Questions about Gate 1

[sjde]

Our next river cruise will likely be with Gate 1.

What we didn’t like about our Viking river cruise was that there were no two- tops in the dining room, maybe not even four-tops. At breakfast and lunch we’d have preferred to not be in a large group. 

Also there was SO much busing.  Instead of docking right in town like our other river cruises,  where we could come and go at will , we were miles away and had to be bused in. 

How is Gate1 in this regard? TIA.

[gnome12]

I know nothing about Gate 1. What I will say is that the ability to walk off the ship has more to do with the specific port than the cruise line. Some ports are right in town, and others aren’t in the part of town you will want to visit. And, with the increase in river cruise traffic, at busy times there might not be enough mooring spaces in town, and you might have to dock farther out. 

[sjde]

Some of the same ports we visited had Viking busing us in and the other cruise lines docking close in. I never ran into this with our 6 previous cruises. ( Rhine, Danube, Douro and Rhone). So maybe Viking doesn’t have preference.

[Host Jazzbeau]

1 hour ago, sjde said:

Some of the same ports we visited had Viking busing us in and the other cruise lines docking close in. I never ran into this with our 6 previous cruises. ( Rhine, Danube, Douro and Rhone). So maybe Viking doesn’t have preference.

Viking started their river cruise line by taking over KD, which owned landing stages in many places throughout Germany.  That was a big benefit then, when the towns hadn't developed their public landing stages as much as they have now.  But it seems that it is a double-edged sword in that now Viking is stuck in less desirable locations.

[notamermaid]

7 hours ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

Viking started their river cruise line by taking over KD, which owned landing stages in many places throughout Germany.

Thank you for mentioning that. It continues to be the presumed advantage for Viking but as you have pointed out, times have changed in that there are more river cruise ships, more landing stages and therefore different constellations. That is to say Viking docks at their own places and sometimes at others due to lack of space at their own. On top of that there are a few older landing stages that have restrictions - size may be only 110m allowed and/or only single docking rather than rafting.

 

What I will add is that the Main is a long river to cover when you count in all the time "lost" during locking and only want to dock at the "prime towns". So it may make sense to look at the towns visited on a map or follow a ship on marinetraffic.com. Other rivers have fewer of those "problems" but you will experience a "bus to bus from" port I am sure.

 

notamermaid

 

[Canal archive]

I also suspect that some of the more out of the way or older moorings don’t have the required facilities such as pump outs and re-watering equipment. Just a thought.

[Host Jazzbeau]

2 hours ago, Canal archive said:

I also suspect that some of the more out of the way or older moorings don’t have the required facilities such as pump outs and re-watering equipment. Just a thought.

Or shore power

[Canal archive]

Oops forgot that one most probably the most important.

[rizello]

On 8/17/2024 at 2:50 PM, sjde said:

 

Our next river cruise will likely be with Gate 1.

What we didn’t like about our Viking river cruise was that there were no two- tops in the dining room, maybe not even four-tops. At breakfast and lunch we’d have preferred to not be in a large group. 

Also there was SO much busing.  Instead of docking right in town like our other river cruises,  where we could come and go at will , we were miles away and had to be bused in. 

How is Gate1 in this regard? TIA.

What Viking cruise were you on?  I think the proximity to town depends on the port and season. We were just on Bordeaux cruise and 99% of ports were walkable from dock. Agree that lack of two tops is an issue. We ate a lot in Aquavit 

[sjde]

It was Christmas Markets, Prague to Paris. 

[JordanF]

We took Gate 1 on the Danube last year.  We almost always could walk off of the boat, but in fairness to the other cruise lines, their boats were mostly tied up near where ours were.  Our particular ship had many four tops, but I really don't recall many, if any, two tops.  We were on the Monarch Queen.  We had an excellent trip with Gate 1.  FWIW, here is a link to my review.

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/3018815-gate-1-monarch-queen-review-prague-to-budapest-jun-26-2024/