Pingtung

I booked 2 nights at the nearby Hong Kong Skycity Marriott and while it isn’t the most convenient place to stay when visiting Hong Kong, the price was reasonable and I could just plan on heading in and then back out at the end of the day.

The hotel had all sorts of Christmas and holiday themed meals and events – Christmas Dinner, gingerbread making classes for the kids, Carolers on the evening of the 24th, and Santa Clause who handed out balloons and a small treat to children in the lobby. Also, in each room, they placed a small Marrott SkyCity stocking with a small gift, a gingerbread man, inside. I had a wonderful stay here and it really is much more than just an airport hotel.


Decently sized rooms


Another view of the room, Christmas stocking on the right


Ocean view

The hotel runs a shuttle every half hour to the Tung Chung MTR station so I took that both days I was in Hong Kong. That evening I headed in to the city walked around and just explored for a few hours before grabbing dinner at the Temple Street Night Market. The trip takes 45 minutes to 1 hour to get downtown so it does require some patience. From Tung Chung you'll make a stop at Sunny Bay where you can connect to the Disney Line - The following day I saw many excited kids, some with those cute Mickey hats, going to and from Disney with their parents. If ever there was a global icon, Micky Mouse is it.


Strolling around on Christmas Eve

There was no haze my first morning in Hong Kong so I got a gorgeous view of the sunrise from my ocean view room.


Morning sunrise from my room

My first stop was Victoria Peak, early on Christmas morning. The Tram is quite expensive and doesn't offer much of a view, but its a quick ride to the top.


Morning sunrise from my room


What's so impressive about this? (TIC)


View across the harbor after catching the ferry

The MTR is very easy to navigate, though it can get quite crowed. I was there over Christmas Day and Boxing Day and folks were already out and about at 9AM. One thing to note is that the MTR escalators are faster than traditional escalators in the west. It's out of necessity if they want to keep the massive crowds that offload a train moving.


Crowded MTR station

I made a stop at Lau Sum Kee Noodle shop in Hong Kong while I was there. This place is featured in an episode of both No Reservations (Youtube Link, scroll to 1:20) and Samantha Brown’s Asia. The noodles do taste different and are quite springy, really tasty. There’s no English on the menu and my Mandarin didn’t get very far as well – so I just pointed at what I wanted and it all turned out fine.


Samantha Brown approved!


The famous noodles

The next day I made a stop at the Hong Kong History Museum and it's a great place to learn about the history, both cultural and geographical, of Hong Kong and how it has evolved over time.


Performance clothing in the Hong Kong History Museum


Fried turnip cake at the Intercontinental Hong Kong

zcat18

Stellar report--many thanks for taking the time to post it!

Phnom Penh seems to have really come into its own since I was there seven years ago. At the time, it felt like a pretty dusty little town. I remember people claiming that the Cambodian government was trying to phase air travel out entirely as an environmental initiative. Looks like they scrapped that idea, thankfully!

From what I remember, they had a multi-year plan to improve road and waterway infrastructure and were to require that tourists either use the bus system or ferries to get to, from and around the country. I also remember the bus ride from the Poipet border crossing to Siem Reap taking approx. 9 hours over what were essentially dirt roads.

Thanks for bringing back those great memories!

Pingtung

I caught the 7:40PM shuttle to the airport from the hotel and arrived less than 10 minutes later at the departures level. Upon entering the terminal it’s hard not to notice the spacious and inviting interior.


Terminal 1 entrance


Beautiful and inviting entrance


Easy to navigate check-in desks

Cathay Pacific has dedicated Business Class checkin lines and when I arrived there was no wait for an agent.


Dedicated CX Business/Elite lines

When joining the queue to exit Hong Kong, I was again given one of the keycards at the front of the line and then handed it back once I got to the front of the line. Total time waited – 1 minute. They’re doing well at HKG! I did a bit of shopping with the leftover HKD I had, picking up some snacks for back home. I can never pass up a chance to buy some lotus seed mooncakes!

I headed first for The Pier and would then make my way back to visit the other lounges. The train only goes one direction for departing passengers so you have to hike back if you’re at the far gates and your flight is closer to the main terminal. I was warmly greeted at the entrance and after stamping my boarding pass with “RE-ENTRY”, I was directed into the lounge. Instead of scanning me in at the other lounges, they would see the stamp and invite me in. Take note AA.

The lounge offers what they call “The Long Bar” featuring some bar stools and a barista, though I didn’t see anyone actually sit at the bar. The Long Bar also featured a few hot food items, Chicken Tulips and Curry Potato Cakes. In the main dining area, Cathay offers some Asian bread, dim sum items, fruit, cheeses, and something that completely surprised me, onion rings. There was also a noodle bar where you can order a nice hot bowl of noodles.


Seating areas in The Pier


The Long Bar

The lounge also features a large number of semi-private computer booths so waiting passengers can have access to the internet.


Lots of computers available

After grabbing some food, I noticed that the napkin I had picked up said “The Wing” – oops! At least it didn’t advertise a credit card or premium seating. I hung around the lounge for about an hour before grabbing a nice shower.


Some of my selections

Next up was a walk back and a visit to The Wing.


Love the symmetry

The upper level of the C lounge for The Wing is currently undergoing renovation so I found it to be extremely crowded.


Renovation under way for the 7th floor


Crowded Lounge

I headed for the room further back from the entrance where there was some seating as well as computers for use. Given the large crowds, I read a magazine for about half an hour before making my way to The Cabin, which was a short walk away from my departing gate. I would highly recommend avoiding The Wing until construction is complete – it’s uncomfortably crowded and waiting at an empty gate would probably be a better option.


Signs for The Cabin

The Cabin’s red seating color and style seems more Virgin-esque than Cathay Pacific, but I do like the refreshing difference between this lounge and the other two. There were a few more food items here than in the other lounges and I especially like the view this lounge affords. It's aptly named the cabin given the long narrow hallway that sort of mimics a narrow aisle on an airplane.

One thing I did notice while at HKG and Hong Kong in general, is the importance of cleanliness. There were HEPA filters at the Intercontinental bathrooms, constant wiping down of handrails everywhere, and hand sanitizer stations throughout the airport. Heck at the Hong Kong History Museum, some of the interactive touchscreens had a sign stating that these were sanitized every hour. Some airports in the US have hand sanitizers throughout as well (e.g. Houston-IAH) and I think it’s a great idea to keep germs away.


Stylish and Modern


Food items


Pastries

I did a bit of reflecting on my adventure around the world while sitting next to the windows in a dimly lit part of the lounge. In front of me sat a gorgeous Cathay 777 being prepared for departure. It’s times like these, where you have some quiet alone time that you can spend just relaxing with no worries about what needs to get done in the rushed lives we live today. With about 45 minutes to go before departure, I packed up my things and headed to the gate. It was time to return back home to the States.

Pingtung

9 Hours, wow, it's so much better now with the paved road. I wanted to get to Siem Reap as fast as possible and I couldn't stomach the $300+ airfares on Bangkok Air, but a taxi ride was definitely worth it.

If nothing else, when you ask locals about Cambodia today, they are a hopeful bunch as they see their country slowly modernize.

Pingtung

The waiting area was sparsely populated and the loads on the plane would mirror this. Prior to boarding, one of the gate agents walked around with a sign that said “54-70” and verbally notifying passengers that those seated in any of those rows could go ahead and lineup in the economy line to the right of the boarding door. This led to an orderly boarding process devoid of the gate lice that is all too common in the USA. Granted, the plane would only be about 60% full, but anyone who was standing around near the lines, but not actually in a line, would be engaged by one of the CX employees and directed to the desk, a line, or to a take a seat.


The plane for CX888


Clear boarding lines

I was one of the first to board and was so excited to be walking down the jetway in anticipation of experiencing Cathay’s new C product. Once onboard I made a left turn toward the mini cabin behind F class and started to settle in to my seat 12K. The seat provides a high level of privacy for each passenger, the seat design extends out a bit at the head line so you can lean against it if you want too, but more important it adds a small privacy screen from the aisle.


New CX C Class


My seat, 12K

Cathay stores C/F headsets in the overhead bins in the mini cabin and it takes up two full bins, so I had to, shockingly, share my huge bin with another passenger. Can you believe that Cathay would do such a thing?!


Headsets for the premium passengers

Lukewarm towels and a beverage were offered pre departure. I went with some champagne to kick off the trip back home. Throughout the flight I would be referred by name which was a pleasant surprise in C class. I played around with the IFE and it took quite a long time for me to scroll though all the Movies and TV shows offered. Cathay offers a huge selection and if you’re at all interested in watching something, you can bet they’ll have something for you in their library. The headset for my seat would occasionally screech and I identified the problem as the connection of the headset into the jack. Occasionally moving the wires in some fashion would lead to a screeching sound. It wasn’t a big deal to me, but it was a slight nuisance.

When dinner service started, the FA’s wheeled around a cart with drink options and almonds in ramekins. I noticed the meal manifest with the last names of C passengers (I’m guessing so they can remember our names), but I also noticed that my name was the only one circled on the list from the list I could see. The only seats I could see were the ones for the mini-cabin, and my guess is that it noted who was continuing on to New York as the other mini-cabin passengers disembarked at Vancouver, though it doesn’t make sense why that should matter. Or maybe they knew I was on an award ticket and circled my name so that they knew this guy wasn’t worth their time. If it was, their impeccable service didn’t show it!


Apple juice and almonds to start

Or if you prefer....

Meal service was efficient and at a nice pace given the late departure. The light load in C class made service feel First Class-esque with the attention received. Water bottles were handed out prior to the meal service in case anyone wanted to head to sleep immediately, but the FA also asked us if we would be having dinner or if we preferred the light meal that could be served quickly.


Starter tray with signed(and much appreciated), but preprinted, welcome


Starter Salad

I especially like the cart that Cathay rolls around in C class so you can take a look at the main dishes before selecting one. Forget what’s on the menu, our eyes will make the choice for us in an instant! I went with the lamb and it was mediocre, not too tough, but just a slight step up from Y. The salad was great and the garlic bread is to die for.


Lamb, not a fan of prawns so this was by default


Fruit and Dessert

After dinner I quickly changed into PJ’s I brought with me and headed to sleep. I prefer the bed to be slightly elevated so I left a slight elevation to my seat. It was comfortable, private, and quiet. I was able to get 6 hours of sleep on the trip over the Pacific. While not offering quite as much space as F seats such as the Lufthansa old F or the Swiss F seat, the comfort and privacy of these new Cathay seats is pretty much on par. The hard product is absolutely spectacular and I’m sure the Envoy seats on US airways are similarly amazing. I do like the new C products on my primary carrier, UA/CO, but those are like child’s play compared to the new Cathay seats.

I did get up once to use the lavatory once and saw the galley was setup with some self serve snacks and drinks but I was too tired to indulge. The Haagan-Dazs was so tempting, but sleep won out.

So called "Brunch" service, which really was just Breakfast and an option of dim sum, started about an hour or so before landing.

Breakfast was excellent, I selected the Apple pancake and it was a great breakfast dish. The steaming hot croissant was a perfect start to a long rest period 38,000 feet in the air. Though the menu didn’t list it, cereal was offered in between the fruit and the main dishes and I gladly accepted some good ole corn flakes.


Fruit starter


Coolest salt/pepper shakers ever


Apple Pancake Main Dish

We landed without incident to some light rain in the Vancouver area. At the end of the jetbridge a Cathay agent had a sign and was directing terminating passengers one way and NYC passengers straight into the holding area. Only about 30 passengers continued on to NYC, that seems like low percentage so I wonder if that is typical?

Pingtung

As we entered the holding pen, everyone was given a transit pass that mentioned that we should be at the boarding gate 20 minutes prior to departure. Given that there was nowhere to go other than some restrooms, the notice gave me a chuckle.


Transit Pass


Waiting Room

Continuing passengers are in one gate area, and next door, the passengers starting or connecting from other flights onto CX888 were kept in the gate area adjacent to the one we were held in. I have no idea if their gate area was the same size, but if it was, it must’ve been a packed place. Cathay provided some water bottles and some snacks for us while we waited – a nice gesture.


Gate area


Plane being prepped for departure

Prior to boarding, 5 names were called to approach the podium – these would be the “random” secondary checks performed on passengers going to the USA. That’s a 15% chance of a bag search and pat down, yikes! The 30 of us were allowed to board first so I settled nicely into my 12K seat before anyone else joined the cabin.


Mini-Cabin

This flight would be essentially 100% in all cabins – there must be a lot of folks that like taking this redeye flight. Newspapers were offered prior to departure, something that didn’t occur on the HKG-YVR segment, and a fresh set of magazines were placed in the shelves at the front of the mini-cabin. The Purser then came around to thank us all for flying with Cathay and wished us a pleasant journey to New York.

Once airborne the meal service commenced, starting with some warm nuts and a beverage. With the full load this time, service was noticeably a bit more hectic and unlike the last flight where the salad tray was brought directly to our seat, trolleys were used instead.


Barely warm nuts with some Coke

I went with the pork – it looked and tasted just like an economy meal, but the garlic bread was again, excellent. The dessert was definitely up to par as well.


Starter Tray


Pork dish


Dessert

Service wasn’t quite as personalized as on my HKG-YVR leg, but that was completely understandable due to the loads in C. They still referred to me by name whenever they interacted with me and were generally polite and welcoming. What’s nice to see is that when the loads are lower, the FA’s will spend more time interacting with each passenger and providing a more personalized service rather than just taking it easy, getting the meal done, and relaxing for the rest of the flight. Providing an equal “level of effort” for each flight should be commended – when loads are high, they ensure service can be just as smooth by working more efficiently while still engaging in polite interactions, but when loads are low, they are more personable and will provide a level of service that heads into F territory.

I had never bothered to change out of my PJ’s so I tried to get some rest before landing, but after fading in and out of sleep for an hour or so, I just stayed up and used the wonderful IFE the rest of the flight. The FA’s in the galley behind me were quite loud from moving around and putting things away (I’m guessing they were eating meals then) and given that I had slept 6 hours already, my body just didn’t want any more sleep.

Prior to landing, juice and water were offered on a tray as a pre arrival drink.


Glimpses of the New York

We landed at 5:43AM and arrived at the gate a few minutes later. I was 3rd in line as we waited at the plane door waiting for 6AM to strike when they would be allowed to offload us. The customs and immigration folks don’t go on the clock until then so planes are not allowed to offload until that time.


UA PS 757

It was a short walk to immigration and the two people in front of me were also US citizens, but with two officials working US lines, I was through quickly – with no questions asked at all. He did chat up the young lady in front of me though with the usual questions about where she went and why, but I guess listing Jordan, Thailand, Cambodia, Hong Kong as places you visited was just too boring for him. Or maybe I just wasn't attractive enough

My bag was already on the belt when I arrived at baggage claim, go priority tags!, and just like that – 7 minutes after deboarding – I was making my way to the AirTrain to head back to Penn Station. My train wouldn’t be for another few hours as I didn’t know how long it all would take, but you definitely don’t need that much time as long as CX888 is scheduled to be the first one in at T7.


Waiting for the LIRR to Penn Station in the early morning

While I was waiting for a LIRR train to Penn Station, I saw another one pass by with a large number of NYPD officers standing in each train just chatting – They must all be going in to start their shift soon. After boarding the LIRR, no conductor checked my train car for tickets, does anyone know if that's common?

The Amtrak train ride home was fairly uneventful, I drifted in and out of sleep for a while as my body was trying to tell me it was bed time so I missed out on much of the view back.

Last up, conclusions…

Moomba

Thanks for a great trip report Pingtung.

Pingtung

I'm glad I had the opportunity to take this trip while I was still young. Cambodia can be a tricky place for the older crowd, but it's something that shouldn't hold you back in visiting. It's totally worth the effort to see the temples of Angkor.

As for the flights themselves - Royal Jordanian was on time and reasonably comfortable, but from my two experiences, it had many service faults and inconsistencies. To begin with, where is the priority boarding? Both FA crews were generally just looking to get service done more than anything else. I will give the purser on JFK-AMM (who didn't work in the C cabin) props for handling my seat mate with poise when he became visibly angry at not having anything to eat. The Crown Lounge is an excellent facility - minus the showers costing a criminal 15 JOD. If RJ wants to keep pace with their glitzy neighbors in the UAE, they will need to differentiate themselves, and I don't think they are doing that right now.

+ Buffet style meal service for Breakfast on AMM-BKK
+ Crown Lounge is excellent
+ City Terminal is a cheap way to get to the airport

- No priority boarding at JFK...or even AMM
- Amman airport is quite run down and badly needs the new terminal
- Minimal effort by FA's, was only asked one time for my choice in drink, rest were offers on trays with preselected options

Cathay's new C product is top class and could almost be mistaken as a first class product. Service was generally consistent and friendly, though the main dishes offered in C could be improved upon. The refurbishment of The Wing means that you should avoid it until it's complete. Small gestures, like providing a water bottle before dimming the lights, makes a world of difference - and Cathay FA's have this touch of service excellence. Cathay's base, HKG, is a wonderful airport and probably my favorite airport I've been too so far. Singapore's Changi is on par, but the gate security is kind of a nuisance.

+ Service effort was the same regardless of load - no slacking
+ C seats that could be classified as BusinessFirst (I'm looking at you CO)
+ IFE selection is HUGE

- Main dishes are poor


If you can stomach the prices, I hear the Sofitel in Siem Reap is lovely, but I can definitely recommend the Sofitel in Phnom Penh. It's a bit out of the way from the main attractions of the city so if you want to be much closer, the Raffles is probably a better choice. The Villa at Siem Reap were wonderful hosts who took care of all my needs, even taking caring of my airfare reservations without charge so I highly recommend both their hotel and their tour packages as well. That covers it all - if there's something you want to know more about, just let me know and thanks for reading!

Pingtung

If it is, then yes I'm glad to report he's doing well. I'm sure plenty more can share the same experience as well and it was nice to hear it from Mr. Han - first hand accounts, though slightly biased, provide the view you just can't find in history books.

CX828

I have been reading your trip report all along, waiting eagerly for the next installments. Great work and looks like you had an excellent trip. Im glad you enjoyed CX Business class. Now that CX has introduced its new J, I think it can easily be see as one of the best in the world, and FAs are always amazing on the flights I take.

Wiirachay

Thanks for sharing your experiences. Although I'm of Thai descent and been to Thailand many times, I've been quite jittery to travel to Cambodia. However, I'm (a bit) more open-minded after reading your trip report. Many people question why I like to travel to South Africa.

Also, the section on your CX trip from HKG to JFK via YVR is also making me less jittery about flying that route next January, as opposed to the non-stop. (There are no evening connections to DCA available on the other evening CX non-stop flights. ) I think it won't be as bad or annoying as I had thought it would be. At least, I'll get more food.

thespeedskater

Great report mate!

brahms77

Pingtung, another great report! Your HKG-JFK via YVR report came in timely for me as I have just booked my wife on that flight in couple of weeks, coming from DPS after her vacation with her mother, my mother in law .

I opted out for her to try business class as per your report and other pictures from the web, these new CX business seats are absolutely wonderful and almost F class like (some has referred to it as similar to BA's new F seats ). Flight timings, schedules were also seamless. Otherwise, I was thinking of having her try the new LH 380 F on her way back via NRT and FRA back to YUL, but this would require her to over-night at FRA and flight times are much longer despite being in F (I just recently flew crazy routing of ICN-NRT-BKK-HKG-FRA-MUC-ORD-YUL in F using LH, TG, and UA and at the end of all the flights, I was very tired... despite being in F, new LH 744 F, having had body massages in BKK, and wonderful FCT in FRA!).

Now few quick questions:

* Transiting in YVR, I guess there's no lounge access since you are put into an odd space next to the gate (I've experienced something simiar in IAD when KE operated BOS-IAD-GMP in 2000).

* Does CX provide another set of amenity on YVR-JFK flight?

* How nice is the smaller cabin vs. the larger C cabin? Currently, there are only middle seats available in the smaller section and I got my wife the bulkhead window in the large section (16K)

zarzuela

Thanks for sharing. The mains served by CX look rather poor.

Pingtung

Thanks! CX C class is top knotch, now to get onboard SQ C...

Being from DC as well, I thought about changing flights to one of the other ones (they all opened up a few weeks before) - the 1AM departures are quite annoying. My 3 long haul departure times were 10:30PM, 1AM, 1AM which can be exhausting. Unfortunately, the other CX flights don't work well with making it back to DC. I would've flown back myself, but UA wasn't operating the 10AM flight as it was the Tuesday after Christmas.

Thanks for the kind words, to answer your q's...

-No lounge at YVR, you're stick in a room with a set of bathrooms, one or two vending machines, and one or two TV's. It's a glass wall behind you so you feel like you're a pet trapped in a cage.

-You'll get two amenity kits, both the exact same

-The bathrooms are behind the small cabin and with the exception of FA's going toward the front, you'll have pretty much no foot traffic at all in the mini cabin. With the curtains closed, it really does feel like an F cabin with the 8 seats. If the load in the main C cabin looks completely empty or if your wife is just a big fan of window seats, it might be better to stay there, but if it's a flight that will probably fill up back there anyways, I'd go with the mini cabin.