accent505

We used Share a Shore Excursions on May 19, 2016, to tour Pisa and Florence from our ship the Norwegian Epic

We are seven retired relatives and chose this company from reviews here, as well as the fact we could have one van for us, which meant much less walking to sites. Only vans in Florence can get close to the sites. The large tour buses must park a fair distance from the sites.

In fact, we had a minute walk to the Leaning Tower in Pisa, while I know that the walk from the large tour buses is almost fifteen minutes.

Our driver Stefano, met us as planned, at the ship and on time.

He was very personable, knowledgeable, and humourous. Using his suggestions we saw things that I know those on the larger tours did not see (having done those tours ourselves).

The fact that it is much less expensive than the ship's tour was a bonus.

I would give this company the highest recommendation, without hesitation, and have recommended friends use this tour group.

If you are lucky, you will get Stefano as your guide, to make the whole day pleasant and enjoyable.

We just completed a Caribbean cruise on the Ruby.

We arrived at the port by 11:40 am, having left our house at 4:00 am that morning, for the journey to Ft Lauderdale.

I was expecting, like on all other cruises, that one would be processed and allowed to board by that time. Not on this cruise. People were processed for boarding until all the seats were full in the area, then the clerks behind the desk stopped taking passengers. We all stared at each other until noon, when the people who had been processed and were now waiting on chairs, were told to proceed to the ship.At that point, the clerks began processing the passengers and we were allowed to board.

I kept wondering if this was great customer service according to Princess. It seemed to me it showed a real lack of courtesy on Princess' part, making so many wait, with no explanation given.

I was a bit upset about the wait, but consoled ourselves by thinking about the nice sit down lunch to come. It was not to be. No restaurant was opened. I checked every restaurant on the ship, and ended eating at the buffet.

One of our group had put two bottles of wine in her suitcase, as we have done on many occasions. Her luggage was searched and one of the bottles was removed.

I understand the rules, but it used to be well-known that bottles of wine were allowed.

It seemed to me that one could put a bottle in your suitcase and then take one on board - no one checked or cross referenced the carry on with the suitcases.

i kept thinking that this is the 'new' Princess, and even though we are Platinum only, I do think that we will look for other cruise lines in the future.

We enjoyed our times on Princess but I am not sure we will sail again with them.

accent505

Hi Klouie

There is no laundry facilities on board. You really have to do it when you get to your last stop.

WiFi is available only in the lounge, but reception was good. We just took our tablets and did our thing.

I think three days in Prague was enough for us, but it is a beautiful city, so if you have longer, you will enjoy it.

We stayed three days in Budapest pre-cruise, not part of the Gate1 package.

We loved Budapest also; it seemed not as touristy as Prague and definitely much less expensive.

Enjoy your cruise and your city tours

accent

Hi lori:

No one in our group even considered bringing our own wines to dinner.

There was always unlimited red and white wine and beer.

Actually, everyone found the wines at dinner very good. There was only one red that someone said could be better, of all the wines that we tried.

I dont know if they make any adjustments for anyone not quite able to keep up with the tour.

All the tours were basically easy walking tours. The only one which one may want to question is the Nuremburg tour. The end of the tour is a forty minute walk down from the top of the castle. My wife and I did it and had few problems even though our old ankles and knees are not as good as they once were.

Hope this helps

Hi Stratheden:

Breakfast and lunch were both buffets, with the usual breakfast fare for Europe; lots of meats, cheeses, fruits, etc. as well as eggs bacon, sausage.

The bread was fantastic with many choices; we found out that they bake their own bread on board as well as all their pastries. Pastries at lunch and dinner were always great. They also served pastries at 4 pm in the lounge.

Lunch always had three entrees on the buffet as well as many salads as well as the cold meat and cheeses. We felt that there was more than enough choice.

Dinner always started with an appetizer then followed by a soup/salad and then three entrees to choose from. We did not ask if we could have something other than what was on the menu (like on an ocean cruise) so I dont know if that is possible.

There were seven of us travelling and there was at least one entree that appealed to each of us. There always was a fish entree. Hope that is enough information for you. If not, let me know.

Accent

We just returned from a ten day, Budapest to Prague, cruise with Gate1.

There actually were seven of us who booked this trip.

I was a bit apprehensive about Gate1 since its prices were so much lower than other cruise lines.

All loved the ship, the tours, the food, and the staff.

It is not what I would call a luxury cruise ship (Amadaus Royal) but was very clean and comfy and really lacked nothing.

The food was always excellent, both the buffet breakfast and lunch, as well as the sit down evening meal.

I would not hesitate to book with Gate1 again.

I hope this helps those who, like us, were so apprehensive about this tour operator. Book with them, sit back, and enjoy.