rumbataz

This is based on my EK Economy experiences as I imagine J and F don’t experience these problems!

I think there are far too many special meal choices available to be pre-ordered. It seems tha half the plane is ordering special meals these days The net effect of this causes multiple issues.

Firstly, just handing out the special meals to passengers causes the main meal service to be significantly delayed. This is compounded by mistakes and confusion both from the cabin crew side and the passenger side.

This also causes a timing issue between the drinks service and the main meal service as the ‘soecial’ passengers need their drinks with their meals whilst the regular passengers haven’t got their main meals.

Soecial meals should be reduced to just a couple of special meal types. In the good old pre-snowflake days, you ate one of the two or three choices of main meals on board.

Today you can order one of 18 special meals according to the Emirates site. This is simply ridiculous!

Saltire74

Or maybe they should go along the lines of.... pre-ordering your meal?? Then you know you'll get what you want (in most cases).

​​​​​​​S

rumbataz

cheyru

They have already cut down the special meal. There used to be vegetarian lacto ovo, seafood meal, etc, now all the vegetarian variety fell down to vegan meal, jain meal and raw meal.
As a person who don't eat creatures that either walk with 4 feet or have wings, and usually among the first who receive meal before other passengers, I can understand why people would hate us.
I normally try to sit as front as possible and wait until my neighbour received their meal before commence eating, so that the appetising aroma from my tray doesn't cause excessive salivation to the poor passengers sitting next to me who have to wait until their meal served (unless they ordered special meal too, in which I won't hesitate to open the foil and eat up).
I agree with Saltire74, pre-ordering meal would be the best way, so the flight attendant can distribute the meal immediately without even need to ask, saving much time.
Or maybe us who ordered special meal could have ours delivered last after everyone else to avoid jealousy and awkwardness when you have a meal tray in front of you while everyone else starvingly staring at you.

XXTSGR

Will08

I think he meant special not social..!

skywardhunter

40+ Y flights a year and I've never not had my first choice. However 80% of those flights I sit in the front mini-cabin on the 77W (rows 17-21).

I've once or twice been told they didn't have my first choice, however each time I simply responded politely "I'm happy to wait until you finish the service to see if there are any left over in other sections."

Quick one about how EK provides service in Y: They load the hot meals into the cart and cover it with the box, the cart is good for X rows, and another cart will often begin service X+1 rows ahead, i.e. if they calculate that the first cart will have meals for the first 20 rows, a 2nd cart with other FAs will begin service from row 21 onwards simultaneously, so you could get a meal mid-cabin before the 5th row from the front of the cabin gets it. Also of course service is conducted in parallel on both aisles. In total on a 77W I think there are 3 or even 4 carts per aisle (same carts used twice though, so not 8 distinct carts, but 8 "runs"), each has some kind of split of the meal choices. If you're told they're out, what the FA usually means is his/her cart is out, so either ask them to check "in the galley" or say you'll wait if they're adament, and usually something shows up.

thibderoc

The issue is not linked to the special meals. It is linked to service level in Y on EK I think.

I found it very slow (not because of special meals but simply the time between take off and the first cart).

Unfortunately, ordering a special meal is indeed a (very selfish) way to be served a bit sooner.

Anyone who takes only a few flights in Y with EK can understand that therefore I'm not surprised at all that it has now gone so far...

DirtyDan

I had a Y leg on my last flight and, having ordered the vegetarian meal, was pleasantly surprised it came out first. Then I sat there, and sat there, and sat there waiting whilst everyone around me got their meals and THEN the drink cart finally came around (I wanted a glass of wine with my meal).

However, I could see how awkward it could have been had I started eating right away.

EK flies to incredibly diverse regions of the globe and I imagine they will need to continue providing several special meal types just for religious grounds alone!

awayIgo

What a lousy assumption on your part. I order special meals when I fly. I order because my religion has dietary restrictions. --I either order or bring my own--and then you'd complain if I bought something that smelled! Some order special meals due to legitimate allergies. Maybe you order special to get served sooner. BUT, to excuse others of that... inappropriate and rude!

JamesKidd

Why don't they just carry the special ordered meal in the main meal cart and deliver as they reach that seat. Obviously, with a bit of organising this could be achieved by each FA taking meals for the seats they are going to serve.

thibderoc

I didn't meant to be rude and apologize if you were offended.

It's totally normal to let passengers choose a special meal (for religion, health or for any reason) and I respect that.

I was simply pointing out that service onboard Y in EK is not efficient according to me. When discussing with other passengers during my last flight with them, some other passengers (who happened to be frequent flyers with EK) confirmed they order special meals only to be served quickly. It was a few years ago and I wouldn't be surprised if more and more passengers act that way.

As JamesKidd pointed out, a different organization might help solving the issue raised by OP

rumbataz

There’s a few great suggestions in this thread. Thinking about it, I don’t think it’s the ordering of special meals that is the problem. It’s the serving process on board that’s the issue. Emirates should improve this process.

On my flight from LHR to DXB this week, the crew were floundering and looking,confused as each individual special meal tried to find its way to the passenger who had pre-ordered it. Then there were passengers who insisted they hadn’t pre-ordered a special meal, and finally those passengers who didn’t get their special meal. All of this contributed to the extraordinary delay in serving the majority of the passengers with the main meal.

ft101

Are you sure? There will be religous and health reasons and some of them could be debated, but I reckon too many special meals will be ordered for other reasons.

XXTSGR

Very sure. The term has absolutely nothing to do with the subject of ordering a special meal.

Though I begin to wonder whether OP might be someone falling under the definition of "generation snowflake" - as we first get a rant about special meals and how they need to be cut and later it transpires that it actually all boils down to OP not being made to feel so special in Y without a special meal and having to wait for his a wee bit longer than OP thought would be acceptable as part of the EK Y 'experience'. Instead of cutting them, the meal distribution on board should now be changed. Really???

Like I said at the beginning, BYO and eat what and when you want, or appreciate that there might be another 200, 300 or so human beings around you in Y, including some with a special meal request, for whatever reason, and wait your turn.