St-Petersburg

We will be in St-Petersburg next May and we have a tour with SPB tours. How long to get off the ship and through immigration?

We did the 2 day tour with SPB this May. There were excellent and cannot say enough about how impressive St. Petersburg was.

If I recall it did not take long to disembark and clear customs. Probably less than 25 minutes if that.

SPB will give you documentation to show immigration on the pier as to Visa eligibility. The time it takes can depend on the length of the line, how fast they work and how many booths they have open. We disembarked as a group and took about 15 minutes.....

Took about 15-20 minutes. Enjoy, it is an incredibly beautiful City

Thank you we were told that it was a very long process. Cannot wait to be there.

We were on the Silhouette this past May and also did the 2 day tour with SPB Tours. They were wonderful and it was the highlight of the trip.

We had a very long line to clear immigration. It was over and hour and our tour almost left without us. There were very few lines open and we just happened to be in a line that barely moved. I would suggest that you go down to the lobby of the ship far in advance of disembarking so you can be one of the first ones off to get in the immigration line.

It sounds like the others who replied to you had a quick process to get through immigration so we may have had an off day but thought you would like to know it is possible that it will be a lengthy process.

Enjoy your trip. You will love it!!

Julie

We were also on the Silly in May and it took us close to 2 hrs to clear customs. We used Alla tours but I think if you use any of the large tour cos. you will not be dissatisfied! Was the highlight of our trip.

We were in St Petersburg on Eclipse a year ago last July - did a two-day semi-private (six people) tour with SPB.

As I recall, it didn't take long at all to clear immigration - our small group ended up in three different lines, and we were all through in about 15 minutes. I think we tried to be among the first off the ship.

As I recall, the officials at the immigration booths were not super friendly.

Viktoria or her guides and drivers will meet you at the pier. They are the pros and will wait for you. There's nothing they haven't seen before, including long lines.

Enjoy St. Petersburg.

Viktoria or her guides and drivers will meet you at the pier. They are the pros and will wait for you. There's nothing they haven't seen before, including long lines.

Enjoy St. Petersburg.

They filled the vans for their tours as passengers showed up, and had a guide for each van.

So you don't need to be concerned about holding up all the other SPB tourists that day if you should happen to be on a slow line getting through immigration.

The instructions they send out in advance are very clear and easy to follow, telling exactly what you need to do.

As you probably already know, they will include you in their group visa so there is no need to obtain your own visa.

If you want to contact Viktoria in advance with any questions or special requests, she or one of her assistants will send you a prompt reply.

Email: vika@spb-tours.com

We found them to be very friendly and helpful.

We took their regular 2-day St. Petersburg tour and enjoyed it very much. They really pack a lot of sightseeing into those 2 days. It was all very efficiently planned and organized.

Thank you we were told that it was a very long process. Cannot wait to be there.

10 minutes at the most, from exiting the ship to meeting our tour guide. I was expecting it to be much longer, after having spent at least 2 hrs queuing to enter USA.

We made sure we were on deck 2 in good time ( actually before everything was set up for us to exit) and we were one of the first off the ship.

We each had our own tour ticket in our passport and showed it to immigration who checked it via their computer ( no smiling!)

I saw at least 10 agents in the room we were in, the ship's tours were taken to another room, so we didn't get clogged behind them.

NO CUSTOMS to be checked.

Our tour guide, Luba, was waiting for us and took the paper which I had pre filled in with our credit card details. I was given a receipt for this on our return on the final day. She had a list of those in her group ( we were a special needs group, special menu for a few of us, other with walking difficulties)

You will be sent detailed instructions 2 weeks before you sail.

We were also there in May and found it took about 45 mins to get through. It is obviously variable from the posts. We did find people started gathering on the ship ages before the time we were allowed to disembark. Everyone was chanelled down the stairs the first morning and there there was a huge queue.

We were also there in May and found it took about 45 mins to get through. It is obviously variable from the posts. We did find people started gathering on the ship ages before the time we were allowed to disembark. Everyone was chanelled down the stairs the first morning and there there was a huge queue.

We went down in the lift to deck 2, so avoiding the queues.

We were there a few years ago in May and it was very cold with snow flurries which was out of the ordinary, so go prepared for all types of weather. We also used SPB for a 2 day tour they were excellent in every aspect including emails prior. You are going to have a wonderful time!

Just make sure all the paperwork the ship gives you to disembark with is filled out completely and clearly. :eek: (per ship's personnel)

During our cruise (4 years ago on Eclipse) we attended a briefing hosted by an Officer about the do's and dont's when proceeding thru "immigration". He told some stories about the entry process, one where a passenger was denied entry just because their passport did not have the last page "unstamped". He swore it was true but also to alert us that some days the immigration people can be hard arses.

It is true though that the immigration officer never cracked a smile each time we were there. Even when you said "Thank You" after the "examination".

Once we met our tour guide the 1st instruction she gave us was to never stray away on our own. All I could think of was the KGB jumping out from behind trees if we did. lol

One more thing. Taking a ride on their underground system is a real treat. Hopefully your tour will include it as our 2 day Alla Tour did.

As others have said the city, the palaces and the museums are fantastic, so much so we are going back next May. :)

2MC :D

We were there last July. I will pile on that SPB tours are great, and our customs experience was a 10-15 min wait. The CD told us that it was highly variable, with a few stops being 90 min or more while many fit our case. Just the luck of the draw it seems.

It took us 1.5 hours to go through immigration in St Petersburg. You will not go through customs.

We used SPB tours and so thankful we did. One of the gals in our group was pickpocketed and lost her passport and wallet. Viktoria stepped up and found a hotel to stay overnight(she could not get through immigration to return to the ship for our overnight stay), took her to the US Embassy the next day, and returned her to the ship before we sailed. Our tour guide was very interesting, enjoyable, and knowledgeable. A wonderful tour!!!!

The takeaway is that processing times vary greatly. We were there on the Silhouette in August and had been forewarned by prior cruisers about long wait times. Our wait times were quite short. I think it depends on which terminal you dock in and how many ships are in port at the same time. The terminal we used was large with many processing areas. So, there really isn't a good way to anticipate length of time. But, the various tour companies are very accustomed to these variations and will adapt if there are delays. If you are looking for a small group tour, I highly recommend Marina Wilson tours. Have a great trip.

It took us 1.5 hours to go through immigration in St Petersburg. You will not go through customs.

 

We used SPB tours and so thankful we did. One of the gals in our group was pickpocketed and lost her passport and wallet. Viktoria stepped up and found a hotel to stay overnight(she could not get through immigration to return to the ship for our overnight stay), took her to the US Embassy the next day, and returned her to the ship before we sailed. Our tour guide was very interesting, enjoyable, and knowledgeable. A wonderful tour!!!!

I had my passport in my camera bag which I had over my neck & shoulder and I carried it in front of me.

It was suggested that we left valuables on the locked bus when we went into the 'Church of the Spilled Blood' as it is a well known pickpocket area. It meant that we couldn't buy any souvenirs in the church, but we couldn't anyway, as I only had € &$, no roubles. It was the only place we came across that didn't trade in € & $.

 

It is true though that the immigration officer never cracked a smile each time we were there. Even when you said "Thank You" after the "examination".

 

2MC :D

Just like the experiences of non-US citizens at Los Angeles airport, then. And the long delays.

Stuart

Our tour with SPB included a subway ride, it was amazing don't miss it.

It was about 55 minutes from the time we were off the ship until we met our tour escort. We met our group at the Passport Bar and got off as a group. Worked quite well.