Customs clearance St Petersburg Russia

[markarmel]

Hello. Can someone give us any idea how long it takes to get through customs in St Petersburg. We are scheduled to get into port at 7.00am and our tour is listed to start at 8.00am. Those who have been there, what time would we need to meet on the ship to meet our tour guide at 8.00am. Note: There are 2 other cruise ships in port with us.

Edited July 10, 2016 by markarmel

[colbe]

We only went through immigration not customs and it took about 5 minutes. We were amongst the first off the ship. Ship docked at 6.30 and our tour start time was 7.30.

It did take a little longer each afternoon going back on.

 

Enjoy this amazing city.

[JohnKen3]

On the first day in St Petersburg, you go through immigration (no customs).

 

If you are on a ship's own excursion, you show your excursion ticket that you get on-board the ship, they stamp your passport, and you will be waved through.

 

If you are on your own private tour (from approved agency), you show them the letter the letter that the agency has sent you, they check your name against the list of the name of passengers that the various travel agencies have filed with the authorities. Once they find this, they stamp your passport, and you will be waved through.

 

It is faster to process through passenger with excursion ticket. It takes a bit longer to process passengers on private tours. Still it is a fairly quick process. As the previous poster said, about 5 mins and that is is 1 or 2 people in the queue in front of you. They have about 4 to 5 immigration desks open in the morning. Just one desk remains open after that.

 

You repeat the same process every time you leave the ship during the two / three days stay in St Petersburg. The private tour checks are more cursory after the first check and they see the previous day's immigration stamp already in the passport.

Edited July 10, 2016 by JohnKen3

[aljo66]

Took us 10 minutes 2 weeks ago and we were on an independent tour

 

Sent from my HUAWEI M2-A01L using Tapatalk

[kazu]

It took us no time at all (and we were on a private tour).

 

Our group was one of the first off and our guide was waiting for us at the other end after we got through.

 

The Russians are not the most welcoming but it was not a difficult process at all. Just be sure to have your tour ticket as well as your passport.

[Louise sail]

We have been to St. Petersburg twice both times we got off the ship as soon as it was announced the ship was ready to disembark.There was a long line to see the agents but we were finished and on our private tour bus in about half an hour.Have a great time in a beautiful city.

[0bnxshs]

Also, your tour guides, whether they are ship's tour based or private, are quite aware of both who is on their tours and what issues exist in clearing immigration. So if you are delayed a bit due to the ship being late or immigration issues, they'll know that.

 

Enjoy your cruise. St. Petersburg is a beautiful city. :)

[cruisemom42]

If you read the above responses, most got off the ship at the earliest opportunity and that's what I'd also advise. The lines build up if you wait longer. So, while you might be cleared very quickly if you get off among the first, you could face a much, much longer wait if you delay.

 

I know that when we were in St. Petersburg, we were among the VERY first passengers off the ship. When we cleared the passport control, our guide and driver were already waiting for us, even though we were about a half hour early. They were happy to get an early start on the (long) day, and so were we.

[aljo66]

We were definitely not one of the first off the ship but about 30 minutes after - still only took 10 minutes as there were plenty of booths and the directions to the least busy ones was good.

 

Sent from my ALE-L21 using Tapatalk

[Wehwalt]

My experience is around a ten minute wait at 7:45 of Day 1, and this was on the Eurodam last summer, twice.

 

Although the private tour participants get off quickly, HAL tends to pace the people on ship's excursions. You have to get your sticker. So after the initial rush, things aren't too bad.

Edited July 10, 2016 by Wehwalt

[kazu]

My experience is around a ten minute wait at 7:45 of Day 1, and this was on the Eurodam last summer, twice.

 

Although the private tour participants get off quickly, HAL tends to pace the people on ship's excursions. You have to get your sticker. So after the initial rush, things aren't too bad.

 

 

Another reason other than: smaller groups, more flexibility, better prices to not book a HAL cruise in this port. We did the first time as we were naive and believed the line "that you had to do a HAL excursion". We were off the ship much faster on our 2nd time there on a private excursions and it was MUCH more enjoyable :)