Experience with Scenic Eclipse?
We went to Antarctica with Nat Geo Orion last December, and really want to return for a longer trip that includes Falkland and South Georgia as well. So far have not been able to find a trip with either Nat Geo, Quark or Polar Latitudes that suited our dates (and is not exorbitantly priced).
However, I recently stumbled across a trip on Scenic Eclipse II that works for us and is a good deal. However, I have a few concerns: 1) the ship is bigger and carries 200 passengers, 2) there are only 3 days allocated for SGI instead of 4, and 3) I've read here and elsewhere that this cruise line is more focused on "luxury" vs. expedition.
So I want to ask for either passengers or guides who have personal experience? I've done searches on this sub and have seen the glowing reviews as well as concerns about not prioritizing expedition.
My main questions has to do with off-ship activities: how are the off-ship activities handled? Does everyone get to go off the ship twice a day? Does everyone get off the ship at once (eg., one group land, one group zodiac), or are half of the passengers waiting? Does the expedition team join guests for dinner? I'm less concerned about the "mini-golf" type of episode (cruise director announced mini-golf while guests were watching wildlife), since we obviously would just not go to do the mini-golf.
TIA for any help!!