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Caribbean Holiday with LTU and Lufthansa – DRS-DUS-PUJ-MBJ-DUS-DRS (long!)
Hi.
Well, after a very long time without much activity in flying for me my first long-haul flight took place. Me and my girlfriend decided to go on vacation in early January and since weather around the Mediterranean Sea or the Canary Islands isn?t that good for a beach holiday we looked up what the Caribbean has to offer. Finally we choose the Dominican Republic in first line because it was the cheapest holiday available. So we booked a fortnight holiday in the Don Juan Beach Resort in Boca Chica with a LTU flight from DUS (D?sseldorf) to PUJ (Punta Cana) on travelchannel.de. We don?t had the chance to choose over the airline really as there were not much good journeys available for the time we wanted to fly but I preferred LTU over Condor because I thought the planes are more modern and the service might be a bit better.
Via the airline my girlfriend worked for we got a cheap flight from DRS (Dresden) to DUS and back which was available on the LH site for around 700 Euro.
Part I:
Date: January 09, 2006
Route: DRS-DUS
Flight: LH 867
Airline: Contact Air (Lufthansa Regional)
A/C: D-ANFL ? ATR 72-500
Flight time: 1h 14mins
Seat: 11D/11F
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Starting with check-in is a good point in this case as it was the first disappointment on our vacation ? not really a big one but something to talk about. As we approached the Lufthansa check-in counter the guy behind wasn?t much interested in the two people with the suitcases and it took him a few seconds before he looked at us and said hello in a not very friendly way. We gave him the tickets and as I expected it the first thing he said: ?Air Berlin is the other check-in counter on the backside!? To be fair, Air Berlin was printed in big letters on the ticket because we got it as said via my girlfriend, but a real AB ticket looks way different ? I?m not even sure if the still have paper tickets. After we told him that it is indeed a ticket for LH he started his procedure and asked us a bit bored if we have some check-in luggage. Yes! We had two big suitcases each slightly over 20 kg of weight. After he noticed it everything went on very quickly and we got our seats 11D and 11F.
After a short farewell with my mother we went through the security control and soon as we got through boarding was announced. We went to the gate got our tickets checked and proceeded downstairs to the bus which stood there for a long 10 minutes with open doors. It was right in the evening and the outside temperature was around -5 degrees I think, so we were frozen when the Bus went on to the parking position of the plane. As we arrived at the plane I saw that it was D-ANFL a common visitor at DRS on the many DUS flights each day.
The plane looked not very new from inside but not very worn too so I had a good feeling. The seats were leather made and very comfortable for a short ride but on longer flights the might have been less comfortable. The crew, two female F/A?s, seemed to be a good mixture of not too old and not too young and were friendly during the boarding process.
Right after boarding was completed we made our way to rwy 22 for departure 5 minutes ahead of schedule. I?m not sure if the plane was de-iced but I think it was and that was done very quickly.
We took off from rwy 22 for a very uneventful or ?normal? flight. The business class was at the back of the cabin and they were served some snacks while the pax in the eco cabin had only some drinks to choose. All drinks, including alcohol, were served for free and when you asked you got a second or third drink too. Service was friendly and looked professional as I expect it from an airline flying for Lufthansa.
From the cockpit we got only few info like cruising altitude (20.000 feet) or that we are going to land on rwy 23R at DUS.
Cabin view on the flight
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After a short 1 hour and 14 minutes we gently touched down on rwy 23R at DUS we had some light turbulences during approach. From the parking position we were brought to the terminal by a bus. All went on very quickly and very soon we were one of the few people which waited for their suitcases. As our cases arrived we noticed that the one of my girlfriend was a bit damaged but we didn?t had the idea to go to the Lost and Found counter as the woman from LTU told us the next day.
Now we had to face a long night at the airport since a hotel room wasn?t necessarily for the 10 hours till our departure to PUJ. So we first visited McDonalds for dinner and later searched for place to stay. We found a closed cafeteria with a limited view to the apron and stayed there for a few hours until a homeless person with a (small) amount of beer sat down next to us to spend the night there. Because my girlfriend was a bit nervous about this person we decided to move on to another place and soon sat down in the main terminal hall. It was very quiet at the airport and lots of people were sleeping on the seats or walking around like ghosts. We found only one bar open but it was enough for the people which were at the airport. The light was switched off for three hours and we were waiting for the next morning to come. For me it was the last time to spend a night at an airport voluntary (right translated?). The next time I?ll fly earlier to the connecting airport and stay a night in a hotel. You just feel too bad for the long flight you have to do the next day.
At around 4 o?clock the first people arrived for the morning flights and the airport started to become busy more and more. When the first restaurants opened we went to the cafeteria and bought some coffee and a sandwich for me. All in al it was very very expensive and the sandwich was more salt than bread or something else so that I had to throw it away. And the girl at the cafeteria was more than unfriendly ? not very good reputation for DUS customer service.
Our flight was scheduled to take off at half past nine and three hours before I thought it is a good idea to ask when check-in is going to start. The friendly woman at the LTU info counter told me that it is possible already and so we went on to check-in.
Part II:
Date: January 10, 2006
Route: DUS-PUJ
Flight: LT 400
Airline: LTU
a/C: D-ALPD ? Airbus A 330-200
Flight time: 9h 30mins
Seat: 38A/32C
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Everything at check-in went fine and the woman was very friendly. Right after we booked the vacation I called LTU to reserve some seats for 10 Euro per person and flight and at check-in we got these seats.
After we were checked-in we went through the security control which was done by some wannabe funny security staff which made some jokes of bad taste. I didn?t care much about the jokes but for a person with fear of flying the sentence ?This is the direct way to the kingdom come? can be very frustrating. As much as I liked the DUS for it?s modern design and open atmosphere as much hated the part were LTU has their gates. It looked old used and far behind the time like you were back in the 1980s. There were two Duty free or travel value shops only selling alcohol and no other possibility to buy a bottle of water than a restaurant.
So we bought two small bottles at the restaurant and set down in the waiting area with some dirty windows to the apron. As the time of departure was near a big plane arrived and everyone thought it was our A 330 but it was an A 330-300 and not a scheduled an A 330-200. I thought they changed the equipment for some reasons as there were no other planes in-sight at the gate were we should fly from. Soon after this we were called to proceed to the passport control next to the gate and after we did that and went through the ?door? we found another but smaller waiting area and an A 330-200 (D-ALPD) parked behind the windows. The plane was covered with ice so it must have been there the whole night. At the scheduled boarding time everyone was standing at the gate ready to enter the plane and few minutes after the boarding time the crew arrived through the ?passport door? and told us that it?ll take a few minutes more because they have to prepare the plane. Maybe they had to wait for a crew member to arrive from stand-by or something else but when the crew enters the plane after the scheduled boarding time and the plane had been there the whole night something went wrong?but who cares?we were on the way to our holidays and are not the people to complain about every fart.
When we entered the plane I was surprised that we got only newspapers and no magazines offered. I don?t like two read a 2 square meter newspaper in the cramped seat of Economy class, a magazine is much handier. Also the plane looked like nothing has been done, the galleys were untidy and the cleaning was done very badly. I had a lot of rubbish in my seat pocket and also on the floor it looked like it came from a flight just ten minutes before. Maybe they had to change the plane in last minute but that?s no reason to clean it like this for a long haul flight. All in all the Airbus looked like the best years of the cabin were history for quite a while, the seats were worn and looked heavy used and old. Seat pitch was around ten cm?s less than the one in the Contact ATR and for me far too small. I was surprised that every pax had a blanket and a pillow on the seat. Later we got some amenity kit consisting of a toothbrush, toothpaste, a comb and some earplugs.
The cabin crew seemed to be rather unprepared like ??welcome onboard our Airbus A??????..330????.-200 on our flight from??DUS to ??????PUJ and?..MBJ. I had the impression that they were in bed just an hour before. As we taxied out the safety instructions were shown on the TV screens in German with English subtitles. I was amazed to see that there were only big screens over the middle row and one small on the bulkhead, I thought there were more. During taxi we saw some interesting traffic like the CSA Logojet, the RCD Mallorca LTU and other ?normal? planes. The light was superb and I got some decent pics. After few minutes taxi we entered the de-icing bay and the big bird got uncovered from ice. This took a few mins and the pilot apologized our half hour delay because we had to be de-iced?.well that might be true normally but when the crew enters the plane at a time when most of the pax should be inside already de-icing might not be the cause of the delay.
Some interesting pics during taxi
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Take-off from rwy 23L with an exact delay of 36 minutes was powerful and we climbed very fast out off D?sseldorf. The infos from the cockpit were scanty and not very useful. Also were the ones from the cabin crew which were done by the male purser mostly. Normally I don?t look after the uniform but my girlfriend, an F/A too, told me to look after them and we noticed that there was no unique look. One was wearing a jacket one only a vest or simply a white shirt. The man looked unshaved and the woman had seen better days already. I don?t think a crew has to be young but they have to look fresh and not like they were at the end of a 36 hour day.
The service was the same like the look of the crew. Not very good but to be fair, not very bad too. We got some peanuts first and were served drinks, for the alcoholic one you had to pay. I can?t remember after which time they did which service but it was a good timing. Maybe they could?ve served one meal/snack more but you get what you pay for. The first meal either pasta or meat ? I choose the meat and it was uneatable. I was very hungry but only ate the half of the small portion and the pasta my girlfriend had didn?t look better very much ? but she told me that it was something between good and OK. Maybe I was too excited because of the flight and the lack of sleep for me made the meal untasty maybe it was just bad. The second meal was served two and a half hour before arrival at PUJ and was something like a breakfast as you got it on every charter flight within Europe in the morning hours, not very good at all but something to eat. During the flight the made several rounds with the beverage trolley and we even got a bottle of water each ? seen from that point I can?t make any complain.
The TV-Program was limited to the monitors over the middle ceiling but wasn?t worth a look. Long time the screens showed only black or LTU advertisement. I mean if you fly more than 9 hours the got plenty of time to show two or even three movies but we saw only one and some soaps or reports. Not very interesting at all and instead of showing black screens the airshow would?ve been more interesting. Radio Program was the same after 1,5 hour so looking out of the window, reading or sleeping were the best things to do on the flight.
Cabin view on the flight
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The load factor was about 70 % I would say (a look on the LTU website showed three free seats one day before), so many people went to the four seats in the middle to stretch themselves. I arranged me, my long legs and my girlfriend to make the flight as comfortable as possible. The toilets had a yellow tint and looked like it were heavy smoking place and the longer we flew the worse were the shape of them. The F/A?s tried to clean them a bit an hour before we landed but that was not more than a try. The overall atmosphere on the plane was very good and most of the people sat in the seats nearly the whole flight without doing something. We walked around a bit but it was not very easy due to the limited space aboard.
Our route took us high over France out on the Atlantic Ocean and we passed Spain right over Santiago de Compostela. Finally after nearly 8 hours and 30 minutes we reached the coastline of the Dominican Republic near Punta Cana made a final 180 degree left-turn and touched down on rwy 09.
I could write so much more about this flight but the report is too long already and there are three more flights and so much more to write??.
Some window views
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The airport of Punta Cana is made of bamboo houses and looks very friendly and welcoming to the guests. We were parked at a remote stand since no jetways are available and had to do a small walk to the terminal which I enjoyed very much. Inside the terminal was a loud noise and a small band was playing loud and after five minutes very annoying music. It was not the last time that we heard Guantanamera for fourteen days but it was annoying right after the third time. In the terminal we had to fill out an embarkation card with should have been handed out in the plane already?we had 9hours time to fill this and now should do it in five mins?.passport check was done quickly and we went to the baggage belt where the suitcases arrived one min later. Then we made our way to the travel agency desk and the bus to the hotel for our beautiful 14 day Caribbean holiday.
Interesting pics from Punta Cana
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Part III:
Date: January 24, 2006
Route: PUJ-MBJ
Flight: LT 400/401
Airline: LTU
a/C: D-ALPG ? Airbus A 330-200
Flight time: 1h 30mins
Seat: 39A/39C
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After two weeks holiday and a four hour drive to the airport we were right back at the place where we entered the Caribbean the first time. When the bus arrived the doors remain closed till all suitcases were unloaded and then when you picked up yours it was brought faster to check-in by a boy than you could say NO. Well, check-in at the reserved seats counter went on very quickly and at the first passport control we had to fill out the same paper as we did it upon arrival. There was a long queue on security check and we had to wait some minutes till we were served. After our bags went through security control each of them had to be checked by hand as they were very full. No problem with the one of my girlfriend but in mine the found one of the most dangerous goods you can have in an airplane?.no, not a gun ? worse! I had several normal LR6 batteries for my camera to take as many pics on the flight and in DUS after arrival. In very bad English (worse than my Spanish) they told me that it is forbidden to take them on the plane because the might explode. So he advised me to bring them to my suitcase which was checked-in already. Without saying something to the man at the passport-check they pushed me out of the security area and I went to the check-in counter. As expected the lady told me that it isn?t possible to the get the suitcase back so I presented batteries to our travel guide. She even tried to talk to the LTU staff but it didn?t help. I had only four nearly empty batteries in my camera and two flights before me. The way through security check the second time was no problem?.I even could?ve had the batteries in my pockets nobody would?ve cared I went through without further checks. Now imagine how my mood was?.
Anyway, we decided to have a small snack before entering the plane and went to the Pizza shop. The woman there was bored over all, there were only two pieces left and nobody of the 10 customers wanted to have them so the she let the next in the line step forward till she sold even this two pieces. After this she told the other woman to make new pizza without caring about the wishes of the waiting people. I understand that the people in the Caribbean are not like the ones in Germany, but at an airport they can work a bit faster than Squidward in the Krusty Krab (Spongebob Squarepants - for those who don?t know the TV show).
I had the chance to spot a bit but most of the planes were blocked by ground vehicles or people. Another thing I noticed was the lack of a clock in the airport and the heavy understandable announcements. Our plane arrived a bit early and as the first one were already on the way to the plane (by foot again) they said we have free seating on the way to MBJ. Nobody understood or noticed that and a chaos broke out in plane as lots of assigned seats were already taken. It was only a bit better after the crew announced it again.
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The plane came from DUS as the same flight we took two weeks before and it wasn?t cleaned at all. Only the blankets and pillows from the floor were removed but it should be cleaned in MBJ so 1,5 hour in this dirty plane were no problem. The condition of the plane (D-ALPG) was better than the last one but the seats looked heavy used too. We took off from rwy 09 in time and soon after we left the ground the batteries in my camera were empty so that I only could made one pic during landing.
Take-off and landing at PUJ and MBJ
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The flight itself was very smooth and the crew was it too in a bad meaning. They looked like they had to work 40 hours without a break?but entered the plane in PUJ and, as one f/a told us, faced a 5 day stop at Jamaica?.how bad can that be. We got served a baguette with cheese and ham and some drinks. After we landed on rwy 07 and reached the jetway they told that everyone (the pax from DUS to MBJ and the ones from PUJ to DUS) have to leave the plane. So everybody jumped up and stood as normal cramped under the overhead bins waiting to get out. Some minutes later they announced that the MBJ pax should get out first but that was impossible as the more than 200 to DUS pax were standing in the aisle. I don?t know but to me it looked like the crew has done the whole thing for the first time ever. It took a while till everyone got off the plane and nobody told us where to go so we followed the other pax. After a long walk through the terminal we reached some stairs where the whole queue stopped for a while. Nobody knew why we had to stop and where we are. After ten minutes a large crowd of British tourists (arrived with a BY 767 from LGW IIRC) passed us as the other ones from the Air Jamaica and American Airlines Jets did. After about 45 minutes we saw why we had to wait. All connecting passengers got their bags checked again and that right after leaving a plane and without having left the security area?
This procedure was done by two police/custom people as slow as it can be. No problem for me but I wanted to get in a shop to buy, if possible, batteries. The only thing they did this check was to get the lighters of the people?all were very angry because they had missed the last opportunity to smoke before entering the plane back to Germany and many lighters were thrown on the security people. All in all I have, because of this, a bad view of Jamaica and it was said by some connecting Jamaicans too.
In the end I got batteries in a shop and was able to bring them onboard the plane without further problems.
Soon after this boarding was announced and we entered the cleaned plane and even got some magazines at the door.
Part IV:
Date: January 24, 2006
Route: MBJ-DUS
Flight: LT 401
Airline: LTU
a/C: D-ALPG ? Airbus A 330-200
Flight time: 9h 28mins
Seat: 38A/38C
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The plane had been cleaned we moved to our pre-booked seats. Because we boarded through door 1L we had the chance to take a deeper look into the First Comfort Cabin and I was very disappointed because I thought it looks better. The seats of grey leather looked used and shabby, the seat-pitch was bigger than in Economy but didn?t looked much better - So no need to double the price of your holiday just to fly in this class. The Condor Comfort class looks way more modern and comfortable.
The few rows behind First Comfort class
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Everything was done on-time and the crew was very friendly. They, as the ones on the flight from DUS, had not a unique look of the uniform and some shirts looked unwashed too but who cares too much about this. As we taxied out for departure the sun set already down and we took-off with a small ?delay? of three minutes from rwy 07. Soon after take-off we passed Cuba and had a beautiful view on the setting sun from thousands feet above.
Sunset seen from above and some pics from MBJ
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At first we were served a drink and it was announced that the first meal would follow. I can?t recognize what we had but one meal was a pasta again and the other one some kind of meat. Again I choose the meat and my girlfriend the pasta. This time it had a better taste but the portion was not very big as it?s usual on German (maybe others too) charter carriers. When I enjoyed my meal the movie had already started but after five minutes I decided it?s better to listen to my MP3 player because I didn?t liked the movie. But it must?ve been funny as all passengers were laughing loud every few minutes. After dinner I saw a big city under us and thought it must be Nassau which was confirmed by the pilot 10 seconds later ? what a service. After about two hours in flight, it was already completely dark, the cockpit announced that we might face some heavier turbulences which could even the Duty Free sales bring to an end. But except of some light shakes and a giant thunderstorm below us with some day making lightings nothing happened. Right after the Duty Free was ended they dimmed the cabin light and more and more people started to fell asleep. I did it too with my blanket and the pillow. The load factor must have been around 65% or so and many people had their own row.
When I woke up at night I saw a plane cruising on our left site. The lights appeared to be very near and I even could see the contrails as we overtook it. Imagine when I had been daylight?some very good air to air shots would?ve been in that report. After around 45 minutes the other plane overtook us and made large left turn in front of our plane. The flight over all was without further events and as I my girlfriend and I woke up in the night the F/A?s had placed two bottles of water between us and we recognized nothing of this event. The beverage service was limited to a minimum and we saw the F/A?s less than on the flight ex DUS but you could?ve asked in the galley whenever you wanted a drink. We were at 39.000 ft. as the first daylight appeared and soon after this entered France next to Reims. We flew over Paris but saw nothing because of the clouds. About one and a half hour or bit earlier the smell of coffee and fresh bread filled the plane and we got served our breakfast which was a quite normal one. We overflew the Rhine on our descend to DUS and with 11 minutes ahead of schedule our flight from PUJ via MBJ ended very very smooth on rwy 23L.
Because I slept nearly the whole flight or was in a condition of almost sleeping I can?t say too much about the flight but the work of the crew was good. The announcements were professional and clear, the service was good and they were friendly all the time. Only the toilets were almost unusable at the end and smelled like a Toi Toi toilet on a German autobahn.
Sunrise over DUS Area
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Deboarding took very long as usual when only one door is in use and even after that long time we had to wait 20 minutes for the baggage to arrive. When we got our suitcases we noticed that the zip was opened at about 10 cm?s on each suitcase but we didn?t thought further on this issue. When we arrived at home I noticed that my flashlight, two necklaces, my perfume and the Olympus Batteries were missing. One necklace we found in my girlfriends suitcase but all other items remain lost. What a shame! The suitcases were secured with a lock each and the one of my girlfriend with a seal too which was untouched. Maybe some baggage handlers have stolen the items or just put them in the wrong suitcase when checking them again. I?m still waiting for the airline to deal with this issue.
Part V:
Date: January 25, 2006
Route: DUS-DRS
Flight: LH 864
Airline: Contact Air (Lufthansa Regional)
A/C: D-ANFL ? ATR 72-500
Flight time: 1h 09mins
Seat: 6D/6F
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For the last flight home to DRS we were booked on LH again but on the last DUS-DRS flight for the day. Since our plane arrived on schedule we decided to check out if we can be re-booked on an earlier flight to DRS. So we went on to the LH ticket desk and the very friendly woman told us that it would be nor problem and we can choose between the afternoon flight and the flight leaving in 25 minutes. I would?ve taken the first one because I was very tired but my girlfriend wanted to see the Emirates Triple Seven arriving from Dubai so we went for the afternoon flight. Everything happened very quickly and we went to the check-in counter where an unfriendly woman checked our bags without further problems.
After this we walked to the visitor?s terrace in the main terminal paid the entrance fee and were outside in cold Germany for the fist time. Soon after this it also started to snow very heavy and we decided to have a coffee till the Emirates beauty should arrive. To make the events as short as they were I plug some pics here?.as you can see we saw the mighty Boeing 777-300ER and it was sure impressive.
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After the 777 was parked at the gate we went to the waiting lounge for our flight because we were very very tired after the long journey and sat down to have a tea which is still offered for free by Lufthansa at German airports. The boarding started already a few mins late and as the bus reached the plane we saw that it was again D-ANFL. We sat down in the comfy leather seats and the pilot told us that we have a slightly delay because of the weather. When we already started taxing he told us that we have to be de-iced before take-off. I never knew that but as we reached the de-icing position the engines were switched off and I was not the only one who was surprised as I judged from the other peoples faces. The de-icing procedure seemed to take ages and as engines were started again and we taxied on the captain told us that we are the fifth plane in the line and the rwy is closed due to snow removal. So I felt asleep a bit and when I woke up I saw that the few people in the Business class got some drinks and snacks. All in all we lost about 30 to 40 minutes till we finally took off from rwy 23L behind an LTU A-330. I think that?s very uncommon as the small plane is the one taking-off first but who knows. We climbed strait into the sky and made our way to DRS over the cities of Padderborn and Leipzig as the sun again started to set down. Service was as normal with only drinks (2x) but the F/A?s were friendly overall. Without getting shorter on that delay we started our descend and overflew nearly the whole city of Dresden where we for the first time saw ice floes on the river Elbe. During short finals the small ATR had to face some heavy winds and it felt like we were more riding on ice than braking on the asphalt of rwy 04.
Well, now our journey had come to end and this long report will do it in a few words. It was my first long-haul flight and it was just boring and without much room to stretch. Maybe (or better said SURE) it?s somewhat different to fly on Emirates or Singapore (just to name a few) and have that cool In-seat entertainment system but we just flew on LTU and got safe from A to B via C.
I hope you all enjoyed that report and it wasn?t too long for you to read. Please apologize my English (it has gone worse in the last months) and my jumping between all available tenses I ever learned in the school!!! I wrote this report during the two long nights I had here on work in the youth hostel, feel free to add your comments and to leave your questions.
Bye and Good Night.
Georg
Some more interesting pics from DUS
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SexyBarbie cam
Well, after a very long time without much activity in flying for me my first long-haul flight took place. Me and my girlfriend decided to go on vacation in early January and since weather around the Mediterranean Sea or the Canary Islands isn?t that good for a beach holiday we looked up what the Caribbean has to offer. Finally we choose the Dominican Republic in first line because it was the cheapest holiday available. So we booked a fortnight holiday in the Don Juan Beach Resort in Boca Chica with a LTU flight from DUS (D?sseldorf) to PUJ (Punta Cana) on travelchannel.de. We don?t had the chance to choose over the airline really as there were not much good journeys available for the time we wanted to fly but I preferred LTU over Condor because I thought the planes are more modern and the service might be a bit better.
Via the airline my girlfriend worked for we got a cheap flight from DRS (Dresden) to DUS and back which was available on the LH site for around 700 Euro.
Part I:
Date: January 09, 2006
Route: DRS-DUS
Flight: LH 867
Airline: Contact Air (Lufthansa Regional)
A/C: D-ANFL ? ATR 72-500
Flight time: 1h 14mins
Seat: 11D/11F
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Starting with check-in is a good point in this case as it was the first disappointment on our vacation ? not really a big one but something to talk about. As we approached the Lufthansa check-in counter the guy behind wasn?t much interested in the two people with the suitcases and it took him a few seconds before he looked at us and said hello in a not very friendly way. We gave him the tickets and as I expected it the first thing he said: ?Air Berlin is the other check-in counter on the backside!? To be fair, Air Berlin was printed in big letters on the ticket because we got it as said via my girlfriend, but a real AB ticket looks way different ? I?m not even sure if the still have paper tickets. After we told him that it is indeed a ticket for LH he started his procedure and asked us a bit bored if we have some check-in luggage. Yes! We had two big suitcases each slightly over 20 kg of weight. After he noticed it everything went on very quickly and we got our seats 11D and 11F.
After a short farewell with my mother we went through the security control and soon as we got through boarding was announced. We went to the gate got our tickets checked and proceeded downstairs to the bus which stood there for a long 10 minutes with open doors. It was right in the evening and the outside temperature was around -5 degrees I think, so we were frozen when the Bus went on to the parking position of the plane. As we arrived at the plane I saw that it was D-ANFL a common visitor at DRS on the many DUS flights each day.
The plane looked not very new from inside but not very worn too so I had a good feeling. The seats were leather made and very comfortable for a short ride but on longer flights the might have been less comfortable. The crew, two female F/A?s, seemed to be a good mixture of not too old and not too young and were friendly during the boarding process.
Right after boarding was completed we made our way to rwy 22 for departure 5 minutes ahead of schedule. I?m not sure if the plane was de-iced but I think it was and that was done very quickly.
We took off from rwy 22 for a very uneventful or ?normal? flight. The business class was at the back of the cabin and they were served some snacks while the pax in the eco cabin had only some drinks to choose. All drinks, including alcohol, were served for free and when you asked you got a second or third drink too. Service was friendly and looked professional as I expect it from an airline flying for Lufthansa.
From the cockpit we got only few info like cruising altitude (20.000 feet) or that we are going to land on rwy 23R at DUS.
Cabin view on the flight
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After a short 1 hour and 14 minutes we gently touched down on rwy 23R at DUS we had some light turbulences during approach. From the parking position we were brought to the terminal by a bus. All went on very quickly and very soon we were one of the few people which waited for their suitcases. As our cases arrived we noticed that the one of my girlfriend was a bit damaged but we didn?t had the idea to go to the Lost and Found counter as the woman from LTU told us the next day.
Now we had to face a long night at the airport since a hotel room wasn?t necessarily for the 10 hours till our departure to PUJ. So we first visited McDonalds for dinner and later searched for place to stay. We found a closed cafeteria with a limited view to the apron and stayed there for a few hours until a homeless person with a (small) amount of beer sat down next to us to spend the night there. Because my girlfriend was a bit nervous about this person we decided to move on to another place and soon sat down in the main terminal hall. It was very quiet at the airport and lots of people were sleeping on the seats or walking around like ghosts. We found only one bar open but it was enough for the people which were at the airport. The light was switched off for three hours and we were waiting for the next morning to come. For me it was the last time to spend a night at an airport voluntary (right translated?). The next time I?ll fly earlier to the connecting airport and stay a night in a hotel. You just feel too bad for the long flight you have to do the next day.
At around 4 o?clock the first people arrived for the morning flights and the airport started to become busy more and more. When the first restaurants opened we went to the cafeteria and bought some coffee and a sandwich for me. All in al it was very very expensive and the sandwich was more salt than bread or something else so that I had to throw it away. And the girl at the cafeteria was more than unfriendly ? not very good reputation for DUS customer service.
Our flight was scheduled to take off at half past nine and three hours before I thought it is a good idea to ask when check-in is going to start. The friendly woman at the LTU info counter told me that it is possible already and so we went on to check-in.
Part II:
Date: January 10, 2006
Route: DUS-PUJ
Flight: LT 400
Airline: LTU
a/C: D-ALPD ? Airbus A 330-200
Flight time: 9h 30mins
Seat: 38A/32C
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Everything at check-in went fine and the woman was very friendly. Right after we booked the vacation I called LTU to reserve some seats for 10 Euro per person and flight and at check-in we got these seats.
After we were checked-in we went through the security control which was done by some wannabe funny security staff which made some jokes of bad taste. I didn?t care much about the jokes but for a person with fear of flying the sentence ?This is the direct way to the kingdom come? can be very frustrating. As much as I liked the DUS for it?s modern design and open atmosphere as much hated the part were LTU has their gates. It looked old used and far behind the time like you were back in the 1980s. There were two Duty free or travel value shops only selling alcohol and no other possibility to buy a bottle of water than a restaurant.
So we bought two small bottles at the restaurant and set down in the waiting area with some dirty windows to the apron. As the time of departure was near a big plane arrived and everyone thought it was our A 330 but it was an A 330-300 and not a scheduled an A 330-200. I thought they changed the equipment for some reasons as there were no other planes in-sight at the gate were we should fly from. Soon after this we were called to proceed to the passport control next to the gate and after we did that and went through the ?door? we found another but smaller waiting area and an A 330-200 (D-ALPD) parked behind the windows. The plane was covered with ice so it must have been there the whole night. At the scheduled boarding time everyone was standing at the gate ready to enter the plane and few minutes after the boarding time the crew arrived through the ?passport door? and told us that it?ll take a few minutes more because they have to prepare the plane. Maybe they had to wait for a crew member to arrive from stand-by or something else but when the crew enters the plane after the scheduled boarding time and the plane had been there the whole night something went wrong?but who cares?we were on the way to our holidays and are not the people to complain about every fart.
When we entered the plane I was surprised that we got only newspapers and no magazines offered. I don?t like two read a 2 square meter newspaper in the cramped seat of Economy class, a magazine is much handier. Also the plane looked like nothing has been done, the galleys were untidy and the cleaning was done very badly. I had a lot of rubbish in my seat pocket and also on the floor it looked like it came from a flight just ten minutes before. Maybe they had to change the plane in last minute but that?s no reason to clean it like this for a long haul flight. All in all the Airbus looked like the best years of the cabin were history for quite a while, the seats were worn and looked heavy used and old. Seat pitch was around ten cm?s less than the one in the Contact ATR and for me far too small. I was surprised that every pax had a blanket and a pillow on the seat. Later we got some amenity kit consisting of a toothbrush, toothpaste, a comb and some earplugs.
The cabin crew seemed to be rather unprepared like ??welcome onboard our Airbus A??????..330????.-200 on our flight from??DUS to ??????PUJ and?..MBJ. I had the impression that they were in bed just an hour before. As we taxied out the safety instructions were shown on the TV screens in German with English subtitles. I was amazed to see that there were only big screens over the middle row and one small on the bulkhead, I thought there were more. During taxi we saw some interesting traffic like the CSA Logojet, the RCD Mallorca LTU and other ?normal? planes. The light was superb and I got some decent pics. After few minutes taxi we entered the de-icing bay and the big bird got uncovered from ice. This took a few mins and the pilot apologized our half hour delay because we had to be de-iced?.well that might be true normally but when the crew enters the plane at a time when most of the pax should be inside already de-icing might not be the cause of the delay.
Some interesting pics during taxi
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Take-off from rwy 23L with an exact delay of 36 minutes was powerful and we climbed very fast out off D?sseldorf. The infos from the cockpit were scanty and not very useful. Also were the ones from the cabin crew which were done by the male purser mostly. Normally I don?t look after the uniform but my girlfriend, an F/A too, told me to look after them and we noticed that there was no unique look. One was wearing a jacket one only a vest or simply a white shirt. The man looked unshaved and the woman had seen better days already. I don?t think a crew has to be young but they have to look fresh and not like they were at the end of a 36 hour day.
The service was the same like the look of the crew. Not very good but to be fair, not very bad too. We got some peanuts first and were served drinks, for the alcoholic one you had to pay. I can?t remember after which time they did which service but it was a good timing. Maybe they could?ve served one meal/snack more but you get what you pay for. The first meal either pasta or meat ? I choose the meat and it was uneatable. I was very hungry but only ate the half of the small portion and the pasta my girlfriend had didn?t look better very much ? but she told me that it was something between good and OK. Maybe I was too excited because of the flight and the lack of sleep for me made the meal untasty maybe it was just bad. The second meal was served two and a half hour before arrival at PUJ and was something like a breakfast as you got it on every charter flight within Europe in the morning hours, not very good at all but something to eat. During the flight the made several rounds with the beverage trolley and we even got a bottle of water each ? seen from that point I can?t make any complain.
The TV-Program was limited to the monitors over the middle ceiling but wasn?t worth a look. Long time the screens showed only black or LTU advertisement. I mean if you fly more than 9 hours the got plenty of time to show two or even three movies but we saw only one and some soaps or reports. Not very interesting at all and instead of showing black screens the airshow would?ve been more interesting. Radio Program was the same after 1,5 hour so looking out of the window, reading or sleeping were the best things to do on the flight.
Cabin view on the flight
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The load factor was about 70 % I would say (a look on the LTU website showed three free seats one day before), so many people went to the four seats in the middle to stretch themselves. I arranged me, my long legs and my girlfriend to make the flight as comfortable as possible. The toilets had a yellow tint and looked like it were heavy smoking place and the longer we flew the worse were the shape of them. The F/A?s tried to clean them a bit an hour before we landed but that was not more than a try. The overall atmosphere on the plane was very good and most of the people sat in the seats nearly the whole flight without doing something. We walked around a bit but it was not very easy due to the limited space aboard.
Our route took us high over France out on the Atlantic Ocean and we passed Spain right over Santiago de Compostela. Finally after nearly 8 hours and 30 minutes we reached the coastline of the Dominican Republic near Punta Cana made a final 180 degree left-turn and touched down on rwy 09.
I could write so much more about this flight but the report is too long already and there are three more flights and so much more to write??.
Some window views
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The airport of Punta Cana is made of bamboo houses and looks very friendly and welcoming to the guests. We were parked at a remote stand since no jetways are available and had to do a small walk to the terminal which I enjoyed very much. Inside the terminal was a loud noise and a small band was playing loud and after five minutes very annoying music. It was not the last time that we heard Guantanamera for fourteen days but it was annoying right after the third time. In the terminal we had to fill out an embarkation card with should have been handed out in the plane already?we had 9hours time to fill this and now should do it in five mins?.passport check was done quickly and we went to the baggage belt where the suitcases arrived one min later. Then we made our way to the travel agency desk and the bus to the hotel for our beautiful 14 day Caribbean holiday.
Interesting pics from Punta Cana
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Part III:
Date: January 24, 2006
Route: PUJ-MBJ
Flight: LT 400/401
Airline: LTU
a/C: D-ALPG ? Airbus A 330-200
Flight time: 1h 30mins
Seat: 39A/39C
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After two weeks holiday and a four hour drive to the airport we were right back at the place where we entered the Caribbean the first time. When the bus arrived the doors remain closed till all suitcases were unloaded and then when you picked up yours it was brought faster to check-in by a boy than you could say NO. Well, check-in at the reserved seats counter went on very quickly and at the first passport control we had to fill out the same paper as we did it upon arrival. There was a long queue on security check and we had to wait some minutes till we were served. After our bags went through security control each of them had to be checked by hand as they were very full. No problem with the one of my girlfriend but in mine the found one of the most dangerous goods you can have in an airplane?.no, not a gun ? worse! I had several normal LR6 batteries for my camera to take as many pics on the flight and in DUS after arrival. In very bad English (worse than my Spanish) they told me that it is forbidden to take them on the plane because the might explode. So he advised me to bring them to my suitcase which was checked-in already. Without saying something to the man at the passport-check they pushed me out of the security area and I went to the check-in counter. As expected the lady told me that it isn?t possible to the get the suitcase back so I presented batteries to our travel guide. She even tried to talk to the LTU staff but it didn?t help. I had only four nearly empty batteries in my camera and two flights before me. The way through security check the second time was no problem?.I even could?ve had the batteries in my pockets nobody would?ve cared I went through without further checks. Now imagine how my mood was?.
Anyway, we decided to have a small snack before entering the plane and went to the Pizza shop. The woman there was bored over all, there were only two pieces left and nobody of the 10 customers wanted to have them so the she let the next in the line step forward till she sold even this two pieces. After this she told the other woman to make new pizza without caring about the wishes of the waiting people. I understand that the people in the Caribbean are not like the ones in Germany, but at an airport they can work a bit faster than Squidward in the Krusty Krab (Spongebob Squarepants - for those who don?t know the TV show).
I had the chance to spot a bit but most of the planes were blocked by ground vehicles or people. Another thing I noticed was the lack of a clock in the airport and the heavy understandable announcements. Our plane arrived a bit early and as the first one were already on the way to the plane (by foot again) they said we have free seating on the way to MBJ. Nobody understood or noticed that and a chaos broke out in plane as lots of assigned seats were already taken. It was only a bit better after the crew announced it again.
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The plane came from DUS as the same flight we took two weeks before and it wasn?t cleaned at all. Only the blankets and pillows from the floor were removed but it should be cleaned in MBJ so 1,5 hour in this dirty plane were no problem. The condition of the plane (D-ALPG) was better than the last one but the seats looked heavy used too. We took off from rwy 09 in time and soon after we left the ground the batteries in my camera were empty so that I only could made one pic during landing.
Take-off and landing at PUJ and MBJ
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The flight itself was very smooth and the crew was it too in a bad meaning. They looked like they had to work 40 hours without a break?but entered the plane in PUJ and, as one f/a told us, faced a 5 day stop at Jamaica?.how bad can that be. We got served a baguette with cheese and ham and some drinks. After we landed on rwy 07 and reached the jetway they told that everyone (the pax from DUS to MBJ and the ones from PUJ to DUS) have to leave the plane. So everybody jumped up and stood as normal cramped under the overhead bins waiting to get out. Some minutes later they announced that the MBJ pax should get out first but that was impossible as the more than 200 to DUS pax were standing in the aisle. I don?t know but to me it looked like the crew has done the whole thing for the first time ever. It took a while till everyone got off the plane and nobody told us where to go so we followed the other pax. After a long walk through the terminal we reached some stairs where the whole queue stopped for a while. Nobody knew why we had to stop and where we are. After ten minutes a large crowd of British tourists (arrived with a BY 767 from LGW IIRC) passed us as the other ones from the Air Jamaica and American Airlines Jets did. After about 45 minutes we saw why we had to wait. All connecting passengers got their bags checked again and that right after leaving a plane and without having left the security area?
This procedure was done by two police/custom people as slow as it can be. No problem for me but I wanted to get in a shop to buy, if possible, batteries. The only thing they did this check was to get the lighters of the people?all were very angry because they had missed the last opportunity to smoke before entering the plane back to Germany and many lighters were thrown on the security people. All in all I have, because of this, a bad view of Jamaica and it was said by some connecting Jamaicans too.
In the end I got batteries in a shop and was able to bring them onboard the plane without further problems.
Soon after this boarding was announced and we entered the cleaned plane and even got some magazines at the door.
Part IV:
Date: January 24, 2006
Route: MBJ-DUS
Flight: LT 401
Airline: LTU
a/C: D-ALPG ? Airbus A 330-200
Flight time: 9h 28mins
Seat: 38A/38C
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The plane had been cleaned we moved to our pre-booked seats. Because we boarded through door 1L we had the chance to take a deeper look into the First Comfort Cabin and I was very disappointed because I thought it looks better. The seats of grey leather looked used and shabby, the seat-pitch was bigger than in Economy but didn?t looked much better - So no need to double the price of your holiday just to fly in this class. The Condor Comfort class looks way more modern and comfortable.
The few rows behind First Comfort class
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Everything was done on-time and the crew was very friendly. They, as the ones on the flight from DUS, had not a unique look of the uniform and some shirts looked unwashed too but who cares too much about this. As we taxied out for departure the sun set already down and we took-off with a small ?delay? of three minutes from rwy 07. Soon after take-off we passed Cuba and had a beautiful view on the setting sun from thousands feet above.
Sunset seen from above and some pics from MBJ
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At first we were served a drink and it was announced that the first meal would follow. I can?t recognize what we had but one meal was a pasta again and the other one some kind of meat. Again I choose the meat and my girlfriend the pasta. This time it had a better taste but the portion was not very big as it?s usual on German (maybe others too) charter carriers. When I enjoyed my meal the movie had already started but after five minutes I decided it?s better to listen to my MP3 player because I didn?t liked the movie. But it must?ve been funny as all passengers were laughing loud every few minutes. After dinner I saw a big city under us and thought it must be Nassau which was confirmed by the pilot 10 seconds later ? what a service. After about two hours in flight, it was already completely dark, the cockpit announced that we might face some heavier turbulences which could even the Duty Free sales bring to an end. But except of some light shakes and a giant thunderstorm below us with some day making lightings nothing happened. Right after the Duty Free was ended they dimmed the cabin light and more and more people started to fell asleep. I did it too with my blanket and the pillow. The load factor must have been around 65% or so and many people had their own row.
When I woke up at night I saw a plane cruising on our left site. The lights appeared to be very near and I even could see the contrails as we overtook it. Imagine when I had been daylight?some very good air to air shots would?ve been in that report. After around 45 minutes the other plane overtook us and made large left turn in front of our plane. The flight over all was without further events and as I my girlfriend and I woke up in the night the F/A?s had placed two bottles of water between us and we recognized nothing of this event. The beverage service was limited to a minimum and we saw the F/A?s less than on the flight ex DUS but you could?ve asked in the galley whenever you wanted a drink. We were at 39.000 ft. as the first daylight appeared and soon after this entered France next to Reims. We flew over Paris but saw nothing because of the clouds. About one and a half hour or bit earlier the smell of coffee and fresh bread filled the plane and we got served our breakfast which was a quite normal one. We overflew the Rhine on our descend to DUS and with 11 minutes ahead of schedule our flight from PUJ via MBJ ended very very smooth on rwy 23L.
Because I slept nearly the whole flight or was in a condition of almost sleeping I can?t say too much about the flight but the work of the crew was good. The announcements were professional and clear, the service was good and they were friendly all the time. Only the toilets were almost unusable at the end and smelled like a Toi Toi toilet on a German autobahn.
Sunrise over DUS Area
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Deboarding took very long as usual when only one door is in use and even after that long time we had to wait 20 minutes for the baggage to arrive. When we got our suitcases we noticed that the zip was opened at about 10 cm?s on each suitcase but we didn?t thought further on this issue. When we arrived at home I noticed that my flashlight, two necklaces, my perfume and the Olympus Batteries were missing. One necklace we found in my girlfriends suitcase but all other items remain lost. What a shame! The suitcases were secured with a lock each and the one of my girlfriend with a seal too which was untouched. Maybe some baggage handlers have stolen the items or just put them in the wrong suitcase when checking them again. I?m still waiting for the airline to deal with this issue.
Part V:
Date: January 25, 2006
Route: DUS-DRS
Flight: LH 864
Airline: Contact Air (Lufthansa Regional)
A/C: D-ANFL ? ATR 72-500
Flight time: 1h 09mins
Seat: 6D/6F
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For the last flight home to DRS we were booked on LH again but on the last DUS-DRS flight for the day. Since our plane arrived on schedule we decided to check out if we can be re-booked on an earlier flight to DRS. So we went on to the LH ticket desk and the very friendly woman told us that it would be nor problem and we can choose between the afternoon flight and the flight leaving in 25 minutes. I would?ve taken the first one because I was very tired but my girlfriend wanted to see the Emirates Triple Seven arriving from Dubai so we went for the afternoon flight. Everything happened very quickly and we went to the check-in counter where an unfriendly woman checked our bags without further problems.
After this we walked to the visitor?s terrace in the main terminal paid the entrance fee and were outside in cold Germany for the fist time. Soon after this it also started to snow very heavy and we decided to have a coffee till the Emirates beauty should arrive. To make the events as short as they were I plug some pics here?.as you can see we saw the mighty Boeing 777-300ER and it was sure impressive.
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After the 777 was parked at the gate we went to the waiting lounge for our flight because we were very very tired after the long journey and sat down to have a tea which is still offered for free by Lufthansa at German airports. The boarding started already a few mins late and as the bus reached the plane we saw that it was again D-ANFL. We sat down in the comfy leather seats and the pilot told us that we have a slightly delay because of the weather. When we already started taxing he told us that we have to be de-iced before take-off. I never knew that but as we reached the de-icing position the engines were switched off and I was not the only one who was surprised as I judged from the other peoples faces. The de-icing procedure seemed to take ages and as engines were started again and we taxied on the captain told us that we are the fifth plane in the line and the rwy is closed due to snow removal. So I felt asleep a bit and when I woke up I saw that the few people in the Business class got some drinks and snacks. All in all we lost about 30 to 40 minutes till we finally took off from rwy 23L behind an LTU A-330. I think that?s very uncommon as the small plane is the one taking-off first but who knows. We climbed strait into the sky and made our way to DRS over the cities of Padderborn and Leipzig as the sun again started to set down. Service was as normal with only drinks (2x) but the F/A?s were friendly overall. Without getting shorter on that delay we started our descend and overflew nearly the whole city of Dresden where we for the first time saw ice floes on the river Elbe. During short finals the small ATR had to face some heavy winds and it felt like we were more riding on ice than braking on the asphalt of rwy 04.
Well, now our journey had come to end and this long report will do it in a few words. It was my first long-haul flight and it was just boring and without much room to stretch. Maybe (or better said SURE) it?s somewhat different to fly on Emirates or Singapore (just to name a few) and have that cool In-seat entertainment system but we just flew on LTU and got safe from A to B via C.
I hope you all enjoyed that report and it wasn?t too long for you to read. Please apologize my English (it has gone worse in the last months) and my jumping between all available tenses I ever learned in the school!!! I wrote this report during the two long nights I had here on work in the youth hostel, feel free to add your comments and to leave your questions.
Bye and Good Night.
Georg
Some more interesting pics from DUS
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