It's our honeymoon to Thailand and New Zealand (NH/TG/5M/SQ/CX/PG/NZ)
#47
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: BKK, CDG, TLS
Programs: QR G, A3 G, EK G, IHG Amb, GHA Black, WOH LT something
Posts: 1,306
Thanks so much for this T/R and congratulations for your honeymoon!!! We were at the Conrad Koh Samui last month, and we enjoyed it very much! Was nice to see the pictures again! We enjoyed our meals at Jahn thought it was very nice. Although our best meal was at Sushi Ichizu in Bangkok. Never did we have such a meal! I can highly recommend it. Its a very small restaurant, they have 10 seats and only 2 servings every evening so reservations are highly recommended, but I have eated the best sushis in my lifetime. All the fish and seafood come from Japan, and the meal takes about 3 hours, but its a real special treat imo, and they do all the cooking in front of you.
Off to NZ in April and its nice to get some idea of South Island (have only been to some part of North Island before), and thanks especially the interislander club trip crossing, I am about to book the crossing this week and was wondering if its worth the difference in price. A few questions :
- how long did it take you to do the tongagiro crossing? Did you reserve a shuttle service before to pick you up at the end? How were you guys feeling after the hike? Is driving 2 - 3 hours after the hike something thats in the realm of possibility or more like dream on boy its your fantasy world.... Would like to try to get as close to possible to Wellington to give us more time to visit the next day....
- did you end up in Kaikoura or Akaroa to do swim with dolphins & whale watching? thinking of skipping pancake rocks to be able to go there.
- What would you recommend seeing in Wellington? Not sure we have time to see everything, and trying to choose 2 between Weta, Zealandia, Te Papa and the botanic garden.
- do you think the helicopter ride to Milford Sound was worth it? or is just the cruise sufficient? Will try to do an helicopter tour of frank joseph, and the budget for this trip is pretty high already lol.... (accomodations in NZ are pretty expansive....)
- Did you go to Abel Tasman?
thanks with any advice you can provide.
Off to NZ in April and its nice to get some idea of South Island (have only been to some part of North Island before), and thanks especially the interislander club trip crossing, I am about to book the crossing this week and was wondering if its worth the difference in price. A few questions :
- how long did it take you to do the tongagiro crossing? Did you reserve a shuttle service before to pick you up at the end? How were you guys feeling after the hike? Is driving 2 - 3 hours after the hike something thats in the realm of possibility or more like dream on boy its your fantasy world.... Would like to try to get as close to possible to Wellington to give us more time to visit the next day....
- did you end up in Kaikoura or Akaroa to do swim with dolphins & whale watching? thinking of skipping pancake rocks to be able to go there.
- What would you recommend seeing in Wellington? Not sure we have time to see everything, and trying to choose 2 between Weta, Zealandia, Te Papa and the botanic garden.
- do you think the helicopter ride to Milford Sound was worth it? or is just the cruise sufficient? Will try to do an helicopter tour of frank joseph, and the budget for this trip is pretty high already lol.... (accomodations in NZ are pretty expansive....)
- Did you go to Abel Tasman?
thanks with any advice you can provide.
#48
Join Date: Apr 2014
Location: Aberdeen, Scotland
Programs: BA Bronze, Emirates Silver, Virgin Silver, Marriott Titanium
Posts: 1,399
Thanks for the trip down memory lane reading about your NZ segment.
I agree with your comments regarding the Intercontinental in Wellington - the staff are very efficient/professional at their job but you really missed the personal touch that I usually find in other hotels.
I agree with your comments regarding the Intercontinental in Wellington - the staff are very efficient/professional at their job but you really missed the personal touch that I usually find in other hotels.
#49
Original Poster
Join Date: Jul 2012
Location: Portland
Programs: AS MVP Gold, Marriott Gold, Hilton Gold, IHG Platinum, Starbucks Gold
Posts: 391
Thanks for the trip down memory lane reading about your NZ segment.
I agree with your comments regarding the Intercontinental in Wellington - the staff are very efficient/professional at their job but you really missed the personal touch that I usually find in other hotels.
I agree with your comments regarding the Intercontinental in Wellington - the staff are very efficient/professional at their job but you really missed the personal touch that I usually find in other hotels.
#50
Original Poster
Join Date: Jul 2012
Location: Portland
Programs: AS MVP Gold, Marriott Gold, Hilton Gold, IHG Platinum, Starbucks Gold
Posts: 391
Thanks so much for this T/R and congratulations for your honeymoon!!! We were at the Conrad Koh Samui last month, and we enjoyed it very much! Was nice to see the pictures again! We enjoyed our meals at Jahn thought it was very nice. Although our best meal was at Sushi Ichizu in Bangkok. Never did we have such a meal! I can highly recommend it. Its a very small restaurant, they have 10 seats and only 2 servings every evening so reservations are highly recommended, but I have eated the best sushis in my lifetime. All the fish and seafood come from Japan, and the meal takes about 3 hours, but its a real special treat imo, and they do all the cooking in front of you.
Off to NZ in April and its nice to get some idea of South Island (have only been to some part of North Island before), and thanks especially the interislander club trip crossing, I am about to book the crossing this week and was wondering if its worth the difference in price. A few questions :
- how long did it take you to do the tongagiro crossing? Did you reserve a shuttle service before to pick you up at the end? How were you guys feeling after the hike? Is driving 2 - 3 hours after the hike something thats in the realm of possibility or more like dream on boy its your fantasy world.... Would like to try to get as close to possible to Wellington to give us more time to visit the next day....
- did you end up in Kaikoura or Akaroa to do swim with dolphins & whale watching? thinking of skipping pancake rocks to be able to go there.
- What would you recommend seeing in Wellington? Not sure we have time to see everything, and trying to choose 2 between Weta, Zealandia, Te Papa and the botanic garden.
- do you think the helicopter ride to Milford Sound was worth it? or is just the cruise sufficient? Will try to do an helicopter tour of frank joseph, and the budget for this trip is pretty high already lol.... (accomodations in NZ are pretty expansive....)
- Did you go to Abel Tasman?
thanks with any advice you can provide.
Off to NZ in April and its nice to get some idea of South Island (have only been to some part of North Island before), and thanks especially the interislander club trip crossing, I am about to book the crossing this week and was wondering if its worth the difference in price. A few questions :
- how long did it take you to do the tongagiro crossing? Did you reserve a shuttle service before to pick you up at the end? How were you guys feeling after the hike? Is driving 2 - 3 hours after the hike something thats in the realm of possibility or more like dream on boy its your fantasy world.... Would like to try to get as close to possible to Wellington to give us more time to visit the next day....
- did you end up in Kaikoura or Akaroa to do swim with dolphins & whale watching? thinking of skipping pancake rocks to be able to go there.
- What would you recommend seeing in Wellington? Not sure we have time to see everything, and trying to choose 2 between Weta, Zealandia, Te Papa and the botanic garden.
- do you think the helicopter ride to Milford Sound was worth it? or is just the cruise sufficient? Will try to do an helicopter tour of frank joseph, and the budget for this trip is pretty high already lol.... (accomodations in NZ are pretty expansive....)
- Did you go to Abel Tasman?
thanks with any advice you can provide.
For the Tongariro Alpine Crossing, we stayed the night before and the night after at the Discovery Lodge, which provided us with transportation to the beginning and back from the end. I guess it's new for this season that both parking lots have a four-hour limit, so you really need to book roundtrip shuttle transportation if you want to do the whole thing.
Our hike started just after 5:30 am and we finished at 12:30 pm, including about 5 hours and 20 minutes of hiking and 1 hour and 40 minutes of stops. I'd call us relatively fit intermediate-level hikers, and we realized afterward that we were still feeling pretty fresh and should have planned on driving somewhere instead of spending another night in National Park. Especially on something like this, of course, your mileage may vary. Most of the hike was pretty easy other than the epic section in the middle that makes it all worthwhile.
In Wellington, we did the full tour at Weta (the $85 tour seems to be just the two-hour $45 tour plus bus transportation to and from the city center) along with spending about half a day at Te Papa and about an hour at the botanic garden. Te Papa is everything people say it is, probably not to be missed. The botanic garden, on the other hand, isn't what I'd call world-class; maybe check it out if you have extra time on your way to or from Zealandia, since it's on the way anyway.
As for the South Island, we drove up the west coast, so we skipped Christchurch and Kaikoura entirely. We also skipped Abel Tasman, though that was next on our list of places to go had we had another day or three.
I thought the helicopter trip, even as expensive as it was, was one of the great highlights and I'd definitely do it again. It's a pretty long—though apparently quite nice—drive from Queenstown to Milford Sound, so the question is if you want to spend 8 or 9 hours driving for your two-hour cruise.
One last word of advice: if you plan on getting straight into a rental car after your trip on the Interislander, maybe consider positioning yourself as close to the exit as possible when the boat is arriving so you can avoid an hour or more of waiting in line:
Last edited by puls; Feb 28, 2018 at 6:38 pm
#51
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: BKK, CDG, TLS
Programs: QR G, A3 G, EK G, IHG Amb, GHA Black, WOH LT something
Posts: 1,306
Thanks for the comments, synd!
For the Tongariro Alpine Crossing, we stayed the night before and the night after at the Discovery Lodge, which provided us with transportation to the beginning and back from the end. I guess it's new for this season that both parking lots have a four-hour limit, so you really need to book roundtrip shuttle transportation if you want to do the whole thing.
Our hike started just after 5:30 am and we finished at 12:30 pm, including about 5 hours and 20 minutes of hiking and 1 hour and 40 minutes of stops. I'd call us relatively fit intermediate-level hikers, and we realized afterward that we were still feeling pretty fresh and should have planned on driving somewhere instead of spending another night in National Park. Especially on something like this, of course, your mileage may vary. Most of the hike was pretty easy other than the epic section in the middle that makes it all worthwhile.
In Wellington, we did the full tour at Weta (the $85 tour seems to be just the two-hour $45 tour plus bus transportation to and from the city center) along with spending about half a day at Te Papa and about an hour at the botanic garden. Te Papa is everything people say it is, probably not to be missed. The botanic garden, on the other hand, isn't what I'd call world-class; maybe check it out if you have extra time on your way to or from Zealandia, since it's on the way anyway.
As for the South Island, we drove up the west coast, so we skipped Christchurch and Kaikoura entirely. We also skipped Abel Tasman, though that was next on our list of places to go had we had another day or three.
I thought the helicopter trip, even as expensive as it was, was one of the great highlights and I'd definitely do it again. It's a pretty long—though apparently quite nice—drive from Queenstown to Milford Sound, so the question is if you want to spend 8 or 9 hours driving for your two-hour cruise.
One last word of advice: if you plan on getting straight into a rental car after your trip on the Interislander, maybe consider positioning yourself as close to the exit as possible when the boat is arriving so you can avoid an hour or more of waiting in line:
For the Tongariro Alpine Crossing, we stayed the night before and the night after at the Discovery Lodge, which provided us with transportation to the beginning and back from the end. I guess it's new for this season that both parking lots have a four-hour limit, so you really need to book roundtrip shuttle transportation if you want to do the whole thing.
Our hike started just after 5:30 am and we finished at 12:30 pm, including about 5 hours and 20 minutes of hiking and 1 hour and 40 minutes of stops. I'd call us relatively fit intermediate-level hikers, and we realized afterward that we were still feeling pretty fresh and should have planned on driving somewhere instead of spending another night in National Park. Especially on something like this, of course, your mileage may vary. Most of the hike was pretty easy other than the epic section in the middle that makes it all worthwhile.
In Wellington, we did the full tour at Weta (the $85 tour seems to be just the two-hour $45 tour plus bus transportation to and from the city center) along with spending about half a day at Te Papa and about an hour at the botanic garden. Te Papa is everything people say it is, probably not to be missed. The botanic garden, on the other hand, isn't what I'd call world-class; maybe check it out if you have extra time on your way to or from Zealandia, since it's on the way anyway.
As for the South Island, we drove up the west coast, so we skipped Christchurch and Kaikoura entirely. We also skipped Abel Tasman, though that was next on our list of places to go had we had another day or three.
I thought the helicopter trip, even as expensive as it was, was one of the great highlights and I'd definitely do it again. It's a pretty long—though apparently quite nice—drive from Queenstown to Milford Sound, so the question is if you want to spend 8 or 9 hours driving for your two-hour cruise.
One last word of advice: if you plan on getting straight into a rental car after your trip on the Interislander, maybe consider positioning yourself as close to the exit as possible when the boat is arriving so you can avoid an hour or more of waiting in line:
thank you so much for all the information and taking the time to answer my questions! I was actually wondering whether to cross with the car or take a new one in Picton, you conforted me in just renting a car through for both island.
#52
Original Poster
Join Date: Jul 2012
Location: Portland
Programs: AS MVP Gold, Marriott Gold, Hilton Gold, IHG Platinum, Starbucks Gold
Posts: 391
FWIW: Avis, Hertz, and Europcar don't allow their cars to be taken between islands. Thrifty's website is less clear on the matter.
#53
Join Date: Apr 2014
Location: Aberdeen, Scotland
Programs: BA Bronze, Emirates Silver, Virgin Silver, Marriott Titanium
Posts: 1,399
On reading TripAdvisor, a lot of folk use Apex for their car hire as their cars can be taken on the ferry - not sure if they allow one way rentals or if you have to return to whichever island you initially hired from.
We did enjoy our time there (we have now stayed there twice) and yes received a very warm welcome but there was just something missing. I think it is because the hotel is more used to/set up for business people than tourists.
We did enjoy our time there (we have now stayed there twice) and yes received a very warm welcome but there was just something missing. I think it is because the hotel is more used to/set up for business people than tourists.
#54
Original Poster
Join Date: Jul 2012
Location: Portland
Programs: AS MVP Gold, Marriott Gold, Hilton Gold, IHG Platinum, Starbucks Gold
Posts: 391
Air New Zealand International Lounge, Auckland
We arrived at Auckland Airport to find the usual amount of well-marked signage for Singapore Airlines.
There was no line for Suites check-in, though we did have to wait for one person already at the counter in front of us to finish. A minute later, we were checked in with boarding passes to Singapore and our bags were checked.
This person looks happy to be using the free wifi but also appears to have no legs.
Anyway, up the stairs through the automated passport gates (quick!) and security (somewhat quick!) and into—wait for it—the duty-free mall that every international departures area has these days.
Between the duty-free mall and the not-so-duty-free mall is the narrow passageway that eventually leads to the Air New Zealand lounge. This lounge is almost identical to the one we visited in Sydney.
It’s sizable, too, with ten different seating areas.
We eventually settled on sitting on the “outdoor” deck separated from the rest of the lounge with doors and with a roof that opens up on nice days. It was not open this day, though.
There’s also a VIP section. Evidently Suites Class isn’t enough to get one in.
There was a nice light lunch spread out at the buffet.
Beverage selections were identical to what we found in Sydney: soft drinks, beer, wine, juice, water, and coffee machines. Most of the wine was from New Zealand, as one might expect.
The bar had about the same selection plus a couple of beers on tap.
The bartender, of course, had no takers for alcohol but instead was busy in full barista mode preparing coffees nonstop.
Not much of a view, though from our side of the lounge we could look out over the domestic terminal.
We enjoyed a couple of beverages and passed the hour and a half before our flight getting some work done to ease our transition back into real life.
The review
I could copy and paste what I wrote about the lounge in Sydney: “Air New Zealand has some very nice lounges. There’s no personal service or restaurant-style dining like you might find in a first class lounge but for a business-class lounge, this one left nothing to be desired. At least at breakfast time.”
The larger version has plenty of space even for the significant passenger numbers coming through. Nothing to show up early for, but still a perfectly nice lounge. You’d think some of the legacy airlines in the US, with much higher cost structures and profit margins, could pull off something like this, but I’ve never seen it.
We arrived at Auckland Airport to find the usual amount of well-marked signage for Singapore Airlines.
There was no line for Suites check-in, though we did have to wait for one person already at the counter in front of us to finish. A minute later, we were checked in with boarding passes to Singapore and our bags were checked.
This person looks happy to be using the free wifi but also appears to have no legs.
Anyway, up the stairs through the automated passport gates (quick!) and security (somewhat quick!) and into—wait for it—the duty-free mall that every international departures area has these days.
Between the duty-free mall and the not-so-duty-free mall is the narrow passageway that eventually leads to the Air New Zealand lounge. This lounge is almost identical to the one we visited in Sydney.
It’s sizable, too, with ten different seating areas.
We eventually settled on sitting on the “outdoor” deck separated from the rest of the lounge with doors and with a roof that opens up on nice days. It was not open this day, though.
There’s also a VIP section. Evidently Suites Class isn’t enough to get one in.
There was a nice light lunch spread out at the buffet.
Beverage selections were identical to what we found in Sydney: soft drinks, beer, wine, juice, water, and coffee machines. Most of the wine was from New Zealand, as one might expect.
The bar had about the same selection plus a couple of beers on tap.
The bartender, of course, had no takers for alcohol but instead was busy in full barista mode preparing coffees nonstop.
Not much of a view, though from our side of the lounge we could look out over the domestic terminal.
We enjoyed a couple of beverages and passed the hour and a half before our flight getting some work done to ease our transition back into real life.
The review
I could copy and paste what I wrote about the lounge in Sydney: “Air New Zealand has some very nice lounges. There’s no personal service or restaurant-style dining like you might find in a first class lounge but for a business-class lounge, this one left nothing to be desired. At least at breakfast time.”
The larger version has plenty of space even for the significant passenger numbers coming through. Nothing to show up early for, but still a perfectly nice lounge. You’d think some of the legacy airlines in the US, with much higher cost structures and profit margins, could pull off something like this, but I’ve never seen it.
#56
Original Poster
Join Date: Jul 2012
Location: Portland
Programs: AS MVP Gold, Marriott Gold, Hilton Gold, IHG Platinum, Starbucks Gold
Posts: 391
Singapore Airlines 286, Auckland (AKL) to Singapore Changi (SIN)
February 22nd, 2018
1:30 pm–7:05 pm
Airbus A380 9V-SKK
Seats 3C/D (center pair, suites class)
We made the long walk from the lounge to the distant A380 gates, where the plane was waiting.
Huge plane means huge gate and huge crowd of people.
But seriously, this gate is so far out there that there are farms out the window.
Anyway, boarding commenced just a couple of minutes after we arrived and was super quick thanks to having all of the jetways and all of the gate agents.
The same refreshed Suites cabin we saw a couple of years ago. No new suites for us just yet.
Nice upgrade on the champagne, there. Too bad it’s only a limited time promotion.
Amenity kit and slippers were waiting for us. A flight attendant offered us pajamas in short order.
Lots of power ports. Lots of other various jacks nobody has ever used.
The latest in Bose headphones.
The plane finally pushed back about ten minutes behind schedule.
I took a look through the menu.
After the plane passed through 10,000 feet, the seatbelt sign went out and I stopped by the lavatory. Since it’s on the lower deck, not a whole lot to write home about. Maybe just a little more space than normal.
Another fifteen minutes later, the amuse bouche while we waited for lunch to be ready. What else but satays?
Another half hour later and it was showtime.
Ain’t nothing like some caviar to start off a great meal.
Spiced split pea soup with duck confit and yogurt.
Clear chicken soup with oyster mushrooms.
Baby romaine, tatsoi, and cherry tomatoes. Too much cheese, not enough dressing.
Garlic bread to ward off the vampires.
Wok fried chicken in sesame oil with ginger; Chinese vegetables and egg noodle. Delicious but kind of reminiscent of something I’d find sitting under heat lamps at a low-rent cafeteria.
Nasi Padang with dry fish curry, fried chicken, and lamb rending in thick coconut gravy and sautéed spinach. This seemed to be missing a few things.
Warm rum baba with calvados syrup, vanilla ice cream, and muscatel chutney. I don’t know what happened here, because this was more of a dry mini bagel than anything else.
Matt Moran of Aria Restaurant, Sydney should probably be a bit embarrassed that his name is attached to this.
Passionfruit mousse cake with white chocolate ice cream and passionfruit coulis. This was generally fine, other than the thing that Singapore seems to do where they plate desserts with a scoop of ice cream that goes sliding all over the place.
Pralines and hot towels to finish off the meal service.
It was now about two and a half hours into the flight, so there was plenty of time to get a nice nap in, at least assuming the food coma would take care of it in the middle of the afternoon.
We asked for turn-down service and changed into pajamas. The seat is relatively thoughtfully designed that it turns into a double bed and has redundant headphone and power ports and a place for a bottle of water.
I managed about three hours of sleep and awoke with two hours to go to Singapore. I asked for one of the featured craft beers from the drink list from a brewery we had visited a week earlier. I’m all for the trend of beers on planes generally improving as time goes on.
I started up a movie set around the fall of the Berlin Wall, “Atomic Blonde”, and entertained myself until the next meal service.
Marinated Mediterranean prawns with village Greek salad.
Chicken noodle soup.
Mango-passionfruit wanna cotta with mixed berry compote and dried raspberries.
Overall, the second meal service was much better than the first, which had really gone down a hill after the caviar service. All three of these dishes were delicious.
With an hour left, there was only one thing to do: watch the only TV show that exists on planes.
Before we knew it, we were arriving at the world’s greatest airport, where there was a very short wait for passport control before our bags arrived on the belt mere seconds after we arrived to meet them.
The review
Singapore Airlines has been reliably great in all of my flights with them with one exception: every meal has something that just leaves you wondering what they were thinking. If you can get past that, though, I have nothing but praise for them. The drink list is comprehensive. The seat is as spacious as they get.
And, of course, the crews are always fantastic. The service concept is everything you could want: attentive, effusive, friendly, accommodating. Was this flight alone worth tripling the length of our trip home from New Zealand? Probably not, but we had other reasons in mind that may become apparent in the next couple of installments.
February 22nd, 2018
1:30 pm–7:05 pm
Airbus A380 9V-SKK
Seats 3C/D (center pair, suites class)
We made the long walk from the lounge to the distant A380 gates, where the plane was waiting.
Huge plane means huge gate and huge crowd of people.
But seriously, this gate is so far out there that there are farms out the window.
Anyway, boarding commenced just a couple of minutes after we arrived and was super quick thanks to having all of the jetways and all of the gate agents.
The same refreshed Suites cabin we saw a couple of years ago. No new suites for us just yet.
Nice upgrade on the champagne, there. Too bad it’s only a limited time promotion.
Amenity kit and slippers were waiting for us. A flight attendant offered us pajamas in short order.
Lots of power ports. Lots of other various jacks nobody has ever used.
The latest in Bose headphones.
The plane finally pushed back about ten minutes behind schedule.
I took a look through the menu.
After the plane passed through 10,000 feet, the seatbelt sign went out and I stopped by the lavatory. Since it’s on the lower deck, not a whole lot to write home about. Maybe just a little more space than normal.
Another fifteen minutes later, the amuse bouche while we waited for lunch to be ready. What else but satays?
Another half hour later and it was showtime.
Ain’t nothing like some caviar to start off a great meal.
Spiced split pea soup with duck confit and yogurt.
Clear chicken soup with oyster mushrooms.
Baby romaine, tatsoi, and cherry tomatoes. Too much cheese, not enough dressing.
Garlic bread to ward off the vampires.
Wok fried chicken in sesame oil with ginger; Chinese vegetables and egg noodle. Delicious but kind of reminiscent of something I’d find sitting under heat lamps at a low-rent cafeteria.
Nasi Padang with dry fish curry, fried chicken, and lamb rending in thick coconut gravy and sautéed spinach. This seemed to be missing a few things.
Warm rum baba with calvados syrup, vanilla ice cream, and muscatel chutney. I don’t know what happened here, because this was more of a dry mini bagel than anything else.
Matt Moran of Aria Restaurant, Sydney should probably be a bit embarrassed that his name is attached to this.
Passionfruit mousse cake with white chocolate ice cream and passionfruit coulis. This was generally fine, other than the thing that Singapore seems to do where they plate desserts with a scoop of ice cream that goes sliding all over the place.
Pralines and hot towels to finish off the meal service.
It was now about two and a half hours into the flight, so there was plenty of time to get a nice nap in, at least assuming the food coma would take care of it in the middle of the afternoon.
We asked for turn-down service and changed into pajamas. The seat is relatively thoughtfully designed that it turns into a double bed and has redundant headphone and power ports and a place for a bottle of water.
I managed about three hours of sleep and awoke with two hours to go to Singapore. I asked for one of the featured craft beers from the drink list from a brewery we had visited a week earlier. I’m all for the trend of beers on planes generally improving as time goes on.
I started up a movie set around the fall of the Berlin Wall, “Atomic Blonde”, and entertained myself until the next meal service.
Marinated Mediterranean prawns with village Greek salad.
Chicken noodle soup.
Mango-passionfruit wanna cotta with mixed berry compote and dried raspberries.
Overall, the second meal service was much better than the first, which had really gone down a hill after the caviar service. All three of these dishes were delicious.
With an hour left, there was only one thing to do: watch the only TV show that exists on planes.
Before we knew it, we were arriving at the world’s greatest airport, where there was a very short wait for passport control before our bags arrived on the belt mere seconds after we arrived to meet them.
The review
Singapore Airlines has been reliably great in all of my flights with them with one exception: every meal has something that just leaves you wondering what they were thinking. If you can get past that, though, I have nothing but praise for them. The drink list is comprehensive. The seat is as spacious as they get.
And, of course, the crews are always fantastic. The service concept is everything you could want: attentive, effusive, friendly, accommodating. Was this flight alone worth tripling the length of our trip home from New Zealand? Probably not, but we had other reasons in mind that may become apparent in the next couple of installments.
Last edited by puls; Mar 15, 2018 at 8:01 pm
#57
Join Date: Apr 2014
Location: Aberdeen, Scotland
Programs: BA Bronze, Emirates Silver, Virgin Silver, Marriott Titanium
Posts: 1,399
Yes its a hike and a half to get to the A380 gates in Auckland but at least there is the moving walkways to help. I've not come in at that gate yet so curious to know if there is moving walkways to help aid the hike to passport control etc.
#58
Original Poster
Join Date: Jul 2012
Location: Portland
Programs: AS MVP Gold, Marriott Gold, Hilton Gold, IHG Platinum, Starbucks Gold
Posts: 391
Crowne Plaza Changi Airport
With our overnight layover, we went for the on-airport hotel option rather than heading into the city. From the customs exit, we started following the exceedingly clear signage that led us past this kopitiam with a name that made my inner 12-year-old chuckle.
But the signage was great and it was no trouble finding the hotel at the other end of Terminal 3.
This entrance is from the arrivals level of the terminal; there’s also one from the road.
The lobby was very nice—much nicer than I’d expect for a Crowne Plaza in the US—but dark enough that it was tough to get any clear photos.
The room we got was a premier room up on the 8th floor. Way nicer than I was expecting and also an upgrade from what I’d booked.
We didn’t have a whole lot of time after a late arrival and before an early departure, but we went for a nice swim in the gorgeous pool and then called it a night.
The review
Way nicer than I expected. Not sure if it was worth paying twice as much as the transit hotels, but it still left us with the easy option of going into the city had we had more energy to do so. Next time I’ll probably try the transit hotels, but this was still a great option.
With our overnight layover, we went for the on-airport hotel option rather than heading into the city. From the customs exit, we started following the exceedingly clear signage that led us past this kopitiam with a name that made my inner 12-year-old chuckle.
But the signage was great and it was no trouble finding the hotel at the other end of Terminal 3.
This entrance is from the arrivals level of the terminal; there’s also one from the road.
The lobby was very nice—much nicer than I’d expect for a Crowne Plaza in the US—but dark enough that it was tough to get any clear photos.
The room we got was a premier room up on the 8th floor. Way nicer than I was expecting and also an upgrade from what I’d booked.
We didn’t have a whole lot of time after a late arrival and before an early departure, but we went for a nice swim in the gorgeous pool and then called it a night.
The review
Way nicer than I expected. Not sure if it was worth paying twice as much as the transit hotels, but it still left us with the easy option of going into the city had we had more energy to do so. Next time I’ll probably try the transit hotels, but this was still a great option.
#59
Original Poster
Join Date: Jul 2012
Location: Portland
Programs: AS MVP Gold, Marriott Gold, Hilton Gold, IHG Platinum, Starbucks Gold
Posts: 391
The Private Room, Singapore Changi
Up very early the next morning, it was through the darkness all the way back to the other end of Terminal 3 to the First Class check-in.
It’s as nice as ever, with a small lounge of its own for the rest of one’s entourage to wait in.
Checking in took us only a couple of minutes; there was a small delay as I asked the agent if she could through-check our bags onto our later Cathay Pacific flight. After quite a bit of typing and calling supervisors over, she decided it wasn’t meant to be and tagged our bags just to Hong Kong. Boarding passes and lounge invitations in hand, we made the very short walk across the terminal lobby to the immigration checkpoint, whence we were invited to use the automated gates to exit into the airside transit area.
After that, it was straight across and up the escalator to the lounge complex.
At the top of the escalator, a whole crew of people were waiting to welcome us to the lounge. They took our lounge invitations and escorted us through the First Class section to The Private Room.
The Private Room is unchanged from our last visit a year and a half ago. It’s pretty unbeatable for what it is: just enough seating so that it feels neither crowded or eerily empty; spacious enough so that it feels neither cavernous nor cramped; staffed to the point that there’s always somebody to serve you at a moment’s notice but nobody is standing around.
In addition to the main area, there’s a dining area and a couple of small spaces for even more privacy. (I suppose that makes them Private Room private rooms.)
We started in the dining area for a light breakfast.
The menu is short and sweet.
There’s also a buffet for no good reason.
The laksa and dim sum were delicious.
Three guesses what I had to drink and the first two don’t count.
After we finished breakfast, we had an hour torelax get giddy with anticipation before it was time to go to the gate.
The review
Everybody has different tastes. At least at this point, this lounge still topped (foreshadowing alert) my list of favorite lounges of all time. I spent a while at the First Class Terminal in Frankfurt and the Concorde Room in London a month ago; we’d been to the Royal Orchid Spa in Bangkok earlier on the trip; we’ve been to all of the first class lounges in Tokyo.
I’d still rather be at The Private Room.
Up very early the next morning, it was through the darkness all the way back to the other end of Terminal 3 to the First Class check-in.
It’s as nice as ever, with a small lounge of its own for the rest of one’s entourage to wait in.
Checking in took us only a couple of minutes; there was a small delay as I asked the agent if she could through-check our bags onto our later Cathay Pacific flight. After quite a bit of typing and calling supervisors over, she decided it wasn’t meant to be and tagged our bags just to Hong Kong. Boarding passes and lounge invitations in hand, we made the very short walk across the terminal lobby to the immigration checkpoint, whence we were invited to use the automated gates to exit into the airside transit area.
After that, it was straight across and up the escalator to the lounge complex.
At the top of the escalator, a whole crew of people were waiting to welcome us to the lounge. They took our lounge invitations and escorted us through the First Class section to The Private Room.
The Private Room is unchanged from our last visit a year and a half ago. It’s pretty unbeatable for what it is: just enough seating so that it feels neither crowded or eerily empty; spacious enough so that it feels neither cavernous nor cramped; staffed to the point that there’s always somebody to serve you at a moment’s notice but nobody is standing around.
In addition to the main area, there’s a dining area and a couple of small spaces for even more privacy. (I suppose that makes them Private Room private rooms.)
We started in the dining area for a light breakfast.
The menu is short and sweet.
There’s also a buffet for no good reason.
The laksa and dim sum were delicious.
Three guesses what I had to drink and the first two don’t count.
After we finished breakfast, we had an hour to
The review
Everybody has different tastes. At least at this point, this lounge still topped (foreshadowing alert) my list of favorite lounges of all time. I spent a while at the First Class Terminal in Frankfurt and the Concorde Room in London a month ago; we’d been to the Royal Orchid Spa in Bangkok earlier on the trip; we’ve been to all of the first class lounges in Tokyo.
I’d still rather be at The Private Room.