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St Petersburg, Russia, a port on Baltic Cruise

by lpucciar, 10/12/2009 14:10

Category: Cruises

There are two ports in the city, and (apparently, and to the surprise of the crew and staff), we docked at the older one, which meant VERY long lines in immigration.  Though this port is closer to the city, the other has newer facilities with shops and better immigration staffing.  Most people were quite upset as it was an extremely protracted process to go through immigration the first time you arrive, and then on each successive disembarkation.  Every guest needs a black & white copy of his/her passport, which must be surrendered to immigration authorities, as well as a cop of the cruise lines' blanket visa--unless you have obtained your own visa.  Princess delivers you the copy of the visa the day before arrival in the city, and offers to make you a copy (free) of your passport if you visit the Purser's desk prior to arrival.  The lines are tremendous, and Russia is EXTREMELY regulated; the ship cannot embark nor disemark passengers until they give their ok.  Many passengers, including Caroline, waited 2-3 hours to go through immigration and subsequently had their tours cut short by 2-3 hours.  Needless to say, there were hundreds of complaints, and just before we left, the Captain, himself, got on the loudspeaker and apologized for the entire situation.  When Tony, Grace and I took the elevator down to deck 4 today to join day 2 of our tour, we had instructions to meet on the pier at 7:15am.  We arrived on deck 4 at 6:30am, and could not exit the elevator as the corridor was completely packed, and people were angry as no one was allowed to disembark.  What no one realized was that it was Russian authorities, not Princess, that was holding things up.  Finally, at 7am, the line started to move, and we arrive to the bus just a few minutes late.  We need to tell our clients that they need to realize that it's Russia and things don't work like clockwork here, and they need to be prepared, and wait, and be patient.  Believe it or not, I was not upset nor angry. 

St Petersburg takes a while to get to know.  Yesterday morning, when we first took off from the pier, everything looked used and abused to me, and it was difficult for me to understand how or why this could ever have been the government capital, an imperial and art capitol of Russia.  There is much graffiti, incredible traffic, and people drive like maniacs.  In the first 1/2 hour, we saw 10 car accidents and even more waiting to happen.  Our guide, Anna, was/is lovely, and all three of our bus drivers were excellent (on the 2-day tour, you have the same guide for 2 days, but different buses/drivers; on the Imperial evening at Catherine Palace, a different guide and driver).  I expected the area around the port to be dingy and dirty, but I expected the city to be full of palaces and mirror a European city.  We started our exploration with Peterhof Palace, outside of the city, and it was nice but not truly impressive.  Then we went to Yusupov Palace, which was interesting, but again, not very palatial.  It wasn't until while we were eating a very uninteresting, if not inedible lunch, that I realized that though Peter the Great modeled his city after the great cities of Europe, you cannot compare it to any, given the people and it's history.  It has endured two world wars--the second of which destroyed almost every building in it--and outside of it, three revolutions, poverty, extraordinary weather issues--and that's only the beginning.  By the afternoon, when we visited the Church of Our Savior of Spilled Blood, which truly was magnificent, my attitude had changed.  The evening at Catherine Palace was wonderful, and one of the best evening/special events I've ever done anywhere, and the Hermitage and the rest of the visits we made today truly exceeded my expectations.  The Hermitage's art collection is beyond anyone's comprehension, but the museum itself is a marvel and just spectacular. 

A few things to note.  Everywhere there are holes in the streets and uneven steps, concrete, etc--some from remains of wars/revolution--which they quickly point out to you, but some from faulty workmanship during the Communist era.  The city is in a state of flux, and while it is already one of the most expensive cities in the world, the infrastructure, among other things, are far from modern.  There is a lot of walking, climbing and stamina required.  We left the ship yesterday at 6:00am, returned at 5:00pm; left again at 6pm, and returned at 1am; left today at 7:30am, and returned at 5:30pm.  When you figure in time to get ready, breakfast, etc., you're living life on 3 hours sleep, not to mention the day you arrive in St Petersburg, you've lost an hour's sleep since they are 8 hours ahead of us, and 1 hour ahead of Finland (which is 1 hour ahead of Copenhagen).  So, you've got to be prepared for lots of activity, little to eat, and lots of data to digest.

Princess has one of its former cruise directors who is now THE acknowedged expert on the Baltic area and Russia in particular on board for the whole season.  John Lawrence gives 2-3 lectures a day--which is also broadcast on TV--and the ones on Russia--including history, revolution, Stalin, The Romanovs, the Tsars, etc need to be watched and understood to prepare you for your visit.  Otherwise, you're just seeing buildings and art, and cannot possibly understand the turmoil and meaning behind what you are experiencing.  If you're lucky to get a guide like we had, who spoke very good English, but with a VERY heavy accent, she was able to give us a bit of history and background on what we saw, but knowing the whole story helps a lot.  I felt that we understood than most because we stayed up late watching the lectures and I did some further research in the library on board. 

The city is very high in crime.  People come near you and you don't even realized you're being picked.  Some people started on the first day with back packs, which the guide warned visciously against, and they quickly converted to small purses for a few reasons; first, you cannot take large purses or bags into Peterhof nor the Hermitage, and you have to spend time checking them, and then retrieving them, and secondly, two of our bus members experienced the locals opening their packs and removing camera equipment.  The ship warns you not to hold your camera nor purse out/open for long as someone will snatch it.  While I believe that might be a slight exaggeration, I must say that at the end of each day, on the last visit, when I was the last one in line, I felt a bit uncomfortable.  I couldn't move fast, and thought myself an easy target, especially since I had leki by my side.  Tony was with Grace, and thankfully, we had a great group of people--now friends--on our bus and we looked out for one another.  Guides move fast--they have to--and you need to walk fast and furious to keep up to avoid being targeted.  They tell you when you can stop for photos and what you can, should and should not photograph.  For example, during the canal boat ride today, there was a teenager who kept running from bridge to bridge to wave to us.  Some of our group took a photo of him; when those people disembarked the vessel, he came right up to them and demanded 500 rubles.  He followed our group all the way to the bus, and it was sort of intimidating; after all, he ran fast and was young. 

But with all of this, you've got to realize who the Russians are, their history and their current status.  The country needs lots of work, and their government is much more corrupt than ours.  They have 30% unemployment, and pay 40% tax on their salary.  They are 'nickel and dimed" for everything.  ....And still they survive, are happy and are an interesting group wtih an even more interesting and exotic history.  St Petersburg is one of the most fascinating and interesting cities I have ever visited and I highly recommend it to anyone interested in history, folklore and seeing something completely different.  As Anna says, if you don't abide by the rules--and this goes for guests as well as citizens--they will not hesitate to ship you off to Siberia and you'll be home in a few decades.

Filed under:  Russia, Cruises, Northern Europe, Baltic Cruise
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