Monday 1st September 2014
Flight EK406 Dubai – Melbourne
A380 Seats 3E, 3F
9 of 14 seats occupied.
We were seated in 3E and F, with the galley immediately behind. There was no noticeable disruption from the galley during the flight.
Suites 4a and 4k were empty, so we each moved over for take-off. There was lots to see on the ground and in the air.
The suites were very similar to those on the B777, although they were noticeably narrower. There was no real decrease in comfort level due to this. The ceiling was much lower, too. I think I preferred the 777, but there really wasn’t much in it.
The lavatory situation was interesting too. 2 for 8 people on the 777, 3 for 14 on the 380, with two of them being the shower suites. Unexpected long waits for the one remaining loo occurred during the 380 flight while other passengers were taking their showers. This was exacerbated by the business class folk sneaking through to use it, as it is just in front of the curtain.
As this flight departed at 10:10am and we were well rested, we decided to stay awake and enjoy as much of it as we could. We ended up having just a few hours’ sleep towards the end of the flight.
A lot of the other passengers were continuing from other destination and so went to sleep soon after boarding.
We decided to have a leisurely lunch about 1.5 hours after boarding. Due to the departure time, the menu included continental breakfast, full lunch/dinner, and full breakfast items. (pretty impressive)
I booked my shower for 4 hours into the flight.
Lunch:
On learning we drink little or no alcohol, the wonderful Purser Claire brought us these virgin mojitos. It was a lovely gesture and we had several chats to Claire during the flight. You could tell she really wanted her guests to have a great experience.
Venison – very tasty
From the snack menu –Udon noodles with prawns.
A while after lunch it was time for my shower. What sort of luxury is this?!
The room was beautifully prepared and very clean. The five minutes of actual water-time in the shower is fine; I was even able to just luxuriate with the last couple of minutes of water.
It was amazing actually feeling clean and refreshed on a plane.
Back to 3F in my Emirates PJs, I relaxed and watched one of my all-time favourite movies, nibbled on fruit and had some more food from the snack menu.
I was always a little bemused when writers of trip reports say that they wish the flight was longer. I now understand!
All too soon we were on approach to Melbourne and the end of our impromptu weekend away.
I would love to do it again.
Cheers.
