St Petersburg port cancelled!

We just came back from our well anticipated cruise from the Baltics on the Royal Caribbean-Vision Of the Seas, with a huge disappointment in our hearts, St Petersburg port was cancelled and we couldn’t go!

After all the planning, the research and the high expectations for a one in lifetime tour and it didn’t happen. The reason provided was due to very strong winds, and apparently the path to get there is very narrow so the captain didn’t want to risk the safety of the ship and the passengers.

So my question to you all of you and the reason why I’m writing this post is to know: is this something that happens often for this port? Has this actually happened before on this port to anyone on this forum?

During all my reading about this port I never encountered not a single hint that this could be a possibility for this port so it never crossed my mind, it would’ve made a huge difference if I knew this was even possible as it does when you go to a Caribbean port for example and due to weather they might cancelled a port, but no idea this could happen there!

Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad they made the right decision and put safety first but it doesn’t change the disappointment, especially because there was no plan B whatsoever, other than spending a day at sea. The bad news were announced by the captain at 7:00 am in the morning while we finishing breakfast, and I knew something was not right because we were supposed to be at the port by then but were far from land. We were given no hope of waiting for the weather to get better that day but I’m sure nobody would’ve cared switching this port with another one scheduled for later on…anyways I’m venting this here not only to find out if it was just our bad luck that it happened or if this is a known issue, which in this case I think it would be a good to know thing for other cruisers planning on going to St Petersburg.

While this might seem unusual to you...It can and does happen at "any" port at "any" given time....Your Captain opted for the correct decision and one Captains must make on every cruise when weather becomes a factor, as the safety of his passengers, crew and ship are his responsibility...Sorry you missed this wonderful port...but glad you and all involved are safe.

I think it was just really bad luck and I can imagine how disappointed you must feel. I haven't heard of St Petersburg being cancelled before but, as Ashland points out, it can happen at any port. Sadly, it remains true that if you have your heart set on going to a particular port, you would be better off taking a land vacation there than a cruise.

I'm so sorry this happened to you.

You could check the port website to see if any other ships were due to be in the city on the same day. Not that it would change a thing to know others were disappointed too. Many ships do 2 days in SPb, so I wonder if any had to wait a day for the weather to change, in or out of the port. Hopefully you'll find some consolation in knowing that your captain made a decision in the best interests of all onboard.

Wow, what a downer.

No hint on these boards cos it has to be incredibly rare, the only thing that'd concern me is early or late icing of the gulf.

Yes, there's at least one tight bottleneck on the approach, past some fortifications/naval base.

But it surprises me that the ship couldn't get in at all, was it not set for a 2-day visit?

And most passengers would consider it the highlight of a Baltic cruise & gladly forgo a port such as Helsinki or even Tallinn in order to get a day in SPB.

But we know what happens when the guv'nor on the bridge takes a risk with safety.

JB

We just came back from our well anticipated cruise from the Baltics on the Royal Caribbean-Vision Of the Seas, with a huge disappointment in our hearts, St Petersburg port was cancelled and we couldn’t go!

Oooh, that would have been really disappointing!! Am sorry to hear you missed out. I haven't heard of it happening there, but that of course isn't to say it hasn't happened before.

WOW, that is too bad. I think your ship was in some of the same ports as us. We were on Eurodam leaving Cpoenhagen on the 14th. We went to St. Petersburg on the 17th & 18th. What day were you suppose to dock?

Our two days in St. Pete were July 19 and 20 (just last week) on NCL Sun. Docking was delayed for over 2 hours due to high wind and waves. After attempting to dock for well over an hour, the captain announced over the PA system that he had requested for a tugboat to push the ship in.

Almost everyone got off the ship at the same time as soon as the ship was docked. You can imagine the chaos along the long lines at the Russian custom.

We started the St. Pete's tour with TJ Travel at 10 am, instead of the scheduled 8 am. No hydrofoil as a result (the tour guide never mentioned the reason for not using the hydrofoil and no one asked); and it ended up with a longer drive on the road to Peterhof.

Our two days in St. Pete were July 19 and 20 (just last week) on NCL Sun. Docking was delayed for over 2 hours due to high wind and waves. After attempting to dock for well over an hour, the captain announced over the PA system that he had requested for a tugboat to push the ship in.

 

Almost everyone got off the ship at the same time as soon as the ship was docked. You can imagine the chaos along the long lines at the Russian custom.

 

We started the St. Pete's tour with TJ Travel at 10 am, instead of the scheduled 8 am. No hydrofoil as a result (the tour guide never mentioned the reason for not using the hydrofoil and no one asked); and it ended up with a longer drive on the road to Peterhof.

Hope you enjoyed your tour with TJ Travel...they were our choice as well...I would imagine the high winds/waves impacted the use of the hydrofoil during that time too...Sorry you didn't get the chance to ride it...lot's of fun and it made a big difference to our time schedule. But better safe than an unexpected swim in the sea.

Ashland:

I'm not the OP but just wanted to say we just got back and our tour with TJ Travels and our guide Ksenia was the best. Thanks for all your info!

Mrand MrsSmith

Not to try and make you feel any worse, but as long as I have been posting here, I have never heard of one ship missing the port of St Petersburg. I really do feel your pain. As others have stated, I wonder why the Captain didn't try and wait it out, as you probably had two days for St Petersburg.

But I will certainly go along with the rest in saying that in light of certain happenings this spring with cruise ships, the safety of all passengers is primary concern, even if it entails missing a port.

I really don't know if you can get any satisfaction from RCCL, but I would sure give them a buzz anyway.

Don't know what your situation is, but it might give you an incentive to try this cruise again at another time.

Cheers

Len

Ashland:

I'm not the OP but just wanted to say we just got back and our tour with TJ Travels and our guide Ksenia was the best. Thanks for all your info!

Nice to hear it was such a great tour for you too...You're very welcome....am always happy that the bit of advice and experience I've had and offer will some how help out other's..Enjoy wherever your next trip happens to take you !!!!

I haven't heard of St Petersburg being cancelled before but, as Ashland points out, it can happen at any port. Sadly, it remains true that if you have your heart set on going to a particular port, you would be better off taking a land vacation there than a cruise.

Agree with the above note that I, too, have never, NEVER heard of a St. Petersburg port stop being scrubbed. In the year plus before our late July 2008 visit there, plus in all of the time in doing and following many, many posts on this board, I cannot remember such a problem coming up. Generally, the Baltics are pretty calm and it would be a really shocking turn of events.

What exact dates were you scheduled for St. Petersburg? Two days or one day there?

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

Did a June 7-19, 2011, Solstice cruise from Barcelona that had stops in Villefranche, ports near Pisa and Rome, Naples, Kotor, Venice and Dubrovnik. Enjoyed great weather and a wonderful trip. Dozens of wonderful visuals with key highlights, tips, comments, etc., on these postings. We are now at 94,602 views for this live/blog re-cap on our first sailing with Celebrity and much on wonderful Barcelona. Check these postings and added info at:

http://www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1426474

For details and visuals, etc., from our July 1-16, 2010, Norway Coast/Fjords/Arctic Circle cruise experience from Copenhagen on the Silver Cloud, check out this posting. This posting is now at 77,240 views.

http://www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1227923

I am going on the Vision of the Seas July 28 so was alarmed to read your St Petersburg stop was cancelled. So sorry that happened!

BTW, for those on this thread wondering, Vision of the Seas only has one day in St Petersburg, unlike many other ships.

I emailed our TJ tours guide asking how often this happens and here's what she said about it:

yes, it is true due to the stormy weather the captain decided not to enter our harbour though the other ship that was to arrive did. But usually it happens with Vision once in three years, and another time ( this week ) Vision entered the city without any problems. so I am sure everything will be fine with your ship and it will stop in our city and you will have great time here.

We are looking forward to meeting you in our city.

So sorry to hear about missing St. Petersburg, I know for most of us it really is a once in a lifetime opportunity, and to miss it would be a tremendous disappointment. What I'm wondering is how this would affect all the people who had booked and paid in advance for a tour with a private operator. I know that many people go that route, and that's what we scheduled. Would you just be out of luck and lose all the money you've paid out? Scary thought!

So sorry to hear about missing St. Petersburg, I know for most of us it really is a once in a lifetime opportunity, and to miss it would be a tremendous disappointment. What I'm wondering is how this would affect all the people who had booked and paid in advance for a tour with a private operator. I know that many people go that route, and that's what we scheduled. Would you just be out of luck and lose all the money you've paid out? Scary thought!

One of the many surprising things about booking a private tour in St Petersburg or as least for us with TJ Travel...NO payment is required upfront...and this is true with most of the tour companys..payment was required on the 2nd day of our 2 day visit...not even a credit card was needed to pre-arrange our visit..they took care of everything including the blanket visa...amazing !!

BTW, for those on this thread wondering, Vision of the Seas only has one day in St Petersburg, unlike many other ships.

It's sad what happened, BUT, being on a cruise ship that only does one-day in St. Petersburg is less than ideal, in my view. It is also interesting and puzzling that other ships docked and did their visits there on that same day. In 2008, our cruise ship had three days there in St. Petersburg, allowing us the flexibility to do a one-day, to-and-back trip to Moscow. Having two-day in St. Petersburg is a minimum in my book. Only one-day is hardly adequate. Need those two or three days as so much is there in that town that Peter the Great started and built.

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

Did a June 7-19, 2011, Solstice cruise from Barcelona that had stops in Villefranche, ports near Pisa and Rome, Naples, Kotor, Venice and Dubrovnik. Enjoyed great weather and a wonderful trip. Dozens of wonderful visuals with key highlights, tips, comments, etc., on these postings. We are now at 94,685 views for this live/blog re-cap on our first sailing with Celebrity and much on wonderful Barcelona. Check these postings and added info at:

http://www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1426474

For details and visuals, etc., from our July 1-16, 2010, Norway Coast/Fjords/Arctic Circle cruise experience from Copenhagen on the Silver Cloud, check out this posting. This posting is now at 77,315 views.

http://www.boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1227923

Just to reassure anyone in the early stages of planning or even just considering a cruise to SPB: Not one of the half-dozen or more private tour operators we negotiated with requires any prepayment or guarantee of any kind, just payment on the 2d day (not even the 1st day) of the tour.

In light of the prior posts, I'd be more apprehensive about sailing on Vision of the Seas if SPB were an important destination for me (or maybe even any other RCL ship).

And in any case, 1 day in SPB is better than nothing, but plenty of other ships stay for 2 and even for 3 days, and even that long isn't really enough. (Not longer than 3 days, however, because of the 72-hour limit for visitors without individual tourist visas.)

We'll be on the Brilliance in a few weeks, and hate to hear that SPB was missed...we'll just have to keep our fingers crossed.

I am another who did research with multiple private companies. None of them asked for the money upfront. We'll pay at the end of the tour.

Our ship only has one day in the city, but as was already stated, one is better than nothing. Taking a cruise with multiple days in a city might not be feasible for some. Having 12 hours there could be ideal and/or part of a dream vacation.

Thank you all for your comments and replies…

As some already clarified, our ship was only scheduled to be there for 1 day (July 16), which was very unfortunate. So it looks like it was just our bad luck since this doesn’t happen very often at this port. It also looks like the days after were not much better either as mentioned by dmk1992 who was traveling with NCL.

Luckily most of the tour companies there don’t required advanced payment and we did have a private tour booked so we didn’t lose anything.

As per compensation from RCCL, we only got the port taxes refunded ($13.95) which of course don’t make it feel any better. I totally understand is not their fault and that this is something that can happen anywhere, but with that port being the highlight of the trip I would’ve been happier with some considerate discount on another cruise to SPB J. I’m planning on sending them a letter so we’ll see what happens.

I found this later on the port’s website and it looks like there was another ship scheduled to arrive the same day as us, just wondering if that one made it.

On 16 of July 2012, the Captain of the MS "Vision of the Seas" took a decision not to call Passenger port of St. Petersburg because of bad weather

Pasted from <http://www.ppspbmf.ru/en/about-port/port-news/337-16072012-qvision-of-the-seasq->

 

I found this later on the port’s website and it looks like there was another ship scheduled to arrive the same day as us, just wondering if that one made it.

On 16 of July 2012, the Captain of the MS "Vision of the Seas" took a decision not to call Passenger port of St. Petersburg because of bad weather

Pasted from <http://www.ppspbmf.ru/en/about-port/port-news/337-16072012-qvision-of-the-seasq->

Quoting from CruiserSwedes answer in this thread:

I emailed our TJ tours guide asking how often this happens and here's what she said about it:

yes, it is true due to the stormy weather the captain decided not to enter our harbour though the other ship that was to arrive did.

Quoting from CruiserSwedes answer in this thread:

 

I emailed our TJ tours guide asking how often this happens and here's what she said about it:

 

yes, it is true due to the stormy weather the captain decided not to enter our harbour though the other ship that was to arrive did.

Thanks for the info, I missed that from your previous comment. I guess Captain Lis was not taking any chances then...(yes we had a female captain).

Thanks for the info, I missed that from your previous comment. I guess Captain Lis was not taking any chances then...(yes we had a female captain).

To be fair to Captain Lis, according to the port schedule the ship which did dock that day was Clipper Odyssey, 5OOO tons, 128 pax - compared to Vision at 78,000 tons, 2000 pax.

JB :)

To be fair to Captain Lis, according to the port schedule the ship which did dock that day was Clipper Odyssey, 5OOO tons, 128 pax - compared to Vision at 78,000 tons, 2000 pax.

 

JB :)

So we'll be on the Prinsendam next year which has 848 pax - guessing that she would have been able to go in:confused::confused: since she is much smaller than the Vision:confused:

So we'll be on the Prinsendam next year which has 848 pax - guessing that she would have been able to go in:confused::confused: since she is much smaller than the Vision:confused:

37,000 tons. She could probably go through that bottleneck sideways if neccessary :D

But I don't know how different the height of her superstructure, the wind seems to be the reason Vision aborted.

BTW, you'll probably be in the land of Nod as you pass through, but try to keep an eye out when you leave SPB, it's quite interesting. From memory it was about an hour out of port

JB :)