Viking never fails to offer an exceptional cruising experience. From their all-inclusive itineraries to their casual/fine dining, Viking, in our opinion, is heads and tails above the competition. We love having our flights, transfers and tours all organized for us. And, we enjoy the casual, sophisticated ambiance of the ocean cruise. Truly, Viking offers like-minded people an opportunity to ...
A change in itinerary gave this trip a total of 10 consecutive sea days. I wondered whether that would prove to be too many for us and whether we would be bored on a small ship with only a handful of fellow passengers. Turned out I should not have worried. The Octantis is very comfortable and perfectly familiar to anyone who has cruised on Viking Ocean previously. The small size made for a ...
Having travelled with Viking Ocean many times, they continue to be our preferred cruise line, having experienced good and bad elsewhere. This cruise was one where you just had to make the best of the situation. Viking were not in control of the ports that did not appear to want us, necessitating itinerary changes, nor totally in charge of the handling staff in port building, and definitely not in ...
A luxury cruise to Antarctica is expensive, so I thoroughly researched ships and pricing. Since we were still in the times of COVID, I was very lucky to find some amazing pricing on the relatively new and specially hulled Scenic Eclipse that left about 4 months out. The ship looked amazing, and more importantly offered all passengers zodiac excursions off the ship whenever weather and location ...
We wanted to see more of South America. The cruise was originally supposed to start in Buenos Aires, but at the last minute Argentina did not allow the ship to dock there. The cruise instead started and ended in Valparaiso, Chile. We considered cancelling, but then decided to go. We were further put off by the puzzling over-the-top COVID restrictions of the Chilean authorities.Many passengers were ...
I need to preface this review by saying I am not an experienced "cruiser". In fact, this was my first cruise. But if that epic experience was anything to go by, then it most definitely will not be my last!
From the moment you step aboard the Scenic Eclipse, you are transported to another place. An ultra-luxurious, thoughtfully designed expedition yacht, that is clever in both its ability to ...
After 2 years of Covid lockdowns and repeated attempts to take a vacation, we decided that we wanted to do something quite extraordinary. We did our research (we had plenty of time in lockdown!), and agreed that a combination of ultra luxury, juxtaposed against extreme locations, was our brief.
Our path led us to the Scenic Eclipse, a 6 star ultra sleek, superyacht styled, boutique cruise ...
Scenic Eclipse Discovery Yacht (Antarctica and South Georgia)
This is a long review because I wanted to describe why I wholeheartedly recommend the Scenic Eclipse Discovery Yacht to anyone wanting to explore Antarctica in luxury and style. I’ve divided the post into four sections: service, food, ship and the excursions.
Service: I never knew what six-star service was until I came onboard the ...
We choose this cruise partially because it was a longer duration, 18, with about 5 sea days. We knew there could be potential challenges do to COVID but had confidence in ourselves and Viking to make the best of it. We (passengers and Viking) were thrown several last-minute changes by the Argentine and Uruguayan government. I was very impressed in Viking responded very quickly and professionally ...
This was a cruise to South Georgia Island, the Antarctic Peninsula and the Falkland Islands returning via Ushuaia and Buenos Aires. The ship was brand new and this was Vantage's first try at Antarctica on their own vessel. The overall experience based on the locations visited (minus the Falklands as they denied us landing due to COVID) was really good. The crew of the vessel was very nice and ...