With nearly one crew member per guest, Scenic Eclipse II redefines personalised service on the high seas.
It’s not all helicopter excursions and fine dining aboard the uber luxurious Scenic Eclipse II cruise ship – but it mostly is, writes Neil Porten.
Firsts matter. My first helicopter flight is off the rainswept deck of Scenic Eclipse II, a sleek new ship on its first
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Scenic, a company known for its land tours and river cruising, has dubbed its pair of 168m-long ocean vessels “discovery yachts” – combining the luxury and size of a private mega-yacht with go-anywhere features such as dynamic GPS positioning for anchorless mooring, and an ice-busting hull for polar exploration. Guests can up the thrill factor with flights in a pair of gorgeous six-seater helicopters or plunge beneath the waves in an eight-seater submersible.
I’m aboard Scenic Eclipse II, launched in 2023 and a sister ship to Scenic Eclipse, for part of an 18-day voyage around New Zealand. Over the next 18 months, she will sail in Australia, Asia, the Pacific and New Zealand, and cross the Southern Ocean from Tasmania and the South Island to explore east Antarctica and the Ross Sea.
My discovery yacht experience will see Eclipse (as I’ll call the vessel for convenience, not from over-familiarity) at its most sedate: this is a Cruise Voyage for 228 guests, with lots of port calls and a few at-sea days. In beast mode – Scenic prefers the term “Expedition Voyage”, for some reason – a team of up to 20 experts are aboard to guide and inform guests about the remote environments explored using zodiacs, kayaks and paddleboards. Take a “Discovery Voyage” and you’ll enjoy a mix of the two.
With nearly one crew member for every guest, butler service, all-inclusive eating, drinking and excursions, numerous bars and restaurants and a beautiful spa, it’s impossible to imagine I’ll have anything but a great time.
Queenstown is where this trip starts, allowing guests to fly into the international airport the day before we depart to meet the ship in Bluff. Waiting for us, five coach-loads of expectant cruisers, at Bluff’s otherwise industrially bleak South Port is Eclipse, her white superstructure visible above stacks of dull shipping containers. At the wharfside, her black hull gleams, while a welcoming party of officers and crew smile, offer refreshing towels and usher us up the stairway.
The first few minutes on board are a procession of essential tasks: passports checked; photo taken and suite keycards issued; following a crew member who shows us our muster station and how to don a life vest; filing past a tray of champagne and gladly accepting my first drink; being escorted to my deluxe verandah suite one deck up, where my luggage has preceded me.
My home for the next week is decorated in neutral greys, browns and copper. There’s loads of wardrobe and drawer space and the many mirrors enhance the roomy feel. The two beds that make up the king-size bed are individually adjustable and I end up having the best sleep while I’m aboard. A curtain separates the bed from the lounge area, which has a view out the floor-to-ceiling sliding glass door to the verandah. The big TV is the source for the daily programme of activities, an A-Z of services and amenities, dining menus, recordings of safety briefings, movies, and exterior live cams showing what’s around the ship. The spacious bathroom has more mirrors and the shower has both rain and wand shower heads.
Later, I discover the air-con is super-responsive and very quiet, light completely fails to penetrate the blackout blind, and the ambient lighting options are thoughtful and practical. Also, the minibar can be stocked with whatever you fancy and the teas and Illy capsule coffee machine hit the spot. I’m keen to try out the room’s binoculars, but there are many more interesting things to see on the ship than there are on the wharf.
But first, my butler Mohammed knocks and introduces himself. He is tall and smiling, and happy to explain what his role is. He is my first point of contact for any queries. He can make dinner reservations and confirm shore excursions, deliver breakfast, and serve beverages in-suite. I’m tempted to ask for more champagne, but instead I thank him and slip out for a proper exploration of Eclipse.
The Yacht Club on deck seven is open for a late lunch. It’s a buffet of hot and cold delights, where you can serve yourself, let your waiter bring you anything or order a la carte. The space is light, with the mirrored surfaces reflecting the sea several decks below.
One deck up, a helicopter is available for inspection on the helipad. Hugo the aircraft engineer answers my questions and lets me sit inside. I’m like a kid on Christmas Eve when I later learn I’m going up in this black beauty the next morning.
My mini-tour continues at the top of Eclipse, on deck 10. Up here is a pool and the Sky Bar, where bartender Raj serves up the first cocktail of my cruise, a Blue Hawaii, a coconutty delight. When the sun comes out later in the trip, the lounging area in front of the pool is perfect for ocean-watching.
Later, at the voyage welcome with cruise director Chloe in the theatre, an intimate arena with reclining swivel easy chairs, I’m reminded a sense of adventure and personal firsts come in all forms. The guest who sat down beside me said the cocktail in her hand was her first martini – not the first of the evening but her first ever!
Bluff is behind us and Eclipse is making for Milford Sound. I make for Lumiere, where the seven-course French feast is the first of many fabulous meals enjoyed on-board. Incredibly, there are 10 unique dining experiences on-board this relatively bijou ship. After dinner – and any time, I learned – Scenic Lounge is the place to relax, compete in the daily trivia quiz or maybe play your first game of backgammon. This is the heart of the yacht, a spacious meeting place where almost every seat has a view of the glowing showcase of 130 whiskies featured behind the bar. When I eventually head to my suite, I have only 128 left to try.
The cafe Azure is the go-to for refreshment and becomes my preferred breakfast haunt. I learn my best Eclipse hack here too: Yacht Club has a rotating selection of gelato flavours, but if you want chocolate or vanilla, you have to come here. And the vanilla is superb. The best seat at Azure is in the booth nearest the counter, where you can see the sea on two sides and every item in the food cabinet. A second pastry with a scoop of vanilla gelato, anyone…?
Fuelled up, I head up to the bridge, which is always open to guests and where the officers and crew are happy to answer questions. Captain Torry Sakkariassen shows me his remarkable image-stabilised binoculars, perfect for rough weather.
And rough weather is just what we get after departing moody Milford Sound, where I’ll never forget my helicopter flight in this most scenic of New Zealand’s gallery of visual wonders.
Throughout the evening and night, voyaging south back through Foveaux Strait, winds and a 4m swell provide a rock-and-roll taster of what it might be like to journey to the polar regions. Like the captain’s binoculars, the yacht’s own stabilisers allow Eclipse to perform outstandingly in challenging conditions.
Entering Otago Harbour the next morning, calm returns to the sea and seafarers.
Cruise Voyage mode is the mild-mannered Clark Kent alter ego of Scenic Eclipse II, all luxurious comfort and superb service, and it’s a great way to travel. But I’d love to come aboard again when the glasses come off and the muscular ship of steel reveals its true exploration superpowers. Maybe for my first voyage to Antarctica…
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