The flight to Doha left on time - hurrah, another worry to cross off. There were just 6 of us in the cabin with 4 staff to attend to us.
The seats were lovely and could be manoeuvred into multiple positions.
We were greeted with a glass of Rose Champagne which as you can see caused Ian a Frankie Howerd moment.
It wasn't classed as a night flight so we didn't get pyjamas and slippers but we did get a very nice Bric Amenity Kit.
Dinner was "on demand" so we decided to try and have some sleep first and have our meal about 4 hours into the flight, which on reflection I think was probably the wrong way round. But when I did eat, the meal was delicious; Carrot and Coconut Soup, Chicken Tagine then Cheese and Biscuits. All beautifully presented - I really must get into this photographing the plate lark.
I feel they should rethink the naming of this non-alcoholic cocktail as despite, my considerably reduced consumption, I do still enjoy the odd glass or two.
All in all it was a very nice flight, but nothing outstanding.
We landed in Doha on schedule at about 23:15 and it took me a while to squeeze our belongings back into their various cases - everything seemed to have expanded. What we didn't realise was that we weren't at an aerobridge and there was a bus waiting for us on the tarmac - a special bus for just the 6 of us and I'd kept it waiting. Apologies duly delivered. We then proceeded to drive around the airport for about 15 mins before reaching the terminal. We got to the transfers area and it was heaving with people so I had a quick flashback to the nightmare of Mumbai Airport but in actual fact it was quite well organised. There were plenty of staff around and we were quickly pointed to the Business Class Transfer Area where all our carry on baggage had to be rescanned but only liquids removed from the bags. We made a short detour to the Duty Free purely to pinch a carrier bag (all our bags were in danger of overflowing) and then made our way to the much acclaimed Al Mourjan Lounge - it was massive and soulless!!!! I knew from research that there were all sorts of things on offer; restaurants, deli-cafes, massage, showers etc etc but it was nigh on impossible to find out what was where. Being the middle of the night neither of us were too bright, but Ian in particular was feeling quite rough, so we just sat ourselves down on the nearest chairs and had a cuppa. Just before we were leaving I spotted a map of amenities etched on the glass of a walkway - neither easy to spot, nor read.
I'm sure the place is wonderful if a) you know what's on offer, b) you know what you want and c) you can find it. None of these 3 applied to us this time - maybe on the way home when it'll be 5am :)
Anyway before long we found ourselves settling in on the next plane where the cabin was upstairs - all a very similar experience to the last one, except the Amenity Kits were a different colour (actually mine was the same so I swopped with another seat before its occupant arrived) and this time we had pyjamas from The White Company. The stewardess assured me that I was a small, but when she said she was too I had serious doubts and opted for a medium (also heard they shrink). I've never been on a plane with a bar onboard before so I wandered down to take a couple of photos, but the steward suggested I wait until 15 mins into the flight by which time he would have set everything up and it would look a whole lot better.
Back in my seat waiting for take-off and the captain announces that some poor soul has been taken ill and we'll be delayed whilst he's taken off the plane. That bit didn't take too long, but finding and removing his luggage took another hour and then we had to wait for traffic control. By the time we eventually took off, I was too tired to walk to the back of the plane and take my photos. Never mind, maybe on the home leg (I'm going to be so busy!)
We'd pre-ordered our meal and I chose to have mine straight after take-off, whereas Ian decided to have breakfast immediately and leave his fish meal until 2 hours before landing. Again the presentation and attention to detail was excellent and the place setting beautiful but unfortunately the amuse bouche resembled a t*rd so I rejected it instantly without even enquiring its origins. The meal; chicken kebab, flavoured rice and a kind of raita was all very nice and certainly filling so I stopped at the one course (actually come to think of it, I'm not sure I was offered any starter or sweet/cheese).
Then for some sleep - we were both too tired to wait for the beds to be made up (only involved a mattress topper and pillow case I think), Ian put his pyjamas on but didn't like them (too large - whoops perhaps she was right about small for me). I didn't bother as my travel trousers are very comfortable anyway. The bed was very comfortable and I managed a few hours of sleep but woke about 4 hours before we were due to land in Perth.
It was very hot and stuffy in the cabin so I wandered back to the bar area which was deliciously cool and empty, just Ignacio still on duty.
He's from Argentina (Buenos Aires specifically, but he hasn't heard of the BNA - Wendy, can you believe that?). He's worked for Qatar Airways for 3 years and was very pleasant.
A few photos of his lovely bar area, in daylight.
Somehow I never tire of gazing out of the window
Time passed very quickly and before long Kumal, who had appointed himself my personal steward, came and ordered me back to my seat for breakfast and spent ages berating me because I only wanted fruit. He was lovely and it was all done tongue in cheek and very good humoured.
(Candle in focus - fruit not DOH!)
All in all, this leg I enjoyed more as the staff seemed genuinely to be enjoying their jobs and their customers.