From a Charlestown kitchen to Antarctica, Scenic's success story

The somewhat reclusive Glen Moroney, the chairman and founder of Scenic Group, which operates Scenic Tours, was all of the proud parent on Monday when he welcomed Newcastle guests aboard the inaugural Australian voyage of Scenic Eclipse II, a state of the art cruising ship and the pride of the Scenic Group's fleet of 23 river cruisers and two ultra-luxury Discovery yachts.

Among the guests on Monday were Newcastle Lord Mayor Nuatali Nelmes, Business Hunter chief Robert Hawes and Newcastle restaurant owner Neil Slater.

"All I can say, is we started from a kitchen table in Charlestown, Newcastle, doing a very simple job, just filling a hotel and running bus tours," Mr Moroney said, "and we've ended up being a very unique company, because we came up with a concept, we do the feasibility, we design the ship, we engineer it, we build it, we own it, we operate it, and through all of our sales offices around the world, we distribute that to the consumer.

"I'm very proud to say there are only four people on the ship [of a crew of 178] we don't employ directly - that's the two helicopter pilots, a helicopter engineer and the lady who manages the shop.

"We do all of our technical and nautical operations, we do all of our provisioning - in fact I was out this morning at the local fish market with Tom [chef and vice president of hotel operations Tom Gotter] to make sure we had some local fresh fish for the next week or so.

"It's ended up being an extremely complex business, but one that we're very very proud of.

"And we think that each one of those steps gives us the opportunity to deliver an even better service for our guest. And ultimately, that's what we are doing. We want to take control, we want to make sure they have a special experience.

"And in the cruising industry, that is 100 per cent unique. There is no other operation who does it at this scale."

The Scenic Eclipse II, completed in 2022 by the company's own shipbuilding firm, MKM Yachts, based in Croatia, is beginning its first cruising season in Australia. After a quick stop in Sydney, Newcastle was it's second port, a nod to the company's origins.

Mike Cusack, the discovery tour leader for this journey, said the yacht was making its way up the east coast with stops at K'gari (Fraser Island), Capricorn Reef, Middle Percy Island, Gladstone (for dawn service on Anzac Day), Airlie Beach for the White on White dinner at spectacular Whitehaven Beach, Willis Island (in international waters) and Cairns.

The ship left Newcastle at 4pm on Monday, heading north with a near full moon above it.

Scenic Eclipse II begins it's Australian season on May 10 with an 11-day "Discover the Kimberley Coastline" tour from Darwin to Broome.

Scenic Eclipse II has capacity for 228 guests (114 luxury suites). It carries two helicopters, an electric submersible that can transport eight guests down to 100 metres below the surface, kayaks, stand-up paddleboards, and Seabobs.

The ship has 10 dining venues, eight bars, two swimming pools, a spa, sauna, steam room, salt therapy lounge, yoga and pilates studio, and infrared sauna with colour light therapy.