FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Q. Do I need Tourist VISA travel to Russia?
A.
Yes you do, except for Cruise Passengers booked for
St. Petersburg City Tour or Shore Excursion with a
Cruise line or with registered local tour operator like
Red October Company.
Red October Company obtains a group TOURIST VISA, thus you do
not need an individual VISA.
The dockside Russian immigration officials will check
your passport and consider a Red October Company tour
ticket to be good to pass the control. You do not need
any official letter at all. Red October Company will
save you money (VISA costs about $120 USD) without
sacrificing the quality. Therefore, that is an excellent
chance to save your money for other pleasant things when
you are in St. Petersburg.
Here how it works:
Your names and the passport details are on the cruise
line passenger manifest which the cruise line sends to
Russia (immigration authorities) a couple of weeks prior
the ship's arrival and the ship also submits that
manifest with all the last minute adjustments to the
Russian Authorities who come on board the ship when the
ship arrives in St Petersburg. The Cruise Ship's local
tour operator also submits to the immigration
authorities the excursions programs and samples of the
excursions tickets for St Petersburg. This is the
required procedure.
RED OCTOBER Company goes the same way.
RO sends you the
RO tickets and the samples of these tickets are always
in each immigration booth on the pier. Therefore, when
you come with these tickets and show them with your
passports to the immigration officer they already know
that you take RO tours. Red October Company also signs
the required papers with your names and the passport
details at the immigration office a week before your
arrival.
Therefore, everything is easy and legal. This means RO
provides "an immigration umbrella" to all our clients.
RED OCTOBER Representative will meet you on the other
side of Passport Control building. (On the Pier and
about 150 yards from your ship).
Q. What if I have Russian VISA already? Can I still take
your tour?
A.
Usually RO does not provide services for the people who
have obtained visas through other tour operator.
The whole idea for you to go with
Red October Company is
to save you money (VISA costs about $120 USD) without
sacrificing the quality. Therefore, that is an excellent
chance to save money for other pleasant things when you
are in St Petersburg.
As for wandering in the city, or is that only possible
with our guide? The matter is that you take our tours
with RO Shore Excursions tickets, which are not for
general in-country travel at
all. The Russian rules for individual travel within
Russia are very different and require much more
paperwork. The Red October excursion tickets allow
our guests to participate in organized
tours in the company of a licensed tour guide and car.
RO cannot violate the immigration regulations, but if
RO know in advance everything you wish to do and see
while in Russia RO can certainly arrange special tours
of St Petersburg by day visiting all of the "must see"
venues, or by night visits after your dinner on board
the ship. Your guide can take you downtown again
and you will have a nice walking tour - this is
obviously at an extra charge. Please let RO
know in advance what you wish so we can make all of the
necessary arrangements to ease you through the very
strict Russian Immigration and Visitation Rules.
Please see below the Letter from Laura Lazibnaya
Director General of Red October Company, St. Petersburg,
Russia:
Dear Customers,
Hi,
I would like to share my information
with you on this very important matter. There is
some information about the scary tactic some cruise
lines are using. This story happens every year and
some of cruise lines try to resist and fight the
situation when they are losing clients for their tours.
Therefore, they send these ominous messages to all
cruise passengers every year. Every year they make new
wording to frighten people. We got used to that.
All previous 25 years cruise
passengers who stayed here, in St. Petersburg,
Russia within 72 hours did not need visas if they took
organized excursions from local professional and
licensed tour operators.
That local St. Petersburg tour
operator who is a ground operator for ANY CRUISE LINE,
yours included - is one of those and Red October
Company is also one of those tour operators. What we are
doing is absolutely legal and we do not violate any
laws.
Russian Laws are the same for all so
cannot be valid and work only for Oceania's ground
operator!!! Definitely, if there are no changes in laws
and I hope for that very much, then you do not have any
reason for visa concerns and the ship cannot stop you
from going ashore.
You have all the required official
papers from us including the Red October excursions
tickets and that is the most important thing for
Immigration Officers here. The immigration officers do
not care whose clients you are and with which Company
tickets you come ashore.
Cruise ship supplies the shore
excursions participants taking ship's tours with the
Cruise Line tickets and we provide our clients with RED
OCTOBER tickets.
In other words, current Russian Law
does not require any Cruise passenger to have The
Individual Tourist VISA if you tour with Red October.
Thank you again for being positive
about taking RED OCTOBER Tours and your decision to go
with us in any case. Be sure, we shall take all our
efforts so that your stay in Russia is pleasant and
rewarding.
Keep smiling and be happy.
Warmest regards and have a good day,
Laura Lazibnaya
Director General
RED OCTOBER Company
St. Petersburg, Russia
Some tips on disembarkation procedure.
Your best bet to disembark efficiently and start your
tour as soon as possible is to disembark together as one
group. Going on The Cruise each of you is supplied
with: Red October Tickets. Please do not forget them
in your cabin!
Disembarkation
in SPB:
Your ship arrives at St. Petersburg early am.
The Ship’s Custom formalities on board usually take 45
minutes max.
They practically start disembarkation in 15-20 minutes
after ship's arrival.
Groups.
During the disembarkation you will meet several
Groups of your shipmates who signed up with Red October
for different tours and venues. Therefore, make sure
that you are with your party and are getting disembarked
and going through immigration control together.
Sometimes cruise security at the gangway says to wait if
you are not from the ship’s tours then you say you
travel independently and have a permission to go ashore.
Tell them you cannot wait that long to be at the very
tail of bus tours and all people who are with private
vans go ashore any time when the ship is cleared. Hope this advice will help you
to be ahead of crowds.
Please remember, the earlier you are at the gangway -
the quicker you will pass immigration.
After getting outside your ship please stand in any
Passport control line as One Group together.
Immigration/Passport Control.
You will need:
·
Your passports
(with expiration date at least for 1 month after this
visit).
·
2-photocopies of the Passport’s first page
·
Red October Tickets.
·
And a smile.
Stamping passports takes time, they stamp each passport.
Happily, they stamp them only on arrival, then in the
evening and next day they just see your passports and
tickets for the excursions.
Please stay together as the group.
That will help your Red October tour guide to meet and
greet you as One Group.
Your RO Tour Guide will be waiting to greet you and will be
holding a Red October Sign.
RO staff is waiting for you at the pier from 7am.
RO always come by the ship's arrival to leave the
samples of your tickets on each immigration cabin in the
terminal. And are ready to start your excursion from the
pier any time when you disembark.
In any way – if you have any delays --- RO is waiting
for you on the pier after you pass passport Control.
ST. PETERSBURG-MOSCOW
RUSSIA TOUR GUIDE SERVICE - GUIDED TOURS AND
SHORE EXCURSIONS
Please take a few minutes and
Submit a
Request for Quote
< click on it
Red October USA, LLC
P.O. BOX 216
Rexford, New York, 12148, USA
E-mail:
info@redoctober.us
Phone: (518)
557-1230 -or- (518) 357-3383
www.redoctober.us
Please join Red October Company for your next trip
to Russia.
RO staff never misses an
opportunity to exceed your expectations.
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
2010, Red October USA. All Rights Reserved.
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