So we took a taxi which cost us only about 20aed (£4), a lot cheaper than the reverse journey which was closer to 40aed due to the 25aed loading fare for trips originating from the airport.
We arrived at a massive departures area, which seemed deserted due to its huge dimensions. Quickly got checked in and our choice of exit row seats were assigned. No weighing of hand luggage this time thankfully.
Straight through passport control and security and headed towards the Marhaba (pp) lounge. They also offer access FOC to Amex cardholders based in the Middle East (designated by cardnumber prefixes).
This lounge was pretty nice, at the time we were there (midnight to 3am) there were sandwiches, a small selection of cakes and a buffet selection of hot dishes. The chicken noodles were good! I much prefer this self service type of lounge compared to the waited service in the Clubhouse. There was a selection of alcohol available but I didn't partake on this occasion.
A little later my dad arrived on another flight to join us on our next sector, I signed him in to the lounge as guest on my PP, expecting a charge but none was mentioned by the dragon and nothing has appeared on my AX in the two weeks since...
We wandered what seemed like several miles to the gate through swathes of people, to find that boarding had already started. As we were in the aftmost cabin and most had already boarded, I was worried that I wouldn't get overhead locker space as the flight seemed like it was going to be full. Luckily we were ok and managed to stow our bags, and there were only a couple of spare seats in the whole of our section with a few lucky people managing to stretch out in them for the overnight.
The doors were closed and the cabin was sprayed with bug spray - on the reverse sector of this route we were surprised that they didn't spray - as my wife commented, there are so many varieties of bugs in Mauritius that there is surely nothing in Dubai that they haven't already got!
On this flight we had two proper meal trays, the first coming a short time after we were in the sky, a cajun chicken sandwich snack and blueberry muffin. Breakfast was served an hour and a half-ish before arrival - a choice of 'tomato omelette' which I had or 'potato pancake', the latter being served with veal sausage which I noticed was also present in the lounge - not sure if it was genuine veal or just beef lost in translation.
The bad part of this trip was that the recline in my seat was broken. I reported it to the FA who was very apologetic but just advised me to try and find an empty seat. As my wife had already been sleeping and wanted to sit up and watch a movie, I just switched with her and tried to get a little sleep.
Disembarkation was swift but being right near the back of the a/c meant a massive queue in immigration. Once through immigration there was a funny little checkpoint where they took health forms from people - like a landing card, but you report whether you have had any recent or current illness. Not sure what they would have done if you told them you had a cough/cold!
By the time we got through, our luggage came out shortly afterwards. We waited and waited for my dad's to come though (who had connected from another flight) and nothing. The carousel was emptied so he went to the enquiries counter. Turns out it fell off the carousel on the ramp side and he was reunited with it.
Overall, a reasonable flight just let down by the broken seat.
