8/6/18

Moroccan mayhem was an aptly named title for my latest adventure.. that is until three days before the mayhem was due to begin when i stumbled across a very cheap cruise deal leaving Barcelona in five days time…. In fact, I should have actually named this chapter Mediterranean Mayhem… Must remember to make that change when I get back!

Anyway, you’ll hear all about Barcelona and where i’m heading in a few days. First, I need to leave Oz! Some of you are already in the know that this time around Weary is not travelling solo or with the parentals, this time a good mate of mine is joining the craziness! To avoid any unwanted notoriety, he’ll be known in the blog as S.

The mayhem began at 14.45pm when S and I boarded Etihad airways at Sydney International for Casablanca via Abu Dhabi. The very keenest of my readers will well know that I no longer travel Economy on a flight over 5 hours long, and this one was no different… well, sort of not different. I certainly flew business for the first leg to Abu Dhabi but managed an upgrade to first for the second leg into Casablanca! This means I’ve ticked off another bucket list item (albeit one that I never dreamed would ever be on the list!)

So to the dissection of the first leg Sydney to Abu Dhabi.. to be perfectly honest, I was more than pretty disappointed with Etihad Business. I’ve never flown Etihad before and I had high expectations considering it is a middle eastern airline.. Cathay Pacific or Singapore it is not– and Qantas and Virgin s$%t all over Etihad! We flew on an A380 which meant we were upstairs with the other fifty or so business passengers…. and I think this is where Etihad has gone wrong. There are so many people in business that the staff to passenger ratio is too low. I reckon I spoke to my “steward” maybe three times in the whole flight! I actually ended up using S’s steward (he was sitting on the other aisle) more than my own because at least she would come when I buzzed! I have to say that this is the first and last time I would fly Etihad business class, spend the extra couple of bucks and swap to Cathay or Singapore where you are guaranteed the best service known.

So the first leg was disappointing… the arrival at Abu Dhabi though, at midnight, well…. that’s where it starts to get far more pleasing. To start, first class passengers get access to their own first class lounge, where you can have a free 15min spa treatment as well as the usual, as much as you can eat, top shelf liquor and the all important hot, hot shower! We’ve been upgraded so we certainly indulged! Actually, probably not as much as I would have if it was not 1am in the morning (i wasn’t hungry and was feeling a bit average so didn’t bother with any cocktails) but we both lapped up the free spa treatment and partook in really comfy lounging around.

Boarding the plane was equally pleasing. We were the only first class passengers on the plane (it could have taken 12) so we had our very own chef + steward for the two of us!! So we went from no service, to service overload!! Our first class experience was only marred by one issue… S left his noise cancelling head phones in the lounge… Here’s hoping he can pick them up on the way back.

Flight wise.. I’ve got to say that I had the best sleep that i have ever had on a plane. The seats were very oversized (proper single bed sized) and were proper beds when in the lie flat mode with a full mattress topper + real sized pillow. Add to that the super comfy pjs (which were sadly lacking in business class), my very own bathroom + a piece of carrot cake and jasmine tea and I was out like a light for the whole flight! Also, no wake up call two- three hours before landing to eat brekky… we were woken an hour before landing for our full freshly cooked brekky. First class, yep it is the real deal!