The Scenic Difference

Travel and Leisure

Ok, so this isn't an advertisement for Scenic river cruises. I’m not a travel advisor, nor am I affiliated with Scenic. But I have always been curious about Scenic river cruising, and so I thought I'd go check out the local Scenic river cruise seminar that was taking place here in Vancouver, and see what all the hubub was about. Having sailed on four different river cruises, I can tell you that the river cruise experience itself is pretty much the same regardless of who you go with. What does change however, are the little details that some of you may find worthwhile and/or worth the extra cost. So I jotted down some notes where I thought that Scenic offered something unique or different, perhaps versus the other middle tier operators. Having cruised with their little sister company, Emerald, I’ll try to compare and contrast the experience with them. It won't be my place to tell you if Scenic is the brand for you; that's up to you to decide.

It's all about luxury

Apparently the Scenic Founder and Chairman, Glen Moroney, was hearing from his land-based tour participants that they wanted more luxurious experiences. From what I saw today, you are taken care of from the moment you step out of the baggage claim area, until you are returned to that airport at the end of your trip. Judging by the seniority of the audience participants (late 70s to early 80s), it would seem that age has something to do with this requirement for river cruising i.e. this demographic of clientele appears to want to have someone accompanying and guiding them from start to finish. I learned that Scenic goes to great lengths to take the guesswork and planning out of travelling in Europe and making sure that their guests experience a minimum of pain and stress while on their vacation.

Scenic adds 2 days to the typical Danube route

This also seems to equate to longer river cruises with Scenic; where other providers offer cruises starting a 4 or 5 days, Scenic seems to have a starting point of around 8 days, pulling in frequently visited cities as pre- or post-cruise destinations and stopping more often to make longer itineraries. i.e. instead of having to coordinate your own pre- and post-cruise extensions, Scenic makes a point of including those from the get-go.

We do our own pre-cruise extensions

We normally like to establish our own agendas for European travel; e.g. the time we went on an Emerald river cruise, we arranged our own self-guided, 8-night trip through Croatia and met our ship in Budapest. We feel that doing our own pre- or post-cruise extensions not only allows us to tailor things exactly to what we want to do, but also is far less expensive than doing it with the river cruise operator.

Anyhow, back to the Scenic differences; in no order of priority, here are the things that I noted that would appear to differentiate Scenic from Emerald and other middle-tier operators.

Butler service

I have a hard time wrapping my head around this, so I had to Google what a butler does on a river cruise; I came up with this website if you care to read. Having been on four river cruises, I have never had need for these services, but maybe you do. There was that time on our Emerald cruise, where we got poured on while using the bicycles in Budapest, and so we used up all of our towels trying to dry out. But a simple call to the front desk had our housekeeper dropping off fresh ones moments later. I find that part of the fun of being on such a small ship, is walking down the hall to the bar to grab some ice, and having a friendly chat with the bartender. However, if you like staying in your room and are not particularly excited about running down to grab an espresso in your terry towel robe and slippers, then perhaps butler service is something you are willing to pay for.

Staterooms and suite choices

Having not been on any European Scenic ships, I can't say just how much more luxurious their staterooms are, but from the videos, they seem to be like the Emerald ones, but larger. Specifically, where the Emerald Panorama Balcony rooms are contained within a rectangle, the Scenic ones have the bathroom off to the side. As such, Private Balcony Suites start at 205 sq. ft. and go up to 225 in the Deluxe one (vs. Emerald's Panorama Balcony Suite at 165 sq. ft.). I don't like how they have a divider or curtain that separates the "balcony" area from the rest of the room, as it would seem to just get in the way and offer little value. The extra room in the bathroom would definitely be a bonus, and one of the things we'd look for when choosing rooms on any river cruise (e.g. Gate 1's Monarch Empress and Queen ships).

And then there's the selection of more spacious suites that Scenic offers. Where most ships offer staterooms that are larger than the standard French balcony ones, Scenic has a number to choose from, obviously at elevated price levels. Moving up from the bottom, "swan-view" rooms to a balcony is about US$130/night (compared to Emerald, where it's about $50-60/night difference), and about $300/night to move into the Royal Suite. However, a quick peruse of their website shows that all but their bottom level rooms sell out very quickly, so if you want a bigger suite, you need to act fast.

Enhanced dining experience

A significant difference that I saw during the presentation, is the level of dining that Scenic cruisers experience. Not only are there more restaurants, but from the videos I saw, it looks like Michelin-star dining (can't vouch for the taste). I've only eaten in about 4 or 5 Michelin-star restaurants, but it would appear that supper on Scenic comes pretty close to that experience. Of course, you'll still have buffet options at breakfast and lunch, but I think you should expect an elevated dining experience in the evenings. The European ships offer two separate restaurants that are reserved either for a once-per-sailing dinner, or for specific guests on the Diamond deck or higher-end suites (by invitation). There is also the River Café where guests can grab a casual bite, or even get a lunch packed for them (I've never heard of this on other cruises), if they should choose not to return to the ship at mid-day. Most other mid-tier river cruises will offer 1 to 2 dining venue options; in the Emerald case, the lounge was used for a light lunch alternative, but not used as an alternate dinner option. And food on Emerald was good, but certainly not the calibre of a Michelin-star restaurant.

More excursions and "Exclusive to Scenic" events

In addition to the included typical walking tours, Scenic offers a number of choices that give their guests greater variety for other excursions. Over and above those options, Scenic offers exclusive events that other operators don't, and the presenter harped on this benefit quite a bit; their website touts, "Scenic Enrich events are once-in-a-lifetime experiences that will bring to life the rich cultural heritage of Europe's waterways". With any river cruise operator, you can count on one daily walking tour in each port (sometimes two), but Scenic has also secured private venues for art, music or cultural events. From the slides and videos I saw, it seems to be heavily weighted towards classical music or similar performances in a castle, palace or otherwise historical setting. If this is your jam, then you'll definitely experience something special with these events.

On the French itineraries (not sure if other routes offer these), the options add food-based activities like their Culinaire Cooking School, which may include tagging along with the chef while they shop for local ingredients at the market. In the wine regions of France, you might be offered a vineyard cycling tour (which I am almost certain would be using e-bikes). 

Other niceties

If the inclusions above haven't already reeled you in, here's a few more little details that I picked up that Scenic offers. Of course all your drinks are included, including the in-room mini-bar and premium alcohol cocktails. One free bag of laundry is included with all room types; I believe the benefit enhances as you go up in room category. There's an onboard Wellness Coach, if you need that sort of encouragement, as well as a Salt Therapy Lounge and spa services.

While we've not done a Douro cruise, apparently Scenic is the only operator that docks on the Porto side of the river (vs. Vila Novo de Gaia). The story goes that Glen negotiated with the local authorities to build a dock for his ships that is walking distance from the popular Ribeira district. Similarly, he arranged to build more docks on the Douro, allowing for enhanced itineraries and increased stops along the way; this might explain why sometimes ships moor at spots overnight where there really isn't much there (or so I've read).

Scenic has schedules that allow for "Cruising Combinations" 

Scenic has proven that they listen to their guests, who had suggested that they would like even longer cruises, so Scenic has made a point of structuring their schedules so that cruisers can dovetail cruises back-to-back. Visiting Normandy? Scenic ships will get you all the way to Honfleur, reducing the amount of time you'll spend on the coach getting to and from there.

A parting note on pricing and promos

As some of you might have noticed, the US website shows Full Fare prices that far exceed the Canadian ones, especially with the exchange factored in. I took a few minutes to pull the Scenic representative aside at the end of the presentation, and asked about this. He sort of shook his head, and indicated that the US has a different marketing team and strategy. "Americans want to feel like their getting a deal, so they price their cruises high, and then offer big discounts". My research indicates that sometimes even when the US offers 2-for-1 deals, including free air, that the equivalent price is not as good as when the Canadian site offers a 2-for-1 only. And no, an American guest cannot buy from the Canadian website; well, not unless they have a Canadian residential address that they can bill against.
Over the years, I've priced out many Scenic offers, and while the price is definitely much higher than other mid-tier operators, sometimes the promotional offer brings a Deluxe Balcony down into the somewhat palatable US$450-550/night range. By comparison, the best Emerald deal for a similar cruise and room category can get into the US$270/night territory. 
Someone asked about single cruising, and the presenter indicated that most ships have two single rooms on the bottom level that sell out quickly. However, he suggested that you can call in and inquire about waiving the single supplement, as they often offer it up as an unadvertised promotion.

Why we don't sail with Scenic

After reading the differences that set Scenic apart from say, Emerald, you're probably thinking, "why wouldn't I want to cruise with Scenic?"
Well obviously budget is a factor. We can, and have cruised for 12 nights on a 1st Class river cruise in a French balcony room, including trans-Atlantic flights for about US$7,000 including all tips and add-ons. For the two of us. Can we cruise with Scenic on that budget? Not even close. 
And for us, most of enhanced benefits are not going to be relevant or add value for us. I don't drink a lot, and she doesn't drink at all. Butler? Can't really figure out why we'd need one. 5+ star dining? Nice to have, but not typically our style. An evening at the symphony? Pass. A private opera concert? Hard pass.

Indeed, there seems to be two distinct categories of river cruisers. There's the "cruise experience" one that wants a fully-encapsulated end-to-end tour, where every minute of every day is carefully crafted and curated, packed with luxury and exclusiveness fit for royalty. Then there's the other side of the coin, where folks are really looking for a European adventure, without the hassle of packing and unpacking every day; to these cruisers, the ship is really a boutique hotel with a great restaurant, that happens to follow them down the river, and everything else is a bonus. Independent travellers? Then you're more likely to fit into the second category; e.g. once you've finished the included 90-minute walking tour in Vienna, you'd rather venture off on your own than be escorted back to the ship for lunch and off to your included private symphony performance. The additional differences and add-ons might be appreciated, but since you're paying for them whether you take advantage of them or not, they may be wasted on some.

Tulips n' Windmills river cruise

Travel and Leisure

I had previously written about our two most recent river cruises (upper Danube with Gate 1 and lower Danube with Emerald), but someone posted a request for this itinerary on the Facebook group the other day, so I thought I'd jot down some thoughts and notes regarding our experience. Since we travelled with Vantage, which is now bankrupt, this post will be more about the stops and places visited rather than a review of Vantage, for obvious reasons. 

The route for this region will vary by river cruise operator, so this is something that you should make sure you understand before booking. We chose this itinerary (and Vantage) on a whim, as we came across a ludicrous deal on Travelzoo that we couldn't refuse (well under $200 per night in a French balcony room). Of course, the timing for this cruise is springtime, so you typically only have a month's worth of sailings for a given operator to choose from; mid-April to the end of the month seems to be the sweet spot for the best chance of catching the tulips in full bloom.

Pre-cruise extension in Brussels

We never fly in and head directly to the ship; getting over the trans-Atlantic flight and ensuring that any travel delays don't affect our cruise are important factors for us. Since we were embarking in Antwerp, we booked two nights in Brussels. There are folks that will say that Brussels isn't worth visiting, but we'd disagree, and the old town area and the Grand Place are certainly worthy of a visit.

We stayed at the Ibis/Novotel Brussels off Grand Place, which as it sounds, is right off the Grand Place, and only a short few minutes walk from the Brussel-Centraal station. If you haven't stayed at an Ibis or Novotel chain, they are modest, but clean and comfortable hotels that you can find all over Europe. We had our eye on a cute B&B on the other side of the old town area, but they were only available for one night, so settled with the Ibis. We didn't opt for their breakfast package (15€ per person), but we found a little café in the beautiful Galeries Royales across the street.

For only 7€ each, we got this massive amount of carbs to start our day. We actually ate only the croissants, juice and coffee, and took the baguette and cheese along for our mid-morning snack. It's not something I/we normally do, but neither is a 5-km walk before lunchtime. So a tip for you first-time European travellers, is to stock up a bit more on your food intake for breakfast or bring a snack, as you might need a little more energy than you are used to. 

Embarkation and Day 1 in Antwerp

Since we did our own pre-cruise extension, even if the cruise operator had included transfers for us, they wouldn’t have been applicable. It was a short and easy train ride from Brussels to Antwerp, then a brief taxi trip to the port where our ship was waiting. Interestingly, since the port there is tidal, when we arrived, we couldn’t even see the ship, and the only thing visible at the dock was a banner for the cruise line. We walked down a ramp onto the top deck and then down the stairs to the front desk for an efficient check-in.

After unpacking, we walked back into the Antwerp old town area for a little exploring on our own. Since we knew from our itinerary that we were going to get a walking tour the next day, we didn’t do a big, extensive walk, and headed back to the ship for a cold beverage on the top deck. That evening, we had the on board welcome reception and briefing. Our first full day of the itinerary started with a guided walking tour of Antwerp, with the rest of the day to explore on our own. After paying 7€ the previous afternoon for a beer on board, I picked up some local Belgian beer at the corner store before returning to the ship.

Stateroom / ship (now the Gate 1 Monarch Queen)

Despite the fact that Vantage is out of business, it is worth mentioning the stateroom we had, as the Vantage ship lease has been picked up by Gate 1, under the new name “Monarch Queen”. At the time, we had only cruised with Uniworld up to this point, in a room with only a window, not floor-to-ceiling glass doors, and a small bathroom with a tiny triangular shower area. Uniworld still has rooms like this, on some of their "Regal" series of ships; something to be aware of if you need a little more room when bathing. 

By comparison, this room was palatial, with a bathroom large enough for the two of us to stand side-by-side in front of the sink! It had a much larger, square shaped shower enclosure, with ample room to move around, vs. the cramped Uniworld one. We found out later that the ship was new, and so everything looked perfect, with no visible signs of wear and tear. The ship has an American “Golden Age of Jazz” music theme, and the suites are named for famous jazz greats. You'll find vintage photographs, jazz-themed artwork, quotations, and biographies to read. All of this jazz memorabilia blends with the casually elegant art-deco-inspired earth-tone decor. For anyone looking to book a Gate 1 river cruise, the Monarch Queen is the ship to look for.

Day 2 - trip to Bruges

After our first full day of our itinerary exploring in Antwerp, our ship sailed overnight to Ghent. I don’t recall if anyone stayed in Ghent (which apparently is worth visiting), as everyone seemed to go on the excursion to picturesque Bruges, one of Europe’s best-preserved medieval cities and a UNESCO World Site. Luckily, Vantage got us off the boat quickly in the morning, so we were able to do the guided walking tour of town before the masses arrived.

We finished our tour with a brief canal boat ride through this beautiful little area. For a fun, pre-cruise activity, watch the movie “In Bruges” with Brendan Gleason and Colin Farrell; you’ll recognise the areas where key scenes were shot. On our cruise, we were given an ample allowance for lunch on our own, and so after the tour, we headed off to get a bite and continued exploring. After, we found an incredible beer store called 2be, which had a staggering selection and variety! As I always suggest to others, I picked up some tasty Belgian beers to enjoy back on the ship (at a fraction of the price charged at the bar in the lounge).

Day 3 - Middelburg, The Netherlands 

Waking up in The Netherlands, we embarked on our morning walking tour of Middelburg, a city and municipality in the south-western Netherlands serving as the capital of the province of Zeeland. The old historic part of town is quaint, and has an interesting Town Hall. Without the guided walking tour however, it would not have 

seemed very interesting, as you’d walk down the narrow lanes and along the canals with no context to what you are seeing, or the history that is embedded within. That said, Middelburg was probably the least favourite of our stops on this cruise itinerary. Back on the ship for late afternoon cruising - we needed to get through some locks, so not very interesting sailing, and certainly too cold to be up on the top deck. Note to self: in the land of windmills, it can get very windy.

Day 4 - Rotterdam and Keukenhof Gardens

After breakfast, we had our own free time in Rotterdam to explore in the morning. Since it was heavily damaged by bombing during WWII, Rotterdam has been mostly rebuilt with modern architectural styles, and it was worth a walk to see some of the unique buildings and structures there. We found a free, self-guided architecture walking tour for our smartphones and spent a little over an hour wandering around the area, which was very close to where we were docked.

Back to the ship to catch a 60-minute bus ride to the tulip gardens; again, we got there before the dozens and dozens of other coaches packed full of tourists arrived. We had an escorted tour of the gardens, where we were informed of the late spring they were having, and that normally the tulips would have bloomed already (we visited on May 3rd). It was quite a sight to see, that many tulips, but after a couple of hours, I was tulipped out. Vantage gave us a generous meal allowance, and the lunch options at the massive food court were fantastic.

I know they were trying to get us to Keukenhof early to avoid the crowds, but I think I would have preferred a guided tour or longer in Rotterdam, and then less time or a later visit to the gardens. 

Day 5 - Kinderdijk and afternoon cruising to Arnhem

Waking up next to the UNESCO World Heritage Site, we chose to take the bikes out for a short ride into town along the river for an hour or so. Returning the bikes to the ship, we walked with our tour guides into the canal area to see the nineteen original 18th-century windmills, and went inside one of them. These windmills controlled the canal flood gates, versus the ones that most people think of that mill flour. They were very interesting to see up close, but don’t get too close to the sails! They look graceful from a distance, but those vanes come whizzing by fast; now they have ropes up to prevent inattentive tourists from getting killed, but I’m sure someone got taken out by one at some point.

Back on the ship for lunch and afternoon cruising to Arnhem; unfortunately, as you can imagine, the landscape on this itinerary is quite flat, traversing a number of locks, so there’s not a lot of interesting viewing while you are at sail. We docked in Arnhem under “A Bridge Too Far”; while technically not the same bridge as the one from the famous WWII movie, the John Frost Bridge was rebuilt in 1948 in the same style as the original one.

Day 6 - WWII history or Kroeller-Müller museum visit

We had coincidentally arrived on May 5th, which is Dutch Liberation Day. Canadians played a pivotal role in the liberation of Holland from the Nazis, and to this day, the Dutch still greet Canadians with open arms as a result. As such, we chose to go on the bus tour that went to the Groesbeek interactive Liberation Museum with WWII displays and exhibits. It wasn’t her favourite, but I found it fascinating to visit. Those who went on this tour also stopped at the Canadian War Cemetery, where over 1,000 Canadian soldiers are buried. It would have been fun to stop in Nijmegen to celebrate with the Dutch, but that wasn’t in the cards, and we were carted back to the ship for lunch.

I didn’t ask anyone who went on the other tour how it went, so can’t comment on that unfortunately. I went for a stroll into the colourful shopping streets of Arnhem that afternoon, wondering what the others heard from the local guide on their walk through town after their museum visit.

Day 7 - Enkhuizen and the Zuiderzeemuseum

We woke again in a new Dutch town, this time it was Enkhuizen. The included tour was something that didn’t really appeal to me/us, so we decided to stay and visit the Zuiderzeemuseum, which showcases the stories of the people living around the Zuiderzee, and brings the past to life. It consists of indoor and outdoor museums, with over 130 authentic houses, shops and workshops.

Actors portraying the working folks of the era showcased the life of the residents back then. We probably spent almost three hours exploring, and we could easily walk to and from the Zuiderzeemuseum from the ship. It was a great option for those that didn’t want to go on the “cultural connection” tour and home-hosted visit that day. In the afternoon, we had time to stroll the old town area of Enkhuizen before cocktail hour back on the ship.

Day 8 - Amsterdam and disembarkation

We were moored very close to Amsterdam Centraal Station, and so it was very easy to get into town to explore. We were given an included canal boat tour, which ended near the Rijksmuseum; they escorted us past the lineup into a few selected halls to view some of the artwork on display. It’s a great museum to see, and is probably better than time spent in the lineup to the Ann Frank House (which is overrated in my opinion). We chose to walk back to the ship, and used the Rick Steves free Audio Europe app to do our own self-guided touring.

He has three walking tours in the canal district, so we did Jordaan and the City Walk; we had saved the Red Light District one for after dinner, but we ran out of juice. Amsterdam is one of our favourite cities, but not unlike other European destinations, is suffering from over-tourism. I had the good fortune of spending a few days in my college mate’s flat in Amsterdam a long time ago, so had a chance to experience it before the mass tourism days started. But if your cruise starts or ends here, it’s still worth spending at least a couple of days here on your own, even if you get a day or tour included with your itinerary. We had one last night on the ship before disembarking on the following morning; since we had been to Amsterdam before on our Rhine river cruise, we opted not to have a post-cruise extension here. We didn't do our air with Vantage, so we simply took the train from Amsterdam Centraal back to Schiphol for our flight home.

Summary

At the time we took this cruise, we knew nothing about this itinerary. It definitely has unique cities and stops along the way, somewhat different to the Rhine and upper Danube routes, and as indicated, each operator does slightly different variations. Obviously, being a Tulips n' Windmills trip, you have to stop at Kinderdijk and go to the Keukenhof Gardens. We probably could have done without Middelburg, but maybe it's too much cruising or too many locks to get from Ghent to Rotterdam overnight. I thought we had time to visit Nijmegen as part of the WWII history swing from Arnhem, but perhaps that also wasn't feasible.

In any case, we felt that this itinerary had a wide variety of places to see and visit, from the big city of Amsterdam down to small, historical Bruges. As with other itineraries in Europe, part of the value of river cruising, is that you will stop at places and see things that you would likely not have visited if you were touring on your own. I'd rank this itinerary/area third, behind top rated Rhine and upper Danube routes, but not a distant third, mind you. It's also well situated for good pre- and post-cruise excursions, so that is also something to keep in mind as you look at planning your next European river cruise.

Using your electrical devices in Europe

Travel and Leisure

Yep. The writers' strike is still going on. So what to write about today? I just gave my brother two of my NA to EU plug adapters for his first trip to Europe, and this is a hot topic of confusion for many first-time travellers across the Atlantic, so here goes. Disclaimer: While I am/was an electrical engineer, please do your own due diligence with respect to using electrical devices in Europe.

The first thing that you should do, is take a mental inventory of anything electrical that you will want to bring abroad. Our list is something like this:

• 2 x iPads
• 2 x iPhones
• 1 x power bank
• 1 x bluetooth speaker
• 1 x pair bluetooth earbuds (for RS Audio Tours)
• 1 x hair straightening iron

Once you've figured out what you will need electricity for, turn each device over (or the power adapter for each) and try to read the tiny writing on the side. I use the device pictured above for the first five items on my list (it has three USB charging ports), and it reads "Input: 100V-240VAC 50/60Hz".

So for this USB charger (and likely any device like it), you are good to handle the EU power system of 220V and 50 Hz, and you simply need to "adapt" the NA flat prongs to the local outlets. While most EU countries use a round, recessed socket, the Swiss use a hexagonal one. That's why I recommend getting ones that fit the Swiss one, as they also fit the round ones too. These ones on Amazon 2 for $6 should do the trick.

With North American hair appliances, you do actually need to "convert" the power. This is where it gets tricky. I'll start off by saying that you can leave your fancy Dyson hair dryer at home. Europeans have hair dryers too, and we've never run into a situation where there wasn't one in the hotel room or Airbnb. But for curling irons and hair straighteners, I had purchased a converter that I thought would be appropriate for these high current devices (pictured). While it did supply power to her flat iron, it didn't quite heat up properly, and only got slightly better than warm. Based on this experience, I don't recommend trying to buy one of these power converters.

However, if you are going to go this route, beware that many of the $20 ones listed on Amazon don't actually perform any voltage conversion, despite showing a picture of a North American-style outlet, and the word "converter" used in the description. If you read the fine print carefully, you'll see notes like, "NOT a Voltage Converter: This travel converter for Europe only works on 100V to 250V voltage devices". Plug your beloved hair straightener into one of these, and you're going to quickly create a fire hazard. There are more expensive ($40+) ones I have seen on Amazon that indicate support for 2000W, but when you read the description, it states the rating is not for the 110V "converted" socket. Confused? You should be.

My recommendation for anyone that wants/needs to curl or straighten their hair in Europe, is to buy a dual-voltage model. She ended up buying this one on Amazon for less than $30, and indicated that it's as good as the NA power-only one she uses at home. 

The other device that I can think of that people might need while travelling is a CPAP machine. I can't guarantee it, but it would seem that most have an external power supply that converts a wide range of AC voltages to DC. i.e. you should only need the aforementioned adapters to power your machine.

And while there are those folks who are on river cruises that might have a North American outlet in their room on the ship, that won't help you in the hotels before and after your cruise itinerary. One final parting tip, is that if you are really in a bind, and need to recharge your iPhone, there's likely a USB port on the side or back of the TV in your room. It probably won't supply enough current to charge an iPad, but should work for your smartphones.

Happy travels!

River cruising with Gate 1 (with travel tips)

Travel and Leisure

Editor's note: I'm not a travel agent, nor am I affiliated with Gate 1, and any references or links are purely for your information only.

With the ongoing Hollywood writers' strike, things are a little slow for me right now. Not Covid slow, but certainly there is much less going on than there should be in Vancouver's booming TV & film industry. I've written tons (too many?) posts about river cruising, and I mention Gate 1 often, as they are one of our preferred operators.  But I have not done a detailed piece on our end-to-end experience, so I thought I'd waste some time doing it.

Introduction

"I've never heard of Gate 1" is a common statement I hear (read) on the FB group I belong to. That's because they don't do any traditional marketing, and essentially rely on word-of-mouth and 3rd party marketing sites like Travelzoo.com to promote their offers. I had signed up a while ago, and on their weekly email, sometimes a river cruise deal comes up. In this instance, it was for a last-minute (last-couple-of-months) deal for a 12-night Danube cruise with extensions in Budapest and Prague, in a Cat B (upper deck Panorama room) for $1,899! And this wasn't some heat-of-the-summer or chilly late fall cruise; it was a very desirable late May departure. Even though she had been a travel agent, she hadn't heard of Gate 1, so we did some Googling, and sure enough, they are a worldwide tour company, and while I don't know when they started doing river cruises, they certainly were not new to Europe's waterways. Tip: You can also find great deals from Gate 1 by signing up for their weekly email called "The Deal", as well as checking periodically on their website and clicking on "Specials" to see their last minute deals page.

Pre-cruise experience

When you see a deal on Travelzoo, it likely re-directs you to the vendor's website or lists a promo code that you need to (or your travel agent needs to) quote when booking. So I picked up the phone and got to the Gate 1 agent. After selecting our room on the ship, the conversation went like this:

"That will be $8,398 total."
"Oh, I've got a Travelzoo promo code."
{sound of agent typing in promo code}
"Your new total is $3,798; how would you like to pay?"

Since we were within about two months from departure date, we paid in full at booking. Tip: Note that there was an option to pay via cheque, which would have saved us 5%, but by using my VISA, I get additional insurance coverage, which you don't get unless you pay the entire tour on your premium credit card. Since we used my airline points to buy our tickets, we did not get transfers to and from the airport included, and so the only other communication we received from Gate 1 prior to our embarkation date was the tour package sent via email (on the date of booking) and then another welcome email three days prior with some final details and answers to some FAQs. We didn't receive any backpacks, travel folios or baggage tags.

Budapest pre-cruise extension

As mentioned, since we did not buy air through Gate 1, we had to make our way to the Hilton on our own. We simply grabbed a taxi at the airport, and a half-hour later, we were checking in. Note that the Hilton we stayed at is no longer part of the brand (now a Crowne Plaza), and Gate 1 might still use that hotel, or I have seen that they also use the Corinthia Hotel Budapest; not riverfront like other cruise operators' selected hotels, but still on the edge of Pest's old town. So depending on which hotel you get put up in, you might be in for a 20-minute walk (Crowne Plaza) or 5-minute walk (Corinthia) to the old town area. The Hilton was very comfortable accommodations, and we found the included breakfast to be amazing. The hotel was attached to a popular shopping mall called Westend, which made it convenient to grab a quick bite that afternoon. Tip: If you're coordinating your own pre-cruise extension in Budapest, we recommend booking a hotel on the Pest side; it is where most of the interesting sights, shops and restaurants are. We attended an evening welcome briefing at the hotel, where they served us a drink, outlined the highlights of Budapest, and gave some restaurant suggestions. We were introduced to our other travel companions that would be joining us on the river cruise, and then headed out for dinner on our own.

The next morning, we had an included tour of Budapest, which required a bus to get us around. First stop was Heroes' Square, which is decent jaunt from the old town area. Then we went back via coach over to the Buda side where we visited the attractions on Buda Hill: Fisherman's Bastion, Matthias Church and the Royal Palace. In the afternoon, our local Gate 1 host took us on an included walking tour of the Pest side of town, starting at the Parliament building. We didn't get far before a rainstorm blew in, so we ditched the rest of our tour. We still got soaked walking back to the hotel however, which leads me to another tip: bring a packable rain jacket or compact umbrella on your daily outings, unless you are absolutely sure it isn't going to rain. After drying ourselves out, we grabbed another dinner nearby on our own.

Embarkation day

Our stateroom on the Baroness

Since we were on a pre-cruise extension with Gate 1, all we had to do was set our luggage outside our rooms by a certain hour, then we were free to do some more exploring, until it was time to report to the coach outside our hotel. The brief bus trip deposited us at our ship, the Monarch Baroness; this is one of the ships that Gate 1 leases, and has had a slight update since we were on it. It was certainly not a new ship, but was comfortable and tastefully appointed. Unlike our recent Emerald trip where the room was very sleek and bright, the Baroness staterooms were more of a traditional decor (sorry about the dark photo; should have waited until we were not next to another ship). A quick Google search will bring up other current Gate 1 ships' interiors, and they all seem to have the same style of decor... not overstated, but also not "Euro" design. I think ours was 165 sq. ft., which is typical for a French balcony room, except Viking’s at only 135 sq. ft. As indicated in my description of a typical river cruise day, you don't spend a ton of time in your room, but the fresh air and light ingress is nice vs. the "swan view" rooms in the bottom of the ship. 

Monarch Baroness bathroom 

Bathroom was small of course, and many other operators' ships will have the slightly triangular shower (I guess technically a pentagon) that we had; functional, but not as large as the ones on our Emerald or Vantage cruises. Note: the Vantage River Voyager we've been on is now being leased by Gate 1 and sails under the name Monarch Queen. There is also one ship that was purpose-built for Gate 1 - the Monarch Empress; these both have large(r) bathrooms, and my tip would be to try and get on one of those ships if it is possible for your itinerary and schedule. 

We were in a cabin second from the back before the gym (which almost no one used). I don't recall any noise from the engines at night, but our room's door did rattle when at sail; we fixed that ourselves by stuffing a face cloth in the jamb at night. We didn't have a choice for category of room, but as with most river cruise ships, the standard panorama "balcony" rooms on the middle and upper deck are the same; a tip to save money would be to purchase Cat D staterooms, as they are typically only $400 more than the bottom level. However, I noticed recently that the handful of Cat D rooms sell out quickly. After the obligatory welcome cocktail reception, the Cruise Director introduced the crew, then went through the basics of river cruising that we've become familiar with, and then we joined our new friends for dinner downstairs.

Meals and dining

Monarch Baroness dining room

The format for the restaurant on our Gate 1 was the same as all the rest of the river cruise experiences we've had. If you got up really early, you could grab a continental breakfast in the lounge; I used to run there in the am for a banana and coffee to kick start the morning. There was a buffet breakfast each morning in the dining room with a number of options, as well as the made-to-order egg and omelette station. I like to nab a muffin or put a slice of cheese and ham into a bun for a mid-morning snack. At lunch, there was again a buffet, and if I recall correctly, a pasta station; beer and wine was an extra cost at this meal. Unlike other cruises we've been on, there was no afternoon snack or high tea service in the lounge mid-afternoon, and only some cookies at the self-serve coffee and tea station. Seating was ad hoc, and there were a number of seating combinations, with mostly tables of 4 or 6 chairs per table. The dress code for Gate 1 is casual, but I like to wear smart casual attire for dinner; some took the casual attire note a little too far, unfortunately. We had "tank top guy" that eventually was requested to up his game, as he stopped showing up in the restaurant wearing it. I've posted my thoughts and tips on packing for European trip here. Dinner was 4 courses each night (with three choices for the main), except on the Captain's farewell dinner night, featuring 5 courses. 

4 of 5 courses for Captain's dinner

In general, food quality was great with beautiful presentation, and over-the-top service; we find that we dine better on river cruise ships than we would choose to eat if on our own. I don't recall ever seeing the bottom of my wine glass, and believe you me, I tried! I did find the soups to be a little lacking in substance... sometimes just a light broth or in the case of the Captain's dinner, a "porcini mushroom cappuccino". What we did like however, is that they served a local recipe as one of the options each night (and sometimes at lunch); e.g. goulash in Budapest, Wiener Schnitzel in Vienna, etc. Don't leave the dining room with an empty glass; the servers will be only too happy to send you on your way with your wine glass full!

Tours and excursions

Ships moor close to old town areas

Since we were on the upper Danube, most of the daily excursions were simply a walking tour that embarked right on the edge of the river as you stepped off the boat. However, when a coach was required, Gate 1 had a first-come, first-to-depart procedure. Once the first bus had enough passengers, off it went, and you didn't have to wait for the folks who had to run back to their room for their Quietvox device, or the slowpokes who felt "the bus will wait for us". This did break down on the return trips however, as folks had left their extra stuff on the bus, so we had to wait for these passengers to return prior to leaving. There might have been a slow walkers group, but we never saw them. The local guides were fine; as I have mentioned before, they are going to be the same guides that the Viking and other cruise ships use. Having to make sure that you had some local coins for a tip at the end of each walking tour was a minor inconvenience, but something you needed to be prepared for. 

Rest stop Austrian vista

We only opted for one optional tour, which was the day-trip to Salzburg; at $100 each and almost 3 hours coach-ride each way, it was a substantial commitment. But the alternative was to spend the day in Linz, and we felt that we'd have a better time in Salzburg instead. The bus stopped at a beautiful rest stop (think Bavarian restaurant perched on the edge of an Austrian lake surrounded by mountains), breaking up the long drive. We felt that the included lunch at the Abbey took too long, detracting from time we could have spent doing more exploring. And as much as I love schnitzel, I had eaten it twice in the last two days, and would have preferred another option.  

Leaving Passau for Regensburg

The only other tour that required a lengthy coach was the Regensburg trip. We were docked in Passau (I think water level was low, otherwise we'd have docked in Regensburg itself), and did a morning walking tour there, and then you had the option to go via coach to Regensburg for the afternoon. After a long day on the bus the day before, we debated not going, but we're glad we did, as Regensburg was one of the highlights of the many cities that we visited. We only sailed during the day once, when we went through the beautiful Wachau Valley. This would be the equivalent to the section of the Middle Rhine, but without all the castles. It was the same day that we visited the postcard-cute town of Durnstein and then Melk Abbey, so it was a nice change versus the big city of Vienna and our following day trip to Salzburg. The one option that we didn't get that is usually featured on other operators, is the Cesky Krumlov excursion, which is supposed to be amazing.

Onboard entertainment

Loot won during evening games

Since this was our third river cruise, we had set our expectations low for evening activities onboard. Unlike other operators who hire a snoozy piano player, or some local folk music band, the Entertainment Coordinator on our cruise was very flamboyant and entertaining all to himself! We would look forward to topping up our wine glasses after dinner and heading to the lounge for an hour and a half of fun games and laughter. This might also have something to do with the average age of the cruisers on our Gate 1 trip; we were still the youngest on board, but would estimate the average age to be in the mid-60s, versus others like Uniworld and Vantage where the average was mid-70s or higher. Similar to those two cruises as well, the guests were mostly American, with a small smattering of Canadians and others; not surprising, given that Gate 1 is a US company.

Disembarkation and Prague post-cruise extension

Powder Tower and Municipal Hall

After disembarkation in Passau, we had a 3-hour coach trip to Prague (with rest stop too), but since it was too early to check in, we were given a brief orientation walk near the Powder Tower and Municipal Hall. Then once we got into our rooms, we freshened up, and we gathered again for the bus tour of Prague. We asked why we were jamming this all into one tiring day, when we had two other full days there; perhaps they've changed this for subsequent travellers? We were essentially on our own for the remaining two days, but we had no trouble filling them with things to do.

The hotel selected for us was the Art Deco Imperial Hotel, which was walking distance to pretty much all the sights in Prague; it was a great hotel, and we would recommend it if you are travelling there on your own. The included breakfast buffet was excellent, and their croissants were amazing! Anyhow, my next tip is to use the Rick Steves Audio Europe App to take a free walking tour of the old town area. You'll hear him tell you things that you didn't get on the Gate 1 tour, and you can pause the tour anytime if you feel like a cold drink or see a shop you'd like to investigate. 

Additional fee items & non-inclusions

As indicated earlier, we didn't get free beer and wine with lunch, which wasn't too much of a concern for me, and she doesn't drink alcohol. Update: apparently they are now serving beer and wine with lunch. I can't remember what the à la carte drinks cost, but I believe they were in line with other river cruises we've been on. Wine selection was fine for my palate, but wine snobs might be disappointed in the selection on board; I don't recall an option for premium wines. Tip: I like to try local beers, and would stop at the local supermarket on the way back to the ship to grab a few (at a fraction of the price onboard) when in each new country. 

Getting to/from the airport is easy

Gate 1 only includes transfers if you buy your airfare through them; this is common among the other operators except a few (like Emerald) who provide free transfers regardless. However, as we usually like to show up a day or two early to help shake the trans-Atlantic jet lag, the free transfer on arrival is not applicable anyways. This is an important tip: getting in a day or two earlier not only helps you acclimatise, but if there are any unforeseen delays, you still have a good chance of catching your ship at embarkation. Similarly, since you probably want to maximise your European vacation, you'd need to find your own way to the airport after your own post-cruise extension, as an included transfer on the end won't have any value either. Another tip: Gate 1's extensions were included for us, but normally if you are looking at optional pre- or post-cruise extensions, they will be far more expensive with the operator than what you could do on your own.

No free water bottles

You won't be getting any free Gate 1 branded items like backpacks, travel wallets, baggage tags or reusable water bottles; however there will be ample bottled water provided daily in your room. The main thing that you need to be concerned with is tipping, which is outlined in your welcome package email. You will likely need some euros/local currency on your trip, but not a lot, since almost all your dining takes place on board; most stores will take credit cards too. Tip: I find that I can get the best exchange for euros at my home bank, and can even barter a little with the teller, versus the foreign exchange at the airport on arrival. If you're going to use an ATM in Europe, make sure you use one attached to a local bank or clearly branded as one, and not some dodgy one in a pub; always let your home bank perform the currency conversion too.

You'll need to make some minor purchases so that you will have coins available for the onshore local guides as well as public toilets. Bathroom tip: WC facilities will be free at sites like museums and major chain hotels; take off your Gate 1 lanyard, and walk into the lobby like you own the place, and head towards the restaurant or bar to find the bathrooms.
For the onboard tipping, we had a strange requirement that the Cruise Director be paid in cash, while the rest of the crew and the Entertainment Coordinator could be added to our final bill; I learned later that this was because the CD was a contractor. This was a minor inconvenience, and they gave us enough notice for us to stop at a bank machine prior to disembarkation day.

One omission on Gate 1 was the lack of bicycles for guest use. However, we found on this Danube itinerary, that there wasn't an opportunity to use them, as our days were filled with activities without needing to do further touring via bicycle. However, for those that are going on say, a Tulips n' Windmills cruise, you'd probably find an afternoon or two where you could have taken advantage of them. We certainly could have used some for Budapest, but we weren't on the boat at that time yet.

Conclusion

As mentioned in other posts, I'm cheap I like to save money, and so Gate 1's tag line of "see more of the world for less" resonates with me. And I might have given you the impression from the previous section that Gate 1 is a no-frills brand, but they're not. You get 95% of the experience that you'd get on say, Viking, for almost half the cost. Sure, apples-to-apples comparisons are hard to do, as most of the time Viking is giving you free or reduced airfare, but if you know what you're doing, you can come up with a reasonable comparison. And as I wrote about before, the friends we met on this cruise that went on a subsequent Viking one, indicated that they preferred Gate 1, and won't sail with Viking again. Based on our four river cruises (Uniworld, Vantage, Gate 1 and Emerald), Gate 1 comes out on top by a small margin. These river cruises aren't light years apart; but depending on what you want to get out of your trip, you might have a different viewpoint. i.e. We are relatively easy-going, and can roll with the punches, so-to-speak. We like the river cruise experience because we unpack once, and get to see a variety of new European places and countries with relative ease; it's a small, boutique hotel and restaurant that floats down the river with you. But if you are the type that is looking for a "cruise experience" foremost, and "where you visit" is a secondary consideration, then you might feel a little underwhelmed by Gate 1; I'd probably suggest Scenic or Tauck in that case.