ITTNs Sharon Jordan and Roisin Carbery continue to be the luckiest girls in travel as they explore Scenic Luxury Cruises & Tours’ all-inclusive super luxurious 6-star Scenic Eclipse – which is currently on a Northern European Discovery Cruise from Iceland to the Norwegian Fjords.
Kicking off in Iceland, this mega-yacht claims to be the world’s first discovery cruise ship and also claims to be 6-star – setting expectations at an all-time high.
Boarding was super easy, as our personal Scenic host whisked us from the arrival gate to reception where we started off in true all-inclusive luxury with a glass of champagne.
As would be expected at this level of a cruising experience it wasn’t long before all the onboard team knew our names and before long they also knew our dining and beverage preferences.
One of the things that really stood out on this cruise was that within minutes of boarding you can really feel the friendly vibe and energy of the team.
Across both our extensive travels – and particularly in my own cruise experiences – I’ve yet to have come across a more fun loving and job loving crew. In fact, there are just so many people we would like to name check but we can’t as it wouldn’t be fair on the people we would unintentionally leave out.
If I was to describe a mega yacht, I suppose I’d say it was like a luxury River Cruise experience, but just out on the oceans. Scenic is an Australian brand, so naturally, Australians were in the majority onboard, along with Americans and to a lesser extent English and mainland Europeans. I suppose that’s now up to us travel professionals to change.
Given the age demographic of approximately 60-ish plus, expect this to be a more relaxed and early-to-rise style of cruising, with entertainment on the lighter side – with classical music, live singing, quizzes and movies played in the theatre.
Rebecca and Bradley – the Cruise Directors – worked really well together and had us up dancing most nights. They really were lots of fun and worked hard to entertain as many as they could each day, and with a bar stocked with over 130 types of whiskey and over 100 premium wines and champagnes and with expert mixologists onboard – it’s hard to drag yourself away from the chats at the bar and the extensive cocktail menu.
With only approximately 228 guests onboard (and only 200 on the polar itineraries) and an industry high staff-to-guest ratio, you’ll feel the spaciousness of the vessel while you are onboard; and while you won’t see the staff numbers as they are discreet, you’ll notice how seamless everything is and how easy it is to get on and off the yacht.
It also makes the included tours easy to sign up to, easy to join and easy to enjoy. Every day you’ve got an included tour of which you can choose which one you do. Most start in the morning leaving you with the afternoon to relax or explore more.
The ship also offers bikes, kayaks and paddleboards for use. There are also onboard enrichment lectures and this past week we had a 4-part guest lecture from Professor Carole Llewellyn. There’s also onboard whiskey tasting and wine tastings, cooking demonstrations and our favourite…bead making (that could have just been on the back of the Taylor Swift hype, though).
Scenic Eclipse has ten decks – all contemporary in design – with clean crisp lines and all personally decorated by Karen Moroney, the director of project design. The heart of the yacht can be found on Decks 4 and 5, where there are a variety of dining experiences, bars, lounges, and of course the theatre.
There are up to 10 dining and 9 bar experiences onboard – from Asian to Sushi to French to international and with 38 chefs from 15 different countries onboard you’ll never be without high quality exceptional dining options – but reserve your place early as they book up fast and you don’t want to miss out.
But don’t worry, on any given night you can walk into the Yacht Club (buffet) Elements or Koko’s or Azure Bar and Cafe (all A La Carte) without making a booking.
But the Sushi and Sake bar – just wow – that’s an exceptional inclusion where Eastern and Western Sushi is on offer and prepared right in front of you. I would highly recommend the Sashimi and the tempura; and Roisin who, would be a major fan of all kinds of sushi couldn’t get enough and the chef loved us for it! Do make sure to ask for the Sake cocktail with lychee – it’s delicious.
Night Market is a unique concept that offers street food storytelling with authentic Teppanyaki grill, featuring flavours from India, the Philippines, the Middle East and beyond, which changes every 4 days, so it could be Indian one night and perhaps Thai another. It’s a sharing table of 8 people and is a great way to make new friends onboard.
Lumierie is the high-end French restaurant and offers an exquisite menu and atmosphere. This is definitely the fine dining experience onboard – well, that and the chef’s table – which is a private dining option.
Most nights we ate in Elements as it offered a relaxed atmosphere with some incredible food and we loved the choices and fun service. Well, I suppose here it is – the food was 6-star – there is no denying that. Every single meal was flavoursome and delicious and I think every single person onboard agreed with that. I’ve never been onboard somewhere for so long where I heard nothing but positivity about the dining experiences.
We know our Southern hemisphere and American friends aren’t as clothes conscious as us Europeans tend to be, so the attire onboard would be casual for the daytime and I suppose smart casual at night, but fear not, those of us who do like to dress up won’t feel out of place. And in fact we enjoyed dressing up all the more because of it. If I was asked about dress code I’d recommend ‘relaxed, smart’ to your clients.
All suites are located between deck 5-9. I, myself, had a beautiful suite on deck 8, which was one of the most impressive I’ve come across to date, and those of you reading this, who truly know me, know I’m a bit of a room snob and I can be known for changing hotel rooms regularly.
The shower was particularly large and impressive, as were the in-room facilities of a Dyson hairdryer, ESPA product, black out blinds, retractable beds, binoculars and a fully included and stocked mini bar. But my all-time personal favourite was the positioning of the mirrors. I’m very mirror-position conscious!
In fact in my suite I counted up to three large mirrors – and one that even had the room TV located inside it! An incredible use of design and space. And, as you’d expect all suites come with a personal butler – daily ice, fresh milk for coffee, ironed clothes, dinner reservation’s, flights booked – you name it – he helped out!
Deck 10 is as a great place for relaxation, featuring a ‘help yourself’ (yes, seriously, and yes, we couldn’t resist) bar, cabanas, and 2 hot tubs. The Spa is located on Deck 6, and uses ESPA products. From personal experience, it’s on the expensive side, but as we know, that’s not unusual on ships – especially mega luxury ones – a shellac manicure and a facial, plus 2 ESPA product purchases came to a cool $580 including tip – gulp – but they were worth it.
There are two – yes two – helicopters onboard which are available to hire for $550 per person for 30-minute tours. This is something I would highly recommend to any of your clients to save for and do – obviously some itineraries would offer more to see than others but it’s a total wow wow wow experience – and that’s just the pilot!
The buffet restaurant named the ‘Yacht Club’; the gym, yoga, and Pilates studio are all on Deck 7. Yoga and Pilates are available daily at 8am and 4pm and on most occasions you’ll likely be one of more or less 5 people. I didn’t get to see many people in the gym, but that’s because I wasn’t in it myself 🙂 will that joke ever get old?!
The Observation Deck and Lounge on Deck 5 was a winner and definitely one of our favourite spots on the yacht. Relax here with a book or your kindle and it won’t be long before you’ll be lulled to sleep.
Interestingly, On Deck 7, you can visit the open bridge, to meet the navigation team and gain first-hand insight into the ship’s operations. This is a really cool thing to do and something seasoned cruisers onboard (including myself) loved.
If you are interested in selling Scenic Eclipse, please contact Kay Sion via [email protected]
