ss.Bolero river cruise

[Hotsy]

Has anyone been on this river boat? It is run by Gate 1 travel. We are taking it in Sept. - Prague, Regensburg, Passau,Vienna,Bratslavia,Budapest and then Krakow and Warsaw by land.

I can't find much information about it.

Thanks

[seacrystal]

You should post this to the River Cruise boards. You will probably get a few replies.:D

[steamboats]

Hotsy,

 

Now your threads being moved to the right board I´d suggest to make a search on this board. There are a lot of threads about Gate1 and the MS BOLERO. Gate1 has partly chartered this vessel for the 2007 season. They don´t have it in 2008. The ship is operated by Nicko Tours, a German company. They obviously still have a partial charter on the ship too. And as far as I´ve read sometimes the German and US groups are mixed.

 

steamboats

[marycang]

We were on the MS Bolero in May. The same itinerary you will be on, except we didn't do the land tours because we spent 2 weeks in Italy pre-cruise and one week in central Hungary after the cruise. We really enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere and the friendly staff. The port tours were interesting and well done. The food on our cruise wasn't great and at a few meals it was poor. The rest of the cruise was so nice that we could overlook the poor food. They did free pour wine at dinner, which some cruises don't do. Overall you should have a great time. Enjoy!!

[Hotsy]

:)

We were on the MS Bolero in May. The same itinerary you will be on, except we didn't do the land tours because we spent 2 weeks in Italy pre-cruise and one week in central Hungary after the cruise. We really enjoyed the relaxed atmosphere and the friendly staff. The port tours were interesting and well done. The food on our cruise wasn't great and at a few meals it was poor. The rest of the cruise was so nice that we could overlook the poor food. They did free pour wine at dinner, which some cruises don't do. Overall you should have a great time. Enjoy!!

 

Thank you for taking the time to share. I feel a little better now -- we have taken Uniworld previously and found the food to be quite good. We can always eat in some interesting restaurants!

:)

[CBHinkle]

We did the reverse of this trip in May. I have a partial review posted on this board if you'll do a search. Ask specific questions and I'll do my best to answer.

[Carrin]

We did the reverse of this trip in May. I have a partial review posted on this board if you'll do a search. Ask specific questions and I'll do my best to answer.

 

 

 

 

Was wondering about the tours in Krakow and Warsaw with Gate 1. Were they good, or were you sorry you didn't do Poland on your own? We're planning for next October (08) 25th Anniversary trip and could use some insight.

 

Thanks.

 

Carrin

[Carrin]

Has anyone been on this river boat? It is run by Gate 1 travel. We are taking it in Sept. - Prague, Regensburg, Passau,Vienna,Bratslavia,Budapest and then Krakow and Warsaw by land.

I can't find much information about it.

Thanks

 

 

 

We're looking to take same trip in Oct. 08. Hope we get some info land portion. Trying to decide whether to drive around or take Gate 1 tour.

 

Carrin:o

[nomo825]

We are taking a cruise on MS Bolero in October. I can't answer your questions from personal experience but there were some old postings about the ship. They were complementary about the staff and said the food was adequate.

 

I too have lots of questions. When you get back from vacation could you post a reply and let me know how you found the ship? I am curious if there is a dry cleaning service/laundry service on board and what sort of nighttime activities/entertainment, if any, there is. Also, what types of clothing you recommend for men and women. How much did you tip and in what currency?

 

If you booked through Gate 1, how long before your cruise did you receive your documents.

 

Thank you in advance for your input. I hope you have a great time on your vacation.

 

nomo825

[LunaSeaRetreat]

We are taking a cruise on MS Bolero in October. I can't answer your questions from personal experience but there were some old postings about the ship. They were complementary about the staff and said the food was adequate.

 

I too have lots of questions. When you get back from vacation could you post a reply and let me know how you found the ship? I am curious if there is a dry cleaning service/laundry service on board and what sort of nighttime activities/entertainment, if any, there is. Also, what types of clothing you recommend for men and women. How much did you tip and in what currency?

 

If you booked through Gate 1, how long before your cruise did you receive your documents.

 

 

 

Thank you in advance for your input. I hope you have a great time on your vacation.

 

nomo825

 

 

Hi nomo825,

 

I received our documents last night via email for our October 10 trip. All 19 pages! Our airline seats were not listed but I checked on the Lufthansa site and they were listed for our flight from PHL to Frankfurt. I had signed up for their rewards program when I learned we were flying with them.

It won't be long now!

Cynthia

[nomo825]

Cynthia -

I just checked e-mail and read your response. Thank you for your post. Believe it or not we still have not received our documents -- and we leave in less than 2 weeks. Are you flying all the way to Hungary on Luftansa? When we booked we were told we'd be on UA and arrive Budapest in the afternoon on the 11th. We haven't done any research on where to sightsee and hope the hotel concierge can assist us.

Looking forward to meeting you and your group as well as to a wonderful vacation and to receiving our docs. See you on board.

Sandi (nomo825)

[LunaSeaRetreat]

Sandi,

I hope you received your documents. We booked directly with Gate1. We are flying with Lufthansa the entire trip but must change planes in Frankfurt. I'm getting out the suitcases tomorrow.

Hope to meet you soon.

Cynthia

[nomo825]

Hi Cynthia -

We called Gate 1 and received the docs the next day via e-mail. I thought we were flying United all the way but apparently we switch to Lufthansa in Frankfort. We arrive in Budapest around 2PM. Are you on that flight or one that arrives earlier? The United person I spoke with said that you can carry on 1 bag plus a purse on Lufthansa but the carry on must measure 45 linear inches or less (length + width + height) and it can't weigh more than 18 pounds. Did you get the same information?

 

Also, we received a communication from Gate 1 that the hotel in Budapest was changed to New York Palace. Did you also get switched? It looks really nice on their web site. Gate 1's notice said they'd be sending new travel documents. I sure hope they only mean the changed voucher and not the whole 21 pages we received initially.

 

We too are starting to get stuff out and trying to keep things to a minimum. I've never done a river cruise before and am doing my best to limit what I take. Weather forecast looks to be spring-like during the days but cool to chilly at night.

 

I look forward to meeting you and your group.

Sandi

[LunaSeaRetreat]

Sandi,

Our hotel was changed also. I'm not with a group just my husband, Matthew and I. The hotel does look nice and got great reviews on travel adviser. I'll have to check on the carry on limits. I was planning on bringing a large one since the airlines seem to be losing a lot of luggage. I'll let you know when I find out something. Our plane earlier. It's good to know there is a later one in case we miss our connection.

Cynthia

[thefish]

Sandi

 

At which hotel did Gate1 originally book you in Budapest?

 

Duane

[nomo825]

Duane -

The original hotel was supposed to be the Hilton. Are you on our cruise?

Sandi

[thefish]

My wife and I will be on the Thanksgiving cruise on the Bolero through Gate1. I was curious about the hotel because they are using the Radisson for our two days in Budapest prior to the cruise. I think the New York Palace just opened recently. Gate1 must have received a good deal from them so that they can build up clientele. We will be happy whereever we stay.... Well

almost whereever.

 

 

Duane

[nomo825]

Cynthia -

Things moved so quickly we never got to exchange e-mail addresses. I was wondering if you could give me the name of the cruise line you are using for your anniversary cruise. Thanks.

Hope your trip home went smoothly. We came back to a smokey area.

Sandi

[LunaSeaRetreat]

Cynthia -

Things moved so quickly we never got to exchange e-mail addresses. I was wondering if you could give me the name of the cruise line you are using for your anniversary cruise. Thanks.

Hope your trip home went smoothly. We came back to a smokey area.

Sandi

 

Sandi, I was really worried about all of you when we got home and heard about the fires. I hope everything is okay.

"10 Night Galapagos Island Cruise Onboard Celebrity Xpedition" in early April 2009. If you go through the booking process, they will show the prices for all the dates available. There is also a huge thread on the Celebrity board that has been going on since 05. http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=158948

Happy sailing!

Cynthia

 

 

[nomo825]

Cynthia -

After I sent that e-mail I remembered that your anniversary cruise was on the Xpedition. I meant to ask you about the river cruise you were talking about in France that goes to the smaller villages.

Regarding the fires, we've been lucky. We didn't realize how seriouis the fires were or how they had devastated our county until we landed in SFO. There was a message from my son and he gave us the hotline number to call regarding evacuation. Our area was on evacuation alert, but that was cancelled by the time we got home. The smokey smell has disipated. We even had some rain droplets today. Hopefully, the fire areas got some relief too. We washed some of the ash off our back yard pavement and furniture. It's incredible to see how much ash has been carried by the air currents and then sprinkled on property 20-30 miles from the fires. Most of the fires are contained but there are too many still burning. I found out that our doctor lost his house in the fire.

Hope you've adjusted to the time change. We're getting there.

Take care and be well.

Sandi

 

Sandi, I was really worried about all of you when we got home and heard about the fires. I hope everything is okay.

"10 Night Galapagos Island Cruise Onboard Celebrity Xpedition" in early April 2009. If you go through the booking process, they will show the prices for all the dates available. There is also a huge thread on the Celebrity board that has been going on since 05. http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=158948

 

Happy sailing!

Cynthia

 

[LunaSeaRetreat]

Sandi,

This thread has some suggestions.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=625115&highlight=French

 

It was Grand Circle that I sent me a huge brochure and has several choices.

 

Have a good day.

Cynthia