Any Problem Getting Off The Ship in SPB

[kjg46]

Question to the folks who have taken 3rd party shore excursions in St Petersburg, Russia.

Were you able to leave the ship before the scheduled Princess excursions? I thought I read

some post awhile back the you meet in a separate area around 7:30AM. Please confirm.

Appreciate your comments and/or suggestions.

[happiness is cruising]

You will need a Visa to leave the ship.. if NOT on a Princess shore excursions

[Colo Cruiser]

You will need a Visa to leave the ship.. if NOT on a Princess shore excursions

 

 

Correct, our stop it took along time to clear the ship. :(

[paul929207]

You will need a Visa to leave the ship.. if NOT on a Princess shore excursions

The major tour companies in St. Petersburg arrange the visa for their customers, but you must book in advance. They then email you the necessary documentation to get you off the ship.

[IECalCruiser]

You will need a Visa to leave the ship.. if NOT on a Princess shore excursions

The licensed private tour companies arrange for a group visa, just like the Princess tour operators. As paul929207 posted, all of the required documents are e-mailed to you before you leave on your cruise. You only need to get a visa if you want to explore on you own. Edited June 4, 2015 by IECalCruiser

[IECalCruiser]

Question to the folks who have taken 3rd party shore excursions in St Petersburg, Russia.

 

Were you able to leave the ship before the scheduled Princess excursions? I thought I read

 

some post awhile back the you meet in a separate area around 7:30AM. Please confirm.

 

Appreciate your comments and/or suggestions.

I can only speak from our experience two years ago on the Emerald. They started handing out disembarkation tickets at 6:30 AM in the Michelangelo DR. We had our entire group of 15 on our tour line up outside by 6:15 and we all got Group 1 tickets (40-50 people per Group). We started disembarking about 7:00 and Group 2 was called before everyone in Group 1 left. We were all through immigration in less than 15 minutes and we were at the pick-up point before our tour bus got there for the scheduled 7:45 pick-up time. At least for us, it was very efficient. IMHO, private tours are the only way to see as much of St. Petersburg as possible in two days. Edited June 4, 2015 by IECalCruiser

[gkkapp]

I agree with IECalCruiser-

 

In 2013 our group of 10 went to the dinning room early as a group. Don't remember what number we were but it was one of the first. We were off the ship, through passport control and with our tour guide before the stated meeting time. Even in 2010 on Princess on our first Baltic cruise we had no problem getting off. We have used both Alla and SPB tours and both were excellent.

 

<<<Karen>>>

[caribill]

You will need a Visa to leave the ship.. if NOT on a Princess shore excursions

 

That is what Princess would like you to believe.

 

You only need a visa in your passport if you want to go out on your own, not with any authorized tour vendor.

 

As another poster pointed out, authorized tour vendors provide the documentation you need to go through Russian immigration once getting off of the ship.

 

100% of the passengers all want to leave the ship ASAP, so that is why the ticket system is needed, just as when tendering.

 

When we did this itinerary, Princess tried to make it inconvenient for those on non-Princess tours by posting signs outside most of the immigration booths saying "Princess Tours Only." If you see such signs, ignore them. The immigration folk do not care who your tour is with.

[2pbears]

That is what Princess would like you to believe.

 

When we did this itinerary, Princess tried to make it inconvenient for those on non-Princess tours by posting signs outside most of the immigration booths saying "Princess Tours Only." If you see such signs, ignore them. The immigration folk do not care who your tour is with.

 

We had heard about this beforehand and were prepared to strong arm our way past the Princess Reps but it was easier said than done. They were extremely aggressive in holding back people who were not on Princess tours. We ended up back upstairs in the "holding area" waiting until they called our turn. I would allow plenty of time to disembark if you are not on a Princess tour.

[skynight]

You will need a Visa to leave the ship.. if NOT on a Princess shore excursions

This statement is NOT correct.

 

If you book a tour, must be in advance, with a private licensed tour company such as ALLA Tours or SPB Tours the tour company will e-mail you a tour confirmation/visa document. This document is your visa to enter and exit Russia. No different than what Princess does. Princess provides you with a tour document that acts as your visa. You are required to stay with your tour group and can not go out on your own.

 

Your tour company will provide you all the information regarding what time and where to meet once you are processed through Russian immigration. It took us about 30/40 mins. to get through immigration last September on the first day. The second day the immigration time was shorter. Just get into the lines.

 

Now if you intend to go out and tour around on your own (not recommended) you will require a Russian visa which you get from the Russian Consulate in advance of your trip.

Edited June 4, 2015 by sknight

[Fletch1]

Thanks everyone for posting. Your info is very helpful.

[pompeii]

We had heard about this beforehand and were prepared to strong arm our way past the Princess Reps but it was easier said than done. They were extremely aggressive in holding back people who were not on Princess tours. We ended up back upstairs in the "holding area" waiting until they called our turn. I would allow plenty of time to disembark if you are not on a Princess tour.

 

So no matter what you had to wait until all the Princess tours were off? This was just last summer, right? I thought I read Princess stopped doing this a few years ago, but I guess not. What time was it when you finally got off the ship? We're supposed to meet our tour guide at 8:00.

[gkkapp]

pompeii-

 

Go to the dinning room early. If the time is 7:00am be there at 6:45am or earlier. You'll get a number, 20-30 given out at a time (if I remember correctly). Make sure your group, if you have one, is all together so you have the same number. When your number is called off you all go. We did private tours on both of our Princess cruises, 2010 and 2013 (groups of 16 and 10 respectively) with no problem getting off. Sometimes, depending on the ship, they have two exits one for Princess tours and another for private ones. They alternate letting people off so the lines at immigration are not so long.

 

Hope this helps. We plan to go again next year.

 

<<<Karen>>>

[san diego sue]

On the Royal last September, our group(private tour) met near IC and left the ship together.Didn't get a ticket from Princess.Don't even remember if we were told to get a ticket. We left as soon as the ship cleared. (and before the Princess tours left). Used SPB and they had emailed our documentation before our cruise. There were so many booths opened going through Immigration. And they were pretty good about directing us to which lines to get on. Got through in about 15 minutes.By the way SPB had so many buses and vans, a good amount of people on board used them. Very organized . There were people from tour company with lists of names and quickly directed us to appropriate vehicles.

Day two, went through the lines very quickly, didn't seem like the Russian personnel even looked at our paperwork.

Edited June 5, 2015 by san diego sue

[gkkapp]

san diego sue-

 

Our experience in 2013 was much like yours even though we went to the dinning room and had a number. I don't think we even got comfortable in the chairs before our number was called :D. There were a lot of lines and people directing you to the shortest one. The terminal you went through has only been open for a few years (we used it in 2010, I think it opened in 2009) and it has made more lines available. No one should have trouble getting off unless they wait too long before leaving the ship, the lines could be longer then. Don't sleep in, get up and get off as early as possible.

 

<<<Karen>>>

[canuck13]

We just returned from our Baltics cruise on the Regal Princess. We were in St. Petersburg on May 30 & 31. Disembarkation both days could not have been easier. We booked a private SPB tour for 4 people, but there were no restrictions on when we could get off. We were prepared for a wait Day 1 so left the ship around 7 AM, but lines moved very quickly and we were through in 10 min. Our guide and driver were waiting so we got an early start. On day 2 we had agreed to meet our guide by 7:20. We played it safe and left the ship before 7. Again about 10 min. and we arrived at our meeting point 5 min. before the driver & guide.

 

Wait times may be related to the number of ships in port. We were fortunate to the be the only ship in port on Day 1. That meant there were many lines open since ours was the only terminal being staffed. On Day 2 there were 3 other ships in port. That meant fewer open lines at our terminal, but the process was much faster.

 

As an aside, I hadn't read anywhere that passengers are required to wait in line and show documents again when returning to the ship both days. For us, that meant the wait to return to the ship was about as long as getting off.

 

Full review to follow.

 

Bob

[piper28]

Take a small ship instead :). On the Ocean, there was no problems getting off as soon as the ship was cleared (we had a line up in the one hall-way waiting for clearance). And we docked right in town on the River Neva within site of the winter palace, instead of the docks used for the bigger ships.

[eandj]

CANUCK... How did your SPB tour go? Did you use them in other ports? We have them booked for July.

Looking forward to seeing your review.

Edited June 7, 2015 by eandj

[Wehwalt]

As an aside, I hadn't read anywhere that passengers are required to wait in line and show documents again when returning to the ship both days. For us, that meant the wait to return to the ship was about as long as getting off.

 

On the Ocean Princess last year, on returning to the ship they did check passports, don't think they wanted to see the tour paperwork. And I agree, the docking so close in (about a mile from Nevsky Prospekt) was fantastic. I'm going back on HAL's Eurodam in a few weeks. That will dock further out.

Edited June 7, 2015 by Wehwalt