Independently visiting St. Petersburg

[woohoo21]

Visiting St. Petersburg this summer. At the moment trying to get tourist visa. Bit concerned how my husband and I are going to get from the port to the city itself. Has anyone done this? Has Royal Car put on transport for the independent travellers? If so, roughly how much has it cost? Ta

[Linda41]

We were in St Petersburg 2 years ago. Fantastic cruise and would seriously like to do that one again.

 

As far as I know there is no transportation by Royal Caribbean for an independent traveler. In fact, I believe that is the one place they recommend you do strictly tours. Guess there is a fairly high rate of crime there so just walking the streets is not advisable. Its tricky trying to do anything there totally independently because the only accepted money is the ruble and you are not able to buy any until you actually get in the country and then are not allowed to bring any rubles out. There is credit card usage however, to avoid this, but if you just want a few post cards, not everyplace takes credit cards.

 

We were on one group tour that was 1/2 day long. The bus stopped at some public restrooms and guess what--they charged you in rubles to get in!! Since none of us had any rubles, the "matron" finally motioned to us that for $1 American she would let 5 people in. What a surprise inside the rest room--NO toliet paper, paper towels, or soap is ever furnished--you are supposed to bring your own!:eek: (Pity any unfortunate woman who didn't have a kleenex with her.)

 

Although we did strictly RCCL tours, I have read on these boards that a good company to book independent tours is Red October. Don't know anything about them but people have been very pleased with their tours. I'm sure if you book with them, they would pick you up at the pier where the ship is docked. Also, if you book with RCCL or Red October, they have "group" visas which cover you so you don't need to get separate ones.

 

My highest recommendations for tours would include Peterhof--not to be missed! (Along with the Hermitage, and the cathedrals, of course.)

 

Getting off the ship at St Petersburg is a mess--you have to take your passports with you and everytime you get off or on, you stand in line and some Russian women (in uniforms) check your passport. They don't stamp it, just check is, and its rather slow. It was raining once so we had to stand in the rain for about half an hour to get through the line as only a few people could squeeze into the small buildings where passports are checked.

 

It is truly the trip of a lifetime, though.

 

Linda

[gratefulguy]

You may get more responses by posting on the "Baltic" ports of call board, or on the threads for your ship's "Roll Calls". I hope to go to St. Petersburg soon, so hope someone can answer your query. OOPS--someone answered while I was posting!