Champagne, Check-ins and Chocolate Cake – First Day Aboard the Scenic Eclipse

Embarkation excitement

Today was the day—we were boarding the Scenic Eclipse. First hurdle: passport control. While my check took a bit longer due to a glitch, Ros breezed through and after the lady took over and sorted whatever it was, I was eventually waved through. Next up was security, where we followed the usual rigmarole of scanning bags and pretending we knew exactly what was allowed onboard.

Welcome aboard

On the dock, we snapped a few selfies before Ros leapt onto the Scenic Eclipse welcome mat like we were on The Amazing Race. Greeted with cool towels and glasses of champagne, we were directed into the lounge to complete check-in.

While waiting, we struck up a conversation with a couple from Virginia. They were part of a 60-person group—all from a town of just 30,000—traveling with their rockstar travel agent who’d saved the day after multiple flight cancellations. Ros asked about their trip over (long and chaotic), and we shared that this adventure marked 2.5 years post-pancreatic cancer surgery. They were shocked, but kind and encouraging.

We did mention that we hadn’t been on an ocean cruise before, but one of them said there was nothing to worry about. He and his wife had been on the four largest ships (with 4000+ people) and had no problems. Comforting words.

Settling in – suite life

Eventually, we were shown to the reception desk to grab our room keys, and then escorted to our suite by one of the housekeepers. Wow. Just wow. A walk-in robe, bedroom, lounge area, spa, and private deck—with champagne and a handwritten letter from Ros waiting for me. It was beautiful and deeply thoughtful.\

Our butler soon arrived to walk us through the room and gave us the restaurant rundown. Three venues—Lumière (French), Night Market (Asian Fusion), and Koko’s Sushi—required bookings. We were lucky enough to already have reservations for all three. Lumière was guaranteed for everyone, but the others depended on guest numbers. Fingers crossed we’d get to experience them again on the next leg of our cruise from Dublin to Reykjavik.

First bites and bucket lists

The Yacht Club restaurant was open for lunch, so off to wandered to find out what culinary masterpieces we would get to experience. This restaurant was buffet-style so we settled on a range of stuff – fish, jerk chicken, roast beef – to start with. Dessert was a chocolate cake for me and a matcha cake for Ros.

As it was the first day on the boat for us, they had a list of times and things you could see. Our journey started with a visit to the gym, Pilates area and the wellness spa. Afterwards we visited the helicopter dock (on level 8) to check it out and see what they had on offer. The pilot mentioned they would be flying in two places only on this first part of the trip, both in Spain. They didn’t have permission to fly elsewhere. After a bit of discussion, we agreed to book the first one in Ferrol. The second one was in Aviles. The pilot did mention that if there were weather conditions not suitable to flying, if you were booked on the first one you may have an option for the second one. We signed our life away on the booking sheet and waiver forms.

At 5:30pm (or thereabouts), we had a ‘sailaway’ function. Here everybody was invited to the front of the boat for a champagne or cocktail and watch as we left the port. It was very windy, but a cool experience. The Scenic Eclipse has an ‘open bridge’ policy where you could visit the bridge any time the door was open (which is a lot of the time). We decided to visit and experience leaving the port and see everything they had to do. We did this during the time the pilot was leaving the boat.

Unpacking for 23 days – bliss

We unpacked—23 whole days without packing and repacking was a pure luxury. On our in-room TV, the Daily Wonder detailed everything happening on board, including restaurant hours, activities, and more.

Dinner, sea legs, and new friends

Dinner at Elements started at 7:30pm. We were seated with a lovely couple from Wollongong, who casually mentioned they’d done a 23-day cruise to Antarctica. Ken showed us his motion sickness wristbands—one on each arm—which was slightly unnerving for Ros. Still, their stories were fascinating.

We returned to our suite and experienced the ship’s first movements—not bad at all, the captain advised that there would be 3 metre seas so it would be rocking a bit. So far, smooth seas and full hearts. We were rocked to sleep as we continued onto toward our next port.