JordanF

There are plenty of times when contractors do announce their status. I have been in hospital emergency rooms where there is a sign that the ER docs are employed by ER Physicians Inc and the like. I have seen signs in fast food restaurants and hotels stating that the facility is owned and operated by Acme Franchise Inc and the like. Princess and the other cruise lines choose not to do that--they want the whole operation to look like one seamless show--and it works very well almost all of the time. IMHO, if one of these contractors rips a customer off, both the cruise line and the contractor can be held liable to the customer, and the cruise line and the contractor can sort the rest out between themselves. I don't think that the cruise lines can act like it's all one big happy cruise line family when all goes well, and then hide behind an independent contractor defense when they don't. Finally, not to get too into the weeds, but while some of these people work for contractors, there are many legal tests to determine if they are actually "independent". Given all of the cruise lines' control over so many aspects of the workers, the cruise lines may be responsible for the workers' actions. The cruise lines dictate attire, name tags, hours of operation, where the workers live, eat and play, etc...

We typically do one specialty dining per cruise, more to just mix it up. It's the best food on the ship! But we like the MDR a well, and just don't expect total top end. The never ending price increases, especially for the steaks, make the whole thing less appetizing. Come to think about it, the whole cruise is a bit like this. The art is the best art for sale on the ship even though there is better art elsewhere. Land casinos often have looser slots than the the ship casino, but you are not on land. You can definitely get at least as good a massage, for less money and without the hard sell on product on land, but the spa is the best massage available at sea. Etc... Would I choose Sabatini's or the CG on land--probably not. But on a cruise--I just might!

Yes, it is a third-party vendor, but the cruise lines contract with mostly the same companies for future cruises, art, spa services, the stores and perhaps more. This makes sense as these areas have their own expertise. Still, the cruise lines partner with these companies and share in the profits with them as well. The cruise lines are also delivering a more or less captive audience. They share in the responsibility for business on the ships to be conducted honestly and ethically.

I addition to disputing with your credit card company, I would see if Canada (or your province) has some sort of consumer complaint place. Here in Ohio our Attorney General has a department that enforces Ohio's consumer protection law. It goes beyond outright fraud and protects consumers from "unfair and deceptive" practices, which this sounds like a good candidate for. It is easy (online) and free to make a complaint, and they have pretty good success. I love cruises, but they have not always had the best honesty, especially where onsite contractors are concerned. For example, the art auction people used to be in cahoots with an art appraiser, leading to inflated appraisals and consequently inflated prices. Perhaps some of you have noticed that they don't do that anymore--the consequence of various legal actions. I suspect that the OP's parents are not alone in this, and consumer agencies may be experienced in dealing with this. Our worst experience was being oversold on meh product from the spa. It was a small enough amount that we lived and learned. Our second worst was being told we could buy future cruise credits and transfer the names, only to find out that was not possible. We eventually used them on ourselves, but another lesson learned. Neither of these happened on Princess, but the same companies work across cruise lines. They are under intense pressure to sell, sell, sell. Small wonder they sometimes cross the line, sometimes (like this instance) for quite a bit of money.

We have been on a few "mass market" cruise lines: RCCL, Celebrity, Princess and NCL. While there are certainly differences worth discussing, I think that the cruise lines at this level are more similar than different. The prices are overall similar, the included and extra fee items are pretty similar, and the general experience is also kind of similar. Give or take a water slide, I think if someone painted over the ship name with another name, it would be hard to tell the difference. This is not a criticism of the lines--I actually love cruising and think they all generally do an excellent job at a good value. Our last cruise was on Celebrity (Aruba) and our next cruise is Princess (Hawaii). Our previous experiences on both lines have been excellent. The only downside to our lack of loyalty is our low to middling loyalty status on multiple lines.

Regarding the "American" statement by GCT, it stands on its own, for better or worse. If I were not American, it would certainly put me off. Now that I know about it, it is putting me off. However, our GCT trip to Egypt was awesome--and remains one of our all time favorites. GCT gets some of the credit for that (also getting credit, the Pyramids, etc...). As for Gate 1--while the guests on my four trips have been predominately American, there have always been some from other (at least in part) English speaking countries--Canada and Australia come to mind.

MissiCruzs, Thanks for all of these posts! We are booked on this ship in 2026, so it is great fun to live it through you right now!

We have been on GCT and Gate 1. Our one GCT trip was to Egypt in 2006, while we have been on Gate 1 four times (China 2011, Iceland 2022, Danube with Budapest and Prague 2023 and SE Asia 2024). The Egypt, China and Danube trips all included river cruises. In my estimate, Gate 1 reminds me of GCT, at least as GCT was in 2006. In my view, Gate 1 provides and excellent product at a lower price than a lot of the competition, While I have nothing but good things to say about GCT, I am currently a total Gate 1 fan. Here is a link to my review of our Danube trip with Gate 1 last year: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2942656-gate-1-monarch-governess-may-26-2023-cruise-review-danube-with-budapest-and-prague/#comment-65506461

I am not exactly familiar with this plan, but... Cancel for any reason is usually an add-on to regular trip insurance--and is also often separate. If you have an insurable reason for cancelling, which this may well qualify as, you may have an option of using the regular insurance and getting actual money back. But, in general, decisions made early may commit you to a path of either regular insurance or cancel for any reason coverage. Please read over all of your insurance documents and proceed with your eyes open.

FWIW, just yesterday I was browsing a February 2025 cruise on RCCL's Serenade of the Seas, a 9 day Caribbean cruise out of Tampa. This is an older ship, and yet, there were already only a handful of balcony cabins left. I keep reading articles about how cruises are selling out and how prices are rising accordingly. We are booked on the Emerald Princess in 2026, and the prices have gone up since we booked a few months ago. I'm glad the industry is rebounding, but there were certain financial advantages to passengers during the downturn. These days, supply and demand are not on our side!

Sorry you are missing this island. We did a cruise day there a few years ago and it was delightful. However, it was pretty full back then (about 10 years ago), and I do think that adding thousands more would have detracted from our visit.

I was on a Gate 1 Danube cruise last summer, and chose to skip this tour. The main reason was that a fair amount of the time was spent on the bus ride to and from the city, and also at the included lunch, leaving limited time for actually seeing Salzburg. On our trip, we spent a very pleasant day cruising down a scenic part of the river, and touring Passau. Having said that, the people who went on the tour were happy with it. Here is a very unscientific opinion: people who really loved the Sound of Music wanted to see Salzburg more than others. Finally, $385 seems like a lot of money for this!

Always be closing!

Thanks for posting this, and other news about less-traveled rivers--it really helps broaden the horizons for river cruising in particular and travel in general.

Bad reading on my part. My email also does say June 17th for re-booking. Only 674 days till embarkation!

We have cruise booked for 2026, and had already booked MDR reservations for all nights. On Sunday I received an email notifying me that these reservations would be cancelled, and that I could make new ones starting today (April 17). However, all of my old reservations are still there. Will that continue to be the case? Stay tuned!

More noise goes through the door than through the wall. I try to avoid them, but it's not a deal breaker for me.

It's doable in that the cruise ships are not that far from the airport, so long as everything goes smoothly. "Doable" is not the same as optimal, but you already knew that!

Our move with our two kids was two rooms. When we were watching the money, we got two inside cabins. When we had a little extra, we got a balcony and put the kids in an inside cabin across the hall from us. Some of these cruises were when our kids were around the same age as your kids will be. For us, I know we all enjoyed the cruise a little more with separate rooms. Also, even if there are not that many kids on the ship, those that are there will find each other pretty fast. It's like some sort of superpower they have. Don't be shocked if they find other kids and then don't spend that much time in the actual kids program. Have a great time!

We took a Gate 1 river cruise last year. While we were not is a suite, there was never any indication that anything extra came with the suite. This included marketing materials, reading reviews, and being on the cruise.

Nope. We were on Gate 1 last year on the Danube, and this was never an issue as I can recall, and I probably would as I like beef but not seafood.

Probably should put this in the roll call section? But either way, don't expect too much action. I started a roll call for a Danube cruise last May and got only one other person (I think since the ships are not that big compared to ocean ships?). However, we met up on the cruise and it was like we were old friends. Good luck, and enjoy the trip!

Same thing happened to me. We booked a 2026 cruise in January 2024. The app let me make MDR reservations for every night. Now, when I look, it will not allow me to make dining reservations until I pay in full as I am not Platinum, Elite or in a full suite or Club Class mini suite. However, my reservations that I made in January are still there.

There should be no difference. But, I was on a charter once (Buckeye Cruise for Cancer). We supplied our own entertainment, so I suppose the regulars got a break. The only other big difference was that there were no drink packages--all drinks a la carte (I think the cruise sponsors got a cut?)--so there were pop up bars all over the place. It was super easy to but a drink (too easy? :)). Besides those things, it was pretty much like any cruise.

Yep--maybe not as controversial atopic as dining room dress codes... I have been to Mexico on cruises many times and have never had or used any Mexican money. Everything has been US dollars or credit cards. It has never been a problem for us.