St. Petersburgh Port Terminal

[Dopey416]

We'll be on the Northern European cruise on 6/11 and I have a quick question. In St. Petersburgh we are doing a half day tour and then the ballet at night, both tours with DCL. Will we be allowed to walk through the Port Terminal and do some shopping or do we have to immediately board the ship between one tour and the other? I want to be able to do a little shopping even if it's at the terminal. TIA

 

[jdb in AZ]

We cruised the Baltic on another cruise line and attended the ballet in St. Petersburg -- one of our all-time favorite shore excursions. I don't remember any shopping available in the terminal, just very dour, suspicious border agents checking our passports as we entered the country. There were a few souvenirs available at the ballet, inside the bldg., just outside the auditorium. YMMV

 

[owensamo]

On the 2015 Baltic we took with an overnight in St. Petersburg, we docked at a terminal that had shops both before and after passport control. There are a few docks, though - they may not all have the same shopping options. The items available were all standard souvenir store items - nesting dolls, Faberge-style eggs, magnets, ornaments, some jewelry, etc.

 

[okamy]

We were on the 2016 Baltic cruise, and there were some souvenir shops in the terminal. They were before we went through passport control (on returning to the ship). I don't recall any shops between passport control and the ship.

 

[Dopey416]

Thank you for your responses!!!!!

 

[rochmom4]

We were on the 2015 Baltic cruise. There were a few souvenir stands before you passed through passport control. We purchased some nesting dolls, key chains, a refrigerator magnet and a T shirt. The stores had some discounts on the last day.

 

[awaghorn]

We were on 2015. There was a series of shops, quite narrow almost along the sides of the "corridor" after passport control. They had all the expected tourist stuff - nesting dolls, Christmas decorations etc plus magnets, shirts etc. Once you got off your excursion bus you went into this area and could stay as long as you wanted to browse etc.

After going back through passport control then there was a small shop which was mainly duty free alcohol but which also had a few souvenirs. You could get to this if you got off the ship even if not going on an excursion.

 

[Geomom]

We were on 2015. There was a series of shops, quite narrow almost along the sides of the "corridor" after passport control. They had all the expected tourist stuff - nesting dolls, Christmas decorations etc plus magnets, shirts etc. Once you got off your excursion bus you went into this area and could stay as long as you wanted to browse etc.

After going back through passport control then there was a small shop which was mainly duty free alcohol but which also had a few souvenirs. You could get to this if you got off the ship even if not going on an excursion.

Can you use credit cards for the touristy shops there or do you need Russian rubles?

 

[KashasMom]

There are several stalls/shops after passport control. Between the ship and passport control there are at least 2 duty free shops. You can use credit cards.

 

[awaghorn]

Can you use credit cards for the touristy shops there or do you need Russian rubles?

You can use cards. All the shops that we were taken to on tours also took cards. I took a small amount of roubles but to be honest could have managed without.

 

[kiford]

Yes, there are a couple of shops but you won't be able to leave the port area without a valid visa and you'd need transportation. There's nothing walkable near the port even if you have a visa.