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Pre-Departure Services and Emirates Club Auckland
Emirates First: Suite, Seat, and Bed
Emirates First: Service and Food
Emirates First: Shower Spa
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Emirates 413
Auckland (AKL) – Sydney (SYD)
Depart: 6:40 PM on Saturday, January 12
Arrive: 8:05 PM
Duration: 3:25
Aircraft: Airbus A380
Seat: 3A (First Class)
There’s one reason why Emirates First Class on an A380 is famous: the on board shower. The eight-mile-high shower was my second favorite part of the flight–the quality of the service was my favorite–and certainly the hardest to replicate again soon.
There are two showers on an Emirates A380, at the front of the first class cabin on either side of the stairs.
The showers can be scheduled on a first-come, first-showered basis. Knowing this, I asked the flight attendant who seated me to schedule the first available time for me, which was just after take off.
When the shower was ready for me, a flight attendant came to my seat. He told me to collect anything I wanted to take into the shower. I grabbed a change of clothes and camera and followed him. Everything I needed for the actual shower–shampoo, conditioner, body lotion, towels–was in the shower spa.
The spa was immaculately clean and awaiting my arrival. The spa is spacious. One wall is taken up by a large mirror.
Next to the mirror is a monitor tracking the flight’s progress identical to the one at the bar in the back.
On the far wall was a selection of toiletries and other spa materials likes a razor and slippers. There were two lines of toiletries: Relax and Revive. I chose Revive to use and took the Relax for the rest of my trip.
Continuing around the wall was the toilet.
Just to the left of the toilet was the large sink and mirror with its tower of ten hand towels.
To sum up my thoughts of everything before the shower, this is a very nice bathroom. It’s quite a bit nicer and larger than my bathroom on the ground–not to mention cleaner though I don’t have two full-time attendants like the Emirates spa showers.
But Emirates First Class isn’t about the bathroom; it’s about the shower.
The shower is a bit on the small side, but it is in no way claustrophobic, and there is even a bench inside in case you get tired of standing during your five-minute shower.
The shower head is a beautiful handheld shower head. The pressure was fairly low, enough that you might complain a bit if you were in a hotel, but you are on a plane, so the pressure suffices.
Also pictured is the timer for the shower. You get exactly five minutes of water. You can hang out in the spa as long as you want, and you can even stay in the shower as long as you want, but you get five minutes of water, measured on the meter on the wall.
With one minute fifteen seconds left, the water automatically shuts off to alert you that you are almost out of time.
You can restart the water by touching the on/off button pictured below. You can also turn the water off at any point to conserve water. I turned the water off while I lathered up, and I was completely finished by the time my 75-second warning came. That meant I had a chance to just stand there and enjoy the warm water.
I mentioned that the water pressure was weak, but the temperature range is superb. Overall it was quite a pleasant shower. If only the shower had somehow ironed my clothes, my “after” photo might be more presentable. 😉
I probably spent 15 minutes in the spa area, marveling, showering, and getting refreshed for my arrival.
In my mind, the shower is not a gimmick. I had had to check out of my hostel early the morning of my flight, so I hadn’t had a chance to shower yet. The onboard shower gave me a great chance to arrive in Sydney feeling great instead of gross. And I always feel a bit off after longhaul flights, and a shower before landing would change all that.
Here’s a video I made of the shower area to give you a better feel for it. Don’t worry. It is safe for work.
Recap
The star of the Emirates show is the shower. The shower is awesome and not a gimmick. The shower spa is large and comfortable. The shower itself is not large, but not claustrophobic.
The shower pressure is the worst part of the experience, but the temperature is great, and the handheld shower head makes up for the pressure partially. Enjoy the most luxurious five minutes in the sky in an Emirates shower.
Overall
This short flight was the best of my life, and I look forward to getting onto a longhaul Emirates A380 flight in first class. To that end, I am looking at every angle to redeem miles for this over-the-top luxury. Expect to read more about how you can get into Emirates First very soon.
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“I had had to check out of my hostel early the morning of my flight…”
I love that! I can’t imagine many other EK F passengers are staying in hostels, but that exactly what this hobby is all about. As usual, nice work!
“He told me to collect anything I wanted to take into the shower.” Only a serious traveler takes his camera to the shower with him, lol. Great post! Maybe one day I can do this. 🙂
A great blog read, but taking a shower just isn’t going to get me to spend tens of thousands of extra miles. Just about every hostel and hotel in the world has a shower, and I don’t consider taking a shower to be really high on the list of reasons I travel. It’s fun for those with miles to burn, I guess.
In the past, First Class used to be classy. We now have all kind of First Class Executive wanabees sporting shorts and bermudas.
At the same time, they expect and complain when they don’t get real first class service. Get your act together and buy yourself slacks and at least business casual attire with your million miles.
Yeah, “Executive wanabees” are the worst. Good thing I’m just a budget traveler.
I hope he got the Emirates limo service out of his hostel. Maybe not… Or maybe he did not dare?
Of course I did. Read the Chauffeur post in this trip report.
Fly private suite on the BlingAir A380, and stay in a hostel. I love it! Sounds like you have your priorities straight 🙂
The BKK-HKG one-way tag route is another good way to get this for cheap; I did it this past October for $642.
I’m really surprised they don’t have a minimum dress standard for Emirates First Class. I’d be really disappointed if I was on that flight and saw people so casually dressed like you. First Class is all about class… You also need to have some respect for culture, Muslim people generally find the wearing of shorts disrespectful… Grow up!
You’re surprised an airline doesn’t have a dress code? Do any? The most casual thing I can think of wearing is pajamas, and airlines give those to first class passengers.
tell us more about muslim disrespect please.
pilots muslim? flight attendants muslim? …theyre all imports. 5th freedom flight passengers muslim?
so shorts shoudlnt be worn anywhere muslims may feel offended. does this include the moon? degenerate.
on a lighter note! silly ass flight! which miles did you (Scott) use redeem please? how many miles? thanks
oh boy… what’s up with all the haters here? if you don’t like what first class has become – don’t fly it! get on your private jet and stop reading blogs.
meanwhile… we still don’t know what miles you used to book this flight… .;)
The credit card referral miles?
I used 47,500 Emirates miles from a friend, who had Emirates miles set to expire in a week or two. There are better ways on to Emirates. I only did it this way because the miles were free. More to come on redeeming for Emirates soon.
Only the nouveau riche care about the clothing being worn by other passengers. Old money doesn’t deign to notice that other people even exist. 😉 Poor Tom and Minos, they get all upset if other people don’t dress like extras in the play in which they are starring in their heads.
Its all about having respect for other people and their cultures and more importantly, yourself…
You’ll all be happy to hear I wore a suit in the shower–my birthday suit. I hope that doesn’t shock anybody.
I agree that respect is important, so let’s start by respecting shorts-wearers among us. They are people too.
Pants suck.
This is a very interesting blog post. I often flew first class and I never thought of picturing the bathroom. But thanks anyway for sharing this experience.
Great blog! I hd the good fortune to fly Emirates a380 London – Dubai, B777 Dubai – Hong Kong and having flown first and business on other airlines (including BA Concorde) I would do Emirates again in a flash! Mercedes S class to Heathrow, longer than 6 hours Dubai = hotel stay, shower at 39000 feet, bar at the rear of business, ordered a champagne cocktail and the flight attendant went back to First to get the Dom Perignon for it. Pyjamas, flat bed, excellent food and superb, faultless service, even given the Emirates red hat to wear when behind the bar and photos taken. No jet way at Dubai getting off the B777 so down steps onto coach to terminal – coach with leather armchairs for 16 (only 4 of us though) FC passengers.It is a a great FC service I can not fault.
I wore smart black T-shirt and white trousers and from my recollections of 30+ years flying, it is exactly what Lisa said: nouveau riche, not real money.
As for ‘culture’ – yes, an airline from a Islamic country but they serve alcohol to everyone.
If you don’t like it, don’t fly Emirates. If you do, save every penny and wallow in the experience.
Did I pay using miles? No – real money and worth every single penny!
no window in the spa?
my bidness class LH A330 pooper had a window behind it…was kinda pleasant
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Hey Mate,
Ive spent a great evening read your amazing blog about your first class experience with Emirates. Simply awesome buddy. Thanks so much for p[roviding such a detailed account of your Emirates experience. This has made me so excited about myEmirate Trip next year Im flying London to Dubai and Dubai to Bangkok in business. A few days later Ive used miles to upgrade on the short 3 hour secto from Bangkok- HongKong before returning to Europe a few days later back in Biz. Im hoping for such a great experience. whats the norm for tipping the chauffer? feel a bit embarassed and not sure what the expectation is. The cabin looks amazing. Do they issue PJ’s on such a sshort flight? Not a big issue, Im all Man mate and don’t own or wear any!!! lol but for the novelty i mean. The turndown service sounds amazing, cn you just ask for this. Im looking forward to all the free champers more than anything and a couple of good malts. Great blog mate, I like your style so much. Happy travelling. Gareth
I tipped what I thought 15% of a town car ride would be. Just ask the flight attendant when you want turn down service.
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