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#237966 by jmf
17 Sep 2005, 21:54
Ground Staff
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Cabin Crew
Check in was very speedy, there was hardly any queue, I was sent to the Upper Class desk ... about the closest Ill ever get. I asked about an exit row and was told that there was a charge for that, however she did give me a window exit seat as theyre free. Its not so much the leg room for me (Im only 5 foot 6), its more the getting up and down to the loo due to water consumption and I hate having to keep disturbing people [:)]

With time to kill in the airport I headed for the Duty Free shop to pick up a bottle of Crown Royal (why is the airport the only place I can get this stuff in the UK!) and then to Starbucks - thank goodness theyve now opened, Terminal 2 is definitely improving with every visit.

Spooky moment as I was leaving Starbucks, I ran in to my cousin who I havent seen for nearly a year and guess where he was headed? Yep, MCO on VS too ... small world!

The gate number finally appeared so I headed off for 204 as I get there I here my name being called so I approach the desk, the GA explains that theres been a problem with the IFE on my seat so shes moving me forwards (sadly not that far forward) to Row 28, its still a window seat she explains, not realising that thats not what Im after, but she then goes on to explain that Ill be on my own so will still have plenty of room - result!

We pushed off from the gate on time and the take off was nice and smooth - Im not exactly frightened of flying but Im not keen on any sharp banking,thankfully there was none of that so I was a happy camper.

The first drinks run was soon coming round (if only Id known at that point it was going to be the only one, Id have bought water in the airport!) shortly followed by lunch. The choice was Mushroom Risotto, Beef Stew or Chicken Pasta - I went for the Mushroom Risotto. Word of warning if youre served early, the food is very, very, very, very hot! I guess thats why the red wine was chilled then!? Once it had cooled down it was very nice (which if you knew how fussy I was about airline food should be taken as quite a compliment), the only small quibble Id have would be the chilled red wine.

At this point its probably a good point to mention how disappointed I was with the drinks service. Only once did the trolley come through the cabin, before dinner. Yes there were also drinks served with the meal, but that was it for a good few hours as the crew vanished behind their curtains. It became clear after about 2 hours that it was up to us to ask for drink - perhaps in that case when the in-flight health tips tell you to drink lots of water it might also say, dont sit waiting for your drinks, you have to ask. To add insult to injury, given where I was sat I was afford a great view of the cabin crew chugging down their water, whilst Im sat there gasping!! When asked the crew were very polite and attentive and seemed happy to get whatever people asked for, but wouldnt it be easier on them to do another one or two drinks runs instead of having to keep getting up and down or have people try and catch them when theyre probably actually in the middle of doing something else.

Back to the good things, my seat was great, I cant say it was any better or worse than any other Y seat Ive been in, what made it great for me was having those extra seats to lie down on - practically had my own UCS [:)]

There seemed to be a good choice of films, for my first one I went with Sahara. There were two reasons for this one was Matthew McConaughey and the second was (shameless name drop coming up ...) was because a friend of mine wrote the soundtrack! A good action flick, not too complicated. Next I plumped for Madagascar - very funny, really enjoyed that. My favourites were the penquins. After that I decided to try and get a bit of shut eye. Oh before I forget on the subject of the IFE, why no Airshow, I dont like not knowing where I am and how far we still have to go. I assume that it should have been where the error message was appearing (No configuration loaded, please install custom CD and cycle power now).

After a couple of hours resting (couldnt really call it sleeping), it was time for the snack service, a rather horrible roll - cheese or chicken. I went with chicken, but not being a big bread fan only had about 3 mouthfuls.

The landing was great, very smooth descent and soft landing - just the type I like. I was quickly through immigration - do they not bother asking any of the normal questions? Just assume everyone is a holiday traveller? Im used to travelling through ATL or EWR - lots of questions there, not nearly so many in MCO. Customs was also a breeze and transfer happened so quickly I completely forgot about ditching stuff out of my carry on into my case to save me having to cart it to ATL and PNS.

Im really liking MCO as an airport, very quiet compared to the cattle markets of ATL & EWR, I think I could enjoy transitting through here on the next trip. Of course this free wireless internet access is really great - makes for a speedy TR!

Another hour to go for my next flight up to Atlanta, but Ive arrived relaxed and ready for the next 7 hours of travelling!
#312425 by JO5H777
17 Sep 2005, 22:06
glad you had a reasonably good experience with virgin atlantic from MAN-MCO i hope to travel this route soon, please post your trip report to atlanta as well. thanks for the TR!
#312426 by Waddy
17 Sep 2005, 22:14
Nice report

Cant wait to be doing this route in 3 weeks!

Its my 5th time doing the MAN-MCO flight but its still as exciting as the 1st [:D]
#312435 by JAT74L
18 Sep 2005, 00:05
Cheers for a nice report Janet!

Hope you share the trip up north with us on the non VAA forum.

Regards

John
#312437 by mike-smashing
18 Sep 2005, 00:23
Thanks for the good TR! We don't get too many reports out of MAN, and nice one on getting the empty row! I guess with schools having gone just back, the load factors are pretty light on that route at the moment.

Sounds like you got that 744 which has the defective skymap. That has been like that for months.

Originally posted by jmf
At this point it's probably a good point to mention how disappointed I was with the drinks service. Only once did the trolley come through the cabin, before dinner...

...When asked the crew were very polite and attentive and seemed happy to get whatever people asked for, but wouldn't it be easier on them to do another one or two drinks runs instead of having to keep getting up and down or have people try and catch them when they're probably actually in the middle of doing something else.


There are a couple of good reasons for keeping the drink cart runs down:


Reduces aisle blockages, and disturbing resting pax
If a cart run is made, people will usually take things, whether they want them or not - I guess that keeping the drinks runs down to the basics helps discourage heavy drinking, consumption for the sake of it, and wastage


United (before they were in Chapter 11) used to give out bottled water in economy class - this was a good size (250-300ml) screw-top water bottle, which was great for sipping and keeping thirst at bay.

I know VS have also switched from those insulting 'cuplets' to 'lunchbox-size' bottles of Buxton Spring with the main meal since the switch from GateGourmet to LSG Skychefs. So, they get a brownie point for that change... [y]

Another cool United service technique on long haul sectors is for a flight attendant to 'patrol' the aisles every 20-30 mins or so with a jug of iced water and small tray of plastic cups. It doesn't block the aisle, doesn't disturb sleeping pax, encourages people to keep hydrated, and if they want anything else, the flight attendant can get it for them.

Cheers,
Mike
#312439 by sweetsncider
18 Sep 2005, 00:58
Glad you had a good flight Janet, hope we manage to get a row each lol but sadly I think our flight is pretty full!!

I can't understand why they wanted to charge you for an exit seat as a) a virgin employee on here said the MAN MCO routes are not charged and b) im sure I have read somewhere on the virgin atlantic site that they do not charge for MAN MCO routes (I can't find it now though typically lol)

I will be asking for extra drinks, they did this on the BMI flight but we had a nice CC and right at the start she told us (very quietly lol) to ring the bell if we wanted extra drinks so that was good [:D]

Let us have a TR on your return [:D]
#312450 by n/a
18 Sep 2005, 02:33
Originally posted by mike-smashing


There are a couple of good reasons for keeping the drink cart runs down:


Reduces aisle blockages, and disturbing resting pax
If a cart run is made, people will usually take things, whether they want them or not - I guess that keeping the drinks runs down to the basics helps discourage heavy drinking, consumption for the sake of it, and wastage




Wow, thank you for answering that because I was going to pull that same quote and ask someone on here to give an answer! [:)] What you said makes all the sense in the world.

I primarily fly in domestic First and international First and Busines. and almost irregardless of the airline or service class, they seem to skimp on the water onloaded (weight?). So I always buy one of those really big Evian or Volvic bottles and bring it in my carry-on.

And thanks for the TR, jmf!
#312451 by andrewjh009
18 Sep 2005, 02:40
Any chance of Virgin bringing out the NY route from Manchester, might have to go BA instead if the price is right, or get a hotel at Heathrow, hmmmm[:D]
#312480 by buns
18 Sep 2005, 20:29
jmf

Thanks for a very welcome TR on the economy service to be found on the MAN - MCO route[y][y]

There will be many who read this forum as they plan their trip of a lifetime to Orlando and you have helpfully provided some good tips[:D]

Obviously you did not rush back to your cousin on the same flight to see if they wanted to share your 3 seats[;)][}:)][;)]
#312499 by Virgin Lover
18 Sep 2005, 23:13
Hi,

Thanks for the MAN trip report, will be doing that soon myself, after years of travelling down to Gatwick!

As for the drinks service, if your fuel bill increased by 300 million you would be doing all you could to reduce costs. Reducing the drinks service and therefore wastage is just one of those measures, which, while while keeping VS in the air, rather erodes expected levels of service. VS are not the only ones doing this, and to be honest when flying economy I am glad of the excuse to stand up and have a walk around when I need another drink.

The last time I flew in Premium the crew were very attentive and constantly came round with water and orange, as well as letting us know we could come to the galley anytime and help ourselves. I have seen thus done in economy too but very rarely.

Neil.
#312538 by jmf
19 Sep 2005, 16:02
buns4vs
Well my cousin was flying on the company's expense so was upstairs in PE, so I'm sure he was just as comfortable as me [;)]

mike-smashing
Thanks for the info on the possible reasons - guess it makes sense. They did do a run of jugged juice and water, but this was also only done once - even if they'd done that every hour or so would have been better. When I've flown with CO or DL I seem to recall them passing through with trays of cups of water quite a few times during the flight. I guess next time I just need to remember to buy a large bottle before boarding.

sweetsncider
Yes, I was a bit confused by her saying there was a charge for the exit row, but since she almost immediately followed that by offering the window exit, I didn't really have a chance (or a need) to pursue the matter. Perhaps you can get clarification on this as there'll be two in your party, so one is not going to get the window seat [:)]

JAT74L
I didn't take any notes for the other two flights, but will see what I can do from memory [:)]
#315754 by Littlejohn
13 Oct 2005, 14:14
Great TR - Thanks. Good to have a Manchester Y report here.

Originally posted by mike-smashing

*If a cart run is made, people will usually take things, whether they want them or not - I guess that keeping the drinks runs down to the basics helps discourage heavy drinking, consumption for the sake of it, and wastage


Oh yes - you are describing the rear admiral to a tee. Have I ever mentioned our collection of minature soft drink cans and hotel soap bars.[}:)]
#316598 by 74.7GalleyFM
20 Oct 2005, 09:29
I don't know why there is this mystery about the Y drinks service. VA has only ever done 1 full drinks service followed by drinks served with dinner. You can come to the galley if you would like extra drinks during the flight(what a great opportunity to avoid the DVT you're all so afraid of). OJ and Water is also brought around where time permits. You're not missing out on anything.
#316647 by jmf
20 Oct 2005, 19:16
This was the first time that I'd flown with VS, so was not aware of what the 'normal' procedure was. Previously I've flown with CO and DL where there was more than the one drinks service. If passengers are expected/welcome to come to the galley to collect more drinks, then maybe it would be an idea to let us know that.
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