Recent Experiences in St. Petersburg?

Can anyone share very recent (in the past month or so) experiences in St. Petersburg, given the ongoing international brouhaha? I am specifically wondering if the Russian authorities have delayed immigration for U.S. citizens, made life "difficult" for tourists or in any other way imposed some "reverse sanctions" behavior to make a point? Just to be clear,

I am not looking for tour suggestions, places to visit, or experiences from last year(s). We are on the Royal Baltic leaving Copenhagen Aug. 30 and I am just wanting to know what we might expect, given the political situation. Any personal experiences you can share from the past few weeks much appreciated.

thanks

We were there in June. I don't know if that is recent enough for you since things keep ramping up; however, we had no problems at all and thoroughly enjoyed our time there.

You might try posting on the Ports of Call board, Baltics, here:

http://cruiseforums.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=192

You might want to look over on the Northern Europe board, where you can get feedback from all cruisers visiting SPB.

And yes, Russia has started to "reverse sanction". Just check the news.

My daughter and her husband were in St Petersburg in July. They had no problems. They did only HAL excursions.

We were ther less than a month ago. There were few changes. Few street vendors, no market across from the Church on the Spilled Blood, more traffic, and new building everywhere. This was our fourth visit to the city. We had a private tour. Also there have been a couple others who posted on this board about there recent journeys.

We were in St. P. In July, just prior to the airline crash. We went on a private tour with a guide and driver. At that time, we did not have a particularly difficult time with immigration nor did we feel unsafe. However, as tensions continue to escalate, one can only hypothesize the impact.

I wish you a safe and happy journey no matter what your ultimate decision is about visiting St Petersburg.

We were in St. Petersburg in July and had no problems at all. We did a private tour and had a wonderful time. We passed through immigration easily.

Susan

We were in St. Petersburg in mid July and felt no negative reactions from anyone. We were on a private tour and we could not help but notice that absolutely no mention was made of the events in the Ukraine----it was kind of like the proverbial "elephant in the room".

We spent July 26-27 in St. Petersburg, and use a private tour company both days. There was no issue with immigration, in fact it was easy and speedy. The 27th was "Navy Day" with a lot of ships and navy personnel up and down the canal. We never felt uncomfortable at any time. However, we did not discuss current events or politics with our guide or other Russians we met while on the tour.

We were in St. Petersburg in July and had no problems at all. We did a private tour and had a wonderful time. We passed through immigration easily.

 

Susan

We were with Susan's private tour group July 6 & 7 and noticed no changes. Granted the situation may have changed in a month.

St. Petersburg is a long way from the Ukraine. We were there toward the end of June and loved every minute. The immigration people were much friendlier than the last time we were there. We didn't experience one negative thing. Princess will not stop there if there are any issues.

Thanks to the OP and all of you who have posted about your recent experiences. We're going to be there in a week and it's good to know that things have been OK so far.

Thanks to the OP and all of you who have posted about your recent experiences. We're going to be there in a week and it's good to know that things have been OK so far.

Have a great time in St Petersburg. The locals are friendly and the city is absolutely beautiful.

We have just returned and really enjoyed St P, we booked with SPB tours who were brilliant. Immigration took only 5 mins on day 1 and a simple walk through on day 2. Our passports and tour tickets were barely glanced at and quickly stamped on the page I requested. Couldn't have been easier. We paid for most souvenirs with US dollars which were accepted everywhere except in a small cafe where we used our credit card to pay for lunch.

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Just returned last night from being on the Royal Princess Baltic cruise. We were in St. Petersburg last Sunday and Monday. No passport problems. Went through process quickly and everyone that we encountered were very nice. Tour guide was very warm and friendly.

It was extremely warm and humid in St. Petersburg and as we expected, nothing has air conditioning. All of the Baltic ports we were in were very warm and sunny which is quite unusual, I was told.

Thanks for asking the question Bella. We're departing Copenhagen on the 21st and it will be interesting to see the impact the recent food embargo.

We just returned from the royal on Friday, August 8. You would never know anything was going on with the Ukraine situation. We had extremely hot weather in all our ports, especially in st Petersburg. There is no ac anywhere in Russia, which made touring extremely heat deplitating. Tons of tour groups from all the ships docked ( we had 5 in port)all the main attractions were mobbed, especially the hermitage, even with early access it was crazy. Just beware, the main complaint I have about the royal is the elevator situation on port days. Takes forever to find an elevator that you weren't squashed into!

Sandy, I'm glad you asked this question. Thank you to those who replied. It sounds like we shouldn't expect any problems at all. By September maybe it won't be so hot.

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We did a Baltic cruise last September and had excellent weather in every port. It was very hot in Tallin, about 28C. In SPB it was lovely and sunny and warm, but not overly hot.

As far as any problems go, no cruise line will stop at a port of call deemed unsafe. The last time we went on a cruise in the Caribbean the captain decided not to stop in Trinidad due to a demonstration taking place, we went to St Vincent instead.

We were in SPB in late July for three days with a private guide. No problems.

We were there in late July, a few days after the crash of the Malaysian Airlines plane, but there were no problems at all. Given that we were on a tour, we weren't exposed to that many locals, but certainly we heard no issues with immigration from any fellow passengers, and none from shopkeepers or street vendors.

Our guide did slip once during the tour when she started talking about her family vacationing in the Crimea years ago, and how that was the most common vacation for most Russians that she knew growing up. She then made the comment about "Crimea was always part of Russia" (even though it was in the Ukraine when she was growing up). She then immediately stopped and changed the subject to something else. The way she did it made me believe that guides have been given very clear instructions around staying away from anything political with their groups.

We were there in late July, a few days after the crash of the Malaysian Airlines plane, but there were no problems at all. Given that we were on a tour, we weren't exposed to that many locals, but certainly we heard no issues with immigration from any fellow passengers, and none from shopkeepers or street vendors.

 

Our guide did slip once during the tour when she started talking about her family vacationing in the Crimea years ago, and how that was the most common vacation for most Russians that she knew growing up. She then made the comment about "Crimea was always part of Russia" (even though it was in the Ukraine when she was growing up). She then immediately stopped and changed the subject to something else. The way she did it made me believe that guides have been given very clear instructions around staying away from anything political with their groups.

Ours stated that not many people were going to Crimea this year as they were working on the infrastructure, but she expected that a lot would next year, especially children. This came in a discussion of children's schooling and camps and summer activities. I don't discuss politics or world affairs when abroad, and no one else really pursued it either.

I don't discuss politics or world affairs when abroad, and no one else really pursued it either.

We try to be that way too. Safer all around. We did have to dodge political protests in both Berlin and Hamburg on our July cruise.