Trip Report with Photos by The Travel Scholar (Page 2 of 3)
Boarding and Cabin Accommodations
After having a chance to relax, take some refreshments, and check email on my Apple PowerBook G4, I was invited to proceed to the departure gate boarding area. Flight 9 was served by MD-11 aircraft that day, which was substituted for the scheduled A330. Here are some photos taken of the aircraft from the gate area.
 Swiss MD-11 |
 Swiss, in five languages. |
Boarding was already in progress when I arrived at the gate. They had one queue for Economy passengers and another for both First and Business passengers. Both of these queues fed into a single jet bridge that led passengers through door 2L, which is situated between the First and Business cabins. For First Class passengers, it is nice that everyone else doesn't need to file past you as they board and take their seats. After boarding, I turned left and took my seat in 3A.
 Seat 3A with ottoman. |
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I was immediately greeted after boarding by the lead flight attendant and offered a choice of water, orange juice, or mimosa. I chose a class of orange juice, which was accompanied by a small dish of cashews. My seat had electronic controls, an adjustable headrest, adjustable lumbar support, a laptop power port, a reading light, a telephone, and a movable ottoman. After getting comfortably settled in, I was handed an amenity kit in a nice red bag and a selection of La Prarie hand, face, and eye creams. I was one of only two passengers in the First Class cabin, so the service was extremely personalised and relaxed.
The Swiss First
Class Cabin
Meal Service
Dinner service began shortly after our on-time departure. Here is the menu and wine card from my flight:
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Here are some photos from the dinner service with comments.
 The FA let me sample from three bottles of champagne--the First Class selection, the Business Class selection, and the "welcome champagne". He brought all three bottles to my seat, opened them, and poured them into three different glasses. Very nice. After I made a choice, he brought me the entire bottle in its own stainless bucket chilled on dry ice, shown here. |
 He prepared this appetiser to go along with my sampling of the champagne. I found it all to be quite good. This is described on the first line of the dinner menu. |
 This is the place setting. Very nice, I thought, except for the ridiculous plastic picnic knives. I loved the HUGE table, though! An assortment of breads were offered. |
 The FA then came by with an appetiser and salad cart, from which he served your choice of the appetisers listed on the menu. I chose to try some of everything, but declined the salad. |
 After commenting that I really enjoyed the curried shrimp, the FA returned with the appetiser cart and prepared me a second plate! |
 Here's the main course. I chose the beef, as described on the dinner menu above. |
 The main course was followed by a new cart with a full assortment of about five or six gourmet cheeses, fruits and a nice glass of port. |
 Already more than satisfied with the amount of food, the desert and espresso were just enough to top off a great meal and put me in the mood for some sleep! |
The meal service was very good quality, and the service provided by the flight staff was impeccable. There was every attention to detail made and the timing was very well-paced. It obviously helped that I was one of only two people in First, but I really felt like the flight staff took advantage of this opportunity to go even above and beyond their standard service. This made for a very special flight, indeed!
In-Flight Entertainment
The in-flight entertainment system consisted of personal DVD players and a selection of about fifteen DVD movies. There were also several audio channels available. I didn't use the IFE at all on this flight, mostly because there wasn't anything that interested me more than getting as much rest as possible after the meal service, so I don't remember anything about the specific programme content.
Overnight Service
Part of the extra personalised service included an offer to make our beds in separate seats. The other passenger was seated in 1A, so the flight staff offered to make seat 2A and the adjacent seat into beds during our meal service. That way, we could go directly to sleep afterwards. They also made a point to use the opposite aisle for cabin traffic so that the flight crew wouldn't disturb our rest in the middle of the night whilst performing their duties.
 The Swiss sleeper seat. |
 Breakfast service. |
I was able to enjoy a few solid hours of sleep before the breakfast service, which I requested to be as late as possible. The flight staff woke me about 45 minutes before arrival and served breakfast very efficiently, without being too rushed. The food was average for the most part, but the omelette was not so good, in my opinion. The good thing was is that I wasn't at all hungry, having ate so much for dinner. We arrived a few minutes ahead of schedule at Zürich, and because of the great sleeper seats, I felt relatively refreshed! What an altogether great flight experience!!
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