My top tip for Larnaca: dive the Zenobia! It's a ro-ro that sunk on its maiden voyage, evidently due to a bug in the computer running the ballast system, and it's quite a sight, if you'll allow me to highjack this thread with a few thumbnails:



The cargo inside varies from trucks to eggs, still intact after all these years. It's located about 15 min off the coast by boat and can be seen from the plane during descent on a good (sunny) day.

Thanks for the pics. I'm diving the Zenobia on July 1.

What dive operator did you use?

An outfit called Dive In Cyprus. No complaints, they know their stuff and have a good attitude. Some other random notes at the rather bare-bones Wikitravel Larnaca page.

How organized were the check in procedures for business and coach with Cyprus. How much time did you allow for check in at LCA

Thanks for the ongoing report. Love reading it.

Is English widely spoken in Cyprus?

Yes. English is widely spoken in Cyprus. Was an English colony at one point. Which answers for driving on the left side of the road, Cyprus Pounds as the currency (not sure if it has to be at a worse exchange rate than UK pounds ), UK power adaptor...

There are no separate queues for Business class and Coach Class with Cyprus air. I had taken the 7:30AM bus from downtown and was checked in by 8:10AM. They had mentioned atleast 2 hours before departure. Since the departure was at 9:40AM, I thought anything before 8:10AM should be adequate. Assuming that the "regular tourists" all check-in before 7:40AM There are plenty of flights leaving in the morning hence there were 4-5 agents working.

I remember this from a trip to Venice. I was on a return flight from Venice to AMS, I checked in 1 hour before the flight with only carryon. The entire check-in area was deserted. I was wondering if I had the time wrong or the flight was cancelled. The check-in lady smiled and said I was the last to check-in. I asked "Is this a real tourist flight?". We were all cracking up...

Let me know if you have any other question on the YYZ-LCA trip that I could help with? I have updated the first page with all my observations.

Would you mind describing the plane food a bit more? Some of us are freaks about airline food. :-)

Did AZ give you a lounge pass or did you just use your boarding pass?

Would you mind providing some more commentary on the service onboard the AZ flights, as well as your specific perceptions of the 767 Magnifica seat?

I flew YYZ-MXP on Saturday. Check in was exactly as described above. I came three hours early, nervous by the very recent report of rude treatment by someone reticketing at YYZ. Check in could not have gone any more smoothly. I asked about changing my seat, but was told that the cabin was full. Off I went.

Terminal 1 is very modern, very new. There are lots of shops should you like that kind of thing. I went immediately to the down escalator to get on the bus to go to the infield terminal. Once you arrive there, do not follow the folks streaming to the left to go up the escalator. Rather, go to the right to the Maple Leaf Lounge.

The lounge must hold about 200 people. I was the first to arrive. By the time I left, there were perhaps 12 folks there. There are 3 computers for public use, as well as cables for your own computers. There are various snacks, none very impressive - olives, bread, butter, soup, salad, raw vegetables, crackers and cheese.

There is no immigration formality. You can leave the lounge about 45 minutes before flight time, The gate is at the top of the escalator.

I had never seen so many people in wheelchairs loaded on a 767. About 12 folks were loaded first. then all the families with children. Finally business class was loaded. The plane is loaded from the front door, so once onboard, all the passengers continue to go by.

Seating is 2 x 1 x 2. Both AA and UA have 2 x 2 x 2, so this was really comfortable shoulder width. As stated, the only entertainment is a screen at the front. The seat controls are electronic, and work reliably - a pleasant contrast to UA and AA seats. The amenity kit is nicely designed and certainly exceeds that given by UA.

Service was brusque. We finally got water, juice or champagne after all the coach passengers were on board. The menu was unremarkable. It was 2 pastas, 2 mains, cheese, and dessert. They set your tray before bringing around the first drink.

I asked for my meal to be served as an executive meal, which meant I got pasta, cheese and dessert on my tray all at once. I highly recommend this as it is only a 7 1.2 hour flight. I had my meal finished before they had even finished serving pasta to others.

Despite being told the cabin was full, there were 9 of 25 seats empty. I managed to get 2 seats for myself, which is a great luxury in biz cabins these days. I slept til breakfast.

While Alitalia's biz class is a notch below UA and AA, it is tolerable. Don't have high expecations and you will end up pleased.

Just used my boarding pass. The interesting thing is that at no location did any check-in agent ever mention that I can get lounge access.

They offered orange juice/water when we got in and settled down. The first serving was mixed nuts with option of a drink. This was followed by pasta in tomato sauce and artichokes in a white sauce. I only took the pasta option that was served from a tray. This was followed by the main course of fish or beef. I took the fish option. The traditional tray with the usual bread, crackers, cheese was served. The fish looked "grilled" - completely tasteless. This was followed by deserts - some italian sweets like custard. Finally followed by cheese and/or fresh fruits. I tried the custards, a bit disappointing. I finally went for the fresh fruits option, the strawberry was good but the kiwi fruit was too raw.

Breakfast was served from a tray - scrambled eggs, button mushrooms, canadian bacon. The mushrooms tasted great, eggs needed a lot of garnishing to make it palatable. The bread offered were crossaints, brown roll, white roll and some danishes. Plus yoghurt in many flavors.

The best part is that I had ordered for Vegetarian option to get something different. They never even mentioned that I had asked for a special meal. I thought the fish would be better. But on the return journey, I will ask for my special meal. Hopefully that will be better.

The food service is as described above. As SanDiego1K mentioned the service is quite brusque. In terms of the seat, it was covered with a off-white colored leather. The seat had a foot rest that folded out of the bottom. The seat was three piece and if you are more than 6' tall, then you cannot have your feet on the footrest and recline comfortably. There is also a wheel knob for adjusting the lumbar support. Lot of space around you but the seat is the typical 767 business class seat. The ones on the A330 WBC on NWA are much better.