Originally Posted by colbornjames
i.e. after takeoff I'm certain the first 'bong' is to tell the aircrew they can now get up and start brewing coffee.
I do hope this makes sense and if anyone can help that would be really great as I could do with knowing too.
Thanks,
JC.
The first bong is the 10,000 feet indicator, quickly followed by the "it is now safe to use approved electronic devices".
In general, as
andrzej says, it means that the flight crew want to talk to one another, or the cockpit crew want to talk to the FAs. The meaning can be anything from "do you have any more Bacardi back there" to "don't tell the pax, but one of the engines is on fire". Far more often the former, thankfully.
Other bongs are for seat belt fastening, and such.
Cheers.