bayjoens

Hey there. We are going on the Windstar Panama Canal cruise in November, ending in Puerto Caldera. What is the earliest flight out of SJO we can make? Can we make an 11:30am flight? Thanks for your help!

r&d, what time is the earliest I could book a flight home from San Jose? Do you think we could catch an 11:30am flight back? Thank you!

And another specific to r&d:

We are in the Bay Area as well. Any tips or favorites as to airlines or flights? I am just starting to look and deciding whether to save a bit of money and have a layover or to go direct. Have you tried Copa Airlines or do you stick to the big ones?

Any other question: Do you bring any local currency or do US dollars work fine? 

Thanks for all the answers! This helps a lot.

r&d, what time do you usually get to the ship?

Have you done any private tours and if so, any companies you would highly recommend? I went through the Panama Canal years ago on a Celebrity big ship and we used a great tour guide in Panama but I think they are gone. 

How many people are on the Windstar tours? Do they all go together or are they broken up into smaller groups? We usually save a lot of money on the private tours, but the private tours in this area seem to cost about the same as the Windstar tours.

We would love any other tips you have. I am a great believer in having as much info as possible before we go, so we don't miss anything. 

Thanks again.

Hi all! We are celebrating a big birthday with friends on the Windstar Colon - Puerto Caldera/Panama Canal cruise in November 2024. We've done other big cruises and some smaller ones but have always wanted to try Windstar. Hopefully you can help me with some questions. Any and all tips are welcome about these items or any other things you think we should know.

- What is the usual boarding time? I think we will stay in Casco Viejo and use private transportation to get us to the port. Amber Moon seems popular. Any other suggestions? (There will be six of us.)

- On the bigger cruise ships, we usually book our own tours rather than the expensive and often crowded ship's tours. Does this make sense on Windstar or on this particular cruise? The excursions seem to be mostly nature related. Anything we shouldn't miss? People seem to love Monkey Island?

The cruisecritic community has helped me so much over the years and it's been awhile since we've cruised and our first time on Windstar, so I hope you can help again.

Thanks so much! 

Sandra in SF, CA

Chatdad, the only optional tour we did with Gate 1 was Salzburg. There weren't many choices, only one possible tour in each port. If you didn't want that, you were on your own. Sometimes there were optional tours when there was no regular tour offered, mostly to sites that were a bit further away.

Dogs, we boarded in Vilshofen on October 30 and disembarked in Budapest on November 6. 

Plumie did a great detailed review, so I will just use hers as a guide. I agree with most everything and she had so much information that doesn't need repeating. 

We did this cruise because friends found it and it was a great deal for what was the first river cruise for most of us. Until Plumie's review, information on the Gate 1 river cruises was scarce. Information on river cruises in general is not as abundant as that on ocean cruises. Is this because not as many people are river cruising?

THE SHIP

Plumie's description was right on. My only addition is that we used the back lounge a lot for morning coffee before yoga. The coffee machine provided much better coffee than the dining room.

THE CABINS

Again, Plumie's review has a great description. Honestly we couldn't find much of anything on the television, but it was also right before elections at home, so we were trying to avoid the news at the time.
 

Even though we requested one bed, our cabin was set up with two twins. After the first night, Mara, our steward, changed the bed from two twins to a king. We found the bed very, very comfortable. The shower was a bit small, even for not-very-big me, but entirely workable. The Juliette balconies are great, about half the time. When you are on the view side, it is wonderful, but sometimes you are on the wall or tie-up side, when you need to keep your curtains closed for privacy. We were lucky enough to be on the river side when we docked in Prague and left the curtains wide open while we slept. We had a beautiful sunrise view of the Liberty Bridge and the Danube in the morning.

THE FOOD

Here is where there is a difference of opinion with Plumie. Unfortunately, we didn’t like the food as much and thought that the quality left much to be desired. Breakfast was probably best and the lunch salads were always acceptable. Often at dinner, though, I just ordered the Caesar salad and skipped the protein with the main course. There was always enough but the quality and preparation weren't great. The best meals were the Bavarian lunch after the Melk Abbey excursion and the Captain’s Dinner with the Baked Alaska dessert. The wines were not very good, and my husband usually had the beer which was better.

ENTERTAINMENT

Yep, as Plumie points out, most people on our cruise were on the older side, and not many people participated in the evening activities with Armin. We went a few times because we felt badly for him. It was the usual bingo, name that tune, family feud, etc., fun when you did it, but nothing you would regret missing. Our keyboard player was Jozsef, but he sounds identical to Attila. Maybe it isn’t their fault, but what the cruise line makes them do/play. Everyone went to the crew talent show to support the people who had cared for us so well during the previous week, but Gate 1 should find some other way to do this. I had expected crew members to show unexpected talents, like singing or playing instruments, but these were summer camp skits that were embarrassing and not well done. The crew obviously had fun doing them, but most of the skits would not pass muster in the US during these days of gender equality and the #MeToo movement.

EXCURSIONS

Again Plumie's experience was just like ours and we even had some of the same guides. I will just post our personal takes here.

Passau: There was some cute shopping here and we were able to have a nice coffee and pastry with friends in a café. I think all the tour guides were university students because there is a new college there.

Regensburg:  We had Daniel too and liked him. The free restrooms made Sabi’s point that it is very worthwhile to pay a few crowns/Euros for a clean restroom instead of using a free one.

Linz/Salzburg: Someone (Plumie or Claudia) had suggested skipping the lunch in Salzburg at St Peters Stiftskulinarium. The schnitzel lunch was bad, but the inside of the restaurant was gorgeous and lovely to see. ONE glass of wine or beer was included. The dessert was an odd meringue dish. I think it was worth it to sit for lunch with fellow travelers in a beautiful setting and then hightailing it out of there. I think we had more time, a couple of hours, to wander Salzburg, buy the silver Mozart ball candies only sold there and then have a coffee. However we ended up visiting Mozart’s birthplace museum which was fine, but after seeing the original manuscripts in Prague, the facsimiles were uninspiring. We spent too much time looking for the Café Tomselli and ended up without enough time to go there. We could definitely go again and spend more time there, maybe in the less touristy areas. Luckily, the shops were closed because it was a holiday (All Saint’s Day).

Vienna:  Evidently, all the ships dock outside the city center because that’s where the docks are. There is a historical reason for this, but I don't remember what it is. We had a good local tour guide who was very helpful, helping us with directions at the end when she released us in town. Once on our own, we started with delicious strudel, cake and coffee at the Demel. Our friends who had tried the Sachertorte in Salzburg said this pastry was much better. Then we wandered a bit and went for a great schnitzel lunch at Figlmuller. Friends had recommended this. MAKE A RESERVATION! We were able to bypass a long line and walk right in, much to the dismay of tourists who had evidently been waiting quite awhile. Our group shared a schnitzel per couple and ordered the potato salad and green salad to share. Everyone LOVED the potato salad so much that we asked for the recipe. We walked around and shopped more and by the time we headed back for the 4:30pm shuttle, we were done. We had thought of staying the evening to find a concert but that proved to be more than we wanted to figure out.

Szentendre: This is an additional to Plumie's review, but I think Claudia mentions it in hers. Claudia had recommended skipping this and going straight into Budapest, because it is just a little tourist town that they took us to because our rooms at the hotel would not be ready, and Sabi freely admitted this. However we went because it was easier to go with the flow and most everyone else in our group. Claudia was right in that it is really just set up for tourist shopping and that there really isn’t anything else to do, but we had a nice time because it was a low-key day among many busy days, we were with friends and the weather was lovely, after such gloom early on in the trip. We definitely don’t need to go again.

MY FINAL THOUGHTS

WE WERE SO FORTUNATE! Alex, the hotel manager, said we were the first of their cruises in 65 days to make it all the way down to Budapest and he didn’t think the next ship was going to make it. Those first few days of rain in Prague were a drag, but well worth it if that was the reason we were able to sail into Budapest and dock  there. Sailing in was stunningly beautiful.

Overall, I would definitely travel with Gate 1 again, especially for the value. I think a land package might also provide better meals without a central kitchen providing everything. 

I would probably opt for a higher-end river cruise next time, hoping for better food and more experienced service, but we had a great time and I think the staff did their best. They were a bit uneven with incredible service from some and questionable service from others, but I think that may have been more of a training and experience issue. It makes sense that a lower-cost company uses less experienced staff. Each crew member was friendly and as helpful as possible though. Sabi was efficient at handling the guests and had us all trained to be early for everything. He did an incredible job all by himself. 

NOTES: 

 - If anyone is interested, I can scan all my daily schedules and add them to this thread later. 

 - We had an extended package with a couple of nights in Prague on the front and in Budapest on the end. The hotels were great and I can provide more info if anyone wants it.

 - If you are spending any time in Prague, get to a bank and change your Czech korunas into small change as soon as you can. It will make your life easier. You will need these for restrooms.

 - COBBLESTONES, especially Prague. We were on the younger side for this cruise, but after a couple of days in Prague, my knees were feeling it. Prague has more cobblestones than anyone else we have visited in Europe. If they are wet at all, they are even more difficult to walk on. Hiking boots aren't the best here. Softer shoes, like sneakers, seem to accommodate the terrain better. 

 - There are always a lot of questions about timing, because so many people opt for their own activities and tours on cruises, ocean cruises especially. We decided not to schedule any private tours, except during our land portions, and this turned out to be a wise decision. It seems that river cruises are more susceptible to schedule changes than ocean cruises, because of water levels, docking decisions, etc. One day, members of our group were very late in meeting their private tour guide, because our morning excursion ran late. 

Hope this helps. I'll keep an eye on the thread for a few weeks in case anyone has questions.

Great info, again, Plumie. That's exactly what I was thinking, skip the lunch, grab some fabulous Viennese pastries and go off on our own until it is time to meet. 

Yes, we are booked at the Sofitel for our Budapest portion, but am forewarned that we may end up somewhere else if we can't sail through to Budapest. 

Plumie, you are my kind of cc member. Thank you so much for the detailed review. We are on the same Monarch Princess cruise next week, so the information is especially helpful. You are so right! It has been so difficult to find information on these river cruises, unlike ocean cruises. The daily programs are great! 

We are taking that same Salzburg tour. Do I understand you correctly? Once you get there, you have only an hour tour and then are on your own for 2-3 hours? That's great to know so I can do my research ahead of time and know what we want to do.

I'm also happy to hear how well they handled the low water levels. Our trip includes a couple of nights in Budapest anyway, so if we need to leave the ship early, hopefully they'll put us in the hotel already assigned so we don't have to move.

Dog4Fun, are you going to be on our cruise, on the Monarch Princess?

Cruise777, I haven't been able to see photos since the upgrade. I'm on Chrome.

Lluvz, great info!!! The only thing is that I can't access your wonderful photos. I saw them yesterday but they aren't showing up today. I think it's the site because I've tried on different devices. Is there some other way I can get to them, especially the daily schedules? I've been looking for info like this for ages!!!! Thanks again!

DEL67, we are on the October 20 Monarch Princess from Prague to Budapest.

I have another question for those who have done a Gate 1 Danube cruise. What is the timing for the ship's half-day Prague City Tour? Do they bring you back to the ship or leave you in town to find your own lunch and way back? We have set up a private Terezin tour for the afternoon and I'm wondering when we can start and where we should meet our guide.

Thank you!

Grancayman, thanks for checking in. If you would be so kind to answer dogs4fun questions here, I would love to know all those things as well.

And did you have any trouble with the low water levels? I'm reading in other threads about cancelled cruises, ship swaps and bus tours. Should we be worried?

Also how did you handle gratuities for 1) local guides, 2) bus drivers, 3) cruise tour director? I understand that Gate 1 handles crew and staff grats like ocean cruises, at the end of the trip and with the option of putting it on your account or paying cash. Is that right?

Thanks again for posting!

LLund, our start date is October 26. I look forward to hearing about your cruise!

Thanks for the review, Jack and Mary. We are on a Gate 1 Danube cruise in late October 2018.

May I ask how gratuities were handled for the tour guides? I assume that they have a tour director on board with you, but maybe use local guides and drivers at each destination. Do people tip the local guides and drivers separately? In local currency?

Thanks for your help! Sandra

We're thinking of booking our own private tours for Budapest, so that we can have a smaller group and make it more customized. Does anyone know when we will be left off the ship on the morning that Gate 1 does their own City Tour and what time the Captain's Dinner is on that same evening? Thanks!

Dbsb, did you ever hear back from Gate 1?

Does anyone know or remember how many people were on your Gate 1 tours? In other words, how did they split the passengers? We're trying to figure out if we would like to book our own tours, rather than going on the Gate 1 tours, so we could be in a smaller and more customized tours.

Great llvuZ. If you can, would you keep track of when they let people off the ship and when you had to be back? We want to do some private tours but don't know when we will be let off in the mornings. And do they, like on ocean cruises, let the passengers on the Gate 1 tours off first?

Thanks Tara, I did see on one itinerary that the ships continues sailing on that day and the Salzburg tour joins up further down, but it doesn't read that way on our itinerary. Hopefully DBSB can clear that up by contacting Gate 1 directly.

Dbsb, perfect! I tried calling Gate 1 awhile back but they couldn't answer any of the questions for me. I hope you have better luck. I'm especially interested in whether they are in and stay in Vienna on the night of the optional concert. That would help us a lot. Also I would love the times of the Salzburg tour.

I sent a message to the Budapest Festival orchestra and they said their schedule would be posted in April and we should be able to buy tickets then. I will try and post in this thread when that happens, if you're interested. I'm taking a class right now on The Orchestra and when I asked the professor what he recommended, he said to get to the Budapest Festival if we could.

Cary, in this same class, the professor frequently mentions how this area is a musician's paradise, so I imagine that any paid concert is going to be good with wonderful musicians.

RDC, yes, we understand that the river cruise schedule are less dependable than ocean cruising, but thanks for the reminder. I will double check that tours are refundable if we miss a port due to circumstances beyond our control. As for concerts, I think we just have to take the chance.

Thanks everyone!

Dbsb, we're on the exact same cruise right after you. Please keep us updated on what you decide to do and what you find. We are also looking for an option that is not the ship's offering of the tourist concert. As far as I can tell, the ship stays in Vienna that evening, so at least we don't need to worry about the timing and missing the ship. Is that what it looks like to you?