monarch queen river cruise

MS Monarch Queen

The MS Monarch Queen is a deluxe river cruise vessel operated by Gate 1 Travel. Built in 2016, maximum capacity of 174 passengers, this ship features 90 outside cabins, 65 with French Balcony, each fully air-conditioned with individual climate control and private bathrooms.

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MS Monarch Empress

The deluxe MS Monarch Empress is Gate 1's first privately owned river cruise ship. Cabins range in size from 140 to 210 square feet and include large bathrooms and most rooms offer French balconies. The ship is designed with the view in mind, with large windows in the cabins, dining room, lounge, and other public space – and with few exterior visual obstructions on the outside decks. At mealtimes, guests will have full outdoor views through floor-to-ceiling windows. Lounge on the sun deck and watch the passing scenery. Curl up with a book or surf the internet in our generously sized library or share a drink with fellow travelers in the lounge. The MS Monarch Empress promises all the comforts and pleasures of a deluxe floating hotel.

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Problem with Monarch Queen review

By High Point Cruiser , October 24, 2023 in Need Help Using the Forums? Check Here!

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High Point Cruiser

I am planning to take a land tour and Danube river cruise in May on Gate 1 Monarch Queen.  One of your reviewers said in 2017 the ship looked dated and was very critical.  Then I read elsewhere this ship was only built in 2016!  Your editors may want to delete that clearly false review.  Thanks

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On 10/24/2023 at 6:23 PM, High Point Cruiser said: I am planning to take a land tour and Danube river cruise in May on Gate 1 Monarch Queen.  One of your reviewers said in 2017 the ship looked dated and was very critical.  Then I read elsewhere this ship was only built in 2016!  Your editors may want to delete that clearly false review.  Thanks

Hello @High Point Cruiser

Thank you for the information. However, posting it on the boards does no good. The review editors will not see your post. I have moved your new topic/thread from the TEST FORUM  to the  Need Help Using the Forums? Check Here!  forum. It is the forum where members find  technical help in regard to using the Cruise Critic message board software.

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St. Petersburg Sightseeing and Neva River Cruise (4 hours)

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• 2-hour city sightseeing, including a walk down Nevsky Prospekt
• 2-hour Neva River sightseeing cruise in St Petersburg
• Hear tales of St. Petersburg’s history and its founder, St Peter the Great, from your guide
• Pass top St. Petersburg attractions like the Peter and Paul Fortress, Mariinsky Theatre Anichkov Palace and Summer Gardens
• Cruise past New Holland Island and gaze in awe at its Russian Classicist buildings
• Small-group tour with a maximum of six people ensures a more personalized experience

Your expert local guide will pick you up from your central city hotel and walk with you around the center of the city as well as down Nevsky Prospect – the city’s swanky main street that’s filled with chic boutiques and beautiful architecture. 

Then head to St. Petersburg’s boat station,  Built on the river, central St Petersburg consists of a network of waterways with countless canals and more than 300 bridges of varying sizes from different architectural periods. As you hop on board your luxury sightseeing boat, your guide will talk to you about the grandeur of the Neva River and its fascinating history. Hear tales of Peter the Great, one of Russia’s more famous tsars, who founded the city in the 18th century, intending it to be his ‘Venice of the north.’  As you cruise up and down the river, watch out for all the top St Petersburg attractions that line the Neva’s granite-clad embankments. See the Peter and Paul Fortress that was created by Peter the Great in the Northern War to protect his city from a feared Swedish attack, and pass numerous other castles and palaces, like St Michael’s Castle and the Imperial Anichkov Palace.  See the city’s oldest and most charming park – the Summer Gardens – that was built in a distinctive Dutch Baroque style, and admire the imposing Aurora Battle Ship -- once a battleship in the Russo-Japanese war but now a museum. Pass Mariinsky Theatre where classical ballet and opera performances have taken place since the 1800s, showcasing masterpieces by esteemed Russian composers like Tchaikovsky.  Glide past romantic New Holland Island, admiring its majestic arches and early Russian Classicist buildings, and pass St Nicholas Naval Cathedral and St Isaac’s Cathedral – two of the largest city cathedrals. After cruising up and down the Neva, your sightseeing boat returns to the boat station where your tour finishes.

Tour concludes in the city centre.

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MS Monarch Queen

The MS Monarch Queen is a deluxe river cruise vessel operated by Gate 1 Travel. Built in 2016, maximum capacity of 174 passengers, this ship features 90 outside cabins, 65 with French Balcony, each fully air-conditioned with individual climate control and private bathrooms.

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• Grand Rapids/Muskegon
• Saginaw/Bay City
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65 years ago today, Queen Elizabeth and her royal yacht Britannia passed under the Mackinac Bridge

• Published: Jul. 05, 2024, 9:02 a.m.

The British royal yacht Britannia prepares to pass underneath the Mackinac Bridge on July 5, 1959. Photo courtesy of the Mackinac Bridge Authority.

• Tanda Gmiter | [email protected]

ST. IGNACE, MI - Sixty-five years ago today, royal fever gripped the Straits of Mackinac as Queen Elizabeth and her husband, Prince Philip, passed underneath Michigan’s Mackinac Bridge on July 5, 1959, aboard their yacht, the Britannia.

The British royals had embarked on a six-week tour the month before, destined for many stops in Canada and one in the U.S. A highlight was the 33-year-old queen’s ceremony with U.S. President Dwight Eisenhower. It officially opened the St. Lawrence Seaway, a system of locks and canals which connects shipping channels in the Great Lakes to the Atlantic Ocean.

The monarch’s 412-foot yacht motored up the Detroit River, then north up Lake Huron, passing under the Mackinac Bridge and heading down Lake Michigan before stopping for the couple’s first-ever visit to Chicago.

For security reasons, the Britannia’s passage under the Mackinac Bridge on a summer Sunday afternoon took a little planning, as traffic on the nearly 2-year-old bridge needed to be stopped.

These details were explained by Lawrence A. Rubin, former executive secretary of the Mackinac Bridge Authority as well as a key figure in the construction and financing of the landmark span, in his book “ Bridging the Straits: The Story of the Mighty Mac .”

The queen’s protection detail had visited the Mackinac Bridge Authority a few days before the yacht arrived in the Straits. They wanted all traffic stopped at the north and south towers during the time the Britannia passed underneath the middle of the main span of the 5-mile-long bridge. Rubin had suggested stricter guidelines, according to his book’s account:

“I was willing to oblige, but suggested we hold up traffic on both ends of the bridge rather than at the towers. That would not do, countered the Britishers. They did not want to inconvenience anyone more than absolutely necessary.”

The British royal yacht 'Britannia' preparing to pass underneath the Mackinac Bridge on July 5, 1959.

When the big day arrived, thousands of people had gathered in the Straits area to see the monarch’s yacht cruise by. According to accounts of the royal tour, the young queen had recently told just a handful of people that she was pregnant with her third child, who would arrive the next year as Prince Andrew.

Rubin’s account says a dense fog moved into the St. Ignace/Mackinaw City area, making it difficult for bridge staff to track the Britannia’s progress toward the Mighty Mac. When they finally spotted the yacht, it was just 500 yards east of the bridge. The signal was given and traffic was stopped.

What happened next was very un-British:

“I suppose that in England, proper Englishmen would remain in their cars, but this was America and hundreds of car occupants ditched their vehicles and ran out onto the center of the bridge, waving and shouting for a look at the British royalty, especially Prince Philip,” Rubin wrote. “It must be admitted with some measure of shame that some persons threw small items such as coins over the side and there were even a few who spat.”

The next day, on July 6, the Britannia and her royal entourage arrived in Chicago. The queen and her prince took a small boat to shore, where they were met by Chicago Mayor Richard J. Daley and other dignitaries to start her historic 14-hour tour of the Windy City, according to the Chicago Tribune.

While there, she toured the Art Institute of Chicago, dined at the Chicago Hilton & Towers, and even ducked out of a reception a bit early to have an emergency filling placed in one of her back teeth,  according to a roundup of the day’s itinerary.

At the time of this trip, the royal yacht was just five years old. After traveling more than a million nautical miles, the floating palace was retired from royal service in 1997. It later became a tourist attraction in Edinburgh, Scotland.

To read more tidbits about the Mighty Mac’s history,  check here .

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