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#922556 by stuart_f
09 Jun 2016, 00:23
Ground Staff
Food & Drink
Entertainment
Seat
Cabin Crew
Pre Departure
Mrs F and I decided to avoid any risk of M25 related issues by staying over in the Hilton Gatwick South the night before. Twilight check-in was the order of the day, why drag cases to the room and back if I can check them in? However, Virgin could improve the experience very simply by adding some barriers to make the Upper, Premium and Economy queues more obvious. We walked past the line queuing for economy and up to the Upper Class desk. Just as we did that a passenger detached herself from the back of the queue and headed for us like a torpedo, “Flying Upper are you?” she sneered. “Yes!” was the simply reply and she slunk off back to the back of the queue having been denied her role as the queue police. Perhaps I just don’t look like an Upper Class passenger?

An uneventful evening in an executive room (definitely worth the premium over a standard room IMHO, the exec rooms are in the newer wing with refurbished furniture) and access to the executive lounge. The evening drinks in the lounge run from 1830-2030 and a pretty decent spread is laid on with chicken wings, falafel, charcuterie plate, cheese and biscuits and a fair selection of complimentary wines, beers and spirits. Definitely how a lounge should be – Hilton Dulles take note!

LGW
In the morning, a brisk journey through Gatwick security, with surprisingly happy staff at 0630, led us into the empty Clubhouse.

0700 rolled round and with the Spa now open we booked treatments for later in the day and sat down to enjoy breakfast.

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It must be a V-flyer thing but every time I see “VA The Clubhouse” on the crockery I mentally correct it to VS. I need to get out more…

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We were particularly restrained this trip and held off on the bubbles until 0715 when we finally caved and went for some Virgin Redheads – “it’s a gateway cocktail,” Mrs F warned me, “it’ll lead you to the harder stuff later!”

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With breakfast over we took to the comfy chairs and watched our 747 taxi onto a very sunny stand 19.

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There we were approached by a lady with an iPad, “are you flying club members, do you collect points?” she enquired. I nearly choked on my Redhead. There are people who don’t collect points? This trip was a pair of G’s so I was immediately interested. She was offering enhanced credit card signup bonuses – 12,000 points on the White card or 32,000 points on the Black if you joined in the Clubhouse. A significant improvement on 3,000/18,500 miles that’s open to the public, it would seem that the EU interchange cap hasn’t killed all the good offers quite yet!

It came time for our massage and while Mrs F was very dignified, I resorted to screams of oooooh and arghhhh as the therapist worked out my knots with hot stones. It really was excellent and by the time we were finished I felt like a new man.

Flight
We decided to leave the lounge a little ahead of the masses as we were sat in 6 a/k which are a bit of a mixed blessing. Great during the flight but, if the occupants of 7 a/k aren’t frequent flyers, they might not know to leave you bin space as there’s nothing over row 6.

Since we were the first on in Upper the cabin was very quiet. This gave us a chance for Mrs F to give a box of Thornton’s chocolates to the CSM – instant happiness and a long chat about the good bars to visit in Havana.
The other Cabin Crew Member who was working UC seemed to be very new, I overheard someone else on board ask where to plug in their headphones and they got the reply, “I suppose I should know, but I don’t.” Not ideal by any stretch.

Departure was delayed again and again due to “cargo issues” and we eventually pushed back 50 minutes late. Once airborne we turned west and after what seemed like the longest step-climb ever reached cruising level and headed off to Cuba.

The weather Gods must have been against us as turbulence was almost immediate and continued to varying degrees throughout the flight. However, just to the west of Ireland it did settle down enough to get the lunch service out. It was the first day of a brand new menu and the crew were working hard to plate the unfamiliar dishes. They didn’t do too bad a job I’d say:

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The prawns were pretty good, although the caviar was a bit more style than substance, their flavour lost amongst the onions.

The chicken, I thought was good, but there really wasn’t a particularly strong flavour in the dish other than the asparagus. I think it could be improved with a little sauce, perhaps something as simple as a drizzle of pesto over the top just to perk it up a little. Mrs F said hers was dry so there’s obviously a little variation in where it goes in the oven.

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Dinner was finished off with cheese and biscuits. The cheese comes pre-portioned and, since I don't like stilton, the serving was a little small to cover the 4 biscuits provided. It would have been better if the cheese was cut and served on board. The port was really excellent.

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The cabin then settled down until a few hours before landing when I decided to order the burger from the graze menu. This seemed to jolt everyone into action as person after person suddenly decided to order more food. My burger was a little cold but tasty. The winner was Mrs F’s tasting menu, the fishcakes had real zing!

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Arrival at Havana
Havana is worth a few words as the arrivals process is a little different to any I’ve seen before. Once off the jet bridge you pass through a few corridors and down some stairs to passport control. Several of the passport gates have signs over them that say “cruise passengers” so most of the flight avoided those for fear of being sent back. You don’t need to worry, they are perfectly ok to use.

Once passport and Cuban visa have been checked you then pass through a security checkpoint similar to that you would find in UK departures, a metal detector arch and hand baggage X-Ray machine. The purpose of this search isn’t clear but it does keep a lot of people employed – perhaps that’s the purpose in itself. The thing to be sure of is that at this stage you must be given a blue customs form (1 is needed per family, not 1 each). Without it you’ll get stuck later.

Once through the security, ignore the tables of official looking women – they are there to collect forms for Cuban nationals and proceed to the baggage reclaim belt. You should have time here to fill out the customs form.
With your bags in hand, head to the red or green channel as required, it’s at this stage where you’ll need the blue customs form. Luckily we had one and passed without an issue, many others had gone to a different line where the forms were in a pile but weren’t proactively offered so had missed out. They got stuck here and sent all the way back to the start to try again :(

Once you are out of the customs area you then need to exit the terminal completely onto the covered area outside and head either left or right to visit one of the money changers that are either side of the main door.

Full Menus

This outbound menu is valid for VS: 15, 27, 29, 31, 87, 89, 97, 33, 83, 43, 951, 63, 65, 71, 73, 75, 77, 85, 93, 109, 163.

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Last edited by stuart_f on 21 Jun 2016, 18:39, edited 4 times in total.
#922558 by buns
09 Jun 2016, 05:10
Thanks for the TR Stuart.

Whether this is just a Gatwick phenomena or purely relates to the 747, the fact that crew interaction on board is noticeably different, is coming up more often :-(

Do enjoy Cuba, before it changes forever (and well done for getting to terms with the IT ;-) )

buns
#922571 by MoJoJo
09 Jun 2016, 09:19
Thanks for the TR. I hope Tropical Storm Colin and the rain it has brought to some of Cuba is not impacting your trip too much. I heard from friends that in Jibacoa is has rained for the last week. That said they've not had rain for months so did need some. IT and many other things are often a challenge in Cuba however, as they say, es Cuba!

@Buns - it does lack lustre crew experience does seem to be more prevalent out of LGW although it should not make any difference as a lot of crew work both routes
#922574 by pjh
09 Jun 2016, 09:57
I'm with you on the twilight check in, though others hereabouts have a different view. I like swanning through the airport the next morning with just carry on luggage. Well done for seeing off the self appointed queue monitor, but you're correct VS could make things clearer. The UC desk could be clearly marked as such but take from the main queue when not attending to a UC passenger.

I don't think I've been to the LGW CH when the staff haven't been (possibly slightly disturbingly :)) happy in the early hours of the day. A "gateway cocktail"? Just say "no...well, maybe...oh, go on then why not".

We didn't feel confident enough to do bar hopping in Havana when we went, and we had a teenager in tow. Let us know what it was like.

MoJoJo wrote:I hope Tropical Storm Colin and the rain it has brought to some of Cuba is not impacting your trip too much.


Shouldn't a storm have a more, well, threatening name than "Colin"?
#922575 by dickydotcom
09 Jun 2016, 10:54
Thanks for the TR. I felt as though I was there as we did much the same in Feb.
Hilton Exec, Clubhouse breakfast although I stayed off the booze until ten o'clock, early to board and a really turbulent flight.
We don't do the twilight check in but I suspect if challenged by another passenger I would have played a bit of game and not let on I was Upper until the desk.

Hope you have a great time in Cuba.

Dick D
#922576 by ScoobySu
09 Jun 2016, 11:27
Many thanks stuart_f for a great report - the hints about arrival in Cuba are very good!
#922599 by honey lamb
09 Jun 2016, 23:43
Lovely TR. Many thanks.

We walked past the line queuing for economy and up to the Upper Class desk. Just as we did that a passenger detached herself from the back of the queue and headed for us like a torpedo, “Flying Upper are you?” she sneered. “Yes!” was the simply reply and she slunk off back to the back of the queue having been denied her role as the queue police. Perhaps I just don’t look like an Upper Class passenger?

It seems to be an issue at LGW both with passengers and staff, possibly because of the small number of seats on each aircraft and also people's perception of what constitutes an Upper Class passenger. Many years when Aer John was nobbut a lad, we were flying in UC to MCO and like you, had overnighted at the Hilton. We arrived at the check-in area at the sign marked UC at the same time that a family led by a distinguished looking gentleman wearing a blazer and cravat arrived at the PE area on the other side of the rope. In those days there was a staff member security checking passengers before they were allowed through to the hallowed desks of check-in. This lady looked at the two groups, eyed us up and down - a middle-aged lady with a young teenager who could have been her son or grandson v a distinguished looking gentleman well suited and booted. There was no contest! "Are we travelling PE, sir", she asks him and he replies in the affirmative so she processes him and his family. I could have stepped in and said we were flying UC but it smacked of DYKWIA plus I wanted to see how she would react. Having sent him and his family on their merry way, she turned to me and in the slow and patronising tones sometimes used to the elderly, asked if I were travelling Economy. When I said we were travelling in UC and that was why we were standing in the UC lane she became all sweetness and light but it was too little too late. In any case, even if we had been travelling in Economy, I was a Gold card holder. Pity I didn't say that to her too!

BTW, sorry for the turbulence over Ireland. It was a Bank Holiday over here and therefore in my neck of the woods, dull and in other parts a bit stormy. And I do have to agree with pjh - Colin seems to be such a mild name for a storm!
#922638 by stuart_f
10 Jun 2016, 21:34
Thanks for the lovely comments people. It is indeed Colin that's preventing the pictures. I can't stay connected to the internet long enough to upload them.

New June menu and pictures of the food on the way when I get it to work!

Edit: Pictures are now up!
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