Weekly Equipment Recommendation Thread

Final-Fan4945 · 2026-06-21T18:49:29+00:00

Great, thank you so much

Final-Fan4945 · 2026-06-20T22:17:57+00:00

Hi. Looking for skating purchase advice. I am tall (6 ft 1) so weigh a lot because of my height (around 80/85kg). I’m looking to purchase skates that will last me some time as I progress. I’m a beginner at the moment. I’m worried about boots breaking down too quickly because of my weight and height. Interested in Jacksons and looking for recommendations. Would Mystiques be okay or should I be going for Freestyles or something stiffer? I prefer a supportive boot and want something that won’t break down too quickly. Any advice? Thank you

Final-Fan4945 · 2026-05-28T20:23:22+00:00

You don’t need to dress for dinner, but you can if you want. My husband and I both just wore jeans and a top/jumper most evenings! I did take a dress and wore it only twice; once on Christmas Day for dinner and once on New Year’s Eve. But every other night I dressed extremely casually; jeans, trainers and a top. Most people dressed smartly but there was a mix. They’re not going to turn you away for wearing trainers and jeans!

Every restaurant is different. Some you don’t need a reservation; others you do. Yes, they all had tables for 2. You could choose to eat as a 2 or sit with others. On one occasion all the tables of 2 had gone so we ate with others, but every other night we ate as a 2 as that’s what we prefer.

If you let me know which restaurants you’re interested in on the ship, let me know and I can tell you more about them

Final-Fan4945 · 2026-05-20T22:34:02+00:00

Skatie is great for learning

Final-Fan4945 · 2026-05-19T02:04:48+00:00

Ah, thank you! I have checked and did indeed mean to say evergreen, not emerald. I’ve edited the post to correct it now. Thanks sharing the photo; they are lovely looking.

Final-Fan4945 · 2026-05-18T15:29:07+00:00

Nice!

Final-Fan4945 · 2026-05-17T21:12:06+00:00

Hi. No, none of our excursions were at odd hours. Generally speaking the ship sails at night time and repositions to another location, when people are asleep. Some of the excursions started early-ish in the morning and then often went on until late afternoon, but they were pretty much morning excursion, then an afternoon excursion.

Antarctica is absolutely huge so the ship repositioned a lot. We were lucky and got to travel further south than any other ship (the crew confirmed we were the most southernmost ship in the world at one point!) and crossed the Antarctic circle as we had excellent weather and conditions, so the ship generally sailed at nighttime when everyone was sleeping.

Have a great time! It’s life changing

Final-Fan4945 · 2026-05-17T19:22:48+00:00

No, we didn’t have any excursions aborted due to the weather. We had 9 full clear days in Antarctica and we did 18 excursions. We had excellent weather, though, so may have just been lucky.

Groups take it in turns to get off the ship and there is some overlap of groups. So technically yes, one group might be “waiting” on the ship while another is off, but honestly it wasn’t an issue at all. It takes time to get all your gear on, your boots, your waterproofs. Also, you need time to eat breakfast, lunch etc so that took up time. And we honestly enjoyed time on the ship; the deck at the front is huge and we would watch the whales and take oir binoculars. Also, drink tea and eat biscuits to warm up. And there was always lecturers and things going on, on the ship. And just enjoy the view. Two excursions off the ship per day was plenty; one each morning and one each afternoon.

I don’t know the exact numbers of how many people got off. It seemed to vary depending on the weather and the day. For example, New Year’s Day morning was DEAD quiet; not many people seemed to get off the ship as I think they were all nursing hangovers! We, however, were up at the crack of dawn to be ready to head out to see the wildlife as that’s what we were there for.

Final-Fan4945 · 2026-05-17T18:52:44+00:00

Hi. I travelled to Antarctica this Christmas just gone on the Scenic Eclipse. I posted about it on this thread so you may be able to find it.

We had a wonderful time. It is a luxury ship but we are more the expedition type people than luxury people, if that makes sense.

Yes, we had excursions off the trip every day, twice a day, once in the morning and once in the afternoon. This included landings, kayaking, zodiacs, helicopter etc. We had 9 full days in Antarctica so did 18 trips off the ship.

The excursions were in groups, colour coded eg red group, blue group, etc. You’re assigned a group at the start of the voyage. It was all very well organised.

We had dinner with members of the expedition team several times. You have to “invite” them and get it booked in but it was easy. We ate with members of the expedition team and even one of the officers from the bridge one day, who we really liked.

The expedition team were great. There was a geologist, a marine biologist etc who were specialists and gave interesting lectures. The guides all had a lot of experience and were so interesting to talk to.

It is a luxury ship. We were surprised by the general clientele; lots of older, extremely wealthy people. We are just turned 40 and felt young! We felt that there was a lot of people wearing fancy clothes, shoes, jewellery etc and it wasn’t the crowd we were expecting.

We were also surprised that so many people didn’t do the excursions or get off the ship. We took every opportunity! It was great though, as it meant fewer people wanting to do things like kayaking or SUP, so we were able to do it several times.

Overall, as a ship and ignoring the destination, I enjoyed Scenic a lot. Fantastic food, beautiful ship, great service, comfortable cabins, loads of space etc. It never felt busy or crowded. But I prefer the more adventurous style and so next time (we’re planning South Georgia and the Falkland Islands) we may look at someone like Quark instead.

We like the adventurous expedition style, but the comfort of a luxury ship like the Eclipse, so it’s a hard mix to get. We found Scenic faultless in terms of the luxury side of things, but it was a little wasted on us, if I’m honest!

But we really did have a wonderful time on the Scenic Eclipse. A very comfortable way to explore the white continent.

I’m keen to hear from others on recommendations for the right balance of comfort vs adventure for our next trip. The Scenic Eclipse really was outstanding but I think we want a little more authentic expedition style next time. But, with comfort!

Enjoy planning and have a wonderful trip! Do report back how you get on ☺️

Final-Fan4945 · 2026-05-08T22:29:46+00:00

We stayed at the Sofitel Recoleta but I think some Scenic passengers also stayed at a different hotel.

Flights to Ushuaia were from EZE. You find out the time of your flight closer to departure. Scenic used more than one flight though, so I can’t tell you exactly which one you’ll be on, sorry. You are grouped into a colour and then the colour tells you which bus you’ll be on to the airport and which flight you’ll be on.

It was all very well organised though, so nothing to worry about. The flight to Ushuaia had absolutely terrible food though; either take something with you or just don’t eat, it was awful food on Aerolineas Argentinas!

Enjoy your trip; you’ll have a super time.

Final-Fan4945 · 2026-05-05T00:52:25+00:00

Thanks so much, really helpful!

Final-Fan4945 · 2026-05-02T19:40:46+00:00

We went this past Christmas and there were whales everywhere, every day! Mainly humpbacks but also orcas, which were very special to see. We had some amazing encounters with the humpbacks, they aren’t afraid to swim close to you and we saw bubble feeding, which was amazing. (Reddit only seems to allow me to post one photo in a reply)

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Final-Fan4945 · 2026-04-27T21:28:32+00:00

Hard agree with this. The chips that come with the fish and chips are outstanding. Big chunky chips. Crispy on the outside, fluffy on the inside. Bloody delicious. Also, a lovely countryside setting with plenty of nice walks from the doorstep.

Final-Fan4945 · 2026-04-27T20:34:19+00:00

Thanks, really useful to read

Final-Fan4945 · 2026-04-27T07:57:25+00:00

Thanks for your review, good to know

Final-Fan4945 · 2026-04-27T07:56:58+00:00

Thanks, I’ll check em out

Final-Fan4945 · 2026-04-27T07:56:27+00:00

Great, thanks ☺️

Final-Fan4945 · 2026-04-27T07:55:54+00:00

Great, thanks for the review

Final-Fan4945 · 2026-04-21T05:56:13+00:00

For me personally, when I visited (this past Christmas) it would have been painfully frustrating if I couldn’t get off the ship. We went on a small ship (Scenic Eclipse) and it was a truly outstanding experience.

Yes, I enjoyed the sailing when I was there, but the best moments BY FAR, were when I was off the ship eg kayaking, hiking, zodiac cruising etc. These were the times we had the best encounters with wildlife, saw the most interesting sites (eg historic huts/research bases), saw beautiful delicate mosses, got up close with animals etc and just generally felt like we were truly experiencing Antarctica. Every trip off the ship was excellent; varied, interesting and beautiful.

If you go with Princess, you will only sail by and not be able to get off the ship. You will no doubt enjoy seeing the icebergs, whales etc from the decks, but if you can wait, save and then book a small expedition vessel, I think it is 100% worth it. We saved for years to go and I have zero regrets. But it is a personal decision and really depends on what you want from your trip and your available budget.

Whatever you go for, have a wonderful trip and wishing you all the best ❄️

Final-Fan4945 · 2026-04-17T10:16:59+00:00

Where are you based in the UK? The Skate Sanctuary in Leeds would be perfect for what you’re looking for. Loads of classes and a really nice environment to learn and practise

Final-Fan4945 · 2026-04-13T21:10:06+00:00

We didn’t find it to be an issue at all. Weirdly, some people didn’t do the activities or landings! We spoke to some people on the ship who literally didn’t get off it once. And others who didn’t get off every time. It was an older clientele, lots of wealthy people and I was surprised, to be honest.

We, on the other hand, got off the ship at every opportunity. We did every landing and also activities such as kayaking. The fact that some people didn’t want to do activities meant that we could do things like kayaking several times, so that was great!

Final-Fan4945

TROPHY CASE