rapidex

Great trip report,caused me a late night to finish reading^ BA have 6 F seats on their B787-9.

Seat 2A

Yeah, that 1963 Colheita is likely a difficult pour to find on the ground. I hope whatever libation you accompanied your read with enhanced whatever enjoyment you derived from this report . ^

Thanks, rapidex. Looks like this will be the last of my trip reports for awhile. Hopefully next year I can work in a trip down to Mauritius/Seychelles/Madagascar using a First Class suite aboard BA's 787-9 at least part of the way.

lamphs

Attention Seat 2A! In the future, please announce when you'll be posting a report prior to posting it. That way I can budget a proper amount of time, in a comfortable setting, to peruse the entire report. Posting without prior notice causes me to read your reports rather than completing other items on the 'to do' list!

Great report as always! The amount of detail is impressive, and as I have mentioned before, I have used your past reports as references when planning a trip.

Best wishes for the New Year!

tsastor

Just what I wished from Santa Claus, another trip report by the connoisseur of enjoyable air travel, Seat2A! And I got it! Just to maximize the enjoyment over the Christmas / New Year holidays, I am reading this slowly, one post per day. So far (with 3 posts read), I can only say: superb as always! I especially liked the fact that you provided some background music as well, maybe a first on FT complete with youtube link. I can only assume that is music you yourself appreciate and think with good grounds that we will as well (I did!). I've run out of port, but luckily I found a bottle of the excellent Greek Mavrodaphne of Patras "601" sweet wine in my reserve and together we are managing this journey (at home) just fine!

jmj9905

I want to re-iterate that your TR's are among the best on ft. Who needs pictures when your words paint a much clearer picture of the entire Tr experience. I am slow to respond to this as I was in SE Asia for 5 weeks in Sept/Oct. Fortunate enough to fly cx f ord/hg rt. Also got to fly cx 359 on bus.hkg/jakarta (senior moment can't recall 3 letter code) and I found the lie flat excellent.
I am almost finished your most recent tr.

Keep up the good work!

camsean

janehoya

tsastor

Seat 2A

Thanks, lamphs! ^ For sure I write some pretty lengthy reports - out of FT's 700000 members of which perhaps 50000 check out the TR forum of which maybe 40 find one of my typical 25000 word reports worthy of comment, I can't help but wonder in this day and age of instant gratification how many viewers drop off after just a couple of posts. Not that it matters - I writes them the way I writes them and that ain't gonna change, so I'm thankful for the dedication and perseverance of readers like yourself. You guys make it all worth it! ^

Thanks, tsastor! ^ Reading responses like yours is just as enjoyable to me as reading my reports is for you. That said, it's 10:30am AST and I'm drinking coffee. Good coffee though, my standard blend of Sulawesi and Colombian dark roast accompanied by a couple of Noni's chocolate dipped biscottis. As to the musical inserts, my hope is that they enhance whatever I happen to be writing about at the time but given my eclectic tastes, it's a crap shoot as to whether any of you will actually like the music, so I use them more as a spice than a main course . What a bonus if you do like them ^ BTW, I saw Junior Brown play live at the Strawberry Music Festival back in 1992. He is a character and I get the sense that many of his songs are based upon his personal life experiences.

jmj9905, you are my kind of reader ^ As one who appreciates the descriptive power of words over photos more than most, I'm thankful to all of you who are willing to put up with my lengthy reports. Reading through 25000 words of text (my longest was over 90000 words) requires a significant investment of time, often and understandably more than most casual FT viewers care to commit. Back in the early days of FlyerTalk - before we were able to actually insert pictures in these reports - contributors posted some of the finest trip reports I have ever read here. Thankfully I printed out many of those reports back in 2002 and they are most enjoyable to revisit every now and then.

Uh oh - visitors have arrived. I'll post more responses later today. Thanks, everyone! ^

HawaiiTrvlr

Who visits your part of Alaska this time of the year? With its 4- 5 hours of daylight and freezing cold temps.

Seat 2A

Alright then, where was I? Ah yes...

Thanks, camsean! I work hard to employ the dullest possible photos, so it's good to know my efforts are appreciated. As to that mass of undefinable white protoplasm nestled amidst the salad leaves, it was indeed an egg but the weirdest egg I've ever tasted in terms of texture and flavor.

Thank you, J! It's good to hear from you again. ^ As to my lack of experience with Greek carriers, the same can be said for most all of the southern European airlines. My only experience with any came aboard a Vueling A320, a Portugalia Embraer 145 and a TAP A319 back in 2013. It'd be great to visit Greece someday, though unfortunate that it won't be able to be done aboard the Onassis owned version of Olympic.

Ooooo - I envy you your sailing. I remember going down to the docks in Helsinki and looking longingly at those big ships - many times larger and more impressive than our smaller Alaska Marine Highway ferries that ply the Inside Passage on the 4 night run between Bellingham, Washington and Whittier, Alaska. As to that South African port, I went back and checked the menu and it was pretty generic as to the KWV Tawny. It sure tasted complex and delicious though, much nicer (per my tastes) than the Ramos Pinto Quinta da Ervamoira 10 Year Old Tawny proffered by Cathay in its First Class cabins. I can't help but wonder if - with SAA being the national carrier - it got a special batch? It sure tasted better than a $15.00 bottle. The generous exchange rate with the Rand notwithstanding, anything under $10.00 sounds more like Ruby pricing. Have a great sail to Stockholm!

You might be surprised. We got a thriving winter tourism business here in the Interior, much of it fueled by visitors from Japan and China. It's not uncommon to see wide-bodied charters from JAL and China Airlines (Taiwan) parked on the ramp at FAI during the winter months. I love it here in the winter. As an ex-Coloradoan, I cannot imagine living anywhere but Alaska.

ffI

Etihad 131 AUH-IAD is now a 787 - may the guzzling A340-600 RIP - it was far better in F.
https://seatguru.com/airlines/Etihad...ng_787_900.php
The F class suites have terrible storage space and face front to back.
The 2 window seats in row 1 face back while row 2 faces forward. The center seats are reversed
I often choose the 1st row of business as it is as quiet with more storage space for luggage although the windows in row 5 are for pilots

amanuensis

Duke787

Another fantastic trip report Seat2A -- I love seeing a new TR coming from you this time of year when I have time to sit down and read it over a few days over a nice glass (or three) of Scotch. Eagerly anticipating your next travel adventures.

janehoya

Ah, the Olympic Airways of Onassis! I have heard countless stories of its overall excellence. Apparently it was the best airline in the world under his leadership.

Hopefully you will make it to Greece one day as, even though I can be critical of my compatriots, they and the country have a great deal to offer.

Safe travels.