To: AZBoomer-RO Store

[japiscopo]

I read your great review of the Baltic. You mentioned going to the RO store 3 times, once for a box lunch. I plan on bringing a boxtype lunch off the ship, but have heard one is not allowed to do this. What kind of box lunch did RO provide, and did you prearrange this with them?

 

One other question: Did you take pictures inside buildings in St. Pete? If so, how did you pay for the camera fees? Dollars, Euros, Rubles? If rubles are necessary, could the guide pay and then add it to your bill? If you have to pay in rubles, we might have to exchange more money than we thought. I have heard it is about $15 to use a video and stil cameras, which could add up quickly. Thanks for your help.

 

Mary Lou

[vtrav]

It appears that some ships tell you you can't bring food off the ship and others say nothing. Princess did not say anything about food. We had our guide take us to a restaurant. Not a big fancy one, but a little one that cost about $20 for 3 people.

 

Pictures - The bigger places make you pay. I believe that was in the Hermitage, Peterhoff and either Church of Spilled Blood or St. Pauls. Anyway, it was about $4 us in most places and our guide paid when they arranged the admission tickets. You then settle with the guide in US currency. You won't be speaking with any admissions people anywhere. Everything is moving very fast and is arranged in Russian by your guide. You can use flash in most places, but some collections in the hermitage and Peterhoff say you can't because it can damage the pictures. If you have a camera that can set ISO, you can set it to 400 or higher to compensate for the flash.

 

Also, note that there is a charge for most bathrooms (not in the hermitage).. You're guide can most likely give you rubles (about 30 cents) but everywhere we went also took us dollars. They then give you the change back in rubles (about 60 cents and a nice souvenier).

 

Euro's are pretty much accepted everywhere you go.. but I used US dollars also in Russia, Estonia, etc. for souveniers. They'll pretty much take whatever you've got.

[ajcruiser]

Mary Lou, we arranged for the box lunch the second day from RO. Our guide ordered it by phone at our request. It ran about $9 pp and included a sandwich, fruit, bottled water and was just fine for eating in the van between stops. Our group, of course, purchased the same for the guide and driver.

[AZ Boomer]

The first stop to the RO store was for 30 minutes on the morning of the first tour day and included paying Laura (CC or US Cash) for the tour. My wife and son did most of their shopping at that time. RO offers small shots of vodka on a tray (it's happy-hour somewhere in the world :D ) candy, coffee, and water. The bathrooms were clean and free.

 

We did the restruant lunch at "Our Petersburg" on the first day. Beet soup (I liked it), salad, chicken, and dessert. Bottled water (soda was $1 for my son).

 

The second RO store visit was after returning from Peterhof. Quick stop for the restrooms.

 

We had a tight schedule, so we went for the box lunch the second day. Our guide called in the order and we picked it us at the RO store. Ham sandwich, fruit (2 bananas) and bottled water. We had so much left over fruit that we gave it to our guide and driver at the end of the tour. We ate it in the foyer area of the store, but could have done so in the van. Picked up a couple of t-shirts.

 

For the most part, the rest rooms in Russia were clean and free. We were prepared for the worst (bringing a small roll of TP, seat covers, hand wipes, etc.)

 

Pictures: as noted earlier, the guide asked us about whether or not we wanted to take pictures, then paid the fee. Usually we picked up post cards packs at some of the churches.

[charleysmom]

We were on Jewel of the Seas and took lunches from the ship for ourselves and the guide/driver. I was concerned about taking food through customs, but had no issues at all. The first day, we all ate on the bus between Hermitage and Peterhopf. The second day, the guide took us to a gift shop that had picnic tables inside (along with the free vodka, coffee and chocolates). We enjoyed the facilities and bought some things while the guide and driver took off. BTW, the best shopping we found was at the flea market behind the Church on Spilled Blood.

 

Ann