 6 at 7:30am and walked off together blending in with the Princess tour line.

There was a Princess employee trying to direct people into 2 lines, but they weren't looking at our tour papers. Russian immigration didn't care which tour you were with. Our RO tour rep. had warned us about Princess not having a right to hold us back from disembarking.

Going in a group of 6 with your own driver and guide at a cheaper price and seeing more is certainly worth it.

[donnajo53]

O.K. we are also booked with Anastasia and this is not the first time we heard of this happening. What do you suggest we do about this? In other words if you had to do this again would you take the Princess tour or still do the private tour with Anastasia. I'm so sorry this happened to you - this would have really upset us.

 

Quite frankly, I'd stay with the Anastasia tour. It was so personal and informative. We loved it! After the ordeal of getting off the ship was over, everything went perfectly and it didn't ruin our tour. Anastasia's guide, Maria, waited for us and was very gracious when we got off the ship. I don't think we missed much by being an hour late.

I think if I were to do it again, I would talk to the Princess tour personnel a couple of days before St. Pete and explain that I expect to get off the ship as early as possible. If they won't cooperate, I would probably just sleep in that morning and get off at 9:30 and miss all the stress of trying to leave early. It is a very long day and very tiring.

You might also e-mail Anastasia and plan on starting your tour later and ending it an hour later, but I would not let this change my tour plan with Anastasia. Good luck and I'm certain you will have a wonderful time in an amazing city. It's good to be aware of what might happen so you can have a continguency plan.

[Irina]

Did you tour more than one day in St. Petersburg? Did you have a problem getting off the ship after the first day? Thanks!

[one spring chick]

We sailed in May on the Celebrity Constellation and had no problems getting off the ship. Celebrity was very gracious and had us wait in a bar and served us coffee and juice. At 7:20 AM they announced the ship had cleared and said we could go. Some people did not want to trust Celebrity and waited in the stairway. They had no problems either and got off the ship 5 minutes before us. It was very orderly. There was probably a few hundred people getting off at the same time for private tours. They have to try to control it some how for safety. You can't have several hundred people standing in the stairway all running and pushing to get off at the same time. When we got to the immigration line the private tour line was very long and there was no one in the Celebrity tour line. I grabbed my husband by the arm and went to the Celebrity line. A Russian guard came and asked if we had tour tickets. We showed him the tickets and he said OK and walked away. The Russians did not care about anything except proper documents. Unless things have really changed in Russia since May, I think it is more a Princess issue. I would Email your tour guide and tell them the problem and ask what to do. I would trust them before Princess. The tour company's don't want you to miss the tour and will tell you how to handle the situation.

[mk0520]

We will certainly take your advice and contact Anastasia & inform her of the problem. We have been looking forward to touring St. Petersburg. To start your day of touring with this stressful situation must have been very disturbing. Thank you so much for taking the time to inform us at CC.

[littletiger]

Did you need a gangway pass to get off the ship for a non-Princess tour?

[Dave and Micha]

We were in the same sailing as NOSPRINGCHICK and can echo what we personally experienced AND what I have been hearing here in Warnemünde from the various ships.

 

THE RUSSIAN AUTHORITIES DO NOT CARE IF YOU ARE WITH AN INDEPENDENT TOUR COMPANY OR THE CRUISE LINE'S!!! Our tour provider Alla told us this ahead of time... they informed us that this is a cruise line ploy to intimidate people into taking cruise line tours AND to facilitate their own tours leaving on time (as they are responsible for them).

 

This rumour of "a letter" is very interesting. One of my tour friends from the Rotterdam on July 14th told me the following story.

 

They had been told by HAL that independents HAD TO MEET in a lounge and wait... and that there was a letter from the Russian authorities saying so. None of their independent tour group believed this and went directly to the gangway, got off the ship and were NEVER challenged by a Russian, just someone from HAL Tour Desk. They ignored that person and sailed thru immigration - they also stood in whatever the shortest line was and again... no Russian cared, only cruise staff.

 

However, one couple from their tour group did listen and as a result made the whole group wait for them and came within minutes of being left behind.

 

Later, when she reboarded she had a discussion with someone from HAL (I believe she said it was the Chief Purser) who had offered to show her this letter. When she agreed, the letter was suddenly impossible to find. When she came back later she was told that she couldn't see the letter.

I seriously wonder about this mysterious letter.

 

It is quite understandable that the cruise lines will want to facilitate their groups to get off quickly and easily... but why the lies? Why treat independents badly... in the end, they are making their CRUISE passengers angry over 1 tour city. It seems a bit of cutting off your nose to spite your face.

 

Also, considering that this is NOT a new situation, why don't all the parties involved work together to facilitate an easy and smooth debarkation for EVERYONE.... cruise tours, independents, etc. In the end.. they are ALL spending money in Russia and on board.

 

Someone with half a brain and an eye to customer service should be able to figure this out.

 

In the meanwhile... don't allow yourselves to be bullied, yelled at our intimidated!

 

Tours are an essential part of cruising...whether booked thru the cruise or independent. There are all types of passengers with all types of tastes.

 

In today's economy you would think that EVERYONE would be encouraged to travel and spend.

[MTJtraveller]

I was on the July 9/10 in St. Petersburg and we had an independent tour with SPB and our experience was not as stressful as some.

 

We had met up as a group on the sea day and immediately clicked. We agreed to meet on deck 5, by the coffee bar about 15 minutes before disembarkation time. We were then going to proceed off the ship along with other tour groups.

 

That was the plan...but it turned out we were late into port as well as having been told about Russia's concerns with the previous Emerald's swine flu. The letter from Princess was pretty adament that we could risk our entry into Russia. We, as a group, decided to wait on deck 5, standing in line, for about an hour. While it was disconcerting for us, we were never angry or upset. I think the dfference being that there was communication where we were whereas in the Explorers Lounge they may not have had that communication. The only yelling I observed was mild and it was people who had plane connections into Moscow...something I can understand being upset about.

 

WHen we were allowed to disembark, it was before all the Princess tours were off and the independents had about 4-5 lines to go into. It was quick and easy from there. It was all a bit disconcerting that the Russian officials were walking around with face masks, but we had no problems. I think walking off as a group helped as we were all in agreement and all arrived the same time.

 

SPB was so gracious, they extended our tour for us on the back end and rescheduled our subway ride for the next day. We did not miss anything on our itinerary. (This worked as none of us had anything booked that evening of the first day.)

 

All in all it was just another tale of our trip. I appreciated our groups laid-back attitude....it made all the difference in the world.

[PrincessNancy]

All in all it was just another tale of our trip. I appreciated our groups laid-back attitude....it made all the difference in the world.

 

 

Thanks for letting us know that with a little preparation and a great attitude everything will work out. We plan on following your suggestions and know we'll have great time in St. Petersburg...even if we are delayed getting off the ship!

 

Nancy

[Dragster13]

We were on the Jewell of the Seas in June, private tour SPB and really had no problems. One of the tour staff from the ship tried to tell us we could not go off until his group left, but i informed him that if he tried to stop us he would be swimming with the fish.

 

As his group had not even been called I talked to another staff member and was informed as soon as he had gone off the ship we could go. He and another crew member got off the ship minus his group and we followed right behind. We cruised right through customs and Elana from SPB was waiting for us. The other ship tour had not even shown up at that time.

 

The only rider I have heard to this is there is a real concern about Swine Flu and that might put a fly in the ointment.

 

By the way if I had a choise between a private tour and a ship tour. I would opt for the private tour every time. As for Princess Lines they do not have the right to hold you on the ship. Its up to Russian customs to say yes or no.

[MercedMike]

One of the tour staff from the ship tried to tell us we could not go off until his group left, but i informed him that if he tried to stop us he would be swimming with the fish.

 

The LIES that Princess tells are disconcerting. BUT -- you were so upset that you went around threatening people? When we were in St P it was truly distressing to see the agressive passengers who allowed themselves to get so angry over a delay of perhaps an hour or so.

 

Unfortunately the tour companies contribute to the problem by fanning the flames and urging everyone to push and shove their way off. Is nobody willing to do it the civilized way? They have to get 3500 people off the ship and through a customs inspection. Of course it takes some time. Not everyone can be first.

 

We just relaxed in the lounge and went with the instructions. Our guide was waiting for us there after clearing customs and we had a great tour. If you are on a private tour, tell them you will clear customs in a civilized manner and they can wait for you.

 

RELAX ... and Have a GREAT cruise!

[donnajo53]

Did you tour more than one day in St. Petersburg? Did you have a problem getting off the ship after the first day? Thanks!

 

We did a two day tour, which I would highly recommend. There is so much to see. We were scheduled to meet at 9:00 a.m., but Maria moved it up to 7:00 a.m. , so that we could avoid the crowds. This really was a good idea. We had absolutely NO problem getting off the ship the next day, nor any other day during the cruise.

[Grannycb]

Not that it will do much good ... we put in our survey sheets for both DenRus and Princess that they need to negotiate a better way of dealing with the situation. There isn't any excuse for putting passengers in the middle.

[lovecruisingtoo]

Just noticed a post on the "TripAdvisor" web site regarding "private" tours in St. Petersburg. The following is a cut and paste of the posting:

 

Posted on: 8:08 am,July 09, 2009 by "Stanj"

 

"Several people in the last few days who are on cruise ships now heading to St Petersburg have written to me telling me that their ship sent official looking letters to each room claiming a new rule by Russian Immigration officials that requires ship sold shore excursions to be let processed first and independent and non-contract tours only to be released after 9:30a.m.. If the new rule is not obeyed, the letter goes on to say, visa free access will be possibly eliminated. The ship adds that they have no say in this, it is Russian Immigration law.

 

A call to the head of immigration reveals they know of no change and surely did not create any such policy. They were emphatic that they merely enforce the standing law that has been in place for years. There was further amplification that immigration has no interest in controlling passengers disembarkation, just whether they have the correct documents.

 

I have investigated further and found that there is such a letter but it originated not from immigration or ANY other official source but from a contractor of cruise ships, pretending they are relying official policy. Ships using using this tour operator as their contract can expect major delays or missed tours due to their scheme if the passenger is touring with a different company or using a personal visa. The other two contractors, Baltic Travel and DenRus both confirmed that there were no policy changes and their disembarkations will continue to be normal.

 

Today, ships, that were contracting with the company concerned, had their private and independent tours delayed up to 2.5 hours due to ship crews physically restraining passengers from leaving even though there were no lines waiting at immigration. Although clearly against the law,

 

Ships with HAL, NCL P&O, Cunard, and a number of others are not delaying passengers and are complying with the actual rules. Princess, RCCL, Celebrity, Costa, MSC, Azamara, Regatta and others will be causing artificial delays."

 

Here is the actual link to the thread: http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g298507-i707-k2933915-New_Tactic_by_cruise_ships_to_intimidate_passengers-St_Petersburg_North_West_Russia.html

 

Bottom line is to ignore the "warning" and leave the ship whenever you want.

[taxatty]

We had no such trouble on the June 25th Emerald Princess cruise. No nasty letters, everyone got off at once, regardless of Princess or private tours, although over an hour late because of the few flu cases on board. Once we disembarked, immigration (at the new cruise ship dock, with quite a few lines open) took 5 minutes. It's probably the luck of the draw as to what happens on your cruise.

 

Les

[scottjeanne]

We leave next weekend for our Baltic cruise. We have scheduled a private tour with Red October. They sent us a letter thaat states "You need to stand your ground. You also have the same programs as the ships tours and cannot be discriminated if you do not go with the ship....Again, I wish to accentuate that Immigaration Officers do not care whose clients are ahead and all those kinds of problems are created on the ship's level." They sent this letter to us and to the ship. Hopefully, people can avoid problems.

 

I do not anticipate a problem as ther are only 198 people on our ship and we can dock at the English Embankment.

[donnajo53]

Just noticed a post on the "TripAdvisor" web site regarding "private" tours in St. Petersburg. The following is a cut and paste of the posting:

 

Posted on: 8:08 am,July 09, 2009 by "Stanj"

 

"Several people in the last few days who are on cruise ships now heading to St Petersburg have written to me telling me that their ship sent official looking letters to each room claiming a new rule by Russian Immigration officials that requires ship sold shore excursions to be let processed first and independent and non-contract tours only to be released after 9:30a.m.. If the new rule is not obeyed, the letter goes on to say, visa free access will be possibly eliminated. The ship adds that they have no say in this, it is Russian Immigration law.

 

A call to the head of immigration reveals they know of no change and surely did not create any such policy. They were emphatic that they merely enforce the standing law that has been in place for years. There was further amplification that immigration has no interest in controlling passengers disembarkation, just whether they have the correct documents.

 

I have investigated further and found that there is such a letter but it originated not from immigration or ANY other official source but from a contractor of cruise ships, pretending they are relying official policy. Ships using using this tour operator as their contract can expect major delays or missed tours due to their scheme if the passenger is touring with a different company or using a personal visa. The other two contractors, Baltic Travel and DenRus both confirmed that there were no policy changes and their disembarkations will continue to be normal.

 

Today, ships, that were contracting with the company concerned, had their private and independent tours delayed up to 2.5 hours due to ship crews physically restraining passengers from leaving even though there were no lines waiting at immigration. Although clearly against the law,

 

Ships with HAL, NCL P&O, Cunard, and a number of others are not delaying passengers and are complying with the actual rules. Princess, RCCL, Celebrity, Costa, MSC, Azamara, Regatta and others will be causing artificial delays."

 

Here is the actual link to the thread: http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g298507-i707-k2933915-New_Tactic_by_cruise_ships_to_intimidate_passengers-St_Petersburg_North_West_Russia.html

 

Bottom line is to ignore the "warning" and leave the ship whenever you want.

 

That is what we experienced. We were told that we might lost our right to enter the country if we disobeyed the disembarkation rule. It was quite effective, since no one wanted to miss seeing St. Pete. Like I said, I probably will not go on another cruise by Princess again. This was very poor PR for the company which affected many people.

[Dave and Micha]

Just noticed a post on the "TripAdvisor" web site regarding "private" tours in St. Petersburg. The following is a cut and paste of the posting:

 

Posted on: 8:08 am,July 09, 2009 by "Stanj"

 

"Several people in the last few days who are on cruise ships now heading to St Petersburg have written to me telling me that their ship sent official looking letters to each room claiming a new rule by Russian Immigration officials that requires ship sold shore excursions to be let processed first and independent and non-contract tours only to be released after 9:30a.m.. If the new rule is not obeyed, the letter goes on to say, visa free access will be possibly eliminated. The ship adds that they have no say in this, it is Russian Immigration law.

 

A call to the head of immigration reveals they know of no change and surely did not create any such policy. They were emphatic that they merely enforce the standing law that has been in place for years. There was further amplification that immigration has no interest in controlling passengers disembarkation, just whether they have the correct documents.

 

I have investigated further and found that there is such a letter but it originated not from immigration or ANY other official source but from a contractor of cruise ships, pretending they are relying official policy. Ships using using this tour operator as their contract can expect major delays or missed tours due to their scheme if the passenger is touring with a different company or using a personal visa. The other two contractors, Baltic Travel and DenRus both confirmed that there were no policy changes and their disembarkations will continue to be normal.

 

Today, ships, that were contracting with the company concerned, had their private and independent tours delayed up to 2.5 hours due to ship crews physically restraining passengers from leaving even though there were no lines waiting at immigration. Although clearly against the law,

 

Ships with HAL, NCL P&O, Cunard, and a number of others are not delaying passengers and are complying with the actual rules. Princess, RCCL, Celebrity, Costa, MSC, Azamara, Regatta and others will be causing artificial delays."

 

Here is the actual link to the thread: http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowTopic-g298507-i707-k2933915-New_Tactic_by_cruise_ships_to_intimidate_passengers-St_Petersburg_North_West_Russia.html

 

Bottom line is to ignore the "warning" and leave the ship whenever you want.

 

 

That is a FANTASTIC POST and really great information that I plan to pass on as often as necessary so that people feel comfortable booking their tours... whether WITH the cruise line or WITH an independent.

 

It has been interesting to read everyone's experiences and to see how varied they have been. I do agree with the poster that one does not have to be rude or aggressive, but I also think that you have to also be willing to stand your ground (politely) and not allow yourself to be treated like cattle.

 

I do not understand the behavior of the cruise lines, other than perhaps (and I am totally guessing here) that the on board tour staff earn commission when cruise passengers book their tours so have decided to make it as unpleasant as possible for those who do not. It is only speculation, but I can't really find any other explanation.

 

I am sure that none of you need a dissertation about how unhelpful and counter productive that behavior can be, but I really think that WE cruise passengers need to make our voices heard at the individual cruise lines and make them understand that they need to work with ALL passengers regardless of who they book a tour with. After all, when we choose to cruise we do it because we want to be on a ship and for the OVERALL experience, not because of who runs their tours (at least in general).

 

I have my own philosophy regarding any type of interaction with people that I think cruise lines would do well to follow... in the overall scheme of things there are several types of cruise passengers... some that only book cruise tours, some that like to go alone, some that like to book independent tours and some that stay on the ship. However, they ALL talk and they ALL like to share their experiences and they ALL deserve to be treated with respect and kindness. If you put the person first and your own needs second, in the end you will win because you made a customer happy. Maybe you won't earn a direct cash profit today, but good will and being nice to people is its own reward. Someone who does not take a tour today, may recommend you tomorrow. Someone who you are kind to today, will feel good about your interaction and remember you. Isn't that what customer service is all about? Forget the immediate cash benefit and think of the human reward! With so many ships and such a competitive travel atmosphere, getting back to basics might prove successful.

 

I understand that cruise lines are worried about the bottom line, but angering people and treating them badly in one port, may (and most likely does) result in people being less willing to spend money on board later.

 

Just a thought.

[DebbieS732]

Wow, that sucks.

 

On HA Rotterdam, we had a 15 minute window between the ship being cleared and the start of disembarkation for the ship's tour participants. We were warned that once this window closed, independents would not be allowed off until after the ship's tours had gotten away. We were told this is a Russian rule, not a HAL one. This was not only very fair, but also seemed to work out very well.

 

Interesting how this varies even between ships of the same Cruise line. We were on HAL's Eurodam about 4 weeks ago and there was never any mention at all of 'independents' having to wait on the ship's tour participants or having to wait in a separate area.

 

We walked off the ship without any line, whatsoever. Our tour started at 7:15am, the ship's tours started at 8:00am. As we went through immigration, I overheard one Russian official remark to another "It's not that crowded right now, it's early. It's just the independent tours getting off."

 

I didn't get the feeling the Russian officials cared one way or another about who got to get off first. In fact, they appeared mighty bored by the whole process.

[UPr123]

I was on the Emerald Princess in St. Petersburg on July 9 and 10. I was in a group of six scheduled to start at 8:30 am on a tour with Anastasia. We waited on the Promenade deck until we saw the first passengers disembarking. There were other small groups of independent tour passengers also waiting on the deck. Some of them then tried to leave, but I have no idea whether or not they were successful. After a while, we tried to also leave, merging in with a group of Princess tour passengers. One thing we didn't know until then is that all the Princess tour groups were given red stickers to wear on their shirts and this allowed the Princess employees to easily distinguish them from the non-Princess tours. One of the employees was standing near the staircase making sure that everyone leaving had a red sticker on. Two people in our group managed to evade her and made it to the next lower level, but the employee stopped the rest of us. The two people in our group who had made it past her then returned and our whole group then went to the Explorers Lounge to wait.

 

There were many other independent tour passengers also waiting in the Explorers Lounge. After waiting about an hour, some of the other groups waiting there got up and started to proceed downstairs. We also joined them although we heard no announcements that we were allowed to leave. This time, somehow we made it past the Princess employee checking for the stickers. After this point, nobody else asked us if we were on a Princess tour or not, and nobody cared. The Russian immigration officers had all eight booths open and there was a short line on each of them. There was no attempt (as I had heard happened on some earlier Princess cruises) to direct us to a different line than the Princess tours. It took us about 10 minutes waiting in the line before our turn came. The Russian officer did not even look at the Anastasia-provided tour tickets that we showed him. He shoved away both the tour tickets and the passport copies that we had brought with us. Clearly the Russians did not care which tour you were on.

 

In the end, we were about an hour late reaching our tour guide who was patiently waiting for us. This was not too bad, given that the ship was 45 minutes late getting into port and all the official Princess tours had been delayed 45 minutes. We did not miss anything on our itinerary and we returned back to the ship on the first day about 30-45 minutes later than originally scheduled. The second day was very smooth and we were off the ship in less than 5 minutes.

 

Thus the advice I have is: Don't be afraid of taking an independent tour and don't get too intimidated by the disembarkation process. Ideally, if possible, ask your tour agency to have a later start time for the first day, so you can be more relaxed. If you do need to disembark early, then try and merge in with the Princess tour groups. Try to be in the middle of a crowd and you may also try to wear a jacket or carry a folder near your chest so it appears that you have a sticker which is being hidden. The Russians don't care, and even the Princess employees who monitor the machine where you swipe your card don't care.

[Dave and Micha]

Interesting how this varies even between ships of the same Cruise line. We were on HAL's Eurodam about 4 weeks ago and there was never any mention at all of 'independents' having to wait on the ship's tour participants or having to wait in a separate area.

 

We walked off the ship without any line, whatsoever. Our tour started at 7:15am, the ship's tours started at 8:00am. As we went through immigration, I overheard one Russian official remark to another "It's not that crowded right now, it's early. It's just the independent tours getting off."

 

I didn't get the feeling the Russian officials cared one way or another about who got to get off first. In fact, they appeared mighty bored by the whole process.

 

Yes... it really is. I've been watching this thread, and others with this topic, with great interest. It seems as if the on board tour managers are the ones that are implementing this customer unfriendly policy.

 

But you know what is great? CRUISE CRITIC! People sharing their information and experiences and helping each other out. Maybe we should start our own cruise line!?

[Grannycb]

Yes... it really is. I've been watching this thread, and others with this topic, with great interest. It seems as if the on board tour managers are the ones that are implementing this customer unfriendly policy.

 

 

I think you are exactly correct. The problem seems to be with the on board tour manager(s). There was poor communication as to where tours would meet in Helsingborg when the ship was late in arriving. (There was conflicting information given out by crew members.) The evening canal tour in Copenhagen met at the casino, a smoking area. And then there was St. Petersburg. All these (and more) add up to a frustrating time on what should have been one of the best cruises we've ever taken.