Gate 1 Monarch Countess review Amsterdam to Basel

[Wants to be rich]

When planning this river cruise, we did not find a lot of information on this particular ship.  I hope this information is helpful to those who may be considering a Gate 1 River Cruise or this particular ship.

 

We arrived in Amsterdam 3 days pre-cruise and stayed in an AirBNB in Utretch. Between train and bus service we arrived at our destination in about an hour. We were able to spend a full day in Amsterdam and another day in Utretch. We arrived at the Monarch Countess 2 hours before official boarding time, but were told we could leave our luggage if we wanted to walk around outside for a bit, which we did. When we returned, we checked in and were escorted to our cabin.

 

The cabin was roomy with plenty of storage space - 3 closets, 2 night stands and a few smaller cabinets.  We were able to store our luggage under the beds.  We had a phone, refrigerator, tv and a safe.  The bathroom shower had a door not a shower curtain.  Included was a hair dryer, shampoo, conditioner, body wash, bar soap and body lotion.  These were replaced as needed.

Meals in the dining room were one seating only. with open seating. Breakfast and lunch were buffet style with each day having one special you could order from the kitchen. There was a cook making eggs or omelets to order for breakfast and we did take advantage of that. There was plenty to eat from the buffet, but I did order the Eggs Benedict special for breakfast one morning and was craving a cheeseburger towards the end of the cruise so ordered that for lunch. Dinner had two options for the entree,  appetizer and soup, and also a choice of desserts.   Wait staff came by at dinner with a red and a white wine which was included. You could also order a beer which was included. There was one night when the wine and beer were offered in the lounge for one extra hour. Other than dinner there was a charge for all drinks. Different drink specials were offered at the bar during the week.

Entertainment on the ship low key. The Activity Director was very friendly and easy going. He set up some music trivia games, and a contest for most popular dance songs. He also taught some basic dance steps. A duo came on board at one of the ports. She sang (very well) and he played piano. There was also another local performer which I did not see. There were a some games played during the day - putt putt golf, darts. In the evening the Activity DIrector would DJ, and played music the audience wanted. So there was a lot of line dancing and some classic rock thrown in for good measure. He also had a 30 minute stretch / exercise class each morning which my travel companion took advantage of. I preferred the extra sleep! The Tour Director gave a port talk each evening before dinner covering not only the logistics of the tours but also some things to see and do if we were out on our own. She gave a talk of the division of East and West Germany and its' reunification. During one stretch of travel down the river, she gave commentary along the way as to the villages and castles we were passing and talked about the Legend of Lorilei. She was also on the included tours and was always available. There is also a masseusse on board and I took advantage of that. Pricing was in line with what I pay at home and there was no sales pitch at the end!

Service was amazing! Front desk personnel were great and had answers for any question we had (and we had many) We did not purchase any transfers and they were able to get us a shared taxi to take us to the train station when we arrived in Basel. Our cabin steward took really good care of us and was always pleasant and smiling when we saw her in the morning or afternoon. The wait staff were really good. With everyone arriving for meals at approximately the same time, I'm sure it was difficult, but they managed to keep everyone happy. The two bartenders did double duty as wait staff. The Maitre'd was always on the floor for all meals and would stop and ask if anyone needed anything and made sure it happened. One evening neither my friend or I liked the wines being served. As the Maitre'd came by to refill our glasses, we stated that we were not having wine that evening because neither choice was to our liking. He came back with a different bottle and had us try it. Since we liked that one, he made sure to come back around and refilled it later during the meal.

Never having been to this area, we opted to take the ships included city tours so that we could get an overview of the locations. These were either bus tours with a guide, or a walking tour with a guide. We did opt for the Marksberg Castle Tour as we each wanted to see a castle. Because of the timing of the ports we were not able to spend a lot of time in a couple of places as we had to be back on board by noon to sail to the next location and then a stop in the evening. Most tours left between 8:30 and 9:30 a.m.

We started in Amsterdam on Sunday and did the following ports: Tuesday: Cologne; Wednesday: Koblenz (1/2 day) then Rudesheim; Thursday: Manheim (1/2 day) then Speyer; Friday: Strasbourg; Saturday: Breisach; Sunday disembarked in Basel.

All in all we had a great experience. It was quite a bit different from the ocean cruises I have been on and the time structure took some getting used to. I would definitely do another river cruise.

[Dixe Lee]

Awesome review!! We have been looking at Gate 1 travel and what they offer for river cruises as pricing is competitive You answered a lot of questions I did not think to ask Thanks 😊 

[Roz]

Thank you for your review.  There aren't many for Gate 1, so it's nice to hear about another line.  Glad you had a good first river cruise experience.  

[AF-1]

Thanks for a great review.  Appreciate all the info.  Have a wonderful day

[H20Cruzr]

Great review with lots of helpful information as we will be taking this same river cruise next July on the same Monarch Countess with Gate 1. Could you please advise if they provided European voltage adapters for your room electrical outlets or did you bring your own? Also was there self service laundry facilities available or did they just have pay for by piece laundry? Thanks for your response in advance. We are really looking forward to this river cruise.

[gnome12]

5 hours ago, H20Cruzr said:

Could you please advise if they provided European voltage adapters for your room electrical outlets

I am not responding for Gate 1 in particular, but in general.

 

There are 2 items available. One is a voltage converter, which converts the voltage from European 220 to US 110. No one ever provides these. However, it is very unlikely that you need one, because almost all modern electronics like phone and computer chargers are dual voltage. Somewhere on the charger itself it will say something like 110-240V. Any real single voltage items like hairdryers you don’t want to bring anyway because a voltage converter can’t handle the wattage. (Most cruise lines won’t allow you to use your own.)

 

The other item is a plug adapter. It doesn’t affect the voltage, just adjusts the plug configuration to fit into the outlet. Some ships have some, but I wouldn’t depend on that. They are fairly inexpensive, and you would need them for any hotel stays anyway. 

[Wants to be rich]

On 11/25/2019 at 6:33 PM, H20Cruzr said:

Great review with lots of helpful information as we will be taking this same river cruise next July on the same Monarch Countess with Gate 1. Could you please advise if they provided European voltage adapters for your room electrical outlets or did you bring your own? Also was there self service laundry facilities available or did they just have pay for by piece laundry? Thanks for your response in advance. We are really looking forward to this river cruise.

 

[Wants to be rich]

We brought our own adapters for the electrical outlets; they were not supplied.  We did not need converters.  There was no self service laundry.  You could send out laundry to  be done.  I believe it was priced per piece.  We did not use the service, so I can't give prices.  Hope you have  a fantastic time!

[RonandJeanne]

Hello,  

I am curious about the internet policy on the Gate 1 river cruises.  On the site it says the following:  Complimentary Wi-Fi (shipwide coverage, Internet access is extra).

 

If it is complimentary wi-fi, how is the internet access extra?   Maybe I'm missing something, but if I want to read my local newspaper online, or check out a sports score on ESPN for example, do I have to pay?

 

Any info on this will be appreciated.  Thanks.

[dogs4fun]

3 hours ago, RonandJeanne said:

Hello,  

I am curious about the internet policy on the Gate 1 river cruises.  On the site it says the following:  Complimentary Wi-Fi (shipwide coverage, Internet access is extra).

 

If it is complimentary wi-fi, how is the internet access extra?   Maybe I'm missing something, but if I want to read my local newspaper online, or check out a sports score on ESPN for example, do I have to pay?

 

Any info on this will be appreciated.  Thanks.

Strange indeed. We used the complimentary WIFI on our Gate 1 Danube cruise to access the internet on our smartphones & tablets - we certainly were not charged extra.

[vkb2751]

Check in time for Gate 1 is 2:00 pm. Can we drop of our luggage earlier and if so, at what time.

 

thank you

[dogs4fun]

51 minutes ago, vkb2751 said:

Check in time for Gate 1 is 2:00 pm. Can we drop of our luggage earlier and if so, at what time.

We were allowed to drop our luggage upon arrival at the port (about 3 hours before check-in). The crew were wonderful & no problem whatsoever with taking our luggage early. Best to check with your particular ship to make sure (although I am quite sure that you will have no issues with dropping your bags before check-in)

Edited December 11, 2019 by dogs4fun

[vkb2751]

15 hours ago, dogs4fun said:

We were allowed to drop our luggage upon arrival at the port (about 3 hours before check-in). The crew were wonderful & no problem whatsoever with taking our luggage early. Best to check with your particular ship to make sure (although I am quite sure that you will have no issues with dropping your bags before check-in)

 

Thank you