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Navigating the seas to Russia

Want to visit Russia? It may not be the easiest place to go, but with a little planning the opportunities are limitless.


View Baltic Capital Cities on darrenesl's travel map.

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The next stop on the itinerary is St. Petersburg, Russia. Growing up during the Cold War, Russia has always been on my must-visit list. Traveling to Russia can be a challenge. There are hurdles in place that one must overcome in order to enter the country for those coming from the United States, there are two basic options.

The first is to obtain a visa.
Entry Visas: To enter Russia for any purpose, a U.S. citizen must possess a valid U.S. passport and a bona fide visa issued by a Russian Embassy or Consulate. It is impossible to obtain an entry visa upon arrival, so travelers must apply for their visas well in advance.

The second available option is through a tour company if you are on a cruise ship.
Cruise ship passengers can currently visit Russia on visa-waiver scheme provided the stop in the port of call doesn't exceed 72 hours and tourists stay overnight on board the cruise ship. Cruise passengers may disembark from the ship without a tourist visa if they participate on tours organized by cruise companies.

The steps to obtaining a via in Russia can be quite lengthy and require a trip to either San Francisco or Washington D.C. The costs is approximately $300USD give or take a bit depending on whether you are wanting to expedite the process or if you have the patience to let the process run its own course.

Our original plan was to get a Russian visa and experience the country on our own; however after weighing the pros and cons of the overall process, we decided to go the route of the organized tour. While the cruise ship always offers shore excursions, the inflated prices and the cattle car experience that is often provided on these tours is not for me.

Looking at other options there are 2 major companies that many past visitors have reviewed and numerous smaller companies that offer similar 1, 2, and 3 day tours in St. Petersburg. Looking at the two major companies, SPB tours is one option and Alla Tours is the other. Both offer similar tours with the groups being maxed out at 16 people, still too big for my taste. So we reached out to both requesting a private tour for six people for two days with a one day trip to Moscow with a group of 16 people in between the two private days.

Alla Tours was by far and beyond the better of the two companies when it came to response, personalized customer service and overall pricing. Because of the high level of service, we decided to go with Alla. Here is a look at what we will be seeing.

22 June 2016 Day 1
8:30 Meet at the ship. City highlights drive tour with short walks and picture stops.
Subway ride.
10:00 - 11:30 Excursion in Yusupov palace incl. Gregory Rasputin exposition
11:30 - 12:00 Travel to Peterhof via hydrofoil.
12:00 - 13:30 Tour of the Lower Fountain Park and Upper gardens.
Lunch time
13:30 - 14:30 Travel to Tsars Village (Tsarskoe Selo)
14:30 - 16:00 Excursion in Catherine palace incl. Amber room and walk through the park
16:00 - 17:00 Travel back to the city
Payment for the tour
17:30 Onboard
19:00 Optional evening program

23 June 2016 Day 2

6:00 Meeting on the pier
6:00 - 6:25 Transfer to the train station.
6:45 - 10:40 Sapsan train to Moscow.
11:00 - 14:30 City introduction tour incl. KGB headquarters.
14:30 - 15:30 Lunch in a local restaurant
15:30 - 17:30 Excursion to the world famous State Tretyakov gallery
17:30 - 18:30 Continuation of city introduction tour with picture stops.
18:30 - 19:00 Tour of subway stations
19:00 - 19:15 Transfer to the train station.
19:45 - 23:30 Travel back to St Petersburg by train.
00:00 Onboard

24 June 2016 Day 3
7:30 Meet at the ship
8:30 - 9:30 Boat ride: City tour from the water angle
9:30 - 12:30 Excursion in Hermitage museum (early entry)
12:30 - 13:30 Lunch time
13:30 - 14:30 Excursion in Church on the Blood
14:30 - 15:30 Excursion in St. Peter and Paul Fortress incl. inside visit to Cathedral
15:30 - 16:30 Excursion in Saint Isaac Cathedral
17:00 Onboard

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Choosing to go to Moscow was a no-brainer for us. The opportunity to see the city that plays such a prominent role in history is one that we just couldn’t miss. One drawback is that the Kremlin is closed on Thursday’s, however a trip to the Tretyakov gallery will help make up for not being able to enter the storied Kremlin.

The great thing about taking a private tour with Alla in St. Petersburg is that we can adjust our schedule as we desire, If we see something we want to go to or would like some more time at a particular attraction, we have that ability.

Have you been to St. Petersburg? Let us know the destinations you loved and any stops we should avoid. We want to hear from you share your comments with us below.

Posted by darrenesl 11:16 Archived in Russia Tagged churches moscow cities st. vacation city cruise holiday petersburg silhouette baltic capitals planning cruising celebrity darrenesl tljohnson tlwforgiven darren_johnson terri_johnson family_vacation 2016 Comments (2)

Cruising On

By land, air or sea, the personality matters. What to look for on each line and choosing the right one.

When an opportunity to travel arises, there is no good reason not to. That is the motto we have adopted and based on that statement, when asked if we wanted to go on a Baltic cruise, it did not take long to make the decision, let's hold off on the trip to Thailand and Vietnam and visit the land of the midnight sun.

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Although we are not really cruisers, the planning for the journey has been enlightening and we have discovered a number of things about cruising that differ from a normal travel plan. During the next couple of posts we'll introduce you to the itenerary, talk about some of the tips and tricks we have learned from our research and finally include some highlights from the trip while we are travelling.

First off we had to decid on the boat. While many companies offer Baltic cruises, each cruise line has its own personality. Unlike a regular trip, where you are going to be staying at Hotels, AirBnB's or a variety of accomodations, on a cruise, the dhip is your base for quarters, food, and some entertainment. Based on this, it's important to decide what typ of trip you want. Typically the ships are as follows:

Upmarket
Celebrity Cruises - Sails the world - Asia, Europe, the Americas, and beyond. Attracts couples, with and without their children. Ships carry on average about 2,000 passengers, though its Xpedition ship in the Galapagos Islands accommodates only 92.

Hapag-Lloyd Cruise Line - This high-quality, century-old line has four small-to-medium-sized traditional style cruise ships offering refined service and style. (Hapag-Lloyd also operates an airline and an extensive fleet of container ships). Cruise destinations include the Mediterranean, Baltic, Arctic, Antarctica, Caribbean, Atlantic and Pacific. Most passengers are German-speaking.

Holland America Line - The onboard atmosphere is more traditional, less contemporary than most other cruise lines. Cultured clientele. Food and service are refined and exemplary. Worldwide destinations. One trip circumnavigates the planet, visiting 38 ports in 26 countries (prices start in the neighborhood of $20,000 per person).

Mid-Priced
Carnival Cruise Line - Ships are large (up to several thousand passengers). They sail to North American and Mediterranean ports. Carnival Cruise Lines is widely popular and has a party-boat reputation. It's the most glitzy Vegas-like cruise line afloat and is fun for the right audience. Appeals mostly to mid-income couples, singles and families.

Costa Cruise Line - This Italian line sails the world with a strong Mediterranean-itinerary presence. Costa operates over a dozen big ships. Most passengers are European. The line appeals to mid-income families and young adults. It is part of the Carnival family of cruise lines.

Disney Cruise Line - Pleasing kids is the obvious priority, but there are onboard facilities and activities designed for the parents. You can book a seven-day land-and-sea vacation package. Your family spends half the time enjoying Walt Disney World in Orlando, the other half on the Disney Magic or Disney Wonder ship cruising to the Bahamas.

MSC Cruise Line - It's an Italian line with over 10 big ships. It focuses on European (especially Mediterranean) destinations, but also sails to ports in the Americas. Passengers are mainly middle income European families and young adults.

Norwegian Cruise Line - This large cruise line sails worldwide. One ship, the Pride of America, has a Hawaiian themed cruise with shore excursions to various Hawaiian Islands. Norwegian Cruise Line innovated the "freestyle dining" concept (you have the option of dining in different onboard restaurants).

Princess Cruises - Global itineraries. Caribbean and Mexican west coast cruises are popular. Princess Cruises has a dozen cruise ships (mostly quite large) and an imaginary one (the "Love Boat" of TV fame). Its overall quality level is the highest in the "$$ Mid-market" category.

Royal Caribbean International - Its large cruise fleet sails worldwide, with a Caribbean emphasis. Some ships carry 3,000 passengers. Royal Caribbean appeals to middle income families (with children and teens) and young couples. Organized activities are many and varied.

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As you can see, each cruiseline has a distinct personality that will certainly the makeup of the passengers onboard. Ifyou are looking for a party on the seas, you go with Carnival, if you are looking for a kids focused cruise, go with Disney. Wit the type of travelers we are, we were looking for a port intensive cruise that would allow for plenty of time to get in the the locals and not be shipbound or herded around with large groups of other tourists.

Based on the personality of the various line, we chose to cruise with Celebrity on their Baltic Capital Cruise. In the next few blogs will continue with more on Celebrity and their itenerary.

Posted by darrenesl 13:28 Tagged stockholm helsinki st. travel germany cruise berlin sweden petersburg netherlands silhouette baltic travels estonia capitals tallin denmark copenhagen cruising celebrity darrenesl tlwforgiven darren_johnson terri_johnson warnemunde amsterdam. Comments (0)

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