Reviewer: Paul Haworth from Blackburn - UK.
Instead of the usual early taxi and shuttle down to Heathrow, the direct Miami service gives a better departure of 11.40am. We stayed at Bewleys Hotel the night before which is only 300m from terminal 3. 59 for a family room and 30 for 15 days parking. Very clean hotel, good bar and decent atmosphere. No hassle leaving car or picking back up when we returned 2 weeks later.
Checked in then had breakfast at The Lancaster. Depending what time we are at the airport, we either have breakfast or lunch. We are never disappointed. Excellent breakfast menu and after 11.30am great food, pasta etc etc. Very calm and nice views of the airport apron. Situated in Terminal 1. keep walking past all the Burger bars.
Being part of the same affiliation, we could use the British Airways Lounge. Excellent as usual. A serene place in all the hustle and bustle of the airport. Security checks done with no problems. Boarded aircraft (767-300) at our leisure. We had seats 2A, 2B and 2D. There are no row C seats or row 1 for that matter. Row one must be in the cockpit!
Given Champagne whilst we waited for other people to board. My daughter was offered fruit juice. Seat plan is 2-2-2 as opposed to 2-3-2 in economy. Legroom is much better in rows 3,4,5 and 6 as our row is bulkhead. I am six feet three tall and still had enough room, but if you have the choice, pick rows further back.
As soon as we levelled off, wine and champagne was brought out and placed on a 'table' just under the TV screen at the front. Wine choice was shown in the menu handed to each passenger. White wines listed were, Pommery Brut Champagne, Buechler Russian River Chardonay (Californian), Wairau River Marlborough Valley Chardonay (New Zealand). Red wines were, Chateux Duhart-Milon Rothschild Grand Cru (If only the wine matched the grandeur of the title! it was very poor), Rosemount Diamond Estate Shiraz (very good). Menu also listed Emilio Lustau Sherry and Graham`s Vintage Port that were both very good, especially the Port with the Cheese and crackers.
Beers also on offer. Fullers London Pride a nice addition, but let it warm a little before drinking. The dreaded curse of Americans having to serve beer at arctic temperatures strikes again. Liqueurs also on offer.
Food menu could also be had as a dine on request. Starter was a small pot of carrots and celery sticks and a garlic dip followed by Grilled scallop with hot smoked salmon and grilled shrimp with roasted vegetable salad and warm bread rolls. All good, but the scallops were as thin as a 10 pence piece and only marginally less tough! Please, please,this creature unwillingly gave its life. At least give it the send off it deserves by cooking it correctly. I don`t see the point of airlines serving this type of food. If you cannot do it justice, just don`t serve it at all.
Drinks were again served. This seemed to occur at very regular intervals or whenever you requested one. Large bottles of water were also always available.
Individual DVD players were handed out with a choice of 24 titles and a set of Bose head phones. These are also the sound deadening type so when not watching the films they keep a bit of the aircraft noise out.
Seats reclined to approx 60 degrees and a foot/leg rest also came up. This was fine for my daughter and wife who are around 5 feet four tall, but I could not get the foot rest to a position that was comfortable. I am not excessively tall (6 feet 3 is not tall these days). Whoever designs the seats must have been small as it is not because of a shortage of legroom that they cannot make them extend any further. My wife and daughter both found them to be very comfortable. The seat width and back support were good.The view from the aircraft is very good as you have two windows per seat instead of one.
Cabin crew were OK except for one male steward who had a chip on his shoulder large enough to feed a third world country. Always polite, but you felt he would rather be sat were you were. I say that if you don`t like working in the service industry, just leave.
Next meal served and this was a choice of Bourbon glazed Chicken, Mustard seared Salmon, Fillet Mignon or Farfalle pasta. All were served with an assortment of vegetables sauces etc. I had the chicken which was OK, but not anything to write home about. Cheese and crackers were served and Ben and Jerry`s ice cream. All were good. Coffee and tea always available.
Afternoon snack served approx two hours later of a personal pizza or Asian style chicken sata type meal. Chose pizza as it looked home made. It was very good.
After nine hours, we landed and were first off the plane. Cue the inefficiencies of Miami immigration. When are they going to speed this up? I have no problem with extra security checks, but to change shifts halfway through and have the next guy then proceed to line up his papers and pens then adjust the camera that has to be adjusted every time a new person comes up to the booth anyway is beyond me.
Holiday was very good. We stayed on Marco Island on the gulf coast just south of Naples. Stayed in a villa booked through Sunflowerrentals.com. They are German, but have English speaking people on Marco Island to deal with you. First time we have used them, but this villa was very good. Called 'Villa Design' if you are interested in going. Pool looks out onto own dock/waterway. Dolphins passing by us 20 feet away while we ate breakfast on the patio was one highlight.
The whole island is very stylish with nice restaurants and very cost effective taxis (AOK Taxis) to get around in the evening. The Esplanade on North Collier was great for outdoor evening drinks with live music most evenings in the Bayview Bar/restaurant. It is right next to a habour and has great sunsets. Arturos was a superb Italian restaurant, but you need to book. This is on Bald Eagle Drive.
Hope this has been useful.
Please note: Since I wrote this TR, the direct flight to Miami is no longer available as I think it was a tester to see how viable the route would be,hence we have booked with Virgin for next year.
Also the Lancaster restauarant menu at MAN has changed. Paul H. 5/11/05
