This morning I called CIBT. First thing was to make them aware that I wanted to change the on-line order of last week from a 3-year Tourist to just a regular Tourist visa. The lady took my order number, but then I lost her. For some reason, the iPhone will unpredictably "kick in" the Bluetooth connection to my headphones. Anyway, I called back and talked with a different person. He confirmed that a new application kit had just been sent to me.
I also talked with him about the "single" versus "multi" entry question. I told him that our cruise ship was going to dock in St. Petersburg on July 23 and depart on July 25. During those three days, I would be walking off and back on the ship several times. He said I did not need a multi entry visa, that a single entry would be sufficient. He sounded confident. But, he also said I could check with the cruise line. Before hanging up, I also asked if there would be any issue in getting my passport returned by April 5. He said there should be no problem.He also said they would ensure the visa duration would cover the time I am in Russia.
I sent an email to Maxine telling her of my conversation with CIBT and asked if she could get some input on the number of entries issue from Seabourn. She said she would call them right away. She called me a few minutes later and said that Seabourn essentially said to follow the advise of the visa company.
I redid the forms to show a single entry and took them to the FedEx office with the prepaid mailing address. I put in the package a hand written note again describing the issue of the number of entries and also saying I needed the passport back by April 5. I photocopied all the stuff I sent to CIBT.
Updated 02/19/2019:
Today I got an email from CIBT Visas stating that they have received the application kit I mailed to them yesterday. That's the good news. The not-so-good news is that the confirmation still shows that I have ordered a 3-year visa. Just to ensure there were no misunderstandings, this morning I called CIBT and talked with Kim. I told her that I had last week originally placed the order for a 3-year but then, over the weekend, decided to go with just the normal "single entry" visa. I told her I called yesterday and was told it would be changed and they sent me a new application kit for a single entry visa. Kim assured me that they were aware of the change and that they would process my order as a single entry visa. She also took the opportunity to tell me that they would undoubtedly have to make some changes to the application I filled out on-line and would then email the new application to me for my signature. She said when I got it I needed to sign it, scan it and email it back to them.
I got an email and a phone call this afternoon from CIBT. The call was from Kim telling me that the email was on the way. The email was the "updated" application form for me to print, sign, date, scan and email back to them...which I did. She said they would be submitting the forms to the Russian Consulate as soon as I get the signed application back to them.
I took the opportunity to again mention to Kim that I had been confused as to whether I needed a single or a multi entry visa. She said that as long as the ship does not leave Russian waters, once it has entered, it is just a single entry. In fact, she said that we could even move to a different port as long as we stayed in Russian waters.
The changes they made to the application I sent to them yesterday was address information on the "host" organisation and they expanded the visit dates. I had put in the dates the ship is supposed to be at the dock in St. Petersburg (July 23 through July 25). They expanded the arrival and departure dates to July 15 and August 8. They also changed the address of the hotel I would be staying in while in St. Petersburg. I had put Seabourn Ovation as both the hotel name and the address and used a phone number I had gotten off the internet for Seabourn's main office. They changed the address to Seabourn Ovation Onboard Cruise Ship St. Petersburg and put in a different phone number (don't know where it came from, but it is a Russian phone number [country code 7]). I laster checked the status of the visa on-line and it shows the application was submitted to the Russian Consulate in Houston on February 20 with an expected approval by March 1 (end of next week).
