Sorry, sorry, sorry, it's taken so long to write this. [:I]
For peeps who don't know, we (my husband & I
) have just returned from our honeymoon, taking advantage of the 'Great Escapade' fare. This is a 'round the world' ticket offered by Virgin, Air New Zealand, Singapore and Silkair. We chose the business class fare so that we could take advantage of the VS UCS.
We combined the honeymoon trip with a fact finding mission in Auckland, because we plan to move there next year. Our route was...
2 nights in Hong Kong (Peninsula Hotel)
5 nights Sydney (Intercontinental)
3 nights Christchurch (The Heritage)
10 nights Auckland (The Garden Room)
2 nights Rarotonga (The Pacific)
3 nights Aitutaki (The Pacific)
I'll try and focus on the flights and hotels (with a few pics
) but for peeps who would like to know a bit more, please see our blog: http://www.milliemoomclean.blogspot.com.
Here's a bit of background. I'm 30 and the OH is 36. We have no kids and like a wee bit of luxury when we're on holiday. We've travelled to the Caribbean in PE before and the OH has been UC, but this was a first for the both of us for the UCS and the new Clubhouse. As we're moving the the other side of the planet, we plan on making a few LH trips in the coming years. We are by no means rich, and saved a long time for these fares (approx £3500 pp). I would much rather wait and save the money to go in a premium cabin, than fly in econommy for a LH flight. So people think I'm daft and would rather go on 3 r=trips for what I pay for 1, but hey, whatever floats ya boat [8D]
Edinburgh - LHR 12/11/05 BA 1449
We arrived in plenty of time to check-in for this flight as my sister gave us a lift to the airport. There's not much to say about EDI but we did see John Lesslie arrive on a flight from London. We'd tried to check-in online for this flight, which we could do, but it wasnt allowing us to change seats, so we didn't bother. We used the self-serve kiosks at the airport to check-in so we could chose our seats, then dropped off our bags. I wasn't sure how we'd get on with having sooooo much luggage, but nobody batted an eyelid on any of our flights. BA still don't have catering on their domestic flights so we asked to grab what we wanted off the trolly before we boarded. The seats were good, and service OK. The views coming into LHR were great.
When we arrived at LHR, we had to collect our luggage and trot off to terminal 3 to check-in for our VS flight to Hong Kong. What a hike! It took about 15/20mins to walk there, but when we took the lift up to departures, it opened up to all the VS desks. We kept walking until we reached the UC line. There was a chap checking passports before you enter the check-in area, but as we were the only people there, that wa sno problem. The check-in girls were very friendly and busy munching cakes when we arrived at the desk. All very straight forward (confirmed our seat reservations / 2&3K) and before we knew it, we were on our way to the Ch via fast track security. The queue was just as long as the standard queue, so we didn't save much time here.
The Clubhouse...what can I say. What a great way to start the trip. As soon as we arrived we were asked what we'd like to drink. The CH wasn't busy, but not too quiet either. I kept to Champagne whilst the OH started on the G&Ts. OH got a bit of a shock when the head of UK L&P for Standard Life walked in. LOL We both pre-booked treatments via email, so OH had his haircut while I had a pedicure. I was told that I couldn't have a full pedicure because of problems with the lights ??? hummmm not sure why they couldn't have plugged in an extra lamp if they needed more light. That said, the treatment was great and included a scalp and neck massage. After that we decided to have a meal. The food was very good and I'm glad we had a proper meal before getting on the flight. We then had a few more drinks before heading down to the gate for boarding.
LHR - Hong Kong VS200 12/11/05
There was a slight delay in boarding (can't remember why) so it was a bit of a scrum to get on. Ahhhhhh the joys of turning left. It wasn't long before we were offered Champagne and we got ourselves comfortable. Unfortunatley, my suite was not as clean as I would like, so I had to whip out the wipes to clean wine stains etc off the wall of the suite and the wee table under the lamp. The IFBT introduced herself and I requested a hydrating hand treatment. I can't say I was overly impressed with the menu, there just didn't seem to be that much choice. We did have a meal though and mine was quite tasty, but OH's vege option was fairly poor. After messing around on the Mac for a bit and a failed attempt to watch 'Festival' (please don't waste your time, I turned it off after about 20 mins, what a load of tripe) I asked for my bed to be made up. Ohhhhhhhh there's nothing like snuggling into a soft duvet on a LH flight. I had a great sleep, but OH found it a bit hot and kept waking up. After about a 6 hour sleep I woke up and hogged the toilet before everyone else woke up. I'd taken advantage of the sleep suit and did manage to overcome my fear of airline toilets. I was called by the IFBT before breakfast and had a great treatment. My hand were sooooooo soft.
Right, now onto breakfast. Why O Why offer 'lightly toasted bagels' if all you can manage is 'cremated unediable bagel' ?? -10 points for breakfast as I couldn't actually eat it!
We disembarked quite promptly and didn't have to wait long at immigration. We'd arranged a Rolls Royce transfer with the Peninsula, and we weren't disappointed. The journey was very smooth (although the bottles of water we were offered were warm) and took about 40mins to get to the hotel. As we pulled up to the hotel the car door was opened for us and we were greeted by name...nice touch. Check-in was very smooth and as we were escorted to our room we were told that they'd upgraded the room to one at the front of the hotel with a better view (humpf no suite then [:I]) I have to say, the pen gave us the best 'honeymoon gifts'. we had Champagne, flowers, fruit, silver plated photo frame and chocolates. After about 10 mins, house keeping brought us some jasmine tea. Lovellllly. The room was very spacious and the bathroom had a TV in it! I was a bit disappointed in the cost of laundry/ironing services. The room didn't have an iron/board and because they offer the ironing service I felt too embrassed to ask for one. Glad I packed the travel iron.
Breakfasts at the Pen were excellent and dinner at Felix was something else. I'd highly recommend a cocktail with midori in it, but I can't rememebr waht they were called. Very yummy though. We spent about £150 for both of us and that included 3 courses, wine and cocktails.
** Sorry, going to have to pause and come back to this tomorrow **
Milliemoo
For peeps who don't know, we (my husband & I
) have just returned from our honeymoon, taking advantage of the 'Great Escapade' fare. This is a 'round the world' ticket offered by Virgin, Air New Zealand, Singapore and Silkair. We chose the business class fare so that we could take advantage of the VS UCS.We combined the honeymoon trip with a fact finding mission in Auckland, because we plan to move there next year. Our route was...
2 nights in Hong Kong (Peninsula Hotel)
5 nights Sydney (Intercontinental)
3 nights Christchurch (The Heritage)
10 nights Auckland (The Garden Room)
2 nights Rarotonga (The Pacific)
3 nights Aitutaki (The Pacific)
I'll try and focus on the flights and hotels (with a few pics
) but for peeps who would like to know a bit more, please see our blog: http://www.milliemoomclean.blogspot.com.Here's a bit of background. I'm 30 and the OH is 36. We have no kids and like a wee bit of luxury when we're on holiday. We've travelled to the Caribbean in PE before and the OH has been UC, but this was a first for the both of us for the UCS and the new Clubhouse. As we're moving the the other side of the planet, we plan on making a few LH trips in the coming years. We are by no means rich, and saved a long time for these fares (approx £3500 pp). I would much rather wait and save the money to go in a premium cabin, than fly in econommy for a LH flight. So people think I'm daft and would rather go on 3 r=trips for what I pay for 1, but hey, whatever floats ya boat [8D]
Edinburgh - LHR 12/11/05 BA 1449
We arrived in plenty of time to check-in for this flight as my sister gave us a lift to the airport. There's not much to say about EDI but we did see John Lesslie arrive on a flight from London. We'd tried to check-in online for this flight, which we could do, but it wasnt allowing us to change seats, so we didn't bother. We used the self-serve kiosks at the airport to check-in so we could chose our seats, then dropped off our bags. I wasn't sure how we'd get on with having sooooo much luggage, but nobody batted an eyelid on any of our flights. BA still don't have catering on their domestic flights so we asked to grab what we wanted off the trolly before we boarded. The seats were good, and service OK. The views coming into LHR were great.
When we arrived at LHR, we had to collect our luggage and trot off to terminal 3 to check-in for our VS flight to Hong Kong. What a hike! It took about 15/20mins to walk there, but when we took the lift up to departures, it opened up to all the VS desks. We kept walking until we reached the UC line. There was a chap checking passports before you enter the check-in area, but as we were the only people there, that wa sno problem. The check-in girls were very friendly and busy munching cakes when we arrived at the desk. All very straight forward (confirmed our seat reservations / 2&3K) and before we knew it, we were on our way to the Ch via fast track security. The queue was just as long as the standard queue, so we didn't save much time here.
The Clubhouse...what can I say. What a great way to start the trip. As soon as we arrived we were asked what we'd like to drink. The CH wasn't busy, but not too quiet either. I kept to Champagne whilst the OH started on the G&Ts. OH got a bit of a shock when the head of UK L&P for Standard Life walked in. LOL
We both pre-booked treatments via email, so OH had his haircut while I had a pedicure. I was told that I couldn't have a full pedicure because of problems with the lights ??? hummmm not sure why they couldn't have plugged in an extra lamp if they needed more light. That said, the treatment was great and included a scalp and neck massage. After that we decided to have a meal. The food was very good and I'm glad we had a proper meal before getting on the flight. We then had a few more drinks before heading down to the gate for boarding.LHR - Hong Kong VS200 12/11/05
There was a slight delay in boarding (can't remember why) so it was a bit of a scrum to get on. Ahhhhhh the joys of turning left. It wasn't long before we were offered Champagne and we got ourselves comfortable. Unfortunatley, my suite was not as clean as I would like, so I had to whip out the wipes to clean wine stains etc off the wall of the suite and the wee table under the lamp. The IFBT introduced herself and I requested a hydrating hand treatment. I can't say I was overly impressed with the menu, there just didn't seem to be that much choice. We did have a meal though and mine was quite tasty, but OH's vege option was fairly poor. After messing around on the Mac for a bit and a failed attempt to watch 'Festival' (please don't waste your time, I turned it off after about 20 mins, what a load of tripe) I asked for my bed to be made up. Ohhhhhhhh there's nothing like snuggling into a soft duvet on a LH flight. I had a great sleep, but OH found it a bit hot and kept waking up. After about a 6 hour sleep I woke up and hogged the toilet before everyone else woke up. I'd taken advantage of the sleep suit and did manage to overcome my fear of airline toilets. I was called by the IFBT before breakfast and had a great treatment. My hand were sooooooo soft.
Right, now onto breakfast. Why O Why offer 'lightly toasted bagels' if all you can manage is 'cremated unediable bagel' ?? -10 points for breakfast as I couldn't actually eat it!
We disembarked quite promptly and didn't have to wait long at immigration. We'd arranged a Rolls Royce transfer with the Peninsula, and we weren't disappointed. The journey was very smooth (although the bottles of water we were offered were warm) and took about 40mins to get to the hotel. As we pulled up to the hotel the car door was opened for us and we were greeted by name...nice touch. Check-in was very smooth and as we were escorted to our room we were told that they'd upgraded the room to one at the front of the hotel with a better view (humpf no suite then [:I]) I have to say, the pen gave us the best 'honeymoon gifts'. we had Champagne, flowers, fruit, silver plated photo frame and chocolates. After about 10 mins, house keeping brought us some jasmine tea. Lovellllly. The room was very spacious and the bathroom had a TV in it! I was a bit disappointed in the cost of laundry/ironing services. The room didn't have an iron/board and because they offer the ironing service I felt too embrassed to ask for one. Glad I packed the travel iron.
Breakfasts at the Pen were excellent and dinner at Felix was something else. I'd highly recommend a cocktail with midori in it, but I can't rememebr waht they were called. Very yummy though. We spent about £150 for both of us and that included 3 courses, wine and cocktails.
** Sorry, going to have to pause and come back to this tomorrow **
Milliemoo
Seriously though he loves it over there and says it was the best thing he has ever done. He's even converted to the egg chasing game now!
