Polar night and polar bear island - a Norwegian winter adventure

[Justinf]

Sparkling wines


I’m not a sparkling wine person. No not at all.
I had the middle one and it was undrinkable but I found out it was the nonalcoholic one.
Tried the Chardonnay but I just wasn’t feeling it and was quite tired.

 

[drron]

Is this the New JustinF. Wine before a beer in hand.

 

[Justinf]

I know this is important to some.

 

[Justinf]

Everyone has seen the Qsuite before so there is no need for pics?
A nice sparkling rose after seated.
PJs handed out.
Go Seahawks.

 

[Justinf]

The menu is the same as what was able to be chosen online.
I decided on the mezze plate after all and the barramundi.
The mezze plate had run out and so had the fish.
I just asked for the pasta.
I do have to say I wasn’t wowed by the service. Maybe the FA was new and inexperienced, but she didn’t really seem to know what she doing.

 

[Justinf]

Turned out the barra was available so I had that along with some salmon starter thing.
Meal was good without being outstanding. I was really too tired to bother savouring it though.

 

[Justinf]

The 2017 Pauillac was oustanding.
After that it was time to get the bed set up and sleep.
This was the most turbulent flight I have ever been on. The seatbelt sign was on for hours particularly when crossing the Indian Ocean until we flew over Sri Lanka..
Managed about 6 hours and I appreciated the extra length of the bed. Bed was comfortable enough, although constant turbulence resulted in sporadic on and off sleep.
The Starlink wifi is exceptional, but the cabin crew seem disinterested. Nobody is smiling and nobody seems happy to be there. I just asked for a bottle of water and got a bit of an eye roll.

 

[RooFlyer]

The mezze plate had run out

What! That’s really bad.

 

[Justinf]

What! That’s really bad.

Wasn’t a great start.
I think I might have asked the wrong person for the water. I went to the galley to ask myself.
The couple of times I have pressed the call bell since has been met with much more enthusiastic service.
Was feeling a bit peckish and was waiting for the breakfast service but then realise it is done on demand so I ordered the fresh fruit, which was absolutely a stand out and the eggs, crumpet and veal sausage.

 

[Justinf]

I wanted to try an Arabic coffee but the FA said it would take some time to prepare. Or she could have said something totally different. My hearing is bad lately and I need to get it checked out.


Still a couple of hours to go before landing in Doha.
The suites are nice and I could easily lounge around here for much longer.

 

[Justinf]

Looks like a busy morning.
We’ve been circling for a while.

 

[Justinf]

Late arrival and a massive walk to gate C93
Which is in a dungeon and requires getting you BP ticked off with no priority lane.
Then a wait for the bus out to the aircraft.
I’m sweaty, yuck and in desperate need of a shower bit finally got to seat 3L on the this Finnair A330-300.
After the Qsuites it is a letdown, but decent enough and far better than at the back.



Blueberry juice was very good.

 

[Justinf]

Flight time is now 8 hours instead of 7 because we have to fly around Iraqi airspace.
This is will throw a lot of passengers out with connections including me.
Ground crew are aware and I’ll find out more later on.

 

[Justinf]

Got some ripper shots of Doha on approach.

 

[Justinf]

Is this the New JustinF. Wine before a beer in hand.

I did have a sneaky Coopers Green beforehand.

 

[Justinf]

I get one hour free internet and then after that I have to pay for it. I think it’s something like €25 and if it’s this cough at uploading pics, I won’t bother,
My body clock is at 5pm Sunday and I was absolutely craving a beer. Despite being 9am here, there is no clock on a plane.
This one is very decent.

 

[Justinf]

Time for breakfast and while the presentation wasn’t exactly premium, the food was fresh and hearty and very enjoyable.

 

[Justinf]

After that I decided to try and get some more sleep.
The seats don’t recline and instead you manually lift up the middle piece to make it a flat bed.
I’ve heard lots of passengers enjoy these seats.
I’m in between. On one hand I really liked the bed. It was long enough for my ‘relatively’ tall body which meant I got to stretch out, but when sitting I definitely prefer to sit at an angle so the no recline was a no from me.
I grabbed a couple of hours and the turbulence again was immense.
With my free wifi expired I decided to pay €15 for three hours but it was disconnected when flying near Inidian air-space as apparently they don’t have Star link.
A snack service was offered and the roll was horrid, but only because I don’t like blue cheese. The fruit cup was bloody brilliant.

 

[Justinf]

My Oslo connection was looking grim, but full credit to the staff who kept me informed that the aircaft would wait and they kept me updated with the gate it would be leaving from, which was 35.
There was even an update on the personal screen that told me everything. Some passengers had way more tighter connections than me.
I looked up Helsinki to Oslo flights and there was one leaving at 7.40pm so if worse came to worse, I reckon I’d be put on that one and still make it.
About 90 minutes before landing another small snack service was offered which was hummus with some veggies and flatbread and some choccies. I had a coffee to go with it.
I was enjoying the fresh fruit and veg options to be honest. Much lighter on the old tummy.

 

[Justinf]

The remainder of the flight was pretty uneventful.
I was trying to search for my ice cave tour booking, but my god, I couldn’t find it.
Searched through my credit card transactions and no go.
I’ll give them a call tomorrow, but if I forgot to make the booking, it’s not available again until February 2 and I’ll be in Tromso.
Justin moment.
Some scenery coming into land in Helsinki.