Re: crackers with cheese plate
 

I'm reading lot's of folks disappointed with the cheese plate in Polaris. I agree it could be presented better either with a cart or add to the plate dried/fresh fruits besides the grapes. But looking at a few other carriers business class reviews I've seen packaged crackers frequently. One review was British Club World to the US. I would think packaged would stay fresh but they could offer additional crackers from a basket for those that want it. Not hard at all, they dont take up a lot of space and FF's want it.

I personally don't mind packaged crackers, but as you say, offer more than one packet. How there are more types of cheeses than number of crackers on the plate befuddles me.

Never heard of this before. I too celebrated my 25th anniversary in 2016 and no one said a thing. 26th anniversary will be this month. I am sure there are many others who have been flying UA for much longer.

In my case, I switched when TWA went under. Had been very happily flying TATL in Ambassador Class LGW-STL up to then.

I've had her on UA flights too!

Scored a last minute upgrade from C->F on UA944 just now. They completely missed the cocktail snack. In fact the FA came around with chocolates on a separate tray before the PDB (I think there was a bit of chaos due to the 2 hour Mx delay and late galley setup)

HOWEVER, I just completed the express dining service. I FINISHED eating 40 minutes after takeoff, which has to be a record for me. Had time to try the wine flight too. Incredibly attentive and speedy service. Yes I know it's first, but still. Also I just love that Thai chicken soup.

Now off to sleep!

The cocktail snack is served after takeoff before the appetizer course. I believe DL serves it during the PDB but the proper order is the following:
During Boarding:
PDB with chocolate
After Takeoff:
Cocktail snack with drink choice, mixed nuts
Appetizer and Salad
Entrée
Dessert: Cheese/Crackers, Sundae, Dessert cups

I'm on EWR-BOM (just finishing up) right now. It's been a great flight. Slept well. The bedding is great, the FA's were excellent, the food was solid (haven't had the second meal yet). No complaints.

The only issue I see is that if I wasn't in 8L, I don't know where I'd possibly have put everything with 3 pillows (big, small, gel), blanket, duvet, mattress pad, slippers, my shoes all requiring storage.

I honestly don't need a new seat either - though better is always better!

Two thumbs up for my first Polaris service experience.

Totally agreed with the lack of space for all the stuff!

That memory foam pillow has made a difference for me with respect to sleeping well. However, as we know, memory foam stuff is very heavy.

Flew a 767-400 ....almost all of the bin space in row-1 was taken over by the Polaris stuff. So, rows 1 and 2 were jostling for overhead space.
FA's mentioned that they did not really have a solution for this.

In a way, I guess individually wrapped crackers are cleaner and wastes less (even though the packaging is more wasteful)?

I wonder if it would help if they made the wrapping more fancy - like the Stroopwafel wrapping?

Didn't they use to have these individual packaged Pepperidge Farm crackers in the Club? Maybe they can be added to the mix :-)

Space Bag :D

I am ambivalent about the crackers being wrapped.

My issue is the lack of choice and the lack of quantity.

If they had a basket with the many different types of crackers presented before, but happened to be wrapped; I could choose what I wanted, that would be fine with me.

And the Pepperidge Farm / UC crackers would be a step backward

How refreshing to read a positive, non-nitpicking post. I mean, really, complaining about the way they serve the crackers??? Disappointing to read about the lack of cabin storage ... flew DL internationally a couple of times recently, and there's been absolutely no place to put your 'stuff' while in your seat. My computer bag, shoes, purse, pillow, blanket ... all had to go on the floor. It's unbelievable that designers are this ignorant. But maybe they never fly anywhere, just look at pictures. Adding all these goodies from pillows to slippers to each seat without thought for storage is pretty dumb. Don't they have experienced management people who sign off on these things?

You start off so positively! Then within one paragraph you're calling UA staff "ignorant" and "dumb." :p

Perhaps the simple truth is that there's an unavoidable trade-off between providing all these goodies and the reality of existing storage. Perhaps, after extensive testing, UA found the passengers appreciated the goodies enough that the inconvenience of finding storage for everything was outweighed by the delight provided by the aforementioned goodies.

Finally, perhaps you're in the camp that says if you can't provide storage for something, don't offer it. Full stop! If that's true, good for you. But it doesn't mean everyone feels the same way. I for one enjoyed seeing the rather massive pile of bedding that awaited me upon seeing my Polaris seat a few weeks ago. It engendered a kind of nesting instinct.

The nesting comment reminded me of Mr.Pillows.:cool::D
If you all don't know who that is .... search the forum for old stories
:D
Now let's get back to topic.

I did ORD-LHR-ORD in PF this week. Both ways LHR based crews.
They make the difference. Both crews were very fast and confident with the new service. And were able to provide very good and attentive service at the same time. The best thing is the cooling gel pillow. Makes a great sleep improvement. The new mattress pad is way too thin to be comfy on these worn out 767 seats. The old blue ones were better.
I liked the reds served especially the Rioja and was so happy about San Pellegrino on board. Food was OK, out of LHR the portions were massive. Or it seemed that way after the nice Eggs Benedict in the GFL ;)
With great crews Polaris is for sure enjoyable. But I wish UA would fix the entire experience. Like clean bathrooms, seat storage that isn't held together by duct tape, IFE that doesn't need to be rebooted every hour, Internet that actually works.
on my way back the Polaris lounge was so crowded that there wasn't even floor space to sit. Bathroom paper towel issue still not solved. I'll cry when the LHR GFL goes away.

From what I hear, BA is not what one wants to aspire to.

That having been said, I don't understand what was wrong with boarding a box of fresh assorted crackers you could choose from. Now you have no choice and get generic packaged stuff with no choice. Water crackers are very different from the semi-sweet option and match with different cheeses. The choice is gone.