Gate 1, anyone?

[jettaleea]

Has anyone used Gate 1 for their river cruise? I'd love info on the company and its service.

 

Lee Ann

[steamboats]

jettaleea,

 

You won´t find anyone having any experiences with Gate 1 and river cruises. Why, they just started in this business and their first cruises are the Christmas market cruises on the MS Viktoria. They obviously do charter boats in off seasons for the German market. The MS Viktoria is usually used by a German tour operator. So is the MS Bolero which they are using in spring and fall for Danube river cruises. During the summer months it´s still sold by Nicko Tours (also a German cruise company).

 

steamboats

[Michael J]

This a copy of a prevous post Re: Gate1

#1

September 30th, 2006, 09:07 PM

azkitty vbmenu_register("postmenu_7929795", true);

Cool Cruiser

Join Date: Feb 2005

Posts: 70

 

 

Gate 1 Cancellation

We had a June 2007 Danube cruise booked on the MS Johann Strauss, a Gate 1 booking. My TA called a few days ago to say that Gate 1 had cancelled all their summer Danube cruises. We are getting refunded but meanwhile may have missed out on some good deals. I have to wonder how much Gate 1 made on all the interest on all these deposits.

It's the first and last time we would book anything with Gate 1, very unreliable.

 

It may have been a blessing in disguise although a more costly one. We are now booked on Avalon's MS Poetry through Brennan and it does offer more. I have heard good things about the MS Poetry. A friend took this same cruise a year ago and loved it. We start with 3 days in Prague around June 21st and end up in Budapest. I am going to try to do our own air as I like to pick the carrier, route and our seats and we want extra days in Budapest and may try a side trip after that on our own.

 

Anyone else going on the MS Poetry June 21?

[cruising sissie girl]

I found some Gate 1 reviews on epinions.com but none are specifically about river cruises. I was also wondering if you can purchase tours on board. We weren't sure which ones or if any we wanted to do, so I didn't purchase the optional tour package in advance. I am getting really excited!

 

Jerilyn

[jettaleea]

We didn't purchase the optional tour package either. It sounds like there will be plenty of excursions without it! Some of these other posts about river cruises sound like there's not a minute to yourself, and I'd like to relax a little. Plus we enjoy walking around the ports and exploring on our own.

 

Can't wait either! Will be fun to meet you.

 

Lee Ann

[DeniceRG]

Less than 3 weeks and counting til our river cruise on board the Viktoria! I am getting so excited!!!

[jettaleea]

Have you received your cruise docs yet? Waiting anxiously here!

 

Also, have you learned anything about the trip? Do the boats have shampoo and soap? What's the dress code? Little stuff like that? lol

 

Lee Ann

[DeniceRG]

Hi Lee Ann,

 

No, we haven't received our docs yet; My travelling companion just called in his passport # a couple of days ago, so that might have been the hold up. The res agent he talked to said she was going on the Viktoria either this week or next, and told him to call her back after Thanksgiving and she will give him her "review". Once he tells me, I'll pass it on. Hopefully, some of the questions will be answered!

[snb3]

Mine we're emailed to me last week. Its about 10 pgs w/ all the flight confirmations & such. I called the airlines to verify & flightwise, everything was correct. We prev got our room confirmation & was confirmed in the email. I did give our passport info 2 wks ago so I guess they would need a wk after that to send out the pckt.

 

I leave in 2 wks.:)

[jettaleea]

Did your documents arrive? Getting really anxious here to have them in hand. Also wondering if it answers dress code questions and such.

 

Lee Ann

[DeniceRG]

Hi Lee Ann,

 

Yep, we did get our docs ... they were emailed. There is nothing in them about dress on the river boat. My travelling companion is calling Gate 1 today ... the woman he talked to there a few weeks ago was going on the Viktoria over Thanksgiving and told him to call her back and she will give him a report ...When he lets me know what she says, I will let you know.

 

Less than a week!! I can't wait!!

 

Denice

[DeniceRG]

My traveling companion talked yesterday with the res agent who went on the Viktoria last week. She gave it glowing reviews. Said the food was fabulous, cabins were bigger than she expected, the public rooms were very nice and meticulous. Hair dryers in every cabin. She said she did the concert at Shoenbrunn Castle (she said she did this through the cruise ... might be an optional tour). I was looking into it independently and it looks great... here's the web site for it: http://www.imagevienna.com/english/schlosskonzerte.htm

 

We leave on Sunday ... it can't get here fast enough!!!

 

Denice

[snb3]

sweet, I leave early tomorrow morning.

[DeniceRG]

SNB ....

 

What sailing are you on? We leave the 3rd for Prague, then board the Viktoria on the 6th ....

[jettaleea]

Thanks! Did you find out about how people dressed? Guess that's my biggest question. Also, anything on tipping?

 

Lee Ann

[DeniceRG]

She said dress was very casual ... sorry, forgot to ask about tipping.

[jettaleea]

My docs just arrived....YES!!!!!!! Now I can really believe I'm going!

 

Denice and SNB, hope you have a wonderful time! Right now the weather is still really warm there so I'm still up in the air about what to pack. I'll just keep watching the Weather Channel.

 

Lee Ann

[snb3]

SNB ....

 

What sailing are you on? We leave the 3rd for Prague, then board the Viktoria on the 6th ....

 

Hey Denice,

Schucks, we leave the boat on the 6th in Regensburg. I'll post here my experiences & the boat asap after I get on & maybe some photos, too.

 

BTW, I'm just over the hill from you (Koreatown).

see you in Euro!

[DeniceRG]

Have a GREAT cruise neighbor :) Maybe we'll pass in Regensburg somewhere ... Look for a 6'+ bald guy with a Cajun accent, and a blonde (me) with him ....

 

Can't wait to compare notes :)

 

Denice

[addie19]

Hope you all had great trips! My husband and I are leaving on the gate 1 new years cruise on the danube on dec26. just wanted to get some info from you about the ship and how everything went. i think we are on the ms viktoria(this is what my travel docs now state-however i thought we were originally on the ms johan strauss)

 

what is the dress requirement for dining, if any? do you have a more specific itinerary on when stops are made and where? specifically, how much time do we have in each city? how much is free time and how much is with the cruise ship group? and is there an actual stop in linz?

 

on trip is for passau, linz?, melk, vienna, budapest.

 

thanks for any info you can give me!

addie

[jettaleea]

Addie, the docs give no info as to how long we have in each town. If you really need to know you could call Gate 1 to ask.

 

The dress code is casual.

 

We leave next Thursday, so I finally get to pull out the suitcases!

 

Lee Ann

[timohusker]

My wife and I are on the same cruise as you, Addie... We arrive in Prague on 12/25 for a couple of days and can't wait for this trip. My wife has travelled with Gate 1 before and they were very good to work with and have been on this as well. We have heard by and large it is casual or business casual. I would guess a couple of the dinners on board may be smart casual... See you onboard!:)

[PatriciaH]

My husband and I will be joining those of you who are also going on the Dec 26 Gate 1 Danube trip. Just got my edocuments. I did see a suggested tipping of $5 per person per day for the cruise. Does anyone know if this covers all the tipping? Anxious to hear any details of those of you have finished your cruise.

This will be my first cruise - can't wait.

[addie19]

I'm not sure about the tipping covering all services on board--do you think we will need cash for that or will they put it towards our onboard tab as other cruise lines do?

 

I think I will call gate 1 in the morning and find out all the specifics that I can about everything I am unsure of. I'll let you all know!

 

glad to see that you will all be in the same trip! my husband i fly out on the 26th from d.c. arriving in Munich at 810AM on the 27th.

 

 

wonder if it is going to snow while we are there? brrrr....

 

Addie

[joek]

I'm not sure about Gate 1 cruise tipping info, I've only been on Grand Circle. They suggest $10-12 pp/pd to cover entire ship's staff and crew, cash only, US$ or local currency. Tour directors are tipped separately, again in cash. Only optional tours and shipboard expenses like bar & purchases can be charged to a card.