plumie

Oh no! I hope you're feeling better and improve soon. Hoping your DW and DDs remain healthy. Looking forward to the rest of your trip report - but take time to rest and recover too. We're so focused on COVID we forget how gnarly colds themselves can be. My cold this season was actually worse than my bout with COVID, so take care of yourself

I did like Gate 1. It was an impulsive booking because they were having a flash sale for 50% off and it was too good a deal to pass up. River cruises are so expensive! I was stressed since there wasn't much info on it even after booking (there are more reviews now, but there were barely any when I was preparing), but I figured at worst I would be in Europe and that's not bad. I haven't been on Ama or Viking (but friends have and show me photos and videos and tell me about it), but Gate 1 didn't feel budget to me. One of my friends just got off an Ama Danube sailing on the Viola and said the food was meh, but she liked the ship, the crew and the excursions. 🤷‍♀️ The big difference is (I think) the number of choices. With Gate 1 everyone goes on the same excursion - they're lead by the same local guides as other lines, but they don't split people by activity level like Viking does. So you may have some super slow people...but I figured out who the slow and fast walkers were after a few days and would see who picked what tags (that split us into groups) and choose accordingly. Alcohol isn't included (except at dinner, but since none of us drink we didn't care), there are less choices of entrees in the dining room (there was a rotating menu each night along with standard fare that was always present) and they throw in some optional excursions (Schonbrunn was an optional excursion in Vienna and Salzburg was an optional excursion when docked in Linz) instead of it being all inclusive...but this all meant the price was kept lower, and your experience is more customizable. I would compare it to being a Westin as opposed to the Four Seasons. We had tempered expectations and we had a great time. I guess the highest praise we could give is that we'd have no hesitation in booking another Gate 1 river cruise if/when the right itinerary/schedule comes up when we go back to Europe. I wrote a review when I returned: https://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=635965 (for more information)

I just found your post today (we booked our 3rd Alaska cruise over the weekend on Ovation for September) and I can't tell you how much I've enjoyed it. As a super planner myself (the fact that I booked a cruise 3 months out is giving me heart palpitations even if it is my 3rd Alaskan cruise) I loved reading through your thought process and just how organized you are. My internal OCD super planner (who makes the bookings, does the research, provides itineraries, does powerpoint presentations to the rest of the family/friend groups) is cheering for you and I hope that after the year you've had, you, your wife and your daughters will have a wonderful graduation as well as a smooth and successful trip. I look forward to reading your trip report! I don't think I saw an answer with regards to your question about entrees on river cruises - but yes, you can request more than one. We did a river cruise on the Danube in September/October of 2018 through Gate 1and though the portions were European sized (uh...much smaller than our robust American appetites 😂), the chef came out and told us we could always order more. If Gate 1 (which is much more budget friendly than Viking, Avalon, or Ama) allowed for multiple entrees, I'm sure any other cruise line would allow for multiples as well.