Scenic Cruises' superyacht Scenic Eclipse is one of the first cruise ships to return to Antarctica, restarting her ultra-luxury expedition journeys from January 7.
The vessel is making her way to Antarctica from the Red Sea as she prepares for her highly anticipated return to the Antarctic peninsula for a January-March season of exploration.
This marks a milestone for the luxury all-inclusive operator of the World’s First Discovery Yacht as she restarts the scheduled 2022 program for the first time since the beginning of the crisis and will be among the first cruise ships to return to Antarctica.
The 13-day “Antarctica in Depth” cruise takes in the endless landscapes and unique wildlife of Antarctica. After nearly 2 years of passenger shipping pause, Scenic's guests will depart from Port Ushuaia Argentina and spend 6 full days exploring the Antarctic Peninsula with multiple landings daily. The max passenger capacity of the 2019-built Scenic Eclipse is limited to 200 while sailing in polar regions.
Highlights vary, depending on weather conditions, and include navigating the 7-mile-long Lemaire Channel, the opportunity to visit a working scientific base, explore an abandoned whaling station, climb to the rim of a volcanic crater, and, in case conditions are favorable, the chance to cross the Antarctic Circle at latitude 66°33’ South.
Guests are also welcome aboard the yacht’s 6-passenger mini-submarine (Scenic Neptune) which offers journeys deep below the ocean surface with 280° views. Or they may prefer to soar above in one of 2 state-of-the-art, 6-passenger Airbus helicopters.
Scenic Eclipse will sail on a number of scheduled 13- and 19-day cruises in the region.
Jason Flesher, Scenic Discovery Yachts’ expedition operations manager, said they had been planning the Antarctica season for months and could not wait "to head back to the White Continent for a season of luxury and discovery."
"Thanks to the size and capabilities of Scenic Eclipse, we’ve been able to secure exclusive landings in Margarite Bay, a southern destination that very few ships can visit.”
As the Antarctica season comes to a close in March, the Scenic Eclipse ship will then venture across the Atlantic, operating from Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) to Lisbon (Portugal), to start her first-ever Mediterranean season.