Although we had traveled with Gate 1 previously on land (India and Nepal and Romania just prior to this sailing) we had no firm idea what to expect from them on a river cruise. All we knew is that they were considerably less expensive than the "name" brands like Viking, AMA, Avalon (in some cases barely half the cost). We were totally impressed. Although this was our first river cruise we've been on over 85 ocean cruises from 7 days to 35 days, on mainstream and luxury brands alike. The ship is very nicely decorated, has adequate public spaces for the pax load (133 on our sailing) even a small fitness center. Food was way better than expected. Lots of local focus--Bulgarian dishes when there, a Hungarian night, etc. Service top notch. Wine and beer included with dinner but not lunch (which differentiates it from e.g. Viking, but not worth the extra price). A draft beer and a white wine at lunch ran a total of 8 Euros when we ordered that during one lunch. The Cruise Director, George, from Romania was everything you could ask for in that position and much more. Did 2 extremely interesting enrichment lectures, highlighted by one on the EU, for whom he works in the off season. Personable, knowledgeable and very approachable. The rest of the staff was friendly and more than capable in their positions. Stateroom spotless, restaurant and bar service perfect. Ended the cruise with absolutely nothing but compliments and no complaints. So happy that we decided to take a chance on Gate 1 instead of dishing out lots more money for one of the legacy river cruise brands. Read Less

We have returned from a 14 day Classic River cruise on the Monarch Governess starting from Budapest to Amsterdam. I couldn’t find any information on this cruise ship so I decided to write about our wonderful experience. We booked the Suite and if this can be an option it is well worth the extra money for a bigger room and bathroom. Let me start with the wonderful staff. They were all exceptional; especially Gary and Nad who made our time on the ship fun and run smoothly. All the staff greeted you and made you feel special each day. The food was fantastic along with all the wine and beer you can possibly consume with your evening meal. You can have alcohol in your room that has a bar fridge or the drinks are reasonable at the bar. Being from Australia, there was a few of us on board who sang and danced most nights along with American’s, Canadians and a sprinkling of other Nationalities. All the tours ran according to plan and we had booked all the optional tours which were worth it except for the Classical concert, which was staged for the tourists and not worth the money. I would highly recommend Gate1 Travel over all the other river cruises as they are much cheaper but still go to all the same places and dock in the same spot as all the other far more expensive companies such as Viking and Scenic. Little bonuses are you don’t have to dress up for dinner, you can do as much or as little as you want, you never feel like there’s so many people around (in fact there was 120 people on board and even after 1 week I still didn’t recognise them all) you can be as sociable as you like and you can join in the nightly activities and have a great time. I loved everything on board the Monarch Governess and all the staff at Gate1 Travel should be proud of running a fantastic cruise. Read Less