One of the primary reasons Daniel and I selected what we did for our way-cool European vacation/honeymoon was the simple fact that the cruise itinerary included an overnight stay in St. Petersburg, Russia. In high school, I took a European History class and earned extra credit for reading a history of Nicholas and Alexandra, the last tsar/tsarina in Russia before the revolution… and ever since I read that book, some 13 or so years ago, I have wanted to go to St. Petersburg and see the places described in the book. More recently, when I was still going, the YAP book club read a fictionalized account of the tsar’s family’s final days, The Kitchen Boy, and my interest was renewed. So when I saw that a couple of cruise lines offered itineraries in northern Europe with ample time in St. Petersburg, I was pretty much sold.
We leave for Amsterdam (the point of departure for the cruise) in a couple of weeks, now (YAY!!!!), and last weekend sometime — after weeks of unfocused and somewhat haphazard Internet searching — I started researching our siteseeing options in earnest. Quickly I discovered the unfortunate reality about going to Russia: Namely, it is really hard to go to Russia without signing up for an organized tour/excursion.
If either Daniel or I were independently wealthy, this wouldn’t really be a problem, but since we’ve already broken the bank with plane tickets, hotel accommodations before and after the cruise, not to mention planning for meals and whatnot before and after, well, I nearly had a heart attack when I realized how much it was going to cost us to see St. Petersburg.
In the process, I’ve discovered that cruise ship-organized excursions are suspiciously exempted from the rigorous Russian travel visa requirement. I guess it makes sense — it IS Russia, so as a true American I guess I expect some level of corruption. But the Celebrity-sponsored excursion options, while they sound interesting, are extremely pricey and don’t cover as much ground as I was hoping we’d be able to cover in our two days.
That’s when Daniel’s boss Carl, who cruises quite often in the Carribean and Gulf, told us about a Web site that has since become my main point of departure for researching our trip: CruiseCritic.com. There, I quickly discovered the names of two Russian tour operators who also have the Russian travel visa exemption, and who specifically cater to cruise ship tourists who want a better and more affordable option for seeing St. Petersburg. After quite a lot of looking around, I ended up booking us on a “Value Excursion” with a company called DenRus, through which we were able to secure a very full two-day tour at the (more) reasonable cost of $265/person. That’s still WAY more than I thought we’d spend in St. Petersburg, but it’s definitely more appealing and a better value than the cruise ship options.
In the rest of the ports, at the advice of the guidebooks we’ve skimmed, the good folks at CruiseCritic.com, and Rick Steves on PBS, we’re going to sitesee on our own, rather than taking organized excursions/tours. All of the cities we’re visiting are reported to be eminently walkable, and most have (relatively inexpensive, when compared to organized options) hop-on, hop-off siteseeing buses or trolleys that will allow us to get around the city on our own.
I’ve been slowly accumulating appropriate attire for the dressier-than-normal expectations on Celebrity, and I feel like I’ve got pretty much everything I need. My brother asked if we were packed yet, to which I just laughed. That’s funny!