Status of Russia port of call

[twruger]

The only difficulty with this port last week was (in our case) Norwegian Cruise Lines preventing anyone who did not purchase an exorbitantly overpriced excursion through them from getting off the ship in a timely manner.

[TravelingAPor]

That's really unprofessional of NCL. I know of one family that was able to sneak through but ended up waiting for the rest of their tour group because they were still being held inside the ship.

[spbstan]

There is a new rule in the port that on really busy days they want the ships to spread the disembarkation our a little so people don't have to wait long. The ships took in upon themselves to make the fast claim that everyone not booked with the ship had to wait hours. That is not what the port says and it is being addressed. They do not want to get the blame for the chaos on the ship. In mid-May a record number disembarked, 18,000 plus crew. The ships keep getting larger and more congested. The very worst is Norwegian Breakaway due to its size and lack organization. Holland America ships are telling passengers they can't disembark for several hours even on the days where there are not 15-18,000 disembarking.

The port has won the award in the port association consistently as the best run and efficient passenger port in Europe.

The ship has no authority to tell you when to disembark once the ship has cleared customs, usually 20-25 minutes after tie-down. If you want to be off fast, just leave.

But consider that nothing is open a 0730 or 0800. Getting off at 10: means the tour just ends later without driving around for a few hours.

One rule helps, that buses and vans should stay outside the port gates so there is no traffic congestion. The rep from the company will call the van driver and guide when their guests are through passport control.

 

This thread started with worrying about US warnings to not come to Russia for reasons that make no sense, it was purely political and had no possible increase in threats to people arriving. As all who came for the World Cup noted, it was the best, friendliest and best organized WC in history. Americans and Brits did not come but everyone else did and had a great time.

If the US or UK banned visitors it would make no difference to the cruise lines, here is a whole trend for South American, European, Asian visitors filling the cabins. More Brazilians came than Americans this summer, and far more Chinese, over 1.1 million, and they do not get discounts from cruise lines. The ships will not abandon their most profitable destination.

The WC had about 600,000 come for a couple weeks each and in the 11 cities games were held, there were no arrests, fights or any reported problems. It was like Carnavale every day and night. A lot of those first time visitors are already buying tickets and booking hotels for this fall or summer. Having the state department tried to hoodwink citizens into not coming got a lot of people angry by being deceived. By the way, St Petersburg recently was awarded the top destination in Europe, in a multi.factor ranking. It is and has been certainly safer than any large cities in the Baltic, Europe, or London.

It looks like TJ Travel has overtaken Alla and SPB Tours in total head counts. The big increase in visitors not speaking English has created a market for companies specializing in Spanish, Italian, German and Mandarin. The ships have has a windfall with all these countries that were not traditional cruising societies, most book with the ship since they do not know that there are alternatives that are cheaper and better. In a few years that will all change again since the saw all the small groups and private tours.

[fabnfortysomething]

actually our take was that NCL tried to organise independent cruisers in a fair way but no enforcing of letters A to whatever with no one checking

consequently it was a case of "i'm all right jack" with people pushing in line ahead of their allocated time

 

we were supposedly in group A first after ships tours but it took an hour in theatre to be escorted out

then another hour with Russian immigration

we joined a line with about 10 people in front of us

unfortunately a very selfish group of about 20 adults spread members across several lines and kept moving people across to what they thought was fastest line

as a result 30 minutes after joined line we had same number of people in front of us!

[n hindsight arrange to meet tour guide after 10 when lines died down and open embarkation

the private tour guides will make sure you still get full days tour

[twruger]

I don't believe the 18,000 passengers is an issue, as the Russian port immigration officials have at least four different immigration centers. When we were there, there were four ships docked, so each had its own immigration center. Traffic in one would not affect another. Vehicle traffic seemed negligible, as I never saw any road contention in/out of port. Even the parking lot for the immigration center used for Breakaway was at most half full of tour vans and buses.

 

We were in Group C, and adhered to our group time of 8:15. Then we waited in the theater for almost an hour. If NCL was enforcing delay, I would rather wait in my room and tell us to just head to gangway at 9:15. NCL blamed the Russians the whole time, but just didn't seem valid. Day 2 everyone just walked off without any wait at all. Granted, the Russian officials were quickly scanning passports and not going through the whole process as Day 1, but it still seems the Day 1 debacle was more of NCL's making. Just the fact that independent tours are forced after NCL tours is suspect, but hey I'll give those people a break since they got suckered into paying more than double to be in larger, slower groups.

 

When we finally were off the ship and out of NCL's grasp, Russian immigration seemed organized and efficient, although more manned stations surely wouldn't hurt. There were about 15-20 people in each line, and I believe we were only in line about 10-15 minutes. We were with the immigration officer for probably one minute each, although I did observe some people get stuck for 5-10 minutes. I'm not sure what issue held them up. Maybe something with their tour tickets or a flag that came up on their particular passport. But our group of six was through with no issue. We were in our tour van 5 minutes later, and waited 20 minutes for another family of 4 to join our group, and then we were off.

 

In the end, it was fine. Just a bit of waiting, but we had plenty of time to see everything. We were in St. Petersburg for at least 12 hours on Day 1, and when we finally returned to the ship, that wait didn't matter much and we just wanted to sleep and move on to Day 2! :)

[charlie murphy]

We were there in July and I would say it was busy, but not any more of a hassle then any airports immigration, maybe less. The agents were thorough and not in a rush. They would not let families go thru together , each member of the family had to go thru independently. ( even my 10 year olds). The most anxiety was on the ship with people thinking if they did not get off the ship right away the tour would take off without them. We traveled independently in Saint Petersburg. If you are doing this : the bus stop is literally right outside the terminal gate ( there is a sign) and when you get off the bus at the Metro, the station is at the back of the shopping center. ( it will make sense when you see it) you can not see the station from the street , pedestrian traffic is moving that way. I would say it was not as bad as the thread makes it out to be. I am sure there are different experiences and maybe we were just lucky. The place is BIG bring good shoes!

[Mary Louise]

We were there at the end of June. RCCL told us the same thing that we could not get off until after their tours have cleared through immigration. We just blended in and had no problem. It appeared that many did that. Immigration could really care less if you were on a ship tour or another group/private tour. All of the independent tour companies were there by 7:30 AM. Alla had early admission to the Hermitage. That saved us a lot of wait time.

 

ML

[upwarduk]

A word of caution:

I had booked my tours via Celebrity, as I had read that the ship’s tour buses were the first allowed into the port. I also wanted to see the inside of Peterhof, which we hadn’t seen in 2015 and Celebrity was the only agent that I could find with that tour.

Well, Celebrity Silhouette was DENIED ENTRY into the port on July 1/2nd 2018. The Captain told us a pilot was on board, but we were too big to be able to turn in the channel due to the wind conditions. 2 more attempts were made at 3pm on 1st July and at 3am on 2nd July.

My tour money was REFUNDED on 1st July, as that tour couldn’t be re arranged for the following day and the same on the evening of 2nd July, when we didn’t get in again.

I saw some passengers who were still hoping they would get their tour money back from their TA, as they had booked and PAID for their tours via them.

[fabnfortysomething]

A word of caution:

I had booked my tours via Celebrity, as I had read that the ship’s tour buses were the first allowed into the port. I also wanted to see the inside of Peterhof, which we hadn’t seen in 2015 and Celebrity was the only agent that I could find with that tour.

Well, Celebrity Silhouette was DENIED ENTRY into the port on July 1/2nd 2018. The Captain told us a pilot was on board, but we were too big to be able to turn in the channel due to the wind conditions. 2 more attempts were made at 3pm on 1st July and at 3am on 2nd July.

My tour money was REFUNDED on 1st July, as that tour couldn’t be re arranged for the following day and the same on the evening of 2nd July, when we didn’t get in again.

I saw some passengers who were still hoping they would get their tour money back from their TA, as they had booked and PAID for their tours via them.

 

most of the private companies don't take payment until day 2 of tour so if ship failed to dock no upfront payment to worry about

[kitkat343]

The ship has no authority to tell you when to disembark once the ship has cleared customs, usually 20-25 minutes after tie-down. If you want to be off fast, just leave.

 

There were several articles describing new port rules allowing ships to force passengers on private tours to wait. This is one of them https://guidetopetersburg.com/new-disembarkation-rules-st-petersburg-cruise-port-for-2018-navigation/ .

 

It's one thing to try to sneak in line while the private tour passengers are leaving - since cruisers have reported that the customs officials apparently don't care about enforcing this rule, but if you are stopped by a cruise employee I would listen to them and go back to where you are supposed to wait. If the news articles are true, the ship now has the right to tell you that you cannot disembark first unless you are on a cruise tour. Private tours for just your family will at least help you not be in a position to have to wait any longer than it takes you personally to disembark, and starting later on day 1 and earlier on day 2 would also help alleviate this situation.

[ncrmd]

We just got back from a 2 day stop in St. Petersburg on the Regal Princess and went with SPB tours. The private operators arrange for a visa with no problems and we got our passports and tour tickets checked by immigration with about a five minute wait on the first day and had about the same wait on the second day. We were able to get off the ship by 8:15 after the RCCL tours got off and had no problems meeting our tour guide by 9:00. Having to wait for the ship tours to get off first was a minimal inconvenience but being in a small group of 12 was much more convenient rather than a 40+ person cruise group--we got around much quicker, had more time at the stops, had better access to the tour guide, and got to go more places than the cruise groups. The cost was about 50% lower and I felt the quality of the tour was much better.

[Eartha Kitten]

Thank you ncrmd for the positive feedback. We are leaving in the coming weeks and were concerned,but your comments are very reassuring. Do you know if yours was the only cruise ship in port that first day? When we disembark on our first day there will be an additional three ships on their first days too.

[dabear]

We were on the Celebrity Eclipse in SPG on 7/6 and 7/7. Although there only were 4 ships in port & the ship's tours priority rule supposedly does not apply if less than 5 ships are in port, we were asked to meet elsewhere to permit the ship's tours to exit first. It was disorganized and we waited more than one hour before exiting the ship. Celebrity kept giving us misinformation and in fact gave us numbers & then called multiple numbers at the same time causing more chaos. The second day was a breeze.

[twruger]

Thank you ncrmd for the positive feedback. We are leaving in the coming weeks and were concerned,but your comments are very reassuring. Do you know if yours was the only cruise ship in port that first day? When we disembark on our first day there will be an additional three ships on their first days too.

 

There are at least 4 different immigration centers in the port. If there are four ships or less, you are each using a different center. We were there with four large ships on 7/26, and the traffic from each did not impact the other at all. They are completely segregated, hundreds of feet apart.

[TravelingAPor]

I'm sure the new solution is better than last years long lines & long waits. Last year, it seemed like the whole ship got on line, at the same time. We all waited on line patiently, no one was sneaking ahead of other cruisers, on my cruise.

The Russian immigration officers took their time and grimly did their duty.

There is no reason to worry about the tour company leaving, without you. They want to get paid, at the end of your tour. No matter which company you used, the top few are all excellent! ENJOY!!! :D

[Geoffscouse]

My wife & I and another couple were in Celebrity Silhouette in July and getting through immigration to join TJ Tours was only about ten minutes for our 8.30 am meeting (we were through by 8.15 am).

Showed our passports (Australian) and our tickets, which were A4 size and it was a breeze. Returning to the ship after the first day we showed passports (another stamp) to 'leave' SPB and boarded the ship. The following day once again passports and ticket and we entered Russia at about 7.15 am for our meeting at 7.30 am. Couldn't have been simpler.

TJ Tours will wait for anyone stuck in the immigration queue, so that's not a worry. Overall I was very pleased with the service from TJ Tours and would recommend them to anyone wishing to save money and not use the cruise ship's tours - we had the two day tour and considered it excellent value, plus it included lunch on the first day. We didn't have to pay anything until day 2 - so if anything goes wrong and your ships fails to make port for any reason you are not out of pocket.

[jac1976]

I was just in St. Petersburg on August 4/5. I sailed with Cunard and booked a private tour with TJ Travel. There were 5 ships in port on the 4th and 6 ships on the 5th. I had no issues getting off my ship before Cunard excursions. No one even asked me if I was on a tour or anything when I got off the ship- I just walked right off. On the first day there was a 30 minute wait to get through passport control. On the 2nd day it only took 10 minutes. I needed to have my passport on both days (I’m a US citizen) and just showed my passport along with my tour ticket (printed on regular paper from my computer at home) and didn’t have any issues at all.

[stpie]

Our ship, Silversea Spirit, is smaller and was allowed to dock along the Neva River in town, at the Lieutenant Schmidt Embankment, which was beautiful and so much closer for our tours. I think there were several large ships docked at the large dock at Marine Facade. We were there three days in early August.

 

We were not asked to separate into ship or non-ship tours. Our cruise director warned us that it could take a long time the first day. There were 8-9 windows open. We were the only ship for this immigration center. No other ships were docked at the embankments. It took a total of 10-15 minutes (waiting in 2 different lines) for our family of six to pass, though there were passengers behind us. Everyone seemed to be in good spirits. Our CD apologized for the wait, but everyone expressed understanding. Our ship was small, totalling about 600 passengers, so it's a lot eaiser.

 

All other passing through (returning and evening), was fine.

[TravelingAPor]

You were very lucky to be on a small ship and to dock in town.

Our ship had about 5,000 passengers and we were lucky it was not windy. I heard of a huge ship, missing the port because it was too bulky to navigate with the high winds.

[CruisingFox27]

We arrived in St Petersburg on MSC Orchestra on 24th of August, we were not asked to wait for ship excursions to disembark first. We didn't have to queue to disembark and there were only small queues at immigration. We were through in 10 minutes on the first morning and less on the second morning. All of the immigration kiosks appeared to be open and we were directed to utilise all of them. Avoiding the first kiosks is wise. Our tour with Alla was outstanding and we thoroughly enjoyed our visit to St Petersburg.