This is a Trip Report from the Upper Class cabin
Ground Staff
Food & Drink
Entertainment
Seat
Cabin Crew
On the Limobike, traffic into LHR from Canary Wharf was not good, taking in excess of an hour. As I arrived in Heathrow it was clear that most of the staff of the airport had taken their lunch on top of the various short stay car parks to see the A380 arrive.
At the drive thru check in, everything went smoothly, and even the security line was only about five minutes, although an American accent in the queue stated without any reasons given 'you'll never get me on one of those things' referring to the A380. Gotta say it, just like Concorde, sometimes our friends on the western side of the Atlantic do seem to love sour grapes!
I hurried around to where the A380 was parked: it was obvious where it was as you could see a huge movement airside in T3 of Heathrow staff wearing their reflective tarbards either heading in that direction, or heading back with their cellphones sending their A380 pictures to their friends. You couldn't get closer than about 75 yards of the gate where their were speeches being given to the throng of those gathered. I took a few pictures from inside the terminal but they weren't too great as the jetway was hiding the front 1/3 of the aircraft. I also saw where the new Emirates lounge is being constructed, a welcome change to the awfully utilitarian United lounge EK use now.
After this brief excitement I went to the Clubhouse and took the stairs upto the garden to see if I could get a better view, but sadly it wasn't possible to see in that direction. There was a new Jaguar parked up in the garden, but I couldn't figure out how they got it up there.
Had a brief struggle with the WiFi in the lounge and then had to call the WiFi provider as it dropped out, so it took quite some time to upload few crummy A380 pics I had.
I had a Rhinestone cowboy treatment, but sadly I don't think I'm designed to take a cut throat shave: I broke out in a face full of zits over the next couple of days. I dont ever remember it being that bad be
The hottub was out of action, so I'm afraid that the masochists amongst you will have to wait for some more photos of yours truly semi-naked. While taking a shower my flight was called. Despite arriving at LHR three hours before my flight, it's still not enough time - I didn't even get the chance to get a drink or anything to eat in the Clubhouse.
Boarding was good as there was no queue when I got to the gate. I went straight up the stairs and took my seat in 3K. I got changed into a sleepsuit before takeoff and took a glass of Champagne. As they were refuelling and things were dragging on with no indication of when wed push back I wondered back to the galley and retrieved a glass of orange.
There was an ATC failure in the Manchester area so as everyone had chosen that route today we had to sit on the tarmac for an hour before taking off. Twelve minutes after takeoff the IFE was switched on, not bad, although I have yet to discover why some carriers like EK are able have the IFE on all the way from boarding to disembarking.
The IFBT came around and introduced herself. I explained that the last two times Id requested a treatment on board (and was willing to be awakened) I hadnt been successful and neither had I been offered a priority card. She assured me that if I didnt get lucky this time Id certainly get a card. Sadly I neither had a treatment nor received a card for the third time.
Service seemed to take an age to start. I had a glass of Champagne to begin with (with pretzels that turned out to be Twiglets yummy) and inevitably had to go back for a fill up. Despite it looking a rather miniscule portion when Id noticed it in the galley earlier, I ordered the smoked salmon with horseradish sauce for a starter, and the bangers and mash (with an English mustard option) for main. The menu descriptions were far more flowery than Ive just given.
Mmm... Twiglets
The tray arrived, and yet again no salt and pepper pots, being replaced with sachets. But metal knives and forks! Hurray!
Where did those cruet sets go - again?
Well I have got to say that food is really, really looking up on VS. The hot smoked salmon was superb: very tasty indeed especially with the horseradish sauce. I had this at first with the white English bacchus, to be honest more as an experiment than anything else. Its similar to a sauvignon blanc but more aromatic. I also tried the youngish Australian oaked chardonnay but this just was not my favourite at all. There was an Italian white (a Soave) also available but I astonishingly I liked the English bacchus white so much that went back to it.
Finally the food is improving significantly on Virgin, and even better we see the return of metal cutlery
At this point I thought that my starter was going to be a one off success story, but I was surprised again in that the bangers and mash were really well flavoured, not your normal M&S style at all. Sadly I didnt get the opportunity to have a go with the English mustard, but it was still very good despite this. I tried both the Tasta 2003 Bordeaux and a French 2004 Cab-Shiraz (was either Rousillon or Languedoc). Both were good, but I favoured the Bordeaux. It was nothing particularly special but it was surprisingly drinkable considering its young age.
Possibly the best sausage and mash in the world
After the ever so disappointing cheese course (none of them would say boo to a goose), I knew I had a good chance that the rhubarb crumble might be available. In view of the fact that VS does not have desert wines on board, Id already taken the liberty of asking one of the crew if theyd mind chilling a half bottle of Willi Opitzs Opitz One. After being a little unsure at first, they very thankfully obliged. Initially I had the crumble and vanilla ice cream served separately although as the pastry was rather dry I popped the ice cream on top. The Opitz One was superb, but I had rather misjudged its match with the rhubarb crumble. It was OK but a rather less unctuous sweetie from the same region would perhaps have been a better match.
The cheese is still uninspiring
The rhubarb crumble was OK but a bit dry, the Opitz One was great, just BYOB.
I went down to the bar and finished off the Opitz there, having a chat with a couple of American chaps.
I was slightly surprised that there was no snack service later on in the flight. On landing at Newark, despite the crew clearly explaining that cell phones were out of use until we had cleared immigration and customs, half of my fellow UC decided that this didnt apply to them. So the FA had a few sharp words to say about it. I have no idea what is so important that people have to switch on their darned cell phones.
Otherwise, deplaning was fairly painless and luckily wed just missed a couple of planeloads full of non-native English speakers so immigration was a breeze.
My bag came off the carousel almost immediately, and I proceeded to the hotel for the night.
In summary, service is still rather slow upstairs and I am considering retrying the lower cabin next time. We had the odd interloper from PE using the UC loos, and nothing was done, although at the times it happened it was hardly very busy. Food and beverage has definitely improved substantially, reflecting my long held belief that trying to reheat fancy things in the air is generally going to end in disaster. Sticking to things that are known to work well on reheating, and still maintaining taste, is the order of the day proven by this experience. The wine on offer from Berry Bros & Rudd was certainly interesting and I enjoyed having my eyes opened, although I am unsure as to whether some of the slightly unconventional bottles on offer would necessarily appeal to a wider audience.
