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. Read more