The car arrived early but fine - I was ready - so we took off at pleasantly breakneck speed to the M4-M25-M23 route. We chatted briefly about how ludicrously cheap this service was (quoted 45 whereas AddLee would be over 100) and how busy they were (perhaps not surprisingly, very) before I took advantage of the me time to have my weekly mother phone call. She lives a couple of hundred miles away so we don't get to see each other that often. She updated me on the latest news from the other half of my family (two siblings also live out by her) and I updated her on my upcoming movements.
By about 9:45 we were pulling up outside Gatwick and I was spilt into the maelstrom that is Gatwick of a weekend. Fortunately Continental's zone (F) was far from the madding crowd so I made my way over to it and was second in line for security checking. The young polite gentleman asked the usual questions and after the obligatory 'anything that could be used as a weapon?' concurred that really pretty much ANYTHING could be in the right (wrong?) hands.
Straight over to an empty Business First check in desk where I was quickly checked in whilst being informed that my chosen seat (1B) had been moved to 1E as 1B was tech. Oy vey iz mir. Issued my three Boarding Passes though instructed to renew the Delta one at checkin in Atlanta. Fast Track was well signed and I was soon through (skipping the shoe carnival w00t!) and in the shopping mall. Stopping only to buy some in-flight reading (The Week, New Statesman, Fortean Times and The Source) and to enjoy the splendour of a 15 minute queue to pay I yomped to the Emirates lounge, Continental's lounge partner here.
The Emirates Lounge is no clubhouse BUT it's a damn site better than the Concorde Lounge. First off it is HUGE, the business centre alone is bigger than the Clubhouse equivalent with a lot more computers. There are plenty of comfortable seats, free wifi and lots of hot tasty food available for self serve. The look is cream leather and contrasting dark wood with ivory walls. Pleasingly understated.
The toiletries in the washrooms were an unknown name to me but they seemed to be of a good quality and the showers were clean and well provisioned.
Continental operate three flights to Newark on a Saturday morning so every hour there would be an announcement. Before my flight was called I decided to wander down to my gate - 52. I'd actually misheard the boarding announcement for another flight as mine! On reaching the gate I proffered my passport and boarding pass and was waved through. I walked to the far end of the lounge and took up residence. Ere long an unaccompamnied minor was boarded and then an announcement was made to board Business First. Three of us went forward so pretty quickly as we walked down the long walkway to the plane they did preboarding on elites and then others needing extra boarding time - an interesting change of normal priorities. Boarding L2 I got to turn left again. Moving forward to 1E I was interested to see that my originally chosen seat didn't seem to be tech - still I had 1E and 1F to myself so...
My coat was taken and pre flight drink orders taken. Requesting champagne and water I was told that it would be 'sparkling wine' - fine - although it was a bit rough. The Continental 'Concierge' came round to each of the BF inhabitants with a personalised approach. She reminded me to keep my boarding stub for lounge access on my connecting flights. The flight services manager came around and introduced himself - small point - EVERYONE calls you by name - explaining that if I needed anything I was just to ask.
The safety briefing for this Boeing 757-200 was indeed a little different to what I am used to so glad I listened! CO life jackets come 'pre tied' so you put it on over your head and ensure your arms are through the straps. You then pull to tighten. Interestingly they don't seem to have a child size life jacket so you are told to fit it to the child and inflate one side whilst in the cabin. This presumably stops it falling off when they hit the water but does seem to complicate things somewhat.
There seemed to be a delay before takeoff but we were airborne quickly once we started rolling. Actual stats show that we pushed back early but arrived late, got to assume a tarmac hold there! As we angled into the air my boarding pass stub slid backwards along my arm rest and onto the floor in front of the person behind me. I don't know where it then went but it had gone by the time I was able to try and retrieve it
.The Business First Cabin was about 3/4 full and Economy was rammed. Immediately after takeoff the IFE was on - a touch sensitive VOD which looked modern and clean albeit a little small. Within 5 minutes of takeoff tables were laid (seatbelt signs left on to ensure no cabin movement) and warm cashew nuts were distributed. Next up came the starter trolley, then the mains and cheeese. I skipped dessert. The menu follows... the starters were a little lukewarm and the main wasn't BRILLIANT but it was easily on a par with VS.
The menu was as follows :-
TO BEGIN
Warm roasted nuts with your preferred cocktail or beverage
HOT APPETIZER CART
A demitasse of sweet chili soup with marinated shrimp
accompanied by a chicken breast, bell pepper and olive skewer
and a vegetable spring roll with Asian-style sauce
SALAD and warm breads
Mesclun salad mix tossed with sun-dried tomatoes, walnuts,
orange segments and mozzarella cheese
Your choice of balsamic vinaigrette or tropical fruit dressing
Freshly baked garlic bread and assorted rolls with butter
MAIN COURSES
The Chefs Selection
Seared tenderloin fillets of veal and beef with porcini mushroom sauce, saut_ed shiitake mushrooms, buttered carrot b_tons,
sugar snap peas and rosemary potatoes
Roasted Breast of Chicken
Complemented by herbes de Provence, bordelaise sauce
and mango relish, served over white and wild rice, cream of artichoke and spinach in a potato boat and seasoned carrots
Salmon
Seared salmon with baby eggplant, served over seasoned
green beans and lentils stewed with vegetables
Pasta Bowl
Cannelloni filled with ricotta cheese, artichoke hearts and spinach, accented by spring onions saut_ed in balsamic vinegar
and Murgese sauce, a fresh mushroom tomato sauce, accompanied by freshly grated Parmesan cheese
FRUIT AND CHEESE cart
Select European cheeses, fresh seasonal fruit, assorted gourmet crackers and rolls, served with Port wine
DESSERT CART
Vanilla ice cream with choice of toppings or a petite dessert cup
Fresh Brew gourmet roasted regular and decaffeinated coffee
made exclusively for Continental Airlines or tea with your
choice of milk or lemon
Enjoy a cup of freshly brewed Emilio Caff_ Italian Espresso
or Cappuccino available exclusively in BusinessFirst
on our 777 and 767 aircraft.
SKYSNACKSTM
A selection of light snacks and refreshments
pre-arrival REFRESHMENT
Smoked lemon pepper salmon, accented by herb dipping sauce
Fresh seasonal fruit
Sandwich
Open-faced sandwich on focaccia bread with beef tenderloin tips, Edam and Emmental cheese, roasted red onion
and sun-dried tomato, garnished with a pickle, Kalamata olive, cherry tomato and pearl onion
Chocolate
Fresh Brew gourmet roasted regular and decaffeinated coffee
made exclusively for Continental Airlines or tea with your
choice of milk or lemon
Very shortly after take off the First Officer came and sat down in 1A clearly marking it as a crew rest area. So much for tech. He clamped on the Bose QC2s and started to watch the IFE. Noticing that his red light was flashing I offered him a replacement battery but he explained that he was on a mission to see how long they kept working whilst flashing - four hours and counting apparently.
The person looking after me seemed to be a bit tired BUT she didn't let that stop her providing a cheery welcoming service throughout.
Once the food was taken away I looked at the seat more. It is quite comfortable with a 56' pitch and 156 degrees of recline. Both the screen and the table come out of the arm rests. The table swivels through 90 degrees to allow access and egress. The seat when fully reclined isn't as comfortable as J2000 and TBH I'm not really looking forward to the return flight.
The amenity kit is definitely 'old school'. A silver grey trifold hanging washbag, not unlike the old VS ones though feeling cheaper. Two pouches and a pen loop. The pen is a silver grey plastic biro. Contents of pouches as follows :-
All toiletries http://www.escentsaromatherapy.com/
Top Pouch
Rejuvenating Grapefruit/Bergamot cleansing cloth
Crest Toothpaste 24g
Printed card offering shaving gear
Tube socks
Folding comb/brush
Disposable toothbrush
Bottom Pouch
Mojito Lime peppermint lip balm
Verve bergamot and honey hand and body lotion
Tissues
Eye mask
Ear plugs
Mints (like tic tacs)
The rest of the flight passed in a whirl of working and watching a House episode from the new series. Throughout the flight the second First Officer and the Captain all got a slot of crew rest. Early on in the flight I placed Mrs D's Duty Free order with the young flight services manager. He returned my card and then disappeared. With a couple of hours left to go in the flight I asked him where the goods were and his hand flew to his mouth in a gesture of abject horror. He'd only gone and locked the trolley away (in best Catherine Tate voice) and was going on crew rest. Apologising profusely he gave me my money back.... hmmmm.
50 minutes from landing the crew served the snack described above. This was quite instructive - so you CAN do a full service with less than an hour to land. The food itself was quite tasty and well presented. Whilst we ate this an immigration video explained that we'd soon be landing and had presumably filled out our I-94(W)s already? Ermmm no... these were distributed with 10 minutes to landing. As a final nice touch our crew came through the cabin and took the time out to thank us for flying with Continental - they appreciate it and look forward to seeing us again. OK I know some people will find this trite but it is actually a lovely touch.
Throughout the crew seemed busy although they ALL seemed to get crew rest - seemed unusual on such a short flight?
Landing and deplaning was a breeze. We deplaned from L1 so I was well placed to hare to immigration. Wasted effort unfortunately as even with only one plane in front of me progress was glacial and lane allocations random. Nearly an hour later I was finally seen by a VERY friendly chap. I've just got a new passport as the old one ran out of pages and I was fascinated to see if it was cross linked to the old one. He seemed amused by the idea that it might NOT be and calling up my details told me that I had an expired L1 visa in my old passport etc! He bad me a safe and prosperous trip and then it was down to baggage reclaim to get my luggage to take on to the baggage drop for the next section of the journey. As this was a three part flight I'd packed a small bag with a day's change of clothing in the front of the suitcase and I retrieved this before committing my luggage to the great unknown.
Off to the AirTrain for my next Terminal...
So place rammed and tough to get decent food as booking hard.
