Russia by Cruise Ship: Tours, Kitsch, and Safety Questions

After a once-in-a-lifetime visit to St. Petersburg last year, I was surprised that so many Americans asked me if I felt safe there. Sure I did, except in their subway, where I kept my eye on a clever Russian supposedly reading a book, who was also slyly eying Padre’s pocket. Thievery is rampant in the St. Petersburg subway, our guide warned us.

But did I feel safe in Russia everywhere else? Absolutely. St. Petersburg’s travel industry adores tourists, especially our cash. I guarantee that your tour bus will stop at least once at an elaborate souvenir store filled with glowing shelves of tourist kitsch, all just for you, and you’ll be offered vodka at the door (even at 10 am) to make sure you’re in the mood to buy. These stores must be quite profitable, since there seems to be one on every block.

So sure, they love us. We felt so welcomed in Russia, in fact, that we’re returning this year when our cruise ships stops in remote Petropavlosk, capital of Kamchacta, over 4000 miles away from St. Petersburg, but part of Russia nevertheless.

We’re either visiting volcanoes, soaking in hot springs, or dogsledding there, depending on the weather. Ought to be quite the contrast to St. Petersburg, to say the least.

VISAS AND TOURS

If you want to hop off the ship and look around on your own, it will cost you. Last I checked, the current price for a Russia tourist visa was $160 for U.S citizens, available online. If you go on a ship-sponsored tour or a private group tour, you give your passport information to your tour organizer ahead of time, and voila! They make all the arrangements for a ‘group’ visa, which includes you, and any cost is part of the tour price. Easy.

A recent article on Cruise Critic, What to Expect: An Independent Traveler’s St. Petersburg, by Stan Wu, does an excellent job of describing how this works. He used a different private group tour operator than we did, but our experience was very similar to his. Our company, Alla Tours (and our wonderful Cruise Critic friend Barb, who served as liaison with the company), handled all the visa details beforehand. Our Alla guide, Angie, shepherded us around the city for three days, providing a wonderful crash course on Russian history and modern culture (I still know a few words of Russian, thanks to her).

I for one wouldn’t want to attempt getting into places like The Hermitage or The Church of the Spilled Blood without a guide’s assistance. St. Petersburg’s major tourist sights draw massive crowds and lines, and Angie performed miracles moving us smoothly around the city.

TOUR GUIDES AND OTHER RUSSIANS

Cocooned within our protected escorted-tour bubble, we still managed to see glimpses of the ‘real’ Russia, we think. For instance, we were warned not to try to smile or talk to our passport control agent, for good reason. There, we were welcomed to Russia with scowls and sullen faces.

Angie explained that many Russians, especially government employees, hadn’t dropped old attitudes characteristic of Soviet Russia, when breadlines and government inefficiency was still the norm. Things are changing, slowly, but we couldn’t help but notice a long row of jail cells locked with heavy iron bars on the second floor above the passport control booths. Kept us quiet, at least.

We also glimpsed a bit of the old Russia at the local market, where Russia’s famous breadlines used to happen. Today, pensioners still shop there but younger Russians shop at Walmart, and the demeanor of market shopkeepers resembled that of the passport control agents.

Angie thinks it will be a matter of time before markets like this disappear, gobbled up by the profitable kitsch sellers, but I hope not. The farm-fresh produce, cheese, and meat on offer rivaled products at the best farmer’s markets I’ve seen in the States, by far.

OTHER THOUGHTS ON SAFETY

So yes, there are State Department Level 3 warnings posted for travel to Russia (mostly for unstable areas near Crimea and Chechnya), and terrorism is a concern. And yes, I know that there was a deadly terrorist attack on the very Russian subway I rode just a few years ago, but honestly, I fear dying in a mass shooting here in the U.S. way more than I do overseas (sadly).

So I refuse to let a little fear keep me from seeing wondrous historical sights like those on offer in St. Petersburg, Russia. It’s an astonishing place, especially if you’re a history nerd like me, and I urge every curious traveller out there to see it at least once in a lifetime (just watch out for the pickpockets).