Redking

We're currently on Scenic II on our way to Easter Island. We had swells of about 3.5 metres after living Chile and are now down to about a metre and we're experiencing quite a bit of sway. I'd therefore say that the comments about the stabilisers are likely correct. We're very keen to sail on the Charcot so please come back and share your experience.

Sacha is wonderful. Our second night tonight with him in Lumiere. I believe a high percentage of the crew are ex Seabourne

Head som is Sacha, bar manager is Miloush and Captain Tory from 🇳🇴 is at the helm - first time we've had a Norwegian cruise Captain @Norwaylady

Day Four After a somewhat choppy night (continuing 3 to 3.5 metre swells) we arrived at the second island in the archipelago, Alexander Selkirk Island. The island is located 180km west of Robinson Crusoe Island with an area of 49.5 square kms and a temporary population of between 40 and 60 fisherman during the lobster season. Pretty impressive rock with a peak of about 1.2 metres which falls sharply away to the sea. Kudos to the hardy souls who fish for the lobster that is exported to China by a cooperative. Unfortunately, the weather did not allow us to see the settlement, so the photo is courtesy of the cooperative’s website. This was our first zodiac trip of the voyage. Kind of strange feeling bobbing around in the middle of the Pacific, but great to get a closer look at the spectacular geological formations which initially looked like vines growing on the cliff face. I suspect that it’s just the way the rock has eroded but I’m not sure – I’m such a nerd! The sun came out in the afternoon to make for a beautiful sail away. We now have four sea days enroute to Easter Island, so I’ll endeavour to get some interior shots around the ship and share more information on the overall experience, including the dining.

DAY THREE After a day at sea, we arrived at Robinson Crusoe Island, one of three volcanic islands in the Juan Fernandez Archipelgo, situated 670 km off the coast of Chile. The islands are sparsely populated and rely on tourism and fishing for income. The Scottish privateer, Alexander Selkirk was marooned on the island for more than four years from 1704. Apparently, he was marooned at his own request when he considered that the ship he was sailing on was unseaworthy. His story was reputedly the inspiration for Daniel Defoe’s novel, Robinson Crusoe. The island has a population of 1000 of which 250 are school children. Interesting ratio. The islanders only received internet connection a year ago, so I’ll leave you to surmise whether there is any connection. Three activities were offered. We decided to wonder around the main town San Juan Buatista, located in Cumberland Bay on the island’s north coast. Cumberland Bay Fauna and Fishing Boats Set up for the pirate party A beautiful teacher brought some of her students down to the jetty to practice their English.

Oops apologies for the duplicate post. Too much Sangria at lunchtime. [removed] Busy couple of days, so playing catch-up. Day One Embarkation was between 2 and 4 pm. Given our hotel checkout time was 12 noon, we decided to head down to the port at about 1pm and fully anticipated that we’d then have to wait until 2pm. To our surprise our names were checked off a list, bags were checked, we were through a security scan and onto a bus for a short trip to the ship. I think we were on board in less than 15 minutes. Embarkation on Scenic is more of a hotel check-in experience. We were greeted with champagne and escorted to the reception desk in the main lounge to complete the check-in formalities. Our room wasn’t ready, so we headed up to the Yacht Club for lunch and more champagne. Lunch completed, our next stop was to make our restaurant reservations. Although Scenic is all inclusive, reservations are required for three of the restaurants: Lumiere (French), Night Market (teppanyaki styled) and Koko Sushi. You can’t book prior to boarding and we’d been advised to book as soon as you board. We were able to get three reservations for Lumiere and one for the Night Market. We kicked-off our first night in Lumiere with a fabulous degustation and wine pairing experience. The Amuse Bouche Lobster Bisque Salmon Normand Oysters Sorbet palate cleanser Chateaubriand Both desserts

Pre cruise wrap up We arrived 3 hours late into Santiago on Sunday, but still on time for happy hour at our hotel – Castillo Rojo in Provendencia. It transpired that a 3 hour delay was but a minor inconvenience. The aircraft that flew the route the following day suffered a technical problem which resulted in a sudden drop in altitude on the leg between Sydney and Auckland. As a consequence, the Auckland to Santiago leg of the flight was cancelled. Had we flown on the Monday we would most likely have missed the cruise. Thoughts go out to the some 50 people who were injured in the incident, a salient reminder to wear your seatbelt. After a quick freshen up we headed out to dinner at the Bella Vista Patio and enjoyed the first our first Pisco Sours with our Cruise Buddies from Sydney. We headed into Santiago the following day to enjoy the sights in the city centre. We last visited 12 years ago and the aftermath of the civil unrest in 2019 was still visible with barricaded buildings and what seemed to be a lot more graffiti. We nonetheless enjoyed our day with a visit to Santa Lucia and San Christobel before heading off to the Sky Constana enjoy some excellent cocktails whilst watching the sunset. The following day we were picked up by our guide for our wine tour to the Casablanca valley. We visited three wineries. All were very different but I think we enjoyed Bodegas RE the most. Very interesting winery working hard to bring about a renaissance in some of the more traditional wine making processes and with a smaller production. Our guide dropped us off at our hotel (Pallacio Asterico) in Valparaiso around 7pm, so it was long but enjoyable day. We headed out for dinner at which was a short, but very steep walk up the hills of Valpariaso. We sat outside with a good view of the port. Food was generally good. After sharing a bottle of Mille Carre, a lovely red from the south of Chile we headed off to bed. Wednesday bought the excitement of watching the Scenic Eclipse arrive around 7.30am. The excitement of watching your ship or in the this case yacht come in never grows old. She’s an absolute beauty and to be honest the photos and videos I’d seen did not do her justice. We had a beautiful breakfast before heading off down the hill for a stroll around town and closer view of the Eclipse. Day One of the voyage follows.

Our first time dipping our toes in non-Celebrity waters. After 13 years of cruising exclusively with Celebrity we’ve taken the plunge and decided to spread our wings and try other cruising options. First stop is Scenic Eclipse and the second of what they describe as ultra-luxury discovery yachts. We pondered moving over to the smaller ships but were concerned we might not like the smaller number of passengers. I guess we’re all or nothing kind of people as the Scenic Eclipse yachts have a maximum 0f 224 guests, with a maximum of 200 in the Polar regions. It’s an itinerary with some interesting cultural and historical inclusions: I think that most people are more familiar with the river cruise division of Scenic’s business. The Ocean cruises started in 2019 with the launch of the first yacht, followed last year with the launch of Scenic Eclipse II. I’ll be posting live-ish on the Scenic Forum, so please feel free to follow the link and experience the Scenic through the eyes of a newbie. Any questions, ask away. https://boards.cruisecritic.com.au/topic/2996736-live-ish-journey-across-the-pacific-easter-island-french-polynesia-on-scenic-eclipse-ii/#comment-67067824 Cheers, Kim

Given that the Scenic Ocean Voyages Forum is somewhat quiet, I thought I’d drop in and do a Live-ish review of our Transpacific voyage on Scenic Eclipse II which sets sail on Wednesday 13 March. We will be first time Scenic Cruisers having been Celebrity loyalists for the past 13 years. We needed a change but weren’t sure we would enjoy a small ship. So here we are about to try a yacht with up to 224 guests, go figure? This voyage marks the first of three legs (I think) to reposition the Scenic Eclipse II to Australia, New Zealand and Asia from its summer season in South America including Antarctica. Our itinerary takes us from Valpariaso in Chile to Papeete in French Polynesia. Very much looking forward to these islands. Living in New Zealand, our visit to Easter Island will complete our visits to the apices of the Polynesian Triangle. Also looking forward to learning more about the connection between Tahiti and those jolly mutineers from the Bounty who ended up on Pitt Cairn Island. As a Scot, I’m also looking forward to learning more about what sounds like a ‘colourful’ Scotsman (what a surprise) and how he came to be Daniel Defoe’s inspiration for Robinson Crusoe. We're flying into Santiago from Auckland 3 days early. The plan is to spend two nights in Santiago before taking a wine tour in the Casablanca Valley en route to Valparaiso where will overnight before setting sail. That’s the plan anyway. We’re currently sitting in the lounge in Auckland with a current delay of nearly three hours! The inbound flight from Sydney has just arrived so here’s hoping we have no further delays. More to follow!

Sounds wonderful. 🤞for the weather.

Good morning from across the harbour. Wishing you a wonderful day in the Bay of Plenty. Loving your reports of this amazing voyage.

Welcome to New Zealand!

I suspect the issue is that for many of the lines, these itineraries are effectively repositioning cruises which occur in March/April and then again in about October. We've done French Polynesia in October and the weather was good. From memory there are about three "local" options. PG which you've mentioned, Windstar and the Aranui (Half cargo, half passenger). We particularly want to go to the Marquesas Islands and none of those ships appeal. Ponant has just introduced itineraries on one of their sister class ships, I forget which one? Guessing that will be expensive too. Reasonable and French Polynesia are mutually exclusive items🤣I hope you get there, it's beautiful.

Thank you so much for your wonderful review. Love your writing style, easy to read and also informative. Please come back when you sail on her again with an update. We only have about 790 days until we sail on her 😁

Normal services resumed for me too.

This really is odd. Be great for someone from CC to drop in here and provide feedback. Hope they haven't been hacked😱

The only notifations I'm receiving are those connected with this thread 🫤I'll try the community email as suggested.

I agree. Thought it was a problem over our side of the world, but seems it's everyone. Hopefully we'll get an update soon. I didn't realise how much I enjoy getting notified about everyone's posts 🤞

I'm having the same problem. I haven't received any notifications for threads that I'm following since Saturday. When I go into these threads, I can see new posts.

Following along. I think I'll enjoy your humour as much as your Granduer review! We too will have our first Regent experience on Granduer but not until 2026. She'll be a Grand Dame by then😉

Very frustrating, sorry I can't help. We've cancelled the last of our Retreat bookings with Celebrity. A brave new world for us moving onto smaller ships and new cruise lines. It almost feels like anticipating our first cruise after sailing exclusively with Celebrity for 13 years. I do hope you get confirmation and enjoy your cruise.

🤣Left my heart there twice, fifty years apart! I love that city and the coast line.

Yes please. The live food intensive, not the flooding and snowstorms😉 Enjoy!

Adding my thanks for your taking the time to do this review. Curious and apologies if you've already covered this, was guest capacity on your cruise limited to 200? Seems to be the norm in the Antarctic.

Again, I'm not much help.as this is not offered in the NZ market 😪 The people on this roll call might know? https://boards.cruisecritic.com.au/search/?type=forums_topic&search_and_or=or&search_in=titles&nodes=45&q=Mar March