Port of St. Perersburg, Russia

jacketwatch · December 24, 2006

Hello all and happy holidays. :biggrin:

I recently read that if you book a tour through a reputable private co. in St. Petes (and a few were recommended) that you avoid visa/paperwork hassles vs. doing a tour on your own as you get off. Does anyone know specifically abut this or how it works? Thanks, Larry :cool2:

mercedes · December 26, 2006

I heard about that too, also if you book excursions through the ship, no visa hassles.

JohnG · December 26, 2006

The most well known Russian agency is Red October. You still need a visa, but in Russia, you must have a letter of invitation to even apply for a visa. That is where the agency comes in, they provide the letter.

jacketwatch · December 27, 2006

Thank you. That is the gist of what I heard. I think for this stop we'll book with the ship or RO. However does this mean we can't get off the ship unless we do that? Suppose we just want to get off and stroll around. What will we need to do? Thanks again. Larry

scapel · December 27, 2006

Jacketwatch,

Haven't been to St.Petersburg since 2000, but we used Nikita Zonin. Didn't know about Red October.

We got our Visa's from the Russina Tourist Agency out of N.Y. Our invitation was Celebrity cruise line. At least that is what I put and it worked. At that time they were only $75/p. They ask lots of questions and you just had to jump through the hoops. It was worth the trouble.

We still came out cheaper and had a much nicer time with just four of us with a driver and English speaking guide.

I have heard lots about Red October and it appears they do a good job. My impression is that they use a group Visa to get you off the ship and through the passport control. You of course have to show the passport each time you pass through the control.

The ship is just doing the same thing using a group visa. You can't go anywhere without the guide. Don't try it.

jacketwatch · December 28, 2006

Thank you. I have heard that contacting the Russian consulate for a VISA may help. I will try that but if there is any doubt I'll go with a guided tour. I have also heard a VISA costs $75.00 pp so that may be a prohibitive aspect too. Cheers, Larry :cool2:

chachabell · December 30, 2006

We did a two day tour through Red October in 9/05. We provided them with our passport numbers and they did the rest. There were four of us traveling together and we had a Russian driver and guide. We got a much better tour than through Celebrity and saw so much. This is the way to go.

jacketwatch · December 31, 2006

Thank you. I am debating between getting an actual VISA or just arranging tours ahead of time to jump thru that hoop. I have several emails out to see if we can custom design a tour as we really want two shorter tours, one each day lasting about 4 hrs. or so. Cheers. Larry :cool2: