Danube with Gate 1....just back!

We just returned from our Danube River cruise with Gate 1 on the Amadeus Elegant. The ship was beautiful, the staff was outstanding and the food was good enough for me to gain 5 lbs. Even with less than ideal weather we loved it and wanted to spread the word....a good way to travel the Danube.

Welcome back Elb (add an "e" and you too can be a European river!). Can you give us details of your trip as many of us will be taking this trip in the coming months? It's always nice to hear another perspective.

This was our first river cruise and we loved it. We were on the Amadeus Elegant (a new ship) and it was lovely. The cabin size was ok ...the bathroom better than expected...I could have used more draw space. Most nights were smart casual..some men wore jackets on occasion but it was the minority.I can not use enough superlatives when talking about the staff...they were fabulous. The weather was less than ideal but the Danube was still open so we did not have to be bussed anywhere. Breakfast was a buffet, that was excellent probably anything you could want. Lunch always had a salad bar as well as 2 or 3 choices....dinner also 2 or 3 choices...the desserts were heavenly. We traveled from Budapest to Passau and then on to Prague on our own. Loved the itinerary but felt we did not have enough time in Vienna...we arrived in the evening and then left the next night about midnight...we had 4 separate excursions in that short time so it really did not give us time to walk the city. We definatelyrecommend this trip and Gate 1 was great! If you have any specific questions I'll be happy to answer.

Ellen

Thank you for your informative post. We will be on the Amadeus Elegant in June 2011. We are very happy to hear you had no problems. I have seen many posts regarding Scenic and we have booked an "evergreen" tour which is a partner of Scenic. Now I see you booked through Gate 1 is appears maybe the elegant supports a few different "brands" of tours. All the same I am so happy. Would you mind telling me where your cabin was. We are on the top floor towards the back.

Hi Ellen,

Can you tell me about the included excursions?

How were the guides and tour arrangements?

We bought the Schonbrunn Palace and Weltenberg Monastery Tours. Did you go to either of those places? If so, any comments?

How was the Cruise Director? Do you remember the name?

Thanks for any info!!! Carol

Hi Ellen,

I hope you see this post.

I would love to hear more about your cruise.

We sail in April

TIA! Carol

Hi Elb

Thanks for your info we will be doing the river cruise from Amsterdan to Budapest in August with an Australian company called Evergreen, so if anyone has more information it would be helpfull

Thanks

One More

we went on a Gate 1 tour,,and most of the time the top deck of ship was not accessible...said lo bridges,,,but saw many other boats open,,,was a real problem for us,,,and never booked with them again,,,see you had AMA boat...thats where we booked for same cruise next May,but on one of the new ships,,with 2 balconies...first time on them,,,have been on Viking,Avalon,Uniworld...seems comparable...plus,,Gate had so few dates available....but prices are lower...a tradeoff,,right....thanks for review....:)

Hi One More,

We are also doing this boat with Evergreen tours on 3rd June. So I will be able to tell you how we went. Evergreen like Gate 1 seem to charter the boats from Luftner.

Elb - thank you for your comments. It makes us even more eager to start our tour/cruise. We are doing Prague, Berlin, Warsaw, Krakow on a tour before joining the boat at Budapest. I think we will take less tours and do more by ourself as we have been to some of these places before. I will post on my return the experience we had.

Hi One More,

We are also doing this boat with Evergreen tours on 3rd June. So I will be able to tell you how we went. Evergreen like Gate 1 seem to charter the boats from Luftner.

Elb - thank you for your comments. It makes us even more eager to start our tour/cruise. We are doing Prague, Berlin, Warsaw, Krakow on a tour before joining the boat at Budapest. I think we will take less tours and do more by ourself as we have been to some of these places before. I will post on my return the experience we had.

Would you mind sharing who you used to set up your tour to Prague, Berlin etc.? We are new to river cruising and would also like to do a land tour before we do our cruise.

Clare

Hi Clare, our tour is through evergreen tours which is owned by scenic. APT and Scenic also do land tours in conjunction with river cruises, and others would too I imagine. This is ours http://www.evergreentours.com/destinations/TourItinerary.aspx?ID=13290

This is our first river cruise but our second tour through Europe. This time we wanted to see Prague and Auschwitz. We leave in 3 weeks and can't wait. Have you booked yet?

We just returned from our Danube River cruise with Gate 1 on the Amadeus Elegant. The ship was beautiful, the staff was outstanding and the food was good enough for me to gain 5 lbs. Even with less than ideal weather we loved it and wanted to spread the word....a good way to travel the Danube.

Hi, I hope you are still reading posts in this forum. We're on "M/S Sound of Music" with Gate 1 and while I've come to know that the ship is 6 yrs old, it doesn't really bother me that it's not a new ship. This is our first river cruise experience and we have nothing to compare with so we'll take it as it is.

Since you have cruised with them before, I'm wondering if you can provide some information about the city tours included in their itinerary (not the optional tours). Specifically, I would like to know if the guide/s took you INSIDE museums, cathedrals or other significant buildings and not just a walk by or drive by sort of thing. The itinerary aren't specific.

Thank you.

OutandAbout

Hi, I just found your notes on your Sound of Music river cruise. When did you cruise? We booked a land and cruise tour in Aug - Sept 2012. Seven nights through Germany, Austria, Switzerland and seven nights on the MS sound of Music from Munich to Budapest. It doesn't really bother me either that it's not a new ship. but have same questions like how were the city tours in itinerary and did you have opportunities to stop and taste the food through the different countries?

Hi, Your post is from 2005 however I would be interested in hearing how your trip went on the M/S Sound of Music. We have booked a fall 2012 7 day on the same boat and would like to know how you liked the boat and the excursions. Any feedback is appreciated.

Regards,

Kaudreamer12

Re:

OutandAbout

Hey you Gate1 travelers, any recent feedback? Any current specifics on Sound of Music? Thank you!

Hi !

I was wondering about the drawer space on the Amadeus Elegant ---I see in the pictures limited space in the room set up and hoped there were shelves/drawers in the closet as well ????

Also , is there 24 hour coffee and water available ?

Thanks in advance for your answers !

What do you think about a Danube River cruise starting from Austria and ending in Bulgaria and then going to the beach where is Black Sea?

2 in 1? Is it a good idea?

Ellen - hubby and I are hoping to take our first river cruise next fall in October for our 46th anniversary and want to cruise the Danube - probably Passau to Budapest - or reverse. We have heard great things about AMA as well as Viking and are looking at both. Anything additional you'd like to share would be so appreciated as it is a lot of money and I want to make sure I pick the right thing. Feel free to email me at brantb65 at cox dot net. I want to visit Prague but think we can manage that on our own rather than the pricey add on the line has for that. Same thing for Budapest - probably on our own. We never book an add on with our cruises as they prices are so high. We manage to do well on our own.

One thing I can't find in any of the brochures (maybe I'm not looking hard enough) is the deposit and final payment policies. I see where some lines offer a discount if you pay by cash (e payment?) Anyway, we are excited about this and have lots of time to plan for it. Glad to hear the casual thing. Where do you suggest for cabin location? What is Gate 1? Thanks for your help.

Barb Brant :)

This was our first river cruise and we loved it. We were on the Amadeus Elegant (a new ship) and it was lovely. The cabin size was ok ...the bathroom better than expected...I could have used more draw space. Most nights were smart casual..some men wore jackets on occasion but it was the minority.I can not use enough superlatives when talking about the staff...they were fabulous. The weather was less than ideal but the Danube was still open so we did not have to be bussed anywhere. Breakfast was a buffet, that was excellent probably anything you could want. Lunch always had a salad bar as well as 2 or 3 choices....dinner also 2 or 3 choices...the desserts were heavenly. We traveled from Budapest to Passau and then on to Prague on our own. Loved the itinerary but felt we did not have enough time in Vienna...we arrived in the evening and then left the next night about midnight...we had 4 separate excursions in that short time so it really did not give us time to walk the city. We definatelyrecommend this trip and Gate 1 was great! If you have any specific questions I'll be happy to answer.

Ellen

Hey you Gate1 travelers, any recent feedback? Any current specifics on Sound of Music? Thank you!

We just returned from our Danube cruise on the SOM!! All I can say is "EXCELLENT", AWESOME, and want to do it again and again!!. Good food, buffet for breakfast and lunch with options to order from the menu at no additional cost. Dinner was resort casual on all nights except last night. The cabins were clean and they had 24 coffee, tea and bottled water in the cabin at no charge. The shore excursions were included and my favorite was the opera in Vienna. The ship was docked in what known as the Vienna Woods. You do not need to carry much money with you, most all towns take credit cards. Vienna is a big city and we had about an hour after the tour to look around and then had to be back at the ship for lunch at 1pm. The guides arranged small buses to take you back to the city at 1:30 and 2pm and return pickup at 3:30 and 4pm.

Do try the saugages in Regensburg. Budapest is a big city too, a lot of walking. After the morning tour we returned to the ship around 1pm and stayed on board for the rest of the day people watching. Since all the stores were closed on Sundays there wasn't much else to do.

Abagailinmaine,

Thankyou for your informative review. I, too, am interested in any more feedback on the Sound of Music as we are scheduled for the April 15 - 19 day cruise/tour on the Danube. Which cabins would you suggest?

The trip covers a lot of ground most of which is new to us although we have been to Vienna and Prague. Any suggestions for getting to Cesky Krumlov especially from Vienna as Gate 1 is not offering that as an optional.

Thanks,

June

Any additional information on river cruising would be great. We leave on Gate 1 Danube River 6/30/14. Is iit cold while on deck? What type of outerwear?

We would like to go to the opera on our own while the ship is docked in Vienna. Can you tell me how late we can stay away from the ship and when it usually sails off?

Any additional information on river cruising would be great. We leave on Gate 1 Danube River 6/30/14. Is iit cold while on deck? What type of outerwear?

I hope you let us know when you return how the trip went as we are looking into a Gate 1 Danube cruise/tour. Reviews are all over the map for them.

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How was your cruise? I hope you booked a balcony but the middle floor is good too! We booked our second cruise on the Sound of Music, leaving in 30 days! Same itinerary. Did you do Krumlov? Was that an add on. Did you go to the Fishermans bastian in Budapest? Wasn't that beautiful! I was exhausted by the time we made it up there I want to spend more time looking around the village next time.

How was your Cruise with the Sound of Music? I hope you had a wonderful adventure! We are doing it again in 30 days, can't wait!! I hope the weather co-operates!

Kaudreamer12