flying_blue_white_red

Ohh no! Out of AMS, looks like those vegetarian pasta with tomato sauce and olives will be back .
A real affliction, especially when connecting time doesn't allow for a lounge visit .

johan rebel

Read between the lines, it is obvious from the union's statement that management was not at all interested in curtailing service, no doubt well aware of how poorly the current offering is compared to the competition. KLM's unions have always been able to negotiate from a position of strength (the pilots union basically has the airline in a neckhold), and in this instance the cabin crew reps applied maximum pressure for several weeks until management finally caved in. Although they do not spell it out, it is a safe bet that the unions would have liked to see the F&B service cut to next to nothing, but they no doubt had to compromise.

Johan

feederflight

KLM is nothing, repeat: nothing, but a disgrace nowadays. If it would not be for the convenience during transfers, especially with Privium and the Privium lounges, I would stay far away from AMS and KLM altogether.
Apart from the weird moves and powertrips of their unions, I am not sure what the KLM managements ultimate goal is: changing KLM from a pretty decent legacy carrier to a Norwegian 2.0 model?

Catering quality is a race to the bottom for 2 years now and they dare to sell all this rubbish as enhancement. The lounges in AMS are nothing to write home about, especially the disastrous Schengen lounge with its disgusting food offerings that are already yelling cheapo from a distance.

I had quite a few longhauls the last months on the same routes, split between KL and AF and the difference is meanwhile something between day and night.

Is there no one in the holding setting certain minimum standards for product quality across the two mainline companies? Because the difference is very obvious now.

Nowadays taking AF any time of the day over KL to any (longhaul) destination and happily accepting the epic AdP mess in CDG since the overall quality of the AF J/C product on ground and in the air outweighs that CDG inconvenience.

Can KL's race to the bottom be stopped? And, more importantly, does the KL management even care or are they fine with running an akward airline?

Maestro Ramen

Very pleasant flight. Cabin crew was super attentive and friendly.

We even got our PDB!!! (Juice of course, at 6AM)

Received many more juices in flight.



Wanderbox breakfast

johan rebel

But as the plane was parked at BHX overnight, the fresh milk and OJ were poured down the drain, and you got that special Wonderful Wanders Box with more enough preservatives to delight even hardcore preppers, who would love a stash in their underground bunker in preparation for the nuclear Armageddon that will surely strike in ten or twenty years' time.

Johan

Maestro Ramen

Yeah, sounds about right, but probably still better than whatever I would have found at the Aspire BHX. Unfortunately all the lounges at BHX were closed today, well both aspire and n1...

...it's only when I was walking to the airplane that I noticed that the Emirates lounge takes priority pass customers now 😭

Maestro Ramen

And on the 10AM AMS-BUD got the caesar salad. I passed this time but it was very popular with the Mrs.

No PDB even though there was ample stationary time.

In flight the crew was still attentive and patrolled frequently to offer more more drinks. It was a fairly busy cabin with 11/16 J full.

johan rebel

The PDB in J on shorthaul was abolished a long time ago. Occasionally a purser willing to go the extra mile will offer cups of water, especially if the cabin is very hot. If it is and they don't, I just ask. The other day I was spontaneously given a whole bottle, but then I was the only pax in J.

Johan

kosy91

My first time flying KLM and I had the most amazing flight to NBO thanks to a great aircraft and a lovely crew who were so excited to be working and serving us.

I ordered Asian Vegetarian and was perfectly happy with what was served.

sorry I didnt take a photo of the menu

Salad starter served with warm bread



Asian veg main - rice and paneer with beans and some dal



Dessert platter


Pre-arrival snack. Potato wrap and cake. Portion could have been bigger



Below is what I was served on the 06:30 LHR-AMS

Goldorak

The main course looks really awful !

johan rebel

Is does look really really gross (did they clean out the septic tank?), but who knows, maybe it tasted great.

When it comes to presentation, the WBC meal service leaves a lot to be desired. Most striking is the incongruity. Wonderful Wanders china and cutlerly (not to my taste, but definitely distinctive), combined with garish plastic salt & pepper shakers; salad dressing that looks as if it fell out of a paramedic drug kit; a margarine packet that looks as if it has been stolen from a penitentiary canteen; food served with plastic and tinfoil lids, etc.

I also wonder what the point is of serving a salad with another salad as a side? Both look very plain and cheap to boot.

That breakfast is the horrible first-flight-of-the-day sterilized kind.

By the way, I only just realized that the Wonderful Wanders EBC shoebox no longer comes with those red clog salt & pepper shakers. Another enhancement.

Johan

Yolow

Definitely too much bread in this box.

johan rebel

But the fruit selection is imaginative and varied. Adds a splash of color too!

Maestro Ramen

BUD-AMS, 6AM, economy

The banana bread without the other breads from J. Not a big difference. (The banana bread is quite okay tbh)

AMS-LAX, J, 100% full cabin

I can confirm that no PDB was served.
Other than that no obvious difference with regular service.
The huisjes were served on the tray, with choice. Frequent drinks patrols.
Soup was poured from the thermos. Curried cauliflower sounded underwhelming but was actually a tasty soup.

Menu was choice of chicken thigh or miso salmon as pictured above on thread. Chicken ran out. Salmon was pleasant. Not dry, sauce a bit oversweet but tasty otherwise.

Same dessert plate as pictured above. A bit underwhelming.

Firsr time in b787-10 cabin. Most annoying was inability to see any window from the middle seats.

johan rebel

Did they at some point dim and lock the windows and plunge the cabin into darkness in the middle of the day?

I really dislike those fancy Dreamliner windows. That eerie bluish light is bad enough, but central locking is my main peeve. I pick a window seat for a reason, and in daytime I want as much daylight as I can get. Give me an old-fashioned blind any day.

Johan