EK702 MRU-DXB 26 MAR 19 (FIRST)

So the time had come for us to leave and go home. The car arrived a little late at 1.30pm and it was tight squeezing our bags in, but the driver obviously was determined they would squeeze in, so having taken them out and changed everything around three times, he eventually closed the boot and we were off. As we pulled up kerbside a rep from the local company Emirates use was there with a trolley. He unloaded the bags and pushed our trolley to check-in and lifted them onto the belt, then wishing us a good flight he went - refusing a tip! We spent a little time in Duty Free buying jams and chocolates for relatives then found the lounge. What a disappointment this was. Absolutely heaving with people, grubby looking with tables full of dirty dishes and few staff. The food offerings were far from appetising and for a veggie extremely limited. To get a drink - of any description - we had to queue at the bar. However, it passed a couple of hours and wifi was reasonably ok.

The flight was called and we made our way to the gate via more security. We had booked seats 2a and 3a. Greeted very warmly on boarding we were quickly told that there were 4 of us in First, with 3 crew members plus the Spa crew member! They asked us if we’d like to move to the middle seats so we could sit together, but we like the A seats so they suggested they lay the middle seats for us to eat - which we thought a great idea.

This time the Dom Perignon made an appearance before take off, followed by the coffee and dates. Showers booked again and slipped and amenity kit handed out, but no PJs this time. We opted to eat an hour or so later. We had no plans to sleep on this flight so wanted to space things out. When dinner was ready, we moved into the middle seats and enjoyed our dinner a deux. My husband, ever the carnivore, had beef of some description, while I chose the mezze followed by a salad of my choice. The salad was assembled and tossed there and then and was fabulous - everything was so fresh and crisp. I have forgotten exactly what I had for dessert, but I do remember it was banana flavoured and delicious. This was all accompanied by champagne for me and an array of red wines for my husband. Then the Paradis! Again!

After eating, we went along to the bar, just for a soft drink this time, though all the delicious pastries , filled rolls, chocolates and canapés etc looked so very tempting, but we were really full. I did ask for a box of the jelly beans for my grand-daughter and was told they were put some in my suite. When I got back there were 6 boxes there! Fitting all this bags and boxes in my hand luggage was going to be a squash, but I was not going to leave anything behind! Not even the writing kits!

Soon we were called for our showers. Again a totally surreal experience, especially when the Capt made his pre descent announcement and I was starkers, that was somewhat unnerving! We each got back about a minute before the seatbelt sign came on for landing - these flights were just too short!

Where did you stay in Mauritius? We got married in Le Touessrok which at the time was a "one & only" hotel and had shared dining options with Saint Gerain which was nice.

We stayed at the Residence. In many ways it was exceptional, the food especially was fabulous, as was service and the beach. However, I wasn’t sure about the room furnishings. There was nothing wrong with the rooms at all, but despite being enormous, the furnishings simply weren’t aesthetically to my taste and irritated me a bit. The bed was exceptionally comfy though

The main thing is relaxation and hopefully you managed to do that whilst there. Cruising can be very busy, especially on the short ones we do, but relaxing for a week in a nice resort is wonderful.