2023.10 Edinburgh and London (Part 2)

2023.10 Edinburgh and London (Part 2)

We had a scheduled connection time of almost 10 hours. Why? First off, when in Amsterdam, we must have Dim Sum at Sea Palace!

Seriously, Why?

We really like the Dim Sum at Sea Palace. A lot. This all started back on our honeymoon. Since then, we have returned many times. Based on some quick math, we’ve visited and had Dim Sum somewhere in the double digits, however we’ve travelled through Amsterdam in the single digits. Yup. We’ll dine there multiple times when we’re in Amsterdam. Oh, and the other reason for the long connection was that with our flight to Edinburgh being in business class, it granted us access to KLM’s Crown Lounge, and I didn’t want to be rushed visiting it. Our visit in April wasn’t planned so this occasion was time for us to spend in the lounge.

Sea Palace – Dim Sum

During our prior visit we realized that the restaurant was consistently popular on weekends where a reservation would be the only way to guarantee us a seat. In advance of this trip, I booked one. I had to guess a time, and there are just a few variables that would influence our actual arrival time, such as:

On-time flight arrival
Store our carry-on (makes for an easier trip to the city, restaurant doesn’t have space to store luggage)
Border control
Collect checked luggage
Drop off checked luggage (our tickets were separate and not a single ticket)
Train to Amsterdam Centraal station
Short walk to the restaurant

How did it go?

Surprisingly well. I had checked-in online for our second flight, and that allowed us access to the KLM Crown lounge before leaving the secure area of the terminal. This was handy as we were able to put our carry-on in a locker in the lounge. Now significantly lighter, passport control wasn’t too long, and our checked luggage arrived quickly. We headed upstairs to departures and were able to check our luggage instantly with a helpful check-in agent, and then it was off to get a train.

We didn’t have to wait long for a train to central station. That then followed the short and refreshing walk from the station to Sea Palace. With all that, we arrived at the Sea Palace at 1:44pm, and I had set the reservation for 1:45pm. I couldn’t have planned for it to be more precise.

Now the reward for lucking out was a delightful Dim Sum meal. We powered through the meal, however the carbs and our lack of sleep combined quickly to give us the warning that our bodies demanded a nap!

Enjoy a few pictures of our lunch in the following slideshow:

After we finished our meal we walked back to the station and boarded a train for our return to the airport.

The weather overall was good, we weren’t outside for long, but it was great to be able to get away from the airport, and enjoy our favourite Dim Sum before our next flight. Before we headed to security and passport control we stopped at an Albert Heijn and picked up some snacks and treats that are uniquely Dutch. At this time I realized I wasn’t the smartest person. As we had already checked our luggage, whatever I purchased would have to fit in my carry-on.

(Non-Schengen) KLM Crown Lounge

Now this is where the perks of flying business class for our second flight saved the day, access to the KLM Crown Lounge. Upon arrival, we were able to book a shower that felt more like a formality than getting in line. We hardly had to wait for our time. There are quite a large number of shower rooms, however during busy periods it’s not hard to imagine the wait for a shower could be long. Our visit occurred during a Saturday afternoon in what seemed to be a quiet lull in KLM’s flight schedule. During most of our time in the lounge there were a few other people, however it didn’t get busy until 6-7pm when the bank of Asian bound passengers arrived. After a refreshing shower we then got do something unique.

Trade Delft houses! This is a service offered in the lounge. In our case, we had a couple houses to exchange, and were able to get houses new to us. The cute part was that the houses are stored in airline carts even in the lounge.

We spent the rest of the afternoon in a quiet area overlooking the windows to the apron. I fought the jetlag with a combination of snacks, drinks, and walking around the lounge. Below are some of the pictures:

And here are some pictures of the food available in the lounge. It’s not fine dining, nor a la carte, but worked for us just fine.

Finally the hour approached to board our flight. Well before this time occurred, Little Miss strongly recommended never having such a long connection, without the ability to have a nap again. (I will note that there are sleep rooms available in the lounge, however they are an extra charge). As we prepared to leave, a quick picture of our spot in the lounge. The chair was comfortable, and wrapped around well enough that it helped to reduce the amount of noise and din from the lounge.

Flight two – Amsterdam to Edinburgh

KL1293 – Boeing 737
Scheduled departure: 21:45
Scheduled arrival: 21:55

I recall reading on a frequent flyer forum that mice are easy to find in Schiphol in evenings, especially when it’s quiet. Sure enough, as our flight was one of the last to depart in this area of Schiphol I spotted a couple mice running about. There weren’t enough for a chapter of a Richard Scarry book to be reenacted.

I tracked our plane, coming in from Italy. Changeover was quick, and I was surprised that KLM sent out an email informing us of a planned 10 minute delay. We boarded with the rest of Business class and SkyPriority passengers. The rest of the plane quickly filled with people carrying musical instruments. Another passenger had the courage to ask, where we found out that an Orchestra were flying to Edinburgh as they’d be playing 3pm on Sunday. They even told us the name of the concert hall too.

After a manual safety demonstration, the plane headed to the runway and we were quickly in the air. Once in the air the flight attendant delivered our meal box to us. Inside was a menu, along with our snacks.

Drink service quickly followed in which smoothies were also delivered in addition to our requested drinks. The wine was just fine.

No dedicated pictures of our seats as they were all a 3-3 layout in the Boeing 737, with our seats having a little bit extra legroom. As you can tell in the picture above, the tablet/smartphone holder is useful to have your screen at a proper height during the flight. The flight was just around an hour, and with the time zone change, it was as if we had spent less than 15 minutes in the air. We touched down in a drizzly Edinburgh airport. Unfortunately we didn’t get a gate with an airbridge. Instead we were bused to the terminal.

After the bus arrived at the terminal there were a few moments of delay before the doors were opened and we walked into passport control.