Gate 1 Tours

[Jim in dallas]

Anyone been on a river cruise sponsored by Gate 1 Travel? We're going next year - April 5th on the danube leaving from Budapest. And sailing on the on MS Amadeus Royal. Was wondering if anyone else had experience with Gate 1 or had been on the Royal and could provide a short "review" of either? ;)

[steamboats]

Jim,

 

Gate1 is using mainly the MS Bolero this year (and last year when they started). For 2008 they contracted with Lueftner Cruises

 

http://www.lueftner-cruises.at/

 

an Austrian company. Therefore you won´t find any reviews covering Gate1 and the Amadeus Royal. Make a search for Gate1 or Bolero and a lot of reviews will pop up.

 

steamboats

[joek]

Gate1 is a very good travel company, we used them several years ago for land tours, and took a Holland cruise with them in April, on the Bolero. They are new to river cruising and as Steamboats said, will use other ships next year. The tour directors were very good and every detail was handled well.

[TravelingProf]

Hi Jim,

 

My partner and I are booked on the Royal Nov. 21, 2008. We are also booked on Amadeus Waterways Amadante July 27-Aug. 10, 2008. Have you ever done a river cruise before? We are curious to see if there are any family/FOD aboard and how other passengers treat family.

 

Thanks,

Annie

[Jim in dallas]

Hey Annie - thanks for the comment. I've never done a river cruise before and am excited about this one. I've always heard that there are limited to no problems on board. These are a much different "type" of crowd that goes on these tours, and are more open to the G&L community. I've never heard yet of them having FOD meetings on board - I'm thinking they won't since it's such a small passanger group. Good luck on yours! I bet you'll have a great time.

 

Jim

[p598738]

We are on Gate1 Basel to Amsterdam in two weeks, departing Sept 21 from Boston. . I'll give a report when I get back. Anyone else on this trip ?????

[LunaSeaRetreat]

Paul,

We will be leaving October 10 Budapest to Prague. I will look forward to your report. When and how did you receive your travel documents? I'm getting very excited. Hope you have a wonderful trip.

Cynthia

[marycang]

To Jim in Dallas and TravelinProf what is FOD. Very curious. We were on the ms Bolero Gate 1 cruise Regensburg to Budapest in May 2007 and had a great time. Not sure what you mean by family, but there was no one on board under 26-30 and they were traveling w/ older parents.

[p598738]

Got my documents today via email. I called to ask for them.

[TravelingProf]

Hi Marycang,

 

FOD stands for "friends of dorothy," (as in the Wizard of Oz) which is slang for gay and lesbian. Many of the major cruise lines have FOD meetings on all their cruises so gay and lesbian cruisers can meet one another. The term "family" also means gay or lesbian. I have heard two versions of why this particular term is used: A) If you met someone who raised your "gaydar," you could ask them if they were family. If they were gay, they would understand and acknowledge it. If not, they would not understand but you would still be safe because you did not openly reveal yourself. B) Because so many gay men and lesbians, especially older ones, were disowned by their families when they came out, their gay friends and community became their family. Which is the correct origin? Anyone's guess.

 

Annie

[TravelingProf]

Hi Jim,

 

Thanks for the reply--I will anxiously await your report as your river cruise is before the both of mine. I don't anticipate any problems but I am always concerned when we travel. We have had a few vacations with Olivia (we did their Med cruise in May and are doing the Mexican Riviera with them in October) and they were fabulous, especially the comfort factor (first time ever that no one asked if my partner and I were sisters, cousins, friends etc.).

 

Annie

[p598738]

Bad, bad, bad. Email me at woodman01588@yahoo.com for more.

[Jim in dallas]

FOD is "Friends of Dorothy". Another slang term (an olderone) for gays and lesbian (Dorthy - as in Wizzard of Oz!). A lot of cruise lines now have "FOD" meeting scheduled on cruises so you can meet other G&L cruisers on your trip.

[cole]

Jim:

We are scheduled to leave Nuremberg to Amsterdam with Gate 1 on the Amadeus Royal on April 6. Obviously one of us will not be on this particular boat. If you will check to confirm this reservation with Gate 1 and get back with me - I will then check from my side to see where the conflict is. This is our second possible conflict in scheduling since making our reservation.

Bitzy Cole

[Jim in dallas]

Hey Cole! Our travel agent just called as a couple days ago. Apparently, the tour we were on (nuremburg to Budapest) had to be changed. The European Union is closing the river (!!!) for a few weeks right then, so, Gate 1 asked to move us to the Nuremberg to Amsterdam trip. We moved it! So good! There will be someone else we "know" on the trip!

 

Jim:

We are scheduled to leave Nuremberg to Amsterdam with Gate 1 on the Amadeus Royal on April 6. Obviously one of us will not be on this particular boat. If you will check to confirm this reservation with Gate 1 and get back with me - I will then check from my side to see where the conflict is. This is our second possible conflict in scheduling since making our reservation.

Bitzy Cole

[cole]

Jim:

So glad that was cleared up! Yes, they said there would be a "reaper" in the canal (whatever that is) 10 miles west of Nuremberg and no ship will be able to cross from 4/11 - 4/27 - so that's where all of that is. Maybe if we do a "roll call" later we can find out other folks who are on board with us. My email address is cole@cei.net if you want to "talk" sometime about the trip. Looking forward to meeting y'all.