The last couple of times I had visited my brother, he had mentioned that Emirates flew into Durban and had tried to persuade me to try that but I had remained loyal to Virgin Atlantic, driven by the cost of Emirates at that time and the fact that the connections in Dubai took place in the middle of the night (and to be honest I can’t remember if there was even a DUB-DXB flight on Emirates then). However the trip reports posted by HWVlover on his jaunts to the Antipodes had tempted me to consider the option and the routing of DUB-DXB-DUR yielded a very nice fare in Business, far cheaper than anything VS/BA/SAA could offer on the LHR-JNB leg alone and I still would have had to have added the ORK-LHR and the JNB-DUR fares to that. Emirates was offering one connection, VS would mean two. Even going via AMS was still yielding a higher fare on VS/BA. Emirates was rapidly becoming a no brainer.
The negatives were that I had to get to Dublin; that I had a ten hour layover on the outbound and that I had a 1 hour 35 minutes connection on the inbound in the middle of the night (Irish/UK time) plus returning from Dublin to West Cork. Oh, and I had priced an Emirates flight via LHR and that too was pricey. One by one, the negatives disappeared. I am entitled to free travel by bus and rail within Ireland; Aer John now lives in Dublin and works at the airport; my Business class ticket entitled me to a CDC to and from the airport within a 75K radius plus a complimentary overnight stay in an hotel in Dubai while awaiting my connection plus CDC travel there. Feeling all kinds of a traitor, I booked the Emirates flights and in the fullness of time, the overnight stay in the hotel in DXB. This had not been an automatic part of the booking and I had called them to do so but as time progressed and in the absence of a confirmation email, and alerted by vegascrazy’s plight about a CDC to which he had received no confirmation, I called Emirates once more and was reassured that the hotel reservation was there, as was the CDC and that my bags would be checked all the way through to Durban (trans: pack an overnight bag with a change to warm weather clothes). Oh yes, the CDC. Aer John lives within a ten minute drive to Dublin Airport on the opposite side of the M50 motorway but when I went to book it, the website had a minimum of 3 hours pick-up! 
Check-in was only opening then! My flight was due to leave Dublin at 12.55pm and the reality was that the only train to connect with that from Cork in the morning was the 7.30am. Throughout my working life I had had experience of that and it was not pleasant, especially on a Monday morning. It was always packed with people heading to the capital for meetings, court appearances in the Four Courts whether as lawyers or witnesses and pensioners taking advantage of the free travel to spend a day on the train which was warmer and cheaper than trying to heat their homes (I kid you not!). The worst part would be the likelihood of meeting former colleagues and spend the next two and a half hours listening to them moaning about how awful the work had become and how lucky I was to get out when I did. Boring! No, the best option was to travel up on the Sunday and stay overnight with Aer John as mentioned before.
A couple of days before the flight I started embarking on the whole process of packing - the bit where you put out all the clothes you intend to take and then in line with the all the recommendations from just about everybody, you remove half and three hours later you put them all back “just in case”.
Taking a breather, I noticed a missed call on the phone. It was a Dublin number, one that I didn’t recognise - but then I don’t know any Dublin numbers except for Aer John’s work one and it wasn’t that. Besides, it was a Saturday and he doesn’t work then. Intrigued I rang back. It was the CDC firm employed by Emirates to confirm the booking and details of the pickup. This was looking very impressive. Full marks there. 
Sunday dawned bright and sunny and after bidding a fond farewell to my friends and colleagues, I was transported to Cork by more friends where I embarked on my free trip to Dublin courtesy of Iarnród Éireann in a half-empty train - possibly the most pleasant train trip I have taken in Ireland.
Aer John met me at the station and we headed off for something to eat (guess who picked up the tab ) before heading off to his apartment to meet his flatmate who is an undertaker’s daughter from County Kerry and the two spent the evening planning my funeral!!!! I think I was rather relieved when she headed off to spend the night with friends.Early the next morning I was up and about. Aer John had headed off to work and at about 9.30am I had a call from the CDC. The driver was seeking further directions and, having received them, arrived just as I exited Aer John’s apartment complex. Within minutes I was in Dublin Airport and within minutes I was wishing that there had been a less than three hours pick-up time.
Oh, don’t get me wrong. Check-in was as pleasant an experience as I could wish for. I had done OLCI and had scores a magnificent 334 on the DUB-DXB leg and an honourable 330 on the DXB-DUR leg and felt truly blessed that I had avoided the dreaded SEQ 1. The very nice CDC driver escorted me along with my bags, to the desk. The dear Polish lady who checked me in was delightful and provided me with my boarding cards for not only my DUB-DXB flight but also my DXB-DUR one plus my hotel voucher for the night. This was going rather splendidly! Well until I reached the lounge, that is! Emirates uses the DAA Premier Lounge which is essentially a Priority Pass lounge and shared with a large number of airlines. It is not very big and when I entered (after a very nice welcome, I must admit) it was jointed and I found it difficult to find a seat. 
There was a large alcove for food and beverages which at that time of the morning was breakfast items consisting of cereals and pastries and was self-service. However the coffee machine was inoperable and needed to be emptied and it took ages for someone to come and do it. In the meantime, however, a Delta flight was called and approximately three quarters of the people left leaving ample seating - and also a business man who yacked incessantly on his phone at the top of his voice much to the annoyance of half the people there. It was a relief when he finally shut up about an hour later! Eventually I managed to get some coffee and later on helped myself to some cheese and biscuits and a glass of white wine, even though I had to poke around to find the wine and also had to wait while they washed some knives! 
Incidentally I looked around for champagne. Yes it was available but at €15 a glass!! Thanks, but no thanks but all I could think of was that I could be quaffing it for nothing in the Emirates lounge in LHR. At least the wifi was great. In the fulness of time the incoming flight arrived nicely on time and parked almost next to the lounge. Apparently, Emirates, Etihad and Swiss pay megabucks for that stand as it is the nearest gate to the departure lounge and the business lounges in particular. Shortly afterwards Aer John arrived to say goodbye 
and spent a pleasant half hour before trotting off back to work. By then it was nearly time to board and so I gathered my things ready to go just as the boarding call came and it was a quick hop and a step to the gate.Most people were on board by this time and there was no queue to board. I was welcomed by name and directed to my seat in 7K. To get there, I had to pass the First Class cabin on this 777 and I got my first chance to see Emirates’ suites. There were a couple of business men installed therein and they were chortling with glee and opening a closing the doors like a couple of schoolkids on a day off from school. My impression of the suites at first glance was that the doors were very reminiscent of the corridor trains from long ago and that the suites themselves were much smaller than I expected. I really didn’t get much chance to have more than a quick peek however, mainly because of the antics of the occupants who were sliding the doors open and shut and calling out to each other as they discovered each new treasure. In any case, other passengers were boarding behind me and I needed to move on. Arriving at my seat I found a gentleman sitting in it.
I politely informed him that he was sitting in my seat but he denied that he was; that it was his seat. I asked him his seat number. It was 7J. I pointed out that it was the aisle seat but he was insistent that 7J was the window seat. Other passengers weighed in telling him that 7K was the window seat but he refused to move until the cabin crew came up and asked him to move to his proper seat which he did with ill grace. Great! I was going to be stuck next to him for the next 8 hours! It was going to be a fun trip! Once I had settled into my rightful seat and had accepted a glass of champagne, much to the annoyance of my neighbour who was an Emirati and thus not partaking of the fermented juice of the grape, I looked around the cabin which was very small and looked and felt very cramped. There were only four rows but with a 2-3-3 config it seemed quite crowded.
After a rather boring safety video, we pushed back on time and with a very quick trip to the runway, we were airborne within minutes of leaving the gate. Once at cruising altitude, the crew came round and took both drinks and meal orders. I was soon in possession of a G&T (natch!) and a generous dish of warmed nuts while Mr Emirati partook of a glass of water. I, of course, graciously accepted a refill. Well how could I resist, especially when addressed by name? Lunch was delicious. I had smoked chicken,
While this was happening, I managed to work out how to use the IFE. Emirates boasts a large selection of films but because it has a wide network of countries there are many foreign language films and the TV programmes were mostly American ones so there wasn’t much to grab me there. In any case, I’m not much of a film-goer so I watched Mamma Mia! for the umpteenth time. Mind you, I did giggle when I realised that it had been edited. Remember the scene where Julie Waters goes to the Swedish bloke’s boat and gets invited to breakfast and he turns round to show that all he’s wearing is a pinny?
Well, that 5 second shot of his bare bum has been cut!! After that I set the IFE to the map and spent the rest of the flight on my iPad. And what did Mr Emirati watch? Walt Disney’s Cinderella over and over again! The rest of the flight was quite forgettable. Towards the end we were served tea/coffee and some Walkers Shortbread Fingers - a bit meagre to say the least. As we began our descent the IFE showed the gates for connecting flights for the next couple of hours which was useful for such a busy hub.
Our flight was due into Dubai at 12.25am but was pleasantly early and it was just before midnight when we landed. Because my onward flight wasn’t until 10.25am and I was being accommodated in an hotel overnight, I needed to go through Immigration and so began the long trek there. It seemed to go on forever and by that time I was rather tired even though it was only 8pm Irish (and UK) time. What surprised me was how busy it was at that time of night. It was heaving! Immigration was quick and because I didn’t have any bags to pick up I headed out landside to pick up my car to take me to the hotel. I had not noticed the Emirates Chauffeur Car sign and I couldn’t see any of the drivers with my name. However a quick query directed me to the place for the Emirates CDC which is a separate enclosed area. Once there I was asked for my PNR and shortly afterwards I and three others who had been waiting for my arrival, were ushered into a people carrier and driven to Le Meridien hotel at the airport.
At the hotel we were driven, not to the sumptuous front door, but a side door with an Emirates sign lit above it and its own small check-in area. Ahead of us and checking out was a middle-aged English lady who was quibbling about her bill. She had missed her connection to Colombo, had been accommodated in the hotel and was claiming that she had been told that everything in the room was complimentary. She had had a G&T from the minibar and was refusing to pay for it! By that stage I was ready to scream “For God’s sake, pay it, lady and let me get to bed” even though she was a fellow G&T drinker. Some people give us G&T quaffers a bad name! Fortunately another clerk became vacant and I was checked in quickly and efficiently. I was informed that fruit, wine, tea and coffee were all complimentary but anything from the minibar would be charged; that the car would pick me up to return to the airport at 8.30am and I was offered and accepted an alarm call. My room was in a wing of the hotel that seemed to be reserved entirely for Emirates passengers. It was large and pleasant, made even more pleasant by a full bottle of red wine on the table with a label which read “Complimentary” which, as I read it changed into the words “Drink me!” Which I did! Well only one glass, before I headed for bed and a good night’s sleep.
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