A Delayed Honeymoon: Part 2 – EY130 First Class

A Delayed Honeymoon: Part 2 – EY130 First Class

Previous Trip Notes:
A Delayed Honeymoon: Part 1 – Baltimore > IAD, & Etihad Lounge

Upon walking into Etihad’s first class cabin, one is struck by it’s elegance:

A340 Etihad Cabin – EY130

While eagerly awaiting a view of my “suite” – and the famed black and white pillow that I’ve seen in just about every Etihad flight review, I noticed that the pillows had been changed! It may just be an AVGeek that notices the colors of the pillows…

New Pillows??

I entered my suite and quickly familiarized myself with the features, including a closet (that could barely fit a single hanging suit jacket, an electronics storage area with AC power, USB chargers and the remote for the TV. I quickly plugged in my phone and tablet chargers and then closed it up. There was a magazine holder right next to my seat, a perfect place for me to store my tablet – so I moved the magazines to the closet.

My Suite

Power Controls

At that time the flight attendant came over to take my beverage order, offered me pajamas, and asked if I wanted to change on the ground or in the air. Oh ya, I needed those ASAP – so I opted for the ground. She let me know they would be ready in the lavatory in a few minutes. While she went to find the pajamas, I took a look at the very cool woven amenity kit:

Amenity Kit

Finally, I checked out the personal mini-bar. While it’s nice to have water right at your seat in a “mini-bar” fashion, it seemed like the only reason Etihad put this in their suites was to try and rival Emirate’s mini-bar (it doesn’t compare):

My Personal In-Air Mini-Bar

I then went to the lavatory where my pajamas were set out in a bag, and a garment bag was hanging on the back of the lavatory door for me to put my clothes in to be stored during the flight. The pajamas were nice, but not “Cathay Nice.” They were all-black and fairly soft.

I made my way back to the suite where my champagne and dates were waiting for me:

Pre-Departure Drink

My goal was to eat dinner and then sleep for 4 hours, which would then put me at about 10am Abu Dhabi time – and then stay up for the duration of the flight to try and offset any jet lag.

I watched the take-off on my large TV screen from the camera under the nose – although given the hour of departure it was difficult to see anything:

TV Screen

After take-off, the flight attendant brought over another glass of champagne, accompanied by various snacks and a nice note:

Etihad has an executive chef on all of their flights, and in addition to set meals, offer a “dine all day” option where you can order anything off the menu at any time which will be prepared by the chef. The menu was quite extensive:

The flight attendant then set up my table to dine:

Starting to Setup for Dinner

Prepared for Dinner

I started out with a salmon tasting:

Large Amuse Bouche

Followed by marinated prawns:

Marinated Prawns

Of course a palette cleanser:

Palette Cleanser

While I don’t have a photo of the main course, the dessert – Mascarpone Mousse with Coffee Cream – was one of the best I’ve ever experienced on a flight:

Mascarpone Mousse – A phenomenal dessert!

After dessert, I went to the lavatory, and when I had returned, my seat was made up into a bed:

Bed at 38,000 Feet

Bed at 38,000 Feet

As it turned out, I slept through my alarm and woke up at 11am. That was OK. But meant I only had about 6.5 hours left to enjoy the flight! As I was coming to, I ordered a coffee:

Morning Coffee

And once the world started to focus for me again, I ordered the breakfast basket:

Breakfast

The entertainment selection was quite good, and I wound up watching Gone Girl – a great accompaniment for a beer:

Gone Girl

After the movie, I realized that I was…in a plane…flying over the middle east. I opened my window, only to realize the endless deserts that I had anticipated, were equally as impressive, but in a polar-opposite way:

Somewhere over Saudi Arabia?

Somewhere over Saudi Arabia?

Somewhere over Saudi Arabia?

While not entirely hungry, when the on-board chef came over to ask if I wanted to order anything from the grill, I buckled under the pressure and ordered a steak sandwich:

Steak Sandwich

After some more reading and TV watching, it was sadly time for the descent. The flight attendant handed out Fast Track customs cards:

Fast Track Customs Card

I changed back into my clothes and started packing up my things. The flight was about as comfortable as one could be traveling between The U.S. and the Middle East. I felt great, refreshed and ready to head to the Maldives the following day.