And yet.....
with all the modern aids that let you smooth out your flying - a ham-handed pilot is still capable of giving his pax a crap flight. My general feeling is that the larger the airframe the less turbulence apparently affects it , simply because of mass. The A330 flight in question was noticeably smoother than my recent previous flights in A330, A320, A380, B737, B767, B747 run by various operators. (Etihad, SAA, Kulula et al.) With the help of the systems available to him, this guy operated a flight as it should be done, not as it is usually done and I believe that he (& crew) should get the recognition for the result.
We are usually quick to bitch when it goes pear shaped, this is just appreciation of a good job well done.