Today I continue my journey from Amsterdam to Dublin. My flight is scheduled to depart at 07h25. I awake at 05h30, take a quick shower and then exit the hotel. As it’s only just coming up to six in the morning, the terminal is still fairly empty. The morning arrivals have yet to start, and the first local passengers are only just starting to trickle into the terminal.

The KLM Crown Lounge

My first stop of the day is the KLM Crown Lounge for breakfast. I’ve been rather curious about this lounge for a long time. Strangely, despite how often I travel with KLM, I’ve never managed to visit this lounge on any of my previous trips.

The lounge is closest to the F pier, which is used predominantly by widebodies and mainly by the SkyTeam airlines. It is located one floor above the public airside area. The escalators leading up into the lounge are adorned with the little Delft Blue houses that KLM gives long-haul Business Class passengers at the end of the flight as a farewell gift. It’s a nice touch that celebrates an old KLM tradition.

The lounge is enormous, with plenty of different seating options. Of course, the impression of size and space is emphasized by the fact that the place is more or less deserted at this time of the day.

The centerpiece of the lounge is the so called Dutch Mountain, which links the main floor of the lounge to the upper level. And this is where I decide to sit, surrounded by more KLM memorabilia.

The food options in this lounge are definitely much better than they are in the Schengen lounge. There is a warm breakfast buffet and you can even request a made to order omelette from the chef on duty – who will even regale you with an off key but rather endearing rendition of Christmas songs while he cooks.

Boarding

My flight is boarding from gate D 56, which is quite a schlepp from the lounge. At least the airport isn’t that busy, so there are no crowds to slow me down. By the time I arrive at the gate area, boarding has already started, so it’s difficult to tell just how busy the flight is, but I don’t think it’s very full.

Boarding finishes way ahead of time, which confirms that the flight is probably not so full. However, the captain comes on the loudspeaker to welcome us aboard and inform us that the transponder is on the blink and will need to be checked before we can leave. Eventually, we depart with a delay of fifty minutes.

The Cabin & Seat

There are three rows of Business Class on this aircraft, for a total of twelve passengers. Rows two and three are fully occupied. I‘m on 1A, and I have the whole row of three to myself. Mr 1F also has a whole row. The seat pitch on row 1 is very good, even on the window seat and despite the curvature of the hull.

The Service & Crew

The crew on this flight are absolutely top noch, really excellent. When it becomes apparent that we’re not going to be leaving at 07h25 as scheduled, they pass through the cabin with the fruit juice shots – today it’s banana and coconut. The crew are very attentive. For example, during the flight I ask for a glass of sparkling water, and the crew asks me if I’d like that with lemon and ice. Whenever she brings something, it’s from a tray and she pays attention to address me by name everytime.

The Meal – Breakfast

The flight time to Dublin is seventy minutes, so the food service starts very soon after take off.

The carrot pancakes are quite unusual, especially with the zesty lemon cream cheese. My only complaint is that they’re just a bit dry. I even manage to put at least some of the müsli in the yoghurt without making a total mess. The crew serve warm bread rolls and butter with the breakfast.

Arrival in Dublin

Midway between Britain and Ireland we start to slow down as we start our descent into Dublin. Which is a shame, really, because I rather enjoyed seeing the rising sun again for a change. The ramp is very crowded as we turn off the runway, and it looks as though a large part of the Aerlingus fleet was not active over the Christmas holiday.

Getting into Town

In Dublin I’m staying at the CitizenM near St. Patrick’s church. By Dublin Express bus it takes me about thirty minutes to make the journey. Officially it should take 44 minutes, but it’s early morning on Boxing Day and traffic is very light. I alight at Portobello. From there it’s just a short walk of about five minutes to the hotel.

Conclusion

This was another great flight with KLM. The crew really went out of their way to make up for the delay caused by the transponder issue, even though we eventually landed with a delay of only about twenty minutes.