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#921778 by TimCrawley
24 May 2016, 13:13
Ground Staff
Food & Drink
Entertainment
Seat
Cabin Crew
Decided not to bother with Twilight checkin as usually the priority of the bags gets ‘lost’ at the other end. So grabbed a local taxi for the short run in to the airport on the day, hardly any traffic with it being a Sunday until actually at the airport where it was chaos as too many folks trying to do pick ups from the drop off only area – queuing for nearly 10 minutes before the driver could drop me off.

All the agents busy at UC checkin but only a couple of minutes and I was handing over a couple of featherweight suitcases (perhaps a small understatement as 31.2 and 31.5kg respectively but my friends who drink Duvel at Half Moon Beach will be grateful for some of the liquid contents). Really lovely lady at checkin, super friendly and we had a small laugh at my customary poor jokes.

Fast track was indeed fast (regular lines looked pretty quick too even though quite busy) so was quickly into CH where I was warmly welcomed back to what was, by then, a fairly empty CH as only really MBJ and ORD passengers there I think.

Tested out a (late) breakfast and a Redhead or two and was called for boarding around 12. Short stroll to gate 13 and no wait at gate to show boarding card with maybe a 10 minute queue down the ramp to get on board Ladybird (G-VAST).

FSM very visible from the start passing up and down the aircraft, CC were quick to ask if anyone in UC wanted drinks, papers etcetera.

Boarding was being slowed enough in E that there were multiple announcements asking people to move out of the aisles to let others through. Push back was delayed as some passengers in E simply would not take their seats once seatbelt lights came on – FC even had to announce once we were pushed back that if passengers did not retake their seats (again) then they would return to the gate and offload all the offending passengers …. Fortunately this didn’t need to happen.

Flight was pretty full in E and full in UC but quite a few spaces in PE (when I booked originally on VH site it was actually cheaper to fly PE/E than E/E !) with a total count around 346 if I remember correctly (I was Seq 326 so hadn’t quite managed to join the Seq 1 thread myself).

Menu was the April 2016 for VS15/27/49/29/31/83/89/97/43 etc which I’m sure is already posted (if not I can post). I had the Carrot and Coriander soup (tasty once a bit of salt added) followed by the Roast chicken on a potato cake with pea puree which was very nice (I watched someone across the aisle sawing away at their Fillet Steak so was glad I didn’t choose that). The FSM herself passed through multiple times with the bread rolls checking everyone was being looked after (I was welcomed and addressed by name multiple times during the flight but I was the only ‘Gold’ in UC for the flight). Finished off with the Brioche and butter pudding which was good enough to have wanted a second but decided I wouldn’t be too greedy as I hadn’t even got space for the cheese & biscuits by this stage.

Bumpy flight in parts (obviously starting moments after my soup was served) so the seatbelt signs probably came on 7 or 8 times overall for periods of 5-15 minutes but nothing too bad and I managed to get the soup and other liquid items heading for the right part of my face throughout the flight.

Was in seat 8A and everything worked fine - the whole cabin looked in great condition.

I’m still not convinced about having the afternoon tea on the ‘Extra Bites’ menu from the point of view that really they served everyone afternoon tea in UC as ‘normal’ but from the galley rather than by trolley at the same time about 1h45 before landing …. But it did mean some people had a burger or quiche instead of sandwiches to go with their scone so maybe the extra choices still applying during afternoon tea service is a plus point. I had the usual sandwiches and scone which was just as nice as normal (sandwiches had not dried out at all).

Didn't find anything inspiring on the IFE but struggled through a dire film on the financial cisis that had come in for good reviews but was dreadful .... so mainly left it on the flight map and read book, newspaper and got some serious snoring done for 2 hours as well!

All in all the FC and CC did a really great job looking after us and keeping us informed, the FSM was highly visible and was to be seen in every cabin as far as I could see (I never went to the bubble but did have an aircraft stroll to stretch my legs).

Landed into MBJ on time into a lovely late afternoon – with PE being relatively low load we were off from UC faster than usual and after the usual long walk from the gate (which I actually enjoy after a long flight) arrived in an empty arrivals hall. Half way from gate to arrivals there was some official checking our arrivals cards and claiming that ‘Virgin do not comply and do not give the right cards’ before then checking cards and letting us carry on where the same diatribe was repeated in arrivals hall before we were speedily through immigration and into luggage hall.
Luggage very fast as my bags were on the carousel already and I had been no slouch from gate to luggage hall ….., straight out to VH desk where they were shocked to see people out so quick after landing. I had a 15 minute wait for transfer to Secrets Wild Orchid while other passengers sharing bus got through but simply grabbed a Red Stripe at the bar outside and smoked several tabs while waiting.

Sunday traffic meant quickly from airport to hotel with chatty VH rep on board giving us a commentary and such – so checked in and swimming in the sea followed by a now it’s sundown rum or two etcetera

Thanks for reading!
#921813 by buns
25 May 2016, 05:52
Tim

Thanks for the super TR

It would not surprise me if before too long, Gatwick follow Stanstead in imposing a drop off charge "to relieve congestion" ;-)

From a VS perspective - a text book journey with a visible FSM and corresponding Crew

Enjoy your stay

buns
#921819 by hiljil
25 May 2016, 07:06
Thank you for your TR. Nice to read so many positive things.

Enjoy your stay in the sun :cool:

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