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My wife and I, after a dizzying number of (sweet) schedule changes over the many months, ended up with a very pleasant routing down to Fort Lauderdale to begin our “free” Holland America cruise. We flew out of South Bend connecting in Minneapolis (MSP) in Delta 1st class on a reasonably priced 26,700 SkyPennies one-way award tickets out another one-way awards back in 1st for 22,900 SkyPennies each on the return.
We had a bit of a tight connection so we had breakfast before our departure from home and did not have time to enjoy any of the MSP Delta Sky Clubs. The weather was fine with just a few tiny snow flakes in the air – something we would not be seeing over the next two weeks floating peacefully in the Eastern Caribbean! 🙂
We had pre-ordered our lunch and Minneapolis to Fort Lauderdale at just under 1500 miles long is considered by Delta to be a “MEDIUM – LONG FLIGHTS” with breakfast, lunch and dinner choices you can view via a QR code from the seat back entertainment system (note: the link does not show limited pre-order selection items).
Our selection was Chicken Thighs in Gravy with Polenta Cakes. The meal, while it may not look very appealing, was quite good. The chicken, floating in the sauce, was moist and flavorful (once the skin was removed). The polenta cakes were a pleasant side and what I think was some kind of root vegetable on the other side was uninspiring and I did not finish them.
There was an empty little ramekin on our trays and looking around on the web for others who have had a similar meal I think it was supposed to have the “gravy” part of this meal but that was not missed as there was adequate of sauce on the dish already.
Nothing to complain about the salad as it was crisp and nice as well as the decadent dessert that was very rich and chocolate (I could not finish it all). Overall another solid choice from Delta and it is nice to see them returning to better quality meals than over the COVID years.
Let me also say the service on the flight down was simply TOPS! Our flight leader had to battle mild turbulence that was so bumpy that they had the rest of the flight crew take their seats while she battled on to take care of us in first – most impressive. Not just that once it was safe (enough) to make our lunches she sent the “extra” flight attendant who normally would help in first back to coach to make sure all of coach could be serviced as quickly as possible. Our flight leader, for the entire 3 hour flight, was constantly back and forth taking care of the cabin including the meal service, cleanup and attention after the meal. This is THE DELTA DIFFERENCE I had come to know and love for so many years of flying Delta.
We landed on-time, our bags came out in less than 20 minutes, and got great service, a good value for our SkyPennies – what I would just about call the perfect Delta flight and a great way to get to our port city (a few days early) before we board the Holland America Eurodam for an 11 day voyage! – René
Advertiser Disclosure: Eye of the Flyer, a division of Chatterbox Entertainment, Inc., is part of an affiliate sales network and receives compensation for sending traffic to partner sites, such as CreditCards.com. Some or all of the card offers that appear on the website are from advertisers. Compensation may impact how and where card products appear on the site. This site does not include all card companies or all available card offers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed, or approved by any of these entities. Some of the links on this page are affiliate or referral links. We may receive a commission or referral bonus for purchases or successful applications made during shopping sessions or signups initiated from clicking those links.
Responses are not provided or commissioned by the bank advertiser. Responses have not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by the bank advertiser. It is not the bank advertiser's responsibility to ensure all posts and/or questions are answered.
Cruise details soon?
@Dee – Lots. They are on the other blog. See: https://eyeoftheflyer.com/introduction-my-free-holland-america-cruise-on-the-eurodam/
René, we flew DTW-MCO last Saturday, 12/31, and got the same pre-ordered lunch, we thought it was very sub-par!
If you ever have a South Bend Eye of the Flyer get together, make sure to let us know. We travel there on business often and can work our schedule most of the time. It is a great tiny airport….
@Tom – Well email me if you ever want to do lunch. I will be in my 1st ever Toyota I got a few months ago! 😉
Take off the face diapers. [redacted]
@Fisher David – Thankfully I and my wife have the right to choose to wear a mask or not and I choose to protect ourselves from folks who decide to fly when sick with COVID, RSV or the FLU!
Rene,
I’d love to see a review where you don’t complain. You used to be “delta points” and now all you do is complain. Is it because you don’t get enough free stuff, corporate realized you were a user?
@Miguel – Did you even read the the post? I even in BOLD talked about how perfect the flight was and lived up to the standard of years gone by. Beyond that since I started the blog I have always called them as I see them and have pointed out when Delta does things either wrong (think SHENA) or where they could improve. As to corporate folks – I have never EVER taken a free flight from the monthership as I pay for my tickets with points or cash. They also know I will provide an honest review not a TPG one to get my logo slapped on the side of a Delta jet!