JordanF

Sorry you are missing this island. We did a cruise day there a few years ago and it was delightful. However, it was pretty full back then (about 10 years ago), and I do think that adding thousands more would have detracted from our visit.

I was on a Gate 1 Danube cruise last summer, and chose to skip this tour. The main reason was that a fair amount of the time was spent on the bus ride to and from the city, and also at the included lunch, leaving limited time for actually seeing Salzburg. On our trip, we spent a very pleasant day cruising down a scenic part of the river, and touring Passau. Having said that, the people who went on the tour were happy with it. Here is a very unscientific opinion: people who really loved the Sound of Music wanted to see Salzburg more than others. Finally, $385 seems like a lot of money for this!

Always be closing!

Thanks for posting this, and other news about less-traveled rivers--it really helps broaden the horizons for river cruising in particular and travel in general.

Bad reading on my part. My email also does say June 17th for re-booking. Only 674 days till embarkation!

We have cruise booked for 2026, and had already booked MDR reservations for all nights. On Sunday I received an email notifying me that these reservations would be cancelled, and that I could make new ones starting today (April 17). However, all of my old reservations are still there. Will that continue to be the case? Stay tuned!

More noise goes through the door than through the wall. I try to avoid them, but it's not a deal breaker for me.

It's doable in that the cruise ships are not that far from the airport, so long as everything goes smoothly. "Doable" is not the same as optimal, but you already knew that!

Our move with our two kids was two rooms. When we were watching the money, we got two inside cabins. When we had a little extra, we got a balcony and put the kids in an inside cabin across the hall from us. Some of these cruises were when our kids were around the same age as your kids will be. For us, I know we all enjoyed the cruise a little more with separate rooms. Also, even if there are not that many kids on the ship, those that are there will find each other pretty fast. It's like some sort of superpower they have. Don't be shocked if they find other kids and then don't spend that much time in the actual kids program. Have a great time!

We took a Gate 1 river cruise last year. While we were not is a suite, there was never any indication that anything extra came with the suite. This included marketing materials, reading reviews, and being on the cruise.

Ha! My first thought on reading the caption was that the cruise line ordered their new ship on Amazon...

Nope. We were on Gate 1 last year on the Danube, and this was never an issue as I can recall, and I probably would as I like beef but not seafood.

Probably should put this in the roll call section? But either way, don't expect too much action. I started a roll call for a Danube cruise last May and got only one other person (I think since the ships are not that big compared to ocean ships?). However, we met up on the cruise and it was like we were old friends. Good luck, and enjoy the trip!

Same thing happened to me. We booked a 2026 cruise in January 2024. The app let me make MDR reservations for every night. Now, when I look, it will not allow me to make dining reservations until I pay in full as I am not Platinum, Elite or in a full suite or Club Class mini suite. However, my reservations that I made in January are still there.

There should be no difference. But, I was on a charter once (Buckeye Cruise for Cancer). We supplied our own entertainment, so I suppose the regulars got a break. The only other big difference was that there were no drink packages--all drinks a la carte (I think the cruise sponsors got a cut?)--so there were pop up bars all over the place. It was super easy to but a drink (too easy? :)). Besides those things, it was pretty much like any cruise.