Vladivostok

Will be visiting Vladivostok on Dawn Princess August 25. Do we need visas if doing our own thing, e.g. not taking a Princess shore tour? Does any tour include the famous Terminus, e.g. Vladivostok Railway Station? Has anyone been to Vladivostok who could give us an overall opinion of this city? We have been told that unless we take a ship's tour we won't be allowed ashore TRUE/FALSE? :)

Will be visiting Vladivostok on Dawn Princess August 25. Do we need visas if doing our own thing, e.g. not taking a Princess shore tour? Does any tour include the famous Terminus, e.g. Vladivostok Railway Station? Has anyone been to Vladivostok who could give us an overall opinion of this city? We have been told that unless we take a ship's tour we won't be allowed ashore TRUE/FALSE? :)

false .accoding to previous crusier who b=visited on last trip..may have changed however they said..

..you have to arrange visa and the agents dont like the hassle . involved..and dont encourage the option ....

We called at Vladivostok in 2010 -- so our info may be out of date but here is what we experienced. The weather was absolutely dreadful -- very windy, cold and extremely rainy. We walked over to the train station which was pretty and quite near where we were docked. It was interesting to see and easy to get to. Because of the weather, we decided that we would not continue to explore on our own so tried to take a cab. After much negotiation, the cab driver made it clear that he would charge us $50 to go about 10 blocks. We refused and got out and then were unable to find buses or other transport. Because of the miserable weather, we ultimately shopped a bit in the port building and then returned to the ship and were so grateful to be warm and dry. If I knew then what I know now -- I'd have taken a ship's tour. It's not a frequent port of call so there is much less familiarity with and concern for cruise travelers' needs. We were disappointed to experience so little of what I still think must be an interesting port. There was quite a good Russian folkloric show on board ship -- would recommend that.

At night when we left, many, many people came to the dock and watched us sail away. It was still raining and seemed so grim and cold as they stood there. As to visas -- I don't think we needed/used them but again that may have changed. Over the years I've learned that there are some ports that just aren't at all easy to DIY -- this was definitely one of them. Good luck and hope you get to experience more than we did!

Just an FYI - Even though Russia is technically part of Europe, you might find more information on the Asia ports of call board, since Vladivostok is a more common port for East Asia cruises and a lot of people tend to ask all of their port questions for a single cruise on one board.

Thank you for the info re. Vladivostok. We read between the lines and booked one of the tours offered by Princess. Not because we were keen to see the stuff on/in this tour, but because, as you say... dealing with locals who ralely see cruise ships, and think those onboard are there for "the picking" we will try to get the tour over and done with and then walk around the downtown area on our own [if they let us]. Hopefully the weather will be okay, hmmm?