We were back at the airport by 13:00 for a 16:30 flight and cleared security and immigration after about 30 minutes, leaving us ample time to explore the lounge. We used the main international lounge near gates 101 and 1, which was large and very nice. Due to the heat outside and the amount of walking we had done, we each decided to take a shower - and the SkyPearl VIP lounge had wonderful shower facilities featuring flight information displayed through the mirror.
Shower room mirror displaying flight info
Very nice shower
Shower room amenities - This shower room had some of the nicest amenities, as well as some odd ones such as a bathrobe and a scale
The rest of the lounge was very nice, and these pictures illustrate the upper level main lounge area. The lower level was mainly a dining area with small platters of Cantonese and Chinese food. My favorites were the chicken siew mai
Seating area near the windows
Seat nearest the small gaming area - this little room had 4 computers on which you could watch videos or play games
Main seating area
There was a row of private relaxation rooms that we had intended to use, but they were all locked (presumably in use) when we arrived and there were no attendants to help us either get in or wait-listed. We opted to use the massage chairs which provided a 15 minute massage of your choosing, assuming you know Chinese. Otherwise you got to play massage chair roulette, which I lost at.
Massage chair remote - The topmost grey button on the left side was my choice, which was clearly "rip legs off" mode.
The lounge itself was well stocked with food, soft drinks, water, wine, Chinese beer, Johnnie Walker, and oddly - a fancy bottle of Pabst Blue Ribbon. Unfortunately, the upper level was extremely warm due to the rounded glass surrounding the club and the general warmness of the airport and city. After a couple of hours, we decided to leave early for the gate and try and pick out some souvenirs.
CZ Flight 3083 CAN-MLE (6/30)
Scheduled 1630 - 1950
Actual 1646 - 1900
Boeing 777-200
Boarding for this flight took place from a lower-level, and again the CZ agents formed two queues for boarding, splitting the J and Y pax up. The J pax were held back for several minutes and the Y pax boarded a large bus that shuttled them to the rear boarding door of the plane. The J pax were escorted to a smaller bus with seating that drove us to the forward boarding door. On boarding, we were greeted by the FAs, and shown to our seats.
The CZ 772 only has 18 seats in J- and they are configured in 3 rows of 2-2-2, which provided ample legroom, and a decent recline.
CZ 772 Seat - Newspapers were placed in the seats prior to the flight. As we were the only native English speakers, we were the only ones to receive English-language papers
The service on this flight was much much better than on the LAX-CAN route. The FAs were attentive, polite, and very oriented to pax comfort. I did not get a shot of the menu, as it was not at my seat and only presented briefly.
Very sad looking plate of nuts and a glass of Dynasty white wine - The nuts were not warm
Starter of cold beef, a fish cake, and bean curd - The wife and I had different opinions. I liked the bean curd and hated the beef, and she felt the opposite.
Main course - Chicken and vegetables - This was lovely. The wife received a beef dish which was nearly inedible
Dessert - Vanilla mousse cake - Forgot that I was supposed to take a picture before eating it. It was pretty light and nice.
As I previously stated, the service was spot-on. My wine was continuously refilled without me having to ask and the FAs continuously monitored and paced the meal based on where we were with each course. On completion, the FA even helped my wife unwrap her comforter so she could settle in for a nap. In addition to the service provided around the meal, there was a small bar with wine set up at the front of the cabin. I chose not to partake as I had drank enough wine, and there was an unruly group of pax at the front of the cabin that I preferred to avoid (one kept kicking his footrest loudly and slapping himself in the head).
Of note, there is no in-seat IFE, so the FAs handed out personal tablets throughout the J cabin. I opted to pass and try to sleep, but was unsuccessful due to some turbulence crossing the Indian Ocean.
No idea where we were at this point
After a while, we were beginning our final descent into MLE (see my comments above) and service items were cleared. On clearing customs, we met with the Conrad representative who took our luggage and asked us to wait for the remaining pax. From the arrivals area, we were escorted to the domestic terminal where the Conrad rep took our passports and checked us in to the VP flight. He then took us to the Moonima lounge and told us that we would should wait until the lounge attendants call us for our flight. The lounge had an assortment of cold and warm food and soft beverages. It was initially quite nice and tranquil, but filled up towards the end of our stay and became somewhat unruly. We left when called, which was about 10 minutes prior to boarding, cleared security, and boarded.
VP Flight 613 - MLE - VAM (6/30)
Scheduled 2100 - 2130
Actual 2115 - 2140
ATR 42-500
Our seat assignments found us in 1E & F, which were the only rear-facing seats on the ATR-42. The flight itself was completely uneventful and we quickly landed at Maamigili. At this point, our island host met us and gave us juice and began showing us (on a map) all of the offerings on the island, as well as our amenity package (for being Hilton Gold and for our honeymoon).
After about 10 minutes, we boarded a bus which took us to the dock to board our speedboat to the island!