Adventures of Lydia & Calvin

Saturday, March 23, 2013

Spending Christmas and New Year in Paradise: Paris to Houston via London

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We arrived at the airport much earlier than we’d like to since our missing bags were still not found at this point. The baggage handling agent on Emirates claimed that our missing bags had already been checked in on the flight to London and onto Houston. Sure enough, this turned out not to be true as the British Airways check-in agent could not find any record of our bags. I appreciated that she made a couple of phone calls trying to help us out but made no progress.

We were resolved to simply filing a claim once we got back to the Austin but Lydia smartly realized that Emirates was in the same terminal as British Airways and thankfully Emirates also had a morning flight so their check-in counters were opened. We made some fuss to what appeared to be a supervisor and after realizing that we were first class passengers she promptly looked into it. She confirmed that they still could not find the bags and was shocked that we had no case number filed and quickly got a case opened for us.

Once we got through security, we saw a Laduree shop and bought the biggest box of macaroons they had. We initially had wanted to try these world famous macaroons in Paris itself but ran out of time.

With only 10 minutes to go till boarding, we decided to still head to the Cathay Pacific lounge that British Airways uses in Paris. It would be my first time in a One World lounge and I liked it. It was spacious and well furnished. Since we were short on time, we didn’t get anything to eat but I did sneak a can of Asian soya bean milk (yum!) out of the lounge to be enjoyed later.

Boarding was underway when we got to the gate. There were no hot towels or pre-departure drinks served which made my decision to sneak the can of soya bean milk to enjoy pre-departure on the flight a good one!

The English breakfast served on this short flight was pretty decent. The scrambled eggs were creamy just the way I like it! Overall, just another uneventful flight one would expect on this short hop.

Our flight landed in Terminal 5. It would my first time connecting through Heathrow and I can see why people loathe it. Even bypassing most of the lines as first class passengers, we were stuck in a security line for a good fifteen minutes.

I was excited to try the British Airways first class experience but was left pretty underwhelmed. We had made reservations for a head and neck massage through the YouFirst service. It was one of the worst massages I ever had. We were seated in a massage chair with wasn’t too bad but the masseur simply wasn’t good at all. There was no pressure at all from the massage and was just a waste of time.

The Concorde Room, reserved for British Airways first class passengers, was average for a first class lounge. There wasn’t a “wowness” to it similar to Lufthansa’s first class terminal or Thai’s first class lounge in Bangkok. We were still full from breakfast so we didn’t eat anything but enjoyed a couple of glasses of champagne and coffee.

Spending Christmas and New Year in Paradise: Exploring Paris

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With a couple of hours wasted at the airport trying with the luggage situation, we were only left with a couple of hours of daylight to explore Paris. Wanting to make the most of our now shorten layover in Paris, we immediately headed out after a quick freshen up at the hotel.

First up were the obligatory pictures of the Arc.

Guided by directions from the hotel concierge, we next made our way to the Eiffel Tower on the metro. The concierge’s recommendation to get off at Trocadéro stop was spot on as it provided great views of the tower while walking towards it from across the river Seine.

By the time we got to the towel itself, the sun was beginning to set allowing for some different scenery. I guess I can thank Emirates for that.

Spending Christmas and New Year in Paradise: Radisson Blu Champs Elysees

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Hilton Arc De Triomphe had been one our list of hotels to stay at if we ever visited Paris. However, the hotel left the Hilton brand a couple of months ago. We decided to use some of our Club Carlson points earned during their generous 50,000 points promo and instead stayed at the Radisson Champs Elysees. The redemption for 50,000 points was another steal considering that the hotel was retailing at ~300 Euros a night.

Check-in was pleasant and efficient. We were upgraded to a nice corner room with a balcony room either because of my lowly Carlson Silver status or the agent was being nice after finding out that we had problems with our luggage. The staff of this hotel is definitely an asset since they were extremely friendly and helpful. The concierge proactively offered to follow up with Emirates on our missing luggage.

The room we were upgraded to was on the small side but functional which I assume was the norm in Paris.

The best thing about the hotel is definitely it's location. It's close by to Arc de Triomphe and the metro giving easy access to other tourist attractions like the Eiffel tower or the Lourve. The main shopping street of Champs Elysees is just a couple of minutes walk from the hotel. We would definitely return back to this hotel if visiting Paris again.

Sunday, March 3, 2013

Spending Christmas and New Year in Paradise: Dubai to Paris: Emirates First Class

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The fifteen minute complimentary shoulder massage for first class passengers was the perfect way to wake up after our a couple hours of sleep on the lounge chair. We would continue to skip booking a hotel for such a relatively short layover but nothing beats sleeping on a real bed.

After freshening open with a shower, the Dubai sun was now already out and we headed to the dining room for some breakfast. I was getting bored with eggs for breakfast and decided to do some sushi instead and the kitchen was nice enough to make me some fried quail and foie gras from the lunch/dinner menu.

"Breakfast" dessert

It was time for boarding right as we got done with breakfast. Our boarding gate was right outside the lounge and first class passengers board directly from a dedicated gate on the same level as the lounge allowing us to bypass any lines and get on the plane within minutes of leaving the lounge.

As usual on Emirates flights, we were warmly welcomed and shown to our seats before being served pre-departure Dom and Arabic coffee and dates. The captain came on the PA and announced we would be delayed for several minutes as they sorted out some baggage issues. The delay didn't bother us too much especially with the comfort of traveling in first class. While on the ground, the crew kept the Dom flowing and together with the couple seating in front of us, we probably finished of a bottle and a half while still on the ground.

A380 taking us to Paris

Spending Christmas and New Year in Paradise: Male to Dubai via Colombo: Emirates First Class

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It was time to leave paradise. We were driven from our water bungalow to the seaplane jetty on a buggy by our island host where our seaplane was already waiting for us. The seaplane crew was however no way to be seen (probably having a late lunch). It would be another ten minutes before the crew showed up and it was not a big deal since there was an air-conditioned room to wait in that had water and coffee.

Our flight back to Male was operated by the "Conrad" seaplane. The seats seem newer than the "normal" seaplane and there was air-condition on but overall, there was not much difference. We would be the only two hotel guest on the ride back to Male with another hotel employee who looked to be leaving Conrad for good also joining us. Things get slightly hairy before we took off as we overheard the captain complaining that some of the navigation didn't seem to work and he had to make several calls trying to resolve them. We did get on our way but I honestly wasn't sure if the original issues were resolved.

We safely arrived in Male thirty minutes later where a Conrad rep was again waiting for us. He escorted us to the bus that would take us to the main terminal where he handed us over to another rep who helped us with our bags to the Emirates check-in counter. There were no lines at the Emirates counter and the agent manning the first class counter was able to quickly to check us in with bags checked all the way to Paris in spite having two separate tickets - one for the Male to Colombo flight and the second for the Colombo to Dubai to Paris ticket.

We spent the rest of the time at the Plaza Premium Lounge that Emirates uses. The lounge is nicely furnished with views of the tarmac and has a pretty good selection of food. As with all other lounges in Male, there's no alcohol available and with the ice machine broken when we were, we had semi-cold coke instead.

We decided that it was not worth the extra cash for business or first class on the short hour or so Male to Colombo flight. We were seated in the bulk head seats that had plenty of leg room. I spent the time through the flight finishing up a book while enjoying music on Emirates' extensive IFE.

IFE

Cold Snack Plate

On arrival in Colombo, we browsed the airside shops looking for massages but there were more expensive than what we would pay. We then proceeded to the Emirates lounge where we took a shower, caught up on email and had a light snack.

We were back on the same plane that took us from Male to Colombo hours earlier but this time we would be at the front of the plane. We were delighted to find out that the plane was equipped with suites in first class. More often than not, Emirates operates the Colombo/Male flight with the "old" first class.