This is a Trip Report from the Upper Class cabin
Ground Staff
Food & Drink
Entertainment
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Cabin Crew
Virgin Holidays operates a Check In, Chill Out service in it's Caribbean hotels - VS reps turn up first thing in the morning, your luggage gets tagged and taken away and boarding cards are issued. This worked very well this time as there were twice as many check in agents [y]. As this flight was overnight we got seats 6A and 6K as they are furthest from the noisy end of the cabin (bar, toilets etc.). These are great seats if flying as a couple, it is possible to play footsie with your partner [:I]
At Hewanorra airport on St. Lucia there is no VS lounge but UC passengers do get access to the Servisair-style lounge which is small and basic but is air conditioned, has comfy seats and sandwiches/cakes/beer/wine etc. As the airport is cramped and has few facilities this is very welcome particularly when your flight is an hour late in embarking as ours was. Through the emergency exit of the lounge we could see Virginia Plain (G-VTOP) as the crew prepared for the trip home.
The flight was called, we spotted the small Priority Boarding sign and pushed through the scrum to get to it. Once on board champagne (Laurent Perrier excellent) was served and the crew explained how the suites worked. As old hands (i.e. our second UCS flight) we were exempt from this process.
As the inbound flight had been delayed by about an hour, our push back and take off was 60 minutes late. We didnt regain this time and landed at LGW an hour behind schedule.
About an hour after take off dinner was served. I opted for the mulligatawny soup and toad in the hole, my wife chose the dressed salad and toad in the hole. The salad was pretty much as described and the mulligatawny soup (with coconut cream) was very tasty. Toad in the hole was interesting. If you imagine explaining toad in the hole to a French chef without being able to tell him the exact recipe or draw any pictures youll have a good idea of the end result. It wasnt bad, it just wasnt toad in the holemore sort of toad in the dumplings [:(]
Wines on the flight were Berry Brothers selections and were very pleasant (a glass of the white burgundy helped to wash down the toad in the hole) and a Tanquerray & tonic just before lights out was intended to help me get some sleep.
After changing into the sleep suit and watching War of the Worlds again (good action film, recommended) I converted the suite into bed mode and snuggled down. I must admit I didnt get much sleep (but then Ive never slept well on planes and forgot to take my melatonin dose) and found the cabin temperature very warm. However and I must stress this the bed was comfortable and getting to lie down with my eyes closed for four hours was way, way better than sitting upright, even in PE.
A small aside as the night wore on we encountered some fairly heavy turbulence which lasted about 45 minutes. As I lay in bed being shaken I had to wonder about the wisdom of feeding passengers curry soup and toad in the hole as the air quality deteriorated and the cabin took on the aroma of a bag of dry roasted peanuts [:?]
I think I finally drifted off to sleep/snooze about an hour before being woken with my breakfast selection. Cabin crew made a bit of a mess of this with some pax being given the wrong breakfast items and I got a bowl of cereal but no milk without prompting. The bacon roll was OK but I prefer proper British bacon not the round Canadian-style cut that was served.
We touched down at LGW about an hour late, UC baggage was first off the carousel and we emerged from Gatwick tanned and refreshed into the chilly English air. I definitely noticed the benefit of being able to rest (if not sleep much) on the flight as I was much fresher on the 90 minute drive home than ever before and only needed one bag of Maynards Wine Gums to keep me awake.
All in all the whole UCS experience was excellent difficult to say if its worth the money in the true sense of the term but Id book it again at the drop of a hat.
Ken
