How are Gate 1 cruises?

We are thinking of a Gate 1 Norway cruise. Has anyone taken Gate 1? A friend did an Italian bus tour and really liked it.

Is this a travel agency? Because if it is, it's against the terms of service on Cruise Critic to talk about travel agencies or travel agents. After Googling, it's not a cruise ship, but I think it is a travel agency.

Not a travel agency. It's a company that offers bus tours, river cruises, etc.

You could probably book the cruise yourself for less unless you want to be in a group tour

I would look at what cruise ship they use

maybe check some reviews on their tours

Couldn't find any on here.

I think there are just river cruise reviews here for them

try google

I only saw land trips to Norway on their site but maybe new for them

According to the Gate 1 website on many of their land/sea tours the cruise portion is on a Hurtigruten ship (though some use even smaller expedition ships). When you see an itinerary you are interested in just check the name of the ship and you can look for any discussion--or ask your own questions--on either the Hurtigruten board or the Eco & Expedition Cruising board.

We did Gate1 Russian river cruise on the Vodohod Rus from St.Petersburg to Moscow. It was very nice, very well run. They don't own the ships/boats nor were we all doing Gate1 ON the ship... but no one had it any better!

Gate1 is our go-to company for land (largely bus) tours; their Discovery small-group tours are especially nice but pricier!

You can check the tripadvisor reviews.

Gate 1 is a great TA, so I would imagine that their river cruises would be top notch

We've done several Gate 1 tours. One was a river cruise. Not much different than Viking, Grand Circle or Vantage river cruises (we've been on all of those, more than once) other than beer/wine were not included during meals and there were more "optional" tours. However, the per diem price is a bit less than other operators. I wouldn't consider them a "Travel Agency". They offer their own organized trips, but you couldn't book say, a Perillo tour or a Princess cruise through them, as you could with a "travel agency".

Gate 1 is discussed ocassionally on the River Cruising board: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=191. Just do a search.

Gate 1 is a great TA, so I would imagine that their river cruises would be top notch

If you are correctly identifying Gate 1, I wonder why this thread has not been deleted by the moderators.

Gate1 isn't a travel agency. It's a tour operator. You can book directly with Gate1 or through a travel agency.

They have at least one river cruise ship. I think thev leased a couple of other river cruise ships.

Sometimes they offer a land tour combined with a group booking on a third party cruise line. Gate1 generally offers a good deal. If you list the specific tour you're looking at posters might be able to give you some thoughts.

If you are correctly identifying Gate 1, I wonder why this thread has not been deleted by the moderators.

Gate 1 is discussed fairly frequently on the River Cruises board, so if they were a TA, I would think the mods would have deleted all those posts.

To the OP, there are very favorable reviews of Gate 1 river cruises on the River Cruises board. They're a budget line, but passengers seem to be satisfied with their pricing, service, and itineraries.

Roz

Not a travel agency. It's a company that offers bus tours, river cruises, etc.

Hi

They offer packages...most people would consider this a travel agent, but if it is allowed on this site...I have never used their services, but close friends did a Greek islands tours last year and were very happy.

hope this helps

Couldn't find any on here.

Yes. I see the moderators seem to have an exception for Gate 1 Travel. To me they look like a travel agent...that promotes it's tours.

Gate1 is a travel agent in the same sense that Holland America Line is a travel agent... they use local operators for some services. Except for HAL's exclusivity clauses, you could book with those operators without HAL. IOW, not a travel agency.

Yes. I see the moderators seem to have an exception for Gate 1 Travel. To me they look like a travel agent...that promotes it's tours.

No exception needed. You can book a cruise directly with the cruise line or with a TA.

You can book a Gate 1 tour directly with Gate 1 or with a TA. Online TAs offer discounts, 5% off the land portion is typical.

Is a cruise line functioning as a TA if you book directly? No different then booking direct with Gate1.

Gate1 is a tour operator not a TA.

Also many of the deeply discounted trips available via Groupon are Gate 1 deals

I've know people who booked gate 1 via Groupon with no problems at all

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

Looking back on my first answer (message #8) -- the Russian river cruise on Vodahod small ship (or boat?) was very primitive as river cruises go as I understand. We understood it would be so, and simply wanted to get back to Russia after a long time away during the turmoil after Perestroika. The boat was not so bad that we didn't go back 15 months later on the same one (booked through a different, Russia-only, tour operator) from the Caspian north to Moscow!

I presume that Gate1 in Europe will have nicer boats if not to Viking standards. But they will take you to all the same places as Viking or other long-established lines! As far as organizing day-trips and things, we have never had any complaints with Gate1, whether on a boat or in a bus! The guides we have had were all excellent. (No I don't work for them!)

@crystalspin

Do you think you could briefly comment on overall differences between Gate 1 vs Vodohod-run cruise packages?

I understand your Caspian cruise was Russian only, so it may not be exactly comparing apples to apples, but I thought there might be aspects that lend themselves to direct comparison (such as, perhaps, food, overall level of service, entertainment, price, etc.)?

Much appreciated,

n.