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First Class (SQ Suites,CX), Cities (HK, Guangzhou), Beach (Sanya) - A trip to China

First Class (SQ Suites,CX), Cities (HK, Guangzhou), Beach (Sanya) - A trip to China

Old May 9, 2017, 7:09 am
  #46  
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SYX-HKG on Cathay Dragon Business Class (plus lounge in Sanya)

Sad to say, our vacation was coming to an end. Despair not though, as one of the highlights – my journey back home on Cathay Pacific and American Airlines first class – was yet to come. It was very hard to bid farewell to the Ritz-Carlton Sanya. Boy, Yalong Bay is stunning!

Anyways, after a plentiful and excellent breakfast, we checked out and took a taxi Sanya Phoenix International airport. Sanya doesn’t see lots of nonstop international flights yet, but I am sure that will soon change as the destination gains popularity among foreign tourists. The airport is still quite small, but a brand new terminal is under construction.

After going through security, we checked in at the Dragonair desk. There was a person in front of us at the business class check in, but as soon as the economy class desk became available we were called in to check in. After figuring out who was going where we were handed out our boarding passes together with lounge invitations for Sanya and Hong Kong. Surprisingly, we were granted access to the arrival lounge in Hong Kong – impressive given that this was a very short flight.

We then proceeded through immigration and security, and we were quickly admitted to the main departures hall – basically, a large room with a few gate areas. Next to one of them there was a booth dedicated to pick out articles purchased at the CDF Duty Free Mall in Haitang Bay (among others). We were a little nervous about the whole process at first (since we had never experienced anything like that before), but we were glad to see that everything was delivered in order once we got there.

As we had about 30 minutes to kill before boarding, we proceeded to the only lounge at the airport, that is also a Priority Pass lounge. We were quickly admitted into what was a fairly small lounge, but very interesting indeed. Next to the entrance there was a table with drinks and snacks, and the a circular area that opened on semi-enclosed seating areas. The partitions between areas was made by nice wooden screens, and the chairs and tables were all made of wood as well – we are talking of nicely finished wood here. Also, each seating area had interesting ivory artworks (hopefully fake).











We had a cup of coffee and a coke, and before we knew it we had to board our plane. It’s interesting to note that a group of travelers (that stayed at our same hotel) joined us in the lounge, and they made up 80% of the business class cabin of our flight. All of them – although they had very big breakfasts – indulged in snacks and instant noodles – maximize your free food I guess 😉







Before we knew it , it was time to board. The crowd was 90% Chinese with a few surfers from Taiwan – they tanned skin was a sight in itself. After scanning the boarding pass we had to walk outside for 2-3 good minutes before getting to our bus – the construction work to the terminal impacted logistics a bit, but nothing terrible.

Our A320 was waiting for us on the tarmac. This was my first flight on Dragonair (now Cathay Dragon), and I was excited about it.









The business class cabin was particularly large – 5 rows on a 2-2 configuration for a total of 20 seats. The seats were comfortable and they reclined in an angle lie-flat position – unnecessary on a 1h30m flight but a good touch nonetheless.









The flight attendant came by to pick our jackets up and to offer us a drink before departure – I got water and Thuy orange juice. The cabin quickly filled up with the same folks that “followed” us from the Ritz-Carlton. Newspapers were offered as well, and once boarding was completed we started taxiing on our way to the runway.



Business class was equipped with Studio X IFE – Cathay Pacific’s signature system and definitely nice for such a short flight. The selection of movies (especially Asian ones, if you’re up to some subtitles) and tv shows is rather extensive, and it’s certainly hard to get bored.





A menu was distributed for lunch – surprisingly, they not only offered food on board (contrarily to our China Southern flight) but they also had options – one can’t help but being impressed.



Shortly after take off lunch was served, all in one tray. I chose the pork meatballs – served with rice and veggies – which was alright (not bad, yet not memorable). My wife’s salmon, on the other hand, was very good and we enjoyed our meal with a couple glasses of champagne.

















I watched some Family Guy while eating, and before we knew it we were landing into HKG. The view over the city we got was spectacular, as the whole city was covered in smog, creating a very scenic view.







Once landed we made our way through security and collected our bags, since Thuy was on separate tickets. Now, she was supposed to have a three hour connection to her AA flight to LAX, but unfortunately her flight had been delayed till midnight (my flight was at 1am). The other issue was that the check in counter for AA was already closed, so that she could not re-check her baggage. We really wanted to make our way to Hong Kong for a last dinner, but since we had luggage we did not know what to do. We went to the arrivals lounge (for some reason CX grants you access even on such a short flight), and we regrouped over a glass of orange juice. The lounge is btw quite small but functional, with a limited spread of food and drinks – plus some showers – nothing really fancy.















In the end, we decided to just stay at the airport, which meant we had to sit for 7 hours in the Wing lounge – first class section of course. Not a great use of our time, but it could have been better. In reality, we wanted to have dinner and then leave the airport to go downtown, but leaving the airport was a true hassle and so we gave up and stayed in. Too bad.

All in all, our Dragonair flight was short but once again showed us the quality of Cathay Pacific even on short haul flights.
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Old Jun 11, 2017, 3:33 am
  #47  
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CX The Wing at HKG

So here we were again – the Wing First Class lounge. I wish we went to the Pier in hindsight, especially since I have never been there. But the Wing will do it. Its champagne bar is always a nice sight, and the staff is very polite. Plus, how could we possible resist the allure of a private cabana??









In fact, reserving the cabana was the first thing we did. There were two people ahead of us, but that was no problem given how much time we had. I am still hitting myself in the head though for not leaving the airport to do to Kowloon – how silly…

In any case, a glass of rose’ champagne, and we were ready for dinner. Actually, no – no dinner, because as we were being seated the buzzer went off alerting us that a cabana had become available. Hurry, hurry – we can’t miss this chance! Champagne in hand, we accessed our cabana which, truthfully, was pretty cool. Lounging area, bathroom, fantastic bathtub, not so functional but cool shower, and clothes pressing service. We spent an enjoyable hour relaxing, drinking wine, and unwinding – just what we needed before a good dinner.





I had had breakfast at the Haven before, back in 2015 on my way to Taiwan. The food was very good – I still remember their selection of dim sum (review linked here). This time I was excited because I was finally going to try some lunch/dinner food – both from the buffet and the menu.



After being seated we ordered some champagne and then we took a look at the menu, which looked like a good mix of Western and Chinese dishes. I ordered some stir fry noodles, while Thuy ordered a risotto, and after that we checked out the buffet. While the selection was not particularly extensive, the quality of what we tried – salad, dim sum, fried rice, dim sum – was very good. I had some pumpkin soup as well – it was good – and the selection of cheese and dessert looked fine as well.

















After having our appetizers, the mains were delivered. My noodles were very good, as was Thuy’s risotto (I apologize I forgot what risotto was exactly). To end the meal we had a pear tart with custard cream and brownies ordered from the menu – it was as decadent and as tasty as it sounds.

After the meal, we stored our hand luggage and we left the lounge intending to leave the airport, only to be frustrated by the lack of easy ways out. We ended up shopping for some oolong tea, before returning to the lounge for a couple hours nap. Now, the lounge lacks proper resting areas – a shame, given how uncomfortable armchairs can be for resting (in that regard, the day rooms at the Pier look way better – too bad I discovered them too late).





Once we woke up it was around 11pm – so it was time for us to go to the gate to catch our flights.

Overall, the lounge was just as good as I remembered – although certainly not as good as other First Class lounges out there. While it’s good for a couple of hours, I wouldn’t spend more than that there given the lack of activities. Great food and snacks (notable is the tea selection, with the hot beverage prepared to order in front of you) and good champagne made us happy campers – together with the coolest cabanas out there.
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Old Jun 12, 2017, 1:47 am
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Originally Posted by oneworld82
Overall, the lounge was just as good as I remembered – although certainly not as good as other First Class lounges out there. While it’s good for a couple of hours, I wouldn’t spend more than that there given the lack of activities. Great food and snacks (notable is the tea selection, with the hot beverage prepared to order in front of you) and good champagne made us happy campers – together with the coolest cabanas out there.
More or less my experience, even if I had a very slow waiter and found the cleanliness questionable.
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Old Oct 21, 2017, 2:45 pm
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Whole report can be found here

After bidding Thuy goodbye as she was boarding her AA flight to LAX (“only” in business class), I proceeded to my gate for the Cathay Pacific flight that would bring me to Milan, where a quick connection on BA Club Europe would then deliver me to London for a few business meetings.

As I got to the gate, the flight was almost ready to board, although there were relatively few people around the gate area.

Flight CX194, HKG-MXP
Dec 6th, 2016 – time
Boeing 777-300ER
First Class, Seat 2G


I boarded right away with other first class passengers, and at the door I was greeted by smiling flight attendants and I was shown my aisle seat. Unfortunately, for whatever reason I had forgotten to select my seat, and so got stuck with a “middle” seat in a full cabin – I counted 4 Italians and 2 Chinese customers.

I really love the Cathay Pacific suite – it looks and feels so spacious and private even without doors or particular partitions! The refreshed seats and color schemes are very nice too, and the fresh orchid adds a touch of elegance to it.















After seating down I was offered a drink and then pajama and amenity kit. CX pj’s are always nice, stylish, and comfortable – the best ones out there together with Qatar Airways’ in my opinion (I still haven’t tried AF F though). The amenity kit is from Aesop, and while not particularly aesthetically appealing it features a moisturizer and lip balm from the cool Australian brand – one of my favorite cosmetics companies out there (their mandarin facial cream is a staple in my bathroom cabinet, together with SK-II creams). Before departure the purser came by to introduce herself and to wish me a pleasant flight – always a nice gesture. An amuse bouche and Krug were served.







Cathay Pacific offers Bose headphones in First Class – top notch; CX Studio – the signature entertainment system – is top notch as well, featuring lots of movies from around the World. Menus were handed out before take off, and they read as follows.











Given the late departure time, the menu featured a supper (on the lighter side) that consisted of both Chinese and Western options. There was a nice snack selection, and then a rather extensive breakfast offering – after all, this was a 12+ hours flight.

Take off was smooth and timely, and right after take off the male flight attendant serving my aisle came taking supper orders. He was outstanding btw, poor-ish English skills notwithstanding. I asked for a Campari & soda, which was served with some mixed nuts. I love Campari – that’s an aperitif that never gets old and that’s the base to oh-so-many timeless Italian classics – from Negroni to Americano.



Then, the show began, and my Chinese dinner was served. I will say it here – everything was very good. As usual with Asian carriers, I try to stick with the Asian option, as it’s usually a sure bet. This time was no different.

To start, caviar was offered. The way Cathay Pacific does caviar has no equals, in my opinion.



The quality of the presentation (and of the Calvisius caviar, for that matter) probably has no equals in the sky. I also like CX’s bread basket, that offers a variety of choices.

After the caviar, the soup ensued. I always like Chinese soups – they are so fragrant, full of flavor. This one was no exception, and it was a treat since it was chicken and American ginseng. A cold plate of jellyfish accompanied it – it was good as well (although jellyfish is not my favorite seafood).







The main was then brought out, and I thoroughly enjoyed this one as well. It was braised duck – of course! – and it was very flavorful. The great presentation helped as well, of course.









After the main I went to change into my pj’s in the nice restrooms, stacked with Aesop amenities. The amenity kit is also branded Aesop – one of my all-time favorite beauty brands from Australia (and famous for their cutting-edge store designs) – if you want high-quality product that won’t set you back at the same price of La Prairie or SK-II, this is for you (I use their Mandarin facial cream on a daily basis).





Once I came back, my very-comfortable bed was ready.







I managed around four hours of sleep, then I suppose the jet lag kicked in and I woke up. The cabin felt a bit warm – no need for the cover at that point. I watched some TV – another Chinese movie to complete the collection. This one was an action comedy movie – I forgot the many – that was as silly and cliche’ as it was entertaining. I had a noodle soup as snack, and it was very good.

Time passed by, and around 1h30m before landing in Milan, breakfast was served. I opted for the Chinese version, as I wanted my last dose of dim sum.

After the table was beautifully set up, we started with fruit. I really liked how Cathay Pacific prepared a basket of toasted bread and jam, honey+butter. Some orange juice and champagne of course didn’t hurt either.









The dim sum were good, although not great. There were scallop siu mai, seafood dumpling, chicken and ham bean curd wrap, conpoy vegetable dumpling, and beef ball.





Breakfast was overall very good. After that I had time to go to the lavatory and change, and then to watch some more tv before an on-time landing in Milan.

As we deplaned, an attended was waiting for me and other passengers with a sign with our name on it. We were met and greeted and personally escorted to security for our connecting flights.

Overall, this was an excellent Cathay Pacific flight. I did enjoy my Singapore Airlines flight more – probably thanks to the great crew (especially on the first segment), but CX offers such a seamless, luxurious, yet understated product that it’s really hard to fault anything about it.
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Old Oct 22, 2017, 6:13 am
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Beautiful trips and Beautiful Couple.
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Old Oct 30, 2017, 3:52 pm
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Originally Posted by karim_sie
Beautiful trips and Beautiful Couple.
thank you very much!
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