Holidaytravel with allegro25 jr. & sr. > SQ AMS-SIN-KIX-SIN-CGK-YOG-CGK-SIN-AMS

[9V-SIA]

Sanjusan Gendo (next to hotel) & Arashimaya

Never been to the other places so do let us know how it turns out.

[Allegro25]

Part 1B check-in

Finally settled in the SKL AMS, i saw so many things and written out notes on my notepad.... i didn't know TR are such hard work!


Was very misty to the airport, some KL flights got cancelled, traffic on the road busy at 07.00 mornings, i dropped allegro25 sr. at T3 and went to drive onwards to long term parking. I catched the bus back to T3 and then we went together to check-in.


At every door to the terminal you will see the signs about the limited liquids rule.

CHECK IN
There are dedicated SQ check-in counters at row 24 in T3


Business class (&*G) has two dedicated counters with nice blue carpets. Economy has 3 and economy internet check-in has 1, so in total 6 counters.


Security was fierce, i was actually not allowed to make pictures of the check-in desks, not of the new businees liverage and not even of the carpet. Naturally i managed to sneek in some shots but iwill post them when in SIN..... you never know....


The check-in staff at AMS is outsourced, by globeground or menzies so they are not wearing SQ check-in uniforms. I was checked in by a Dutch Girl, friendly, efficient and prompt. She was open for small talk, especially when i said i had a box to check-in containing old spectacles from nuns of MST for nuns in YOG (a very long story will explain later!) She even double taped it to make the box securely closed and even gave it a priority tag! Those nuns will get some high priority spectacles The girl also issued our BP (new style) and gave the directions to the SKL.


Overall i say this part went okay! But later on i heard from the lounge dragon some interesting gossip about the check-in procedure!

[Allegro25]

Now in SKL AMS about SKL AMS part 1A

Some quick facts first because i'm starving.....

• SKL opens at 08.00 everyday
• Boarding calls are made around 10.15 (then the SKL closes for the rest of the day)
• There is a SKL sign in front of the door, no cardbord Singapore Girl unfortunatly!
• Toilets are inside the lounge
• Toilets are seperatly for men and women with men's bathroom holding toothbrush(C), comb(C), shaving cream (F), shaver (C)
• WIFI is free and available (although i heard from the english gentleman next to may the connection is not good, he just plugged in using LAN.
• F stationary and postcards are available
• There is adjenct computer room with 3 pc's, 1 out of order
• There is no Christmas decoration
• The lounge dragon is actually the most cheerfull person on the spot, making jokes in Dutch and in English!
• Lot's of Dutch, English magazines aswell as newspapers (even the Strait's Times)

Will post more info and the gossip in the next post!

[leo]

Off to a good start!! I love flying through Schipol, although it's a same pain as any other European airport, the Dutch have an innate sense of humour which is just sublime I tell you..

[Allegro25]

Am back!
Actually i had an unexpected visit to Zurich on Swiss so did not have time to write my TR. I will start on it this weekend so by monday expect an instalment with pictures! THX

[matt_will_fix_it]

Am back!
Actually i had an unexpected visit to Zurich on Swiss so did not have time to write my TR. I will start on it this weekend so by monday expect an instalment with pictures! THX

Interesting that you ended up in Zurich! Look forward to the TR to find out what happened.

[Allegro25]

PART 1C SKL AMSTERDAM entry

After our swift check-in we went to the SKL. It is located in the airport on level 2 of departures airside. It is currently the only Star Alliance lounge at AMS. Other lounges in the therminal are KLM, Menzies, Globeground, British Airways and JAL. Unfortunatly Amsterdam is a bit short on quality lounges!

Walking in the corridor you are greeted by a sign saying Silver Kris Lounge voor First, Rafless Class, PPS, Krisflyer elite gold and *G.


Upon entering the door you will first encounter the lounge dragon behind her desk.



She will check boarding passes but in case of flying other *alliance airlines she will ask for a *G FFP-card as an entry requirement. The first impressions are good, the lounge looks clean, the lounge dragon is a talkative person in Dutch aswell as in English. Upon asking what the opening times are of the lounge she answered; everyday but only from 08.00 morning till about 10.15. At that time she will make the boarding announcement so that the PAX can stroll towards the gate. When there was still SQ 23 / 24 between AMS-EWR the lounge opened earlier. After the flight leaves she will clean the lounge and restock and then the lights are out, the door locked till the next morning. While we were casually chatting she gave lots of interesting gossip and information.

• At AMS only 6 people are in employment by SQ directly
• AMS SKL performs mediocore because there are never complaints or commentsf orm filled in and sent to the head office. (Ofcourse I was the first in weeks to fill out a customer comments form).
• The gossip: because check-in staff is outsourced, the lounge dragon mentions that they often forget to ask for FFP-numbers during check-in for PAX. When people are entering the SKL the lounge dragon wil offer to check if the FFP number is in the system and make otherwise the necessary additions. It is typical Dutch to get at least the millage right and accrued as it is part of maybe your next free ticket
• I got a peek in the store room

On her desk several brochures were displayed; Krisworld, immigration forms, SQ boarding pass privilages, comment forms and SIA Hop-on. Also there was a bowl with Lindt chocolate milch nuss and King Mints. I must mention that she also helped non-english PAX fill in the Singapore immigration forms. Futhermore I saw also that she helped a United *G PAX flying in Y get a better seat and checked his FFP for milleage.

[Allegro25]

PART 1C SKL AMSTERDAM Computer Room

Now on to the lounge itself!
Left of the lounge dragon’s desk is the computerroom = business centre



In front of it are cabinets with newspapers and magazines. 3 PC workstations were available although 1 was out of order. There is complimentary WIFI available aswell as LAN connections. I used the workstation and found internet to work fast. In the computer room there was F stationary,

SKL notesheets.

postcards and some other reading material available.

Internet:

[Allegro25]

PART 1C SKL AMSTERDAM Lounge room

Moving out the computer and onward, you get into the lounge itself, it is rectangular with windows that give a view of the streetside Sheraton hotel and terminal 1 and 2. There is 1 television with CNN. It surprised me no X-mas decorations were up. There are leather couches around the corners and leather round sofas around small tables. I heard people talking about their destinations, Melbourne, Medan and Singapore. We were 1 of the first and gradually the lounge filled up to 20+ people, everybody had their own seat.

View towards the windows:




Views inside towards the food and drinks counter:



Seats and sofas:

[Allegro25]

PART 1C SKL AMSTERDAM Signs and toilets

Whilest Sr. went for breakfast, I went to the toilets. I find it at least more then appropiate if a lounge has it own set of toilets! Everything looked clean and the amenities on offer were toothbrush set, comb, F shaving cream and razor.





Also the peace is preserved using this sign:


And due to European and Dutch regulations the whole airport is non smoking. There are not even smoking rooms.

[Allegro25]

PART 1C SKL AMSTERDAM Drinks

The food and drinks counter were tidy and nicely arranged, next to it was the fridge.
Cuttleries and cups were all F-branded.
The fridge:


Cups and the cutleries (there were no knives):



Here’s a list of the drinks on offer:
Non alcoholic
Canned Coca Cola, light, Sprite, Fanta, Tonic, Bitter Lemon
Twinnings tea baggs
Nescafe instant coffe automat
Crystaline still water
Yakult



Alcoholic
Canned Beer Grolsch and Heineken
A flask of Bols Dutch Jenever
Champagne; several small bottles called: “Pommery Pop”
Drambuie
Kahlua
Amaretto
Tia Maria
Herring Sherry
Molina Sambuco
Cointreau
Barcardi and Super Lemon
Cognac XO Hennesy
Martini X-dry, Rosso, Bianco
Harvey’s Bristol Cream
Campari
Tio Pepe port
(+tabasco and worcestershire sauce)

[Allegro25]

PART 1C SKL AMSTERDAM Food

Although there is no real hot food offerings i must say that for a continental breakfast they do have nice items in stock:

• Sultana fruit biscuits
• Bifi packed sausages
• Packed sandwiches gezond (veggies), kaas-bieslook (cheese-hebs), BLT, ei kaas-bieslook (egg cheese hebs)
• Packets of fruit salad
• Mona fruit yoghurt
• Packed big sugar waffles
• Cheeses and Jam
• Cup a soup
• Dutch stroopwafels
• Instant chinese cup noodles
• Lindt Lindor Milch chocolates

If you like to read while you eat the following magazines and newspapers are available:
Asiamoney
Bloomberg markets
Appetite
AMS Schiphol shopping brochures best buys
Brochures of RBS Royal Bank of Scotland
Priority, the magazine for PPS Club
Zakenreis (Dutch business traveller)
Grande reizen (travel)
Super Yachtworld
Straits Times
Financial Times
And more...

[Allegro25]

PART 1D a detour and then boarding

After having our fill with sandwiches, yoghurt and coffee we headed towards the gate around 10.00. After saying goodbye to the lounge dragon we walked a small detour so that can i take this picture of the JAL Sakura Lounge. As you see US Airways Envoy Class PAX may also use this lounge but it is not for *G. It is surprising to know that SQ 323/324 are codeshare with LOT and US. I heard stories before of people flying PHL-AMS-SIN as this is the easiest and more cheaper route. The US and SQ flights in both ways provide an easy and reliable connection time of 3 hrs. It could be that the all business direct A345 flight EWR-SIN forces US Y PAX to take the PHL-AMS-SIN route.



At the gateroom security went quick, there were only polite requests to remove any laptops for separate scanning. No removal of shoes or liquid bags. Whilest waiting for the boarding call I saw that a group of 4 / 5 elderly were pre-boarded by the groundstaff, they were wheelchair bound so I guess they needed extra help before the whole crowd would burst in.

After that, boarding calls were made: at first the families with small children then Business Class, PPS Club and *G were called, Y was asked to remain seated. At this point Allegro25 Sr. was already getting fidgety and wanted to board as first, reluctantly I joined him. We walked the aerobridge towards the aircraft. Amsterdam aerobridges have no carpeting and while walking we noticed there is only 1 passage to the aircraft and no separate corridor for Business Class PAX. Sr. usually finds the sign: turn left for F & C and right for Y the most magical sign ever. I told them that maybe because there is no F or the plane is to smalll that the airport only allows a single aerobridge for use.

Our 777-200ER:

[Allegro25]

PART 1E finally in the aircraft

We entered the aircraft at door 2L and after our boarding passes were checked by a steward and the chief stewardess, we were greeted and asked to make a left turn for the C-cabin.


First impression was the X-mas decorations.


I do find it a nice touch to know that there is an x-mas spirit around. At our seats lay ready a pillow and a in plastic wrapped blanket. Sr.’s leather jaket was offered to be hanged away by the FA and for that she asked his boarding pass. It seems that it will be hanged together with the item so there will be no confusion over who owns what item. Very smart I must admit, it would horrible if you walk away with someone else’s coat.

After we settled, Sr’s first remark was that the seat distance to the seat in front of your seat feels kinda cramped. He thinks that seat rows are a bit to close placed. I pointed out that the understorage of the seat in front is not for luggage but that the footrest and seat extend to slide into the understorage. Also I found out that no luggage maybe stored there, the FA had approached other passengers and requested that all luggage should be placed in the overhead bin.

A picture of the seat controls

A picture of the videoscreen

A picture of the handset

A picture of the readinglight, power outlet


The FA came round carrying a variety of newspapers. On offering were Dutch Algemeen Dagblad, English Financial Times, Straits Times and Herald Tribune. Sr. Asked for a USA Today which was delivered in a flash later. She also brought in several magazines. I usually opt for the Business Traveller because of the juicy travel news, she didn’t have it with her but she promised to go see if it may be in the galley. And yes within seconds she brought me the Business Traveller.

After other PAX made there magazine selections she put the remainder in the magazine rack next to the toilets.

With our hands full of reading material we were offered the pre take off drinks. Water, OJ, champagne and the cocktail of the month; “solitaire dreams” were offered. I had the champagne for a good start. Sr. is always a bit boring with always taking water or beer. After that the menus were distributed.




It finally dawned to me that I did not hear any boarding music, as I recall in Y there used to be an orchestral tune playing in the background. My thoughts were interrupted by an announcement stating that luggage should be stored in the overhead bin or under the seat in front. I guess the Y PAX were herded for boarding at that time. We got our nice hot towels and after finishing our drinks and getting adjusted in our seats the captain made his announcement. As for this sector, announcements were very clear and loud, normally the sound quality can be shaky bad or to soft that I consider myself deaf but now they were easy on the ears. The captain told us that we would take depart at 11.25 and that the cargo door was still open. The route for today would go over eastern Europe, India and Malaysia. He also ushered a pre take off turbulance warning. As because of the mist and clouds above AMS it would take a bit longer before the seatbelt sign would be turned off. Not a while longer we heard that all doors had been closed and with a delight our minds turned at ease and we were getting in the holiday mood. The LSS made an announcement about switching mobiles off and stop using any electronic devices. She also reffered to the health tips card for a more pleasurable travel.

After that came the safety announcements in Dutch, they were of the taped variety but nevertheless this male voice was clear and reminded me that i should try to speak Dutch without any accent. After this the FA came by each passenger for the drink orders when inflight. I asked for the difference between the Singapore Sling and Silver Kris Sling and the FA assured me that the Singapore Sling was the more popular favorite and more sweeter for taste. With this in mind i opted for the Singapore Sling.

The reading materials in the seatpocket:

[Allegro25]

PART 1E finally in the aircraft part 2

The FA's in the cabin were of the cheerfull variety, smiled constantly and it certainly increased the holiday festive mood.

This is the legroomshot (inspired by SQFlyergirl)


Krisworld flightmap was already active:


An announcement was made to give attention to the safety video demonstration. It was my old time favorite with the strict lady and with the signature SQ soothing musical tune.


This time i saw Dutch subtitles were provided!

While watching the aircraft was moving towards its take-off position. Once there the captain announced for cabin crew to prepare for departure and to be seated. The LSS made a reminder announcement to securely fasten the seatbelts, this was repeated in Dutch by the male on a tape voice.

Finally take-off took place and we entered soothly in the mist. When cruising altitude was reached, the seatbelt sign was switched off but announced was to keep your seatbelt fastened while seated or to keep it fastened over the blanket. This was repeated in Dutch; " Dames en Heren, het bordje riemen vast is uitgeschakeld, wij adviseren u bij het zitten u stoel riem vast te maken."

Headphones and the aminity pouch with sockettes and eyeshades were distributed.


Oh la la la luxury by givenchy:


Afterwards cabin crew passed the ordered drinks, the logo on glassware is still the palm tree rafless class:


The FA came by to confim for Sr. his BTC selection and for me the seafood meal. Sr. was already zapping in Krisworld from movie to movie and was pleasently surprised that the noise cancelling headphones were really noise cancelling! After a while the meal service began: