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Of course we always need our passports when traveling out of the United States. Most countries do not require visas, but Russia does.
The application for a Russian visa is very comprehensive with questions about schools attended after high school, organizations involved with (professional, civil, charity) places of work, military service, and where you've traveled in last 10 years. We were provided with an instruction sheet from Grand Circle explaining what to fill in (and how). Good for that because if anything was incorrect we would have needed to start a new form and it could delay the process.In order to get a visa, someone must have a "sponsorship" from Russia. When we went there two years ago, we didn't have much time to get the visa so had to pay extra to expedite it. Since we were going to be in Russia for two weeks we HAD to get one.
For this trip, it's not a requirement if someone takes either a ship shore excursion or hires local tour guide. (They get something that is a group visa for all on the tours.) I heard that there are TWO local companies that are recognized by the government. When you go with either of those, you must be with them while off the ship. Can't disembark on your own at all. Very strict.
We will be in St. Petersburg for TWO DAYS so we decided to get the visas. The cost of the shore excursions is HIGH and most are for places we've already seen. When we were there before, we took the Metro so know it's not difficult to do. We have the maps from our last trip so can use them until we get new ones. Steve checked out Google Earth to see location of where we dock (I called NCL to confirm which dock we use.) and saw there are trolley tracks so that should work out for us. If not, we can always take a taxi to the nearest Metro station. (I doesn't look like it's very close to the station.) No idea exactly what we'll do and see but know we won't spend more than the cost of the guided tours. We'll have time while on the ship to decide what we want to do while there.
Before our Dublin/Paris trip, I sent our passports to PVS International (passport/visa service company) who takes them to the consulate in Washington for us. I was told I would be able to get the visa at that time. Unfortunately it didn't work out and they had to send passports back to us. As soon as we returned from the trip, I sent them back.
As I usually do, I called them to check on the status. The man in charge of Russian visas suggested that maybe I didn't need a visa because we weren't going to be there very long and I could save money. For some reason, he thought we could just take a taxi from the dock and it would be okay. Good that I know the rules and told him about them. He said he'll make sure I have the passport/visa in time before we leave. I always get nervous about when it will arrive. I'll call again soon to doublecheck.
We always plan a trip based on WHERE we want to go. Sometimes it doesn't really matter whether it's a large or small group trip, but I do prefer less people when we're on a TOUR. We get to see places that large groups can't always get to and get to spend more time at places. When we decided to take this trip, we knew we'd have MANY people on the ship but would be able to do/see a lot on our own when we disembark from the ship.
I was surprised at the savings by taking this trip through Grand Circle, including two nights in London, one of my favorite cities to visit. The flight isn't very long so jet lag won't be much of a problem It will be good to not have to "rush" to the port to get on the ship as soon as arriving. Breakfast is always included and there's a dinner in London included, too.
We're staying at the Lancaster London Hotel, in a great location near Hyde Park and an Underground station nearby. We'll see London "on our own" since we're familiar with it. There is a "city tour" included but we'll probably ignore that one. Instead, day passes for transportation are best idea. There are many places to see that are FREE. Our plans for London are undecided at this time, but I know we will be busy. I'm looking forward to seeing some of the life-sized fiberglass elephants that are on display in the city for a charity campaign organized by Elephant Family, with the intention of highlighting the plight of the Asian elephant. There has been a 90% decrease of them in the past 100 years. There will be an auction to raise funds for 20 conservation charities in the UK (similar to one held in Catskill, NY each year for their cats) and small ones are being sold in some stores in London. (I want one!) Of course, I'm planning to take MANY pictures of the ones I see.
I'm planning to add to this blog daily but won't post it every day. It's too expensive to use the Internet on the ship. (They don't give any discounts even if you have your own netbook/laptop!) We'll check for Internet cafes when we are in ports.
