I did OLCI the morning before our flight as it was scheduled to leave LHR at 08.40.The morning we left home was sunny & the air had that holiday morning fresh smell to it.
We used the pink elephant business car park which was easy to find & easy to park. We only waited a couple of minutes for the courtesy bus which filled up with businessmen.
At T3 we breezed through bag drop. Our hand baggage was not checked for number of items nor weight.
Security was quiet & efficient. We had a coffee & wandered around for a while & then our flight came up on the screen. We made our way to the relevant gate which I can't remember now but it was the next gate along from VA & Miss Behavin was parked there with a hive of activity going on all around her.
Our plane was a 777-300 3 class if I remember correctly.
Priority boarding took place but no-one seemed botherd about getting on board in any hurry. I knew we would be last boarding & carried on reading as I thought it would be a while but in no time at all our row numbers were called.
As we boarded we were warmly greeted by CC & directed to our seats.[^]
I have not travelled in econ on VA for a few years so was nervous of doing so with Emirates but needs must when there are 4 of us to pay for.
I couldn't believe the number of CC greeting us as we went along the gangway[^] They all looked so smart with big smiles upon their faces. We settled ourselves into our seats after stowing our hand baggage overhead. I examined the small pillow & very large cream coloured wrap with 'Emirates' emblazoned upon it. It was fab[^]
We took off half hour or so late as we had boarded late due to the incoming flight arriving late!
After the initial welcome on board intro it was announced that the cc that day spoke several languages including blah, blah, blah, blah, blah & blah. I was so impressed at the number of languages but more so the fact that this was announced. What a great idea.[^] I am sure that at least 10 languages were given.
The safety video was given in sevearl languages as well. Excellent.
We were served soft drinks after we levelled out. A while later breakfast. This was very good & included orange juice, fruit, croissants with butter & preserves, breakfast pastries & tea or coffee.
The IFE was on a loop so all films started at the same time but finished at different times & so we had to wait for the next one we wanted to watch to start. It wsn't a problem to us.
I decided that a glass of champgne would be a fab idea. All alcoholic drinks wre free except for champagne which was $8 a glass. I had forgotten my dollars so asked if GB pounds or euros would be acceptable. The male cc member said no probs . He said that $8 would be approx 4 so therefore $6 euros but he would have to give me my change in dirhams. Would 17 dirhams be ok? It sounded fine to me.He had lost me half way through!
He came back a few moments later & said that it wasn't chilled enough & would I mind waiting 10mins? No probs. When he returned it was with a tray with a doilly on it, a small BOTTLE of champagne, a dish of nuts & water. So beautifully presented.[^]
He presented it to me with a flourish & a beaming smile.[:)]
The flight continued uneventfully but we were frequently asked if we were ok & could any of the crew get anything for us.
Lunch was served & was good.
Bresaloa, seasonal salad,
then a choice of
roasted fillet of salmon with mustard & lemon sauce, accompanied by tagliatelle, broccoli florets & carrot batonettes,
or
chicken tikka served in a creamy masala sauce, accompanied by basmati rice, aubergine & tomato ragout.
Dessert was banoffe torte followed by tea of coffee & chocolates.
Wine was served & I had syrah which was a perfect temperature.
After lunch we watched another film & we were again frequently asked if everything was ok.
I have to add here that I like to think that the service would have been as good even if we had been travelling without our daughters aged 24 & 17 who fell in love with the 2 male cc who were assigned to our section of the plane.[:w]
We landed a tad early & went straight to an allocated gate direct to the main terminal.
I was expecting it to take ages to disembark but 2 doors we opened & we were off in no time at all. We followed everyone else as we had no idea where we were going. It's a long walk isn't it?
At immigration I was expecting to wait ages but we went directly to a waiting officer who asked us where we were staying, stamped our passports & off we trotted. Our bags were wating for us, we found our courtesy driver from the Hilton Dubai Creek & off we went.
Again I was expecting the traffic to be horrendous from reading various reports from different sources. However,we zipped through & were at the hotel within 15 mins. Our driver was excellent.
I have to say that from the time the flight landed to entering our rooms was under an hour. FANTASTIC[^][y]
I accepted that we would have to fly with Emirates as the times suited us. However, the efficient, professional yet friendly CC were without fault. I take my hat off to them all.[:D][^]
If you think that you will be landing at DXB at a very busy time, you can book Mahaba (meaning welcome) services who whip you through the airport with dedicated staff & priority channels. We didn't try this service as we didn't know it was available until I read about it in one of the free vistor books. I believe the costs are very reasonable. I would certainly consider this option another time if I thought we would be arriving at a very busy time.
I tried to do a concise report but that failed didn't it - sorry.
