This is a Trip Report from the Upper Class cabin
Ground Staff
Food & Drink
Entertainment
Seat
Cabin Crew
Deposited the car at T2 Meet & Greet without any problems and made the short walk to check-in. Walked straight up to the Upper Class desk and were all checked in within a minute or two. Straight up to departures and the Security Priority Lane is what really lets Manchester down – it is slower than the normal queue. The snarl-up seemed to be the sheer number of trays requiring secondary screening after the X-ray scan. The “back lane” the trays get pushed into for secondary screening was full, so as soon as another tray needing secondary screening came out of the x-ray, the x-ray belt just stopped until a space became available in the “back lane”. On one hand it’s good to see they are being thorough, but it’s not ideal when it brings the security lane to a standstill.
Anyway, got through security no problems and did duty free shopping that we’d been asked to pick up for other people. No Virgin 747 at a gate yet, but English Rose is sitting out on a remote stand – hope they tow it to a gate as the subterranean hell-hole of Gate 300 is something we can do without.
Wandered up to the refurbished Escape Lounge (our first time in since the refurb) and it’s a huge improvement on the old lounge. Still not a Clubhouse, but I’d actually consider paying for access to the Escape Lounge now, whereas I would not have before the refurb. As has been mentioned on here, Virgin now have a representative in the lounge. Whilst this does not make a huge difference to the experience, she does walk round the lounge checking the Virgin passengers are OK (you get a small laminated card to put on your table so they know you’re with Virgin). After a while the monitors indicated we should go to gate 204 as the flight was boarding. Now I don’t know if this is a result of the Virgin ground staff member being in the lounge, but when we got to the gate boarding was actually starting (they are normally still dealing with special needs passengers).
Promptly onboard English Rose and forward to the pointy end. Suites seem to be in fairly good nick. The champagne was offered whilst boarding took place. Had to chuckle at the passengers in 7A/K trying to open the overhead lockers above their seat (there aren’t any) – he was really going for it though, half expected him to pull a piece of paneling off. We’ve got a fairly short 8.5hr flight today on a course I’ve flown often before (Manchester – Dublin – Goose Bay – then down the Eastern seaboard past Boston & New York, then inland before returning over the ocean over South Carolina then starting the approach to Orlando over Daytona Beach). The Captain said we would likely push back & depart late as they had been late getting VROS onto the stand due to weather & ATC issues (ie delayed departure of the plane that was on the stand). In the event we pushed back about 5mins late and had a quick taxi to the departure runway. Bye bye foggy & misty Manchester.
Once in the air one thing was noticeable – the cabin got cold, very cold. I don’t feel the cold (only wear long sleeves if I am ill) but I wished I had a jumper with me. I was clearly not alone either, as most passengers in the cabin were making sure the 3 gasper vents above their seats were firmly off & using duvets. A few people did tell the crew and about 90mins out of Manchester it started to warm up.
Drinks orders were taken & delivered along with the handful of crisps. Glasses were kept topped up. There is a group of 4 travelling who seem to be on an alcohol mission. Lunch orders were clearly taken by FC status order – we both got our first choices, but others were not so lucky, including the party of 4, who seemed to make do with the lite bite burgers and a liquid lunch.
This was my first flight since the crewing reductions and the meal service did not suffer too much. I don’t mind the use of the trolley to set up the UC tables. The crew member serving the food in the UC cabin worked her socks off during the meal service (letter will go to Crawley Towers). If anything I prefer the way the meal service is now spread out over a longer period of time, it gives you a bit of time for a breather inbetween courses.
I won’t bother to mention the menu as it has been the same for about 9 months and is in need of a long overdue refresh. I’m on this route again in just over 6 weeks and don’t want the same menu yet again! That said, there was nothing wrong with the food that was served – the one exception being the aged Gouda. I can only assume that it does not agree with being stored on dry-ice packs in the catering carts as it was rock hard, brittle and generally nasty!
So the lunch service in Upper Class is all finished about 2h30m out of Manchester (was much faster down the back – saw PE meal trays being handed out before we’d even had the tables set up for lunch). Now time for the boring bit of the flight when it just seems to drag – nothing you can do about it though. There is absolutely nothing on Vera that really appeals, so I am glad I backed a few films up to my iPad the other day.
The ice cream run has been shelved as part of the service changes, which is a shame IMO. I can’t think they had that many people refuse the choc-ice in Economy on packed Orlando flights. Those little tubs of ice cream you got in Upper were nice too.
During the quiet period of the flight the iPad kept me busy & the crew passed through the cabin every now and then to check on drinks – we generally just asked for what we wanted as we were passing through the galley to use the toilets. Whatever you asked for was on your seat drinks tray by the time you got back to your seat.
It’s now about 1h45m out of Orlando and the crew are going round offering food. The offering is exactly the same as the afternoon tea used to be from what I can see, the only difference it the lack of the trolley to serve it from due to the crewing changes – not really an issue. There is no way you are leaving the aircraft hungry, unless you have a huge appetite or are an ultra-fussy eater.
Landed in Orlando just under 5mins early & the pilot flying seemed to flare the aircraft over 35R very late. There was a lot of very hard reverse thrust braking and we exited the runway at the very last exit (i.e. the one after the 17L runway designation for operating the other way). Taxied to gate 81 and the crew announced how disembarkation would take place – downstairs PE & Upper Class, followed by upstairs PE & Economy then the remainder of the main cabin. They policed it too.
Now here is where things got fun. Our slightly early arrival as the start of the afternoon immigration rush had clearly caught the Orlando Airport “Ambassadors” [who decide if you’re using an APC Kiosk / which immigration desk to wait for] and the Immigration staff off-guard. On arrival in the immigration hall there were 4 desks open and 2 Ambassadors on duty to deal with what would soon be over 400 people just off the VS75. Most people were being told to wait in line for a normal desk so they cold use the desks open for APC passengers as normal ones. We were through in under 10mins and while in line the cavalry had clearly been called in / a new shift was starting for the afternoon rush. Lots more immigration officers appeared, but were certainly not in a hurry to logon to their PC’s (for all I know their start time could have been 2:45 or 3pm – I know that my boss would be “encouraging” me to start early if there were 400 customers waiting, but I am not a government employee!)
Within 30mins of landing we were in the Alamo garage. Tip: If you rent from Alamo, register online for “Straight to the garage ticket”. It means what it says on the tin, no waiting at the counter, just go to the garage, pick your car and they print the agreement at the exit booth. (I have found the Alamo queue in Orlando pretty much without fail to always be one of the longest of all the rental desks).
So all in all, the Virgin Atlantic part of the trip was pretty faultless. We had a good crew who worked hard (without the FSM as he was in Economy). We were well looked after & as above, a letter will find it’s way to Crawley Towers about the crew member working in Upper.
4 days beckon in what us a very hot and humid Orlando. A thunderstorm would be quite welcome to freshen things up, as long as we are near somewhere to shelter!