Just back from holidays in Dublin and Oslo. Overall, some excellent flying experiences. All travel was in business class on a OneWorld mileage award ticket.
Saturday, July 21
EI124, Chicago ORD - DUB
Arrived at Terminal 5 fairly early and there was no queue for check-in. Headed to the EI lounge, with only a few other pax present. Small finger sandwiches, fruit, cheese/crackers, and cookies were set out along with the various beverages. There were no napkins anywhere though which I thought a bit strange.
Boarding of the A330 commenced slightly late, and we took seats 2A/C in the half-full business class. Menus were distributed but no amenity kits, with the purser later explaining that they were not loaded on board which I thought a bit odd...I normally carry at least an eyeshade and earplugs but had neither. This was unfortunate since the person in 3A had seemingly never learned the concept of an "indoor voice"
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Weather was moving into Chicago so while we originally taxied out to 9R they eventually switched us to 9L...and we got there through the "back roads" by the various maintenance hangars. While I'm sure planes move through there all the time, I've never been aboard. We took off at 8:45 PM, about an hour after schedule.
The dinner service started with drinks, and some small hors d'oveures (one stick carrot, one brocoli floret, a slice of paté, and then shortly thereafter small hot quiches and egg rolls were passed). I kind of felt like we were at a banquet hall, not a plane. Then the main menu commenced, with an appetiser of either crab cake (it was quite yum!) or salami and mixed salad. Baked bread slices were also served. There were five mains to choose from: beef, chicekn, pheasant, sea bass, or vegetarian brochette. Chose the sea bass which was OK but nothing special, and it came with overcooked (crunchy) rice. Dessert was a small plate of petit fours, some cheese, and fruit. In total, it seemed like we must have gone through about 30 different serving pieces -- three forks, four knives, five spoons, etc. Everything labelled "Premier" including the napkin. The glassware is Waterford crystal which I found to be a very nice touch. But I wouldn't want to see the dishwasher's bill for service
The flight itself was fairly uneventful and 3A eventually did fall asleep. The seat pitch was quite generous and I was able to sleep just fine. A continental breakfast was served about 45 minutes prior to landing; because no eye shades were available, pretty much every one woke up when they turned the cabin lights on. We landed in Dublin only 30 minutes late. As other Flyertalkers had said, Premier baggage comes out pretty much immediately, on a separate carousel. Only problem is that there was no signage indicating this, so thanks to those who gave me a "heads up".
We took a taxi into town for IR£12. The hotel of choice was the excellent Morrison Hotel right on the Liffey. I love that place though I had only been once before for a night. Still, they welcomed me back (ah, computers) and even brought a fruit plate to the room shortly after we were settled in. My wife marvelled at the well-thought-out decor and excellent food and service.
Dublin was great -- we visited the usual (Trinity College/Book of Kells, St. Stephen's Green, Dublin Castle) and also did a day trip out to Mallahide Castle. Could have used a couple more days in Ireland...I'll be on the lookout for Aer Lingus specials in the fall.
Tuesday, July 24
EI212 , DUB - Manchester MAN
BA7903, MAN - Oslo Gardermoen OSL
EI offers no direct service between Dublin and Oslo, so we had to connect with either BA or AY on the OneWorld ticket. Our options were pretty simple, LHR or MAN. Having never been to MAN, and seeing that a one hour connection was "legal", as opposed to the two hour stopover at LHR, we chose the former. EI212 was aboard a BAe146 with two class service, about 2/3 full. For only a thirty five minute flight, we were impressed to get an "Aer Lingus Commuter Premier Afternoon Snack" consisting of fruit, kippered salmon, and chocolate truffles.
Arrived at MAN and realized we'd have to change terminals to connect (OneWorld should really try to streamline this at both LHR and at MAN). It was a very long walk to T1, and we had to pass through security and the transfer desk. Still, we arrived at T1 with enough time to check out the BA Terraces lounge which was really nice, comparable to LHR.
We then made our way to the gate for boarding. We had to walk down two flights of stairs to get to the plane, for some reason they did not offer the use of the lift at the gate. We boarded the ERJ145 only for the captain to announce that one of the computers was down. They switched us to a different plane (my wife liked this one better as the tail design was "flower field" instead of "historic ship yard"). This added 30 minutes but wasn't too bad. Anyway, British Regional Air (BA subsidiary) set up this plane, to my surprise, as two class service -- rows 2-4 in front of the magical curtain. No difference in seating, but we did get a cold meal including fruit, fish, and bread. The flight to Oslo was uneventful. Gardermoen airport is very nice but felt very empty at this hour (9 PM), though a few other flights had arrived. They've done a very good job of channeling inbound traffic, in a completely separate level above the departures.
Passport control was the friendliest agent I've ever come across -- asked us what we were planning to see in the country, why we chose Norway, etc. I don't think these were screening questions, she just seemed generally friendly. The luggage was out by the time we got to the claim area. Thankfully, we had read in the tour book to take the "Flytoget" train -- a taxi would have been really expensive. The train came about ten minutes later and was really nice, sort of like the Heathrow Express.
In Oslo, we stayed at the Radisson SAS Scandinavia. This was a fine hotel on the edge of the city center. Arriving as late as we did, it felt a bit isolated, but we warmed to it over the next couple of days.
[This message has been edited by ka9taw (edited 07-29-2001).]