St. Pete Russia SCAM - Read if you are going there

[Carol212]

Hi all, Just a little heads up if you are going to St. Pete. Long but well worth reading.

 

I went with HAL on 7/3 & 7/4/05. I did not have a VISA so had to rely on ship tours or a private tour through one of the authorized Russian agencies. DenRus (the one I took) & Red October.

 

On 7/3 we took a 10 hour private tour with DenRus. We visited 5 different sites plus a hydrofoil, subway ride, russian grocery store, had lunch in the park (our choice) plus a city tour. It was truly wonderful.

 

At 4 out of the 5 sites we went to our guide (Maria) told us that there was a fee to take photos inside and told us how much it was. It was normally 20 rubles. We did have Russian rubles. 20 rubles is about US$ 1.80. We would go inside and she would take us to the line and we would pay and get a tag or a sticker to put on our camera. On the tour there are people posted in each room and they actually do look at the camera if you are taking pictures to make sure you have your sticker. Again this happened in 4 out of 5 locations we went to that day. One of them was free to take pictures. Sorry I did not have a video camera so did not pay attention to the cost.

 

The second day in St. Pete I had 2 ship tours booked, in the morning I did Catherines Palace and in the afternoon a canal cruise and palace visit. Well on the bus going to Caherine's Palace the tour guide informed us there was a $5.00 fee to take photos in the Palace. (much higher for video) and that he would collect it. I gave him $5.00 thinking it was just much higher here since we were way out of the city and just thought he charged us in $ because most people don't get foreign currency when they book ship tours.

 

When we got off the bus and went inside I realized he had not given me my sticker. I walked over to him and told him that I did not get my sticker and his reply was. "Oh, there are no stickers here, it is on the honor system." Now that made me think. It did not sound right.

 

We took a 5 min potty break and I went to the front desk and asked them if it was OK to take photos, they said yes, then I asked them what the charge was and the reply was. "There is no charge to take photos here, it is free, take as many as you like." Just to make sure I then asked 2 other people that worked there. Both times I got the same answer. Picture taking was FREE here. So why did I pay $5.00.

 

I walked right up to Nickoli and said. I gave you $5.00 to take pictures, I just spoke to (and pointed) 3 people and they told me there is no charge to take photos here, I want my $5.00 back. He went into his pocket and gave me my money.

 

I was really upset and started telling other people. He realized what I was doing and came over to me and said. "There is a mis-understanding. It is not me that charges this fee but Holland American". I told him I doubt that but that I will speak to them about it. A couple of people asked him for their money back also but he told them that he charges less than if they paid the palace direct. So they left it alone. I tried, I told them it was free and I got my money back, what more could I do. They just accepted what he told them.

 

In the afternoor I also took a tour and again they collected $5.00 from everyone (way more for Video) and made a list. When we got to the door they gave everyone who's name was on the list a sticker for their camera.

 

The only way I found out about this was because I was on a private tour on day 1 and had to pay in rubles to get a sticker in order to use my camera. On Day 2 when I was on the ship tour I knew the ropes and questioned it when I was told there were no stickers.

 

The second tour I took they were a little more honest because you did need a sticker but again you paid them US$5. where the charge inside might have just been about 20 rubles or $1.80. (I did not check the price in here since I did not see anyone to ask). I did not pay for my camera here.

 

Make sure you bring Rubles with you and check out the camera fee and do not pay any quides $5. Go in and pay it yourself.

 

I also read somewhere that some of the private tour companies already include the price of taking photos in your tour price. (Not sure what they charge).

 

BUT, if you are on the ship and take the ship tours and go to Catherin'e Palace do not pay to use your camera. IT IS FREE. And if you take other ship tours check it out and make sure they are not overcharging you. I know it's only $5.00 but the video was like 15. It just bothers me that they think because we are tourists we are stupid.

 

I tried to tell the tour director on the ship but he was never available. I did leave my name and cabin number twice at the tour counter and requested that he call me but never heard from him. When I got hom I contacted HAL and told them about my 2 issues. One was the camera scam and the other was the fact that the tour director did not get back to me after I explained my issue at the tour counter twice.

 

They assured me that they would look into this and get back to me in writing. Not sure what they can or will do but they said they are shocked that this is happening since they send staff members on the tours posing as tourists just to rank the tour guides they are using. Again I explained to them that they would not pick this up unless they went there private and realized they had to ask the question about the camera fee and stickers.

 

Hope this helps.

[gopackgo]

Carol,

 

That is Very Interesting!! Thanks for the post!! We are leaving in 2 days so I found this topic very timely.

 

Hope you hear back from HAL about this. It will be interesting to find out if Radisson's tours charge the same thing. We will be on Red October tours for all 3 days.

 

Ginny

[km6xz]

Carol, sorry to hear of this problem. We heard similar stories from other passengers on our recent visit on Constellation. HAL should take care of this since they sold the tour and I think they would be responsible for any actions by their contractors.

 

By the way we were with DenRus also and loved our custom tour. Since we added another couple it was very reasonably priced. Our custom tour included camera fees but that was how we wanted it, I think most fees were about a $1 but the Hermitage was more. If you have any students traveling with you, the Hermitage is free for them so tell your tour company so they will give a discount of the $11-12 admission price.

 

By the way, 20 Rubles is about $.70 because when we were there the exchange rate was 28.75 to $1. We decided not to use cameras inside because we bought photobooks everywhere we went. The professional photos are just great. I bought an extra books of Peterhof and the Hermitage intending to frame some of the photos.

 

Did you have any problem getting off the ship the first day with your DenRus tour? Many people who did not know to ignore the ships instructions to gather for delayed disembarkation at 9:30 so they were late getting to their independent tours. The ships are trying everything they can to stop people from bypassing them and booking cheaper and better private tours in St Petersburg.

 

Your tour director must have known what your complaint was about and decided to lay low. It might only be $5 but considering 2000 passengers taking ship tours it seems that someone is making a big payday.

 

Jan

[SaylorGirl]

Carol - I found your post very intersting, I'm glad you posted it. I would have been asking for a refund of my $5.00 also. Did you enjoy your tour with Denrus? I have heard many good things about them. We will be in St. Petersburg in September but we have opted to go independently.

[Bollinge]

Nice to know that the Russians have embraced Capitalism!

[dileep]

Our Red October guide did charge us $5 in places where the camera fee was 50 rubles. We paid $5 at Catherine's Palace too.

 

The one plcae that she told us that there was no fee was Pe4ter& Paul Fortress.

 

There was some one checking the camera tag at St Isaac's.

[Hawaiian Eye]

Thanks for the heads up. Most interesting. :cool:

[DON M.]

Another example of American tourists being subtlely ripped off in foreign countries. At least here you know when you are being robbed. Iam glad to hear you fought for the principles involved.

[cruiseonly]

In the brochure describing the tours for the St. Pete's Ship 2 day tour, it reads:

 

"Camera and video fees for the Hermitage, Peterhof, St. Issac's Cathedral, Yusupov Palace, and Spilled Blood are included in the tour".

 

Flash photography not allowed at Hermitage.

[SCDH]

I copied this off of the official Hermitage website, so it would be around $4 for still and $8 for video. We were charged $4, which is what the website says the charge is.

"A supplemental entrance fee of 350 rubles is charged to visitors who wish to use home video cameras in the museum premises.

A supplemental entrance fee of 100 rubles is charged for taking amateur photographs in the museum. "

[SCDH]

This is from the Russian Hermitage website. It says the same thing. 350 rubles for video, 100 for still camera.

Билет на проведение любительской видеосъемки -

350 рублей

Билет на проведение любительской фотосъемки -

100 рублей

[SCDH]

If you saw a lower posted fee at a site, it might have been the fee for Russians. They pay much less than foreigners. I read that the posted fee is the Russian fee, but if you're foreign they charge you more.

 

"The prices are always shown as the base price for Russians. For example, the entry price for one museum was 30 Rubles (about $1.20) for Russians and 250 Rubles (about $10) for Foreigners." (from a person who went independently--and not on a cruise) The same person said that they were charged almost double the posted fare for the subway because they weren't Russian.

[uktog]

Thanks for the warning - I think I will approach this by knowing up front what is included, quietly pay for camera stickers when requested and reflect on where there have been obvious scams when determining the end of excursino trip aka - if you fleece me $5, I reduce tip by $5

[ShamrockFL]

We were with Red October - great tour incidentally. But there were places where there legitimtely were charges of $4-$5 for camera use and about $15 for video. Our guide did not collect this personally, but advised people where to go to pay when it applied so she stood to gain nothing personally. In this case the Red October tour was just a little less expensive than the ship's tour - not a lot - maybe about 15%.

[NancyIL]

We toured with DenRus, and I used my camera indoors only in places where there was no fee - Catherine's Palace and the Peter and Paul Church. I bought guidebooks everywhere else.

[Carol212]

SCDH

 

What I am saying is that the tour guide was asking everyone on the bus for $5.00 to take photos in Catherine's Palace. When I went in and asked, they told me (3 different people) that there is NO CHARGE to take photos there. All the other places I went to we did pay but in Rubles (20). Maybe because we were with a Russian tour guide and we did have Rubles. But the issue I am bringing up is that they were charging everyone to take photos in a place that had no Photo charge at all.

[Bollinge]

In view of the lack of response from the Tour Manager on board, I wonder if he is somehow in on this.

 

When I worked on the ships in the eighties, it was commonplace for the Cruise Director to collect a two or three dollar "backhander" for each passenger despatched on a particular tour, and something for each passenger spending in a "selected" store. Of course he would promote those businesses that paid kickbacks in his talks:

 

"You haven't visited the Caribbean unless you've been on XXXXXX!" and "Only shop at XXXXX otherwise you will be ripped off!"

 

These days it's almost all been clamped down on. Now the Cruise Line get the kickbacks by way of increased commissions from the tour operators and shops. This is why you are directed to individual stores in the port shopping leaflet, and why the shops have a lucky cabin number draw. The Cruise Line is on a percentage of your spend!