Baltic Cruise in May advice please

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zumbaqueen
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Baltic Cruise in May advice please

#1

Post by zumbaqueen »

Hi
We are going to the Baltic in May and as I haven't been for some years I was looking for some advice about St Petersburg as we have two days in port.
1. Can anyone tell me what currency is accepted for any purchases we might want to make?
2. Has anyone done any of the walking tours, the information on the P & O site does not give much information regarding what you are likely to see. I don't want to visit the places I visited on my last trip.
3. Has anyone done the tour that goes on the underground
4. Also is it worth a trip to Peterhof Palace taking into account the travel time or is Catherine Palace a better option

Has anyone done the Hanseatic and Road to Freedom tour in Ganask
Also when we go to Poland do they accept the Euro

Sorry for so many questions but any help would be appreciated.
Thanks
Jenny :idea:


Whynd1
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Re: Baltic Cruise in May advice please

#2

Post by Whynd1 »

Jenny

Look up my Baltic cruise report from the Arcadia last year, that included the two day tour in St Petersburg and the underground. We paid in American dollars for our purchases but they also took euros.

Lindsey


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Re: Baltic Cruise in May advice please

#3

Post by Boris+ »

Hi - last time we did a Baltic outing, we used the currency applicable to whatever country, with the exception of Russia (St P's).

In St Petersburg we found that if we offered plastic card, or US Dollars or Euros or British Pound Sterling it didn't matter - anything was accepted. The mental arithmetic capabilities of many of the shops/market stalls we visited was astounding - but I suppose they are used to it, and they all coped beautifully with currency exchange rates too.

The plastic cards we used though weren't our usual credit/debit cards, but pre-paid travel cards (and the prepaid currency on them was £ sterling I think) - and they worked beautifully without any problems. We like using these pre-paid ones as (a) we can leave the spare cards provided in our safe on the ship, (b) if they get 'lost' then it's only the funds already deposited which are at risk, and there's no upheaval with your normal plastic banking cards (c) they can easily and quickly be re-loaded with more funds through the internet on the ship.

I can't comment (sorry) on the other questions you have - but have a wonderful cruise.


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zumbaqueen
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Re: Baltic Cruise in May advice please

#4

Post by zumbaqueen »

Thank you Lindsey and Boris for your replies. It was 2005 when I last went to St Petersburg I had it at the back of my mind the we used US Dollars but wasn't sure.

Thank you Lindsey for your in-depth report, I had looked under ports of call but hadn't thought to look under cruise reports. It sounds as if you had a very hectic time on your two-day St Petersburg tours, you've given me plenty to think about. I'm really looking forward to returning to the Baltic especially to the ports of call that will be new to me.

Thank you both once again for your replies.
Jenny

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kaymar
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Re: Baltic Cruise in May advice please

#5

Post by kaymar »

Jenny, I don't know how much you read in "ports" but there is a lot of information on St Petersburg in various posts under St Petersburg or Baltic.

I attach a copy of an extract from a report I did a few years ago which may be of interest.


"As expected, St Petersburg was easily the highlight of the trip. We had arranged a private, two-day tour with TJ Travel and could not have wished for anything better. Just to dispel a few myths :-

a) if you are arriving by cruise ship and staying in StP for less than 72 hours, you do not need a visa provided that you are escorted around the city by an approved tour guide, as we were.
b) Even if you are not taking a P&O excursion, it does not take hours to disembark. With two trips due to leave Arcadia at 8am, we disembarked at 7.55 and walked straight through the terminal.
c) The Russian immigration authorities are not determined to make your visit as difficult as possible. We presented our passports and the travel passes provided by TJ Travel and cleared immigration in two minutes. Not many smiles but quite efficient.
d) If our experience is the norm, then tales of traffic chaos are grossly exaggerated. P&O endeavour to plan Baltic cruises so that you are in StP. over a weekend when traffic is light. We moved around with no delays whatsoever and the chances of failing to return to the ship on time were Nil.

We were met by our guide Irina and driver Igor in a new, air-conditioned, 8-seater Mercedes people- carrier. Despite being 30 minutes early for our agreed meeting time, they were already waiting. A resident of StP, Irina has a degree in history, majoring in fine arts and speaks fluent English, as do all the guides employed by TJ.

Over the two days, we toured the city in cool comfort, visiting all the major attractions in line with the itinerary we had agreed, and more. We stopped whenever and wherever we wanted, everything was described clearly and expertly by Irina as we went along, and she was more than happy to answer any questions we had. As a “small party”, we walked straight past long queues, especially at the Hermitage, where her knowledge of the works of the old Masters really came into its own. When we saw other parties of thirty or more crowding round their guide trying to catch a few words over the noise, we were even more sure that we had made the right decision.

We took a trip by hydrofoil to Peterhof, drove back via the Csars’ Village and Catherine’s Palace, visited Peter and Paul’s Fortress and the Church on the Spilled Blood, sampled delicious stollen (pies) and vodka and chose some replica Faberge eggs from a lovely shop with delightful, English-speaking assistants and even learned a few words of Russian.

Without hesitation, we would recommend TJ Travel for a party of four or more. They could not have been more helpful in planning an itinerary to suit our personal preferences and the cost of c£200 each for the two full days was very competitive. Just google TJ Travel, St Petersburg for more details and contact information."

Specifically, Jenny, in answer to your questions, we paid TJ travel in USD on the second afternoon of our trip. During our various visits, if local currency was needed, our guide paid and we reimbursed her in either USD or Euro.

You possibly know that unescorted walking tours are not possible but we stopped our car wherever and whenever we wanted and strolled around with Irina, picking up the car again somewhere further along.

Peterhof is most certainly worth a visit and the journey by hydrofoil was about 30 minutes. No reason not to visit Catherine's palace as well

We did a couple of stops on the underground and the artwork in the stations was amazing.

Have a great trip.


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Re: Baltic Cruise in May advice please

#6

Post by poole boy »

Kaymar I would agree with most of what you have written regarding st Petersburg the only thing I would not agree with is passport control on our Baltic cruise there in 2015 the the passport area was packed which meant waiting up to 1hr 20mins to get through.
this trip was also on Arcadia but there were 2 other ships in port as well'
Last edited by poole boy on 01 Mar 2017, 12:17, edited 1 time in total.

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Mervyn and Trish
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Re: Baltic Cruise in May advice please

#7

Post by Mervyn and Trish »

Interesting different immigration experiences. When we went there were three (or maybe four) ships in and we got through in less than 10 mins.

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towny44
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Re: Baltic Cruise in May advice please

#8

Post by towny44 »

Immigration on day 1 can be a bit lengthy, we queued for maybe 30 mins, part in the ship and part at immigration. But day 2 was a quick walk off and walk through.
John

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Whynd1
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Re: Baltic Cruise in May advice please

#9

Post by Whynd1 »

Same with us, queued longer on day one but most immigration booths were open.
Day two just a quick glance at our paperwork and we were through.

Wasn't really a problem as the tours have to wait for everyone to come through before they can leave.

The one thing that really surprised me was in July how very very busy everywhere was. Worse than Venice and Florence.

Lindsey

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Manoverboard
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Re: Baltic Cruise in May advice please

#10

Post by Manoverboard »

Peterhof is certainly worth seeing, we went on a P&O trip early-ish in the morning. We were first in which meant that we avoided the usual hoards of tourists. Equally important was that we also avoided the Mozzies as they were still fast asleep.
Last edited by Manoverboard on 02 Mar 2017, 10:25, edited 2 times in total.
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