This is a Trip Report from the Upper Class cabin
Ground Staff
Food & Drink
Entertainment
Seat
Cabin Crew
Got to MCO at close on 5pm, returned the hire car and was advised that we would probably not be hit with a fine for evading the toll by driving through the Sunpass lane a week ago. Headed straight to security and the queues were all but non-existent, we were through in under 5mins. The only thing to note is that the air-conditioning in the security search area was not working, it was absolutely sweltering in there.
Once airside, duty free shopping was done and then off to the Crown Room. Cooling down in the Crown Room with a beer was good! When boarding time came, a member of ground staff came up to the lounge to collect all Upper Class passengers and escort them to the gate and put them in the UC boarding line, where G-VROY was waiting for us. The FSM was on the boarding door and greeted me by name when she read my BP. Straight forward to the A-zone, bags stowed and champagne accepted. It looks like we may have two FSMs onboard tonight, as there are two people in black blouses. The Upper Class cabin on this aircraft is in much better nick than the one on G-VTOP / Virginia Plain (outbound aircraft) too.
Just as push-back time approached we had a Florida thunderstorm, a serious one too. I half expected departure to be delayed, but it was not. The Captain kept the seatbelts sign on until 30,000ft and then apologized for the lack of communication on the ground. It seems that we got out of Orlando ahead of the really bad weather they were half expecting the airport to close. 7h 12m to Manchester and well be dodging bad weather most of the way home, whilst trying to take advantage of favorable winds whenever possible.
Drinks & dinner orders have been taken, with good humour. When I ordered a T10&T, the response from one of the FSMs was good choice, wish I could join you. Pre-ordered duty free has just been delivered too now where is that T10&T?! It is noticeable that the drinks service is slower now that VS have cut a crew member from the UC cabin this is not a complaint, just an observation I bet the service is even slower down the back. The T10&T has now arrived no further comment needed.
Dinner was served shortly after the drinks round. The food was quite acceptable but all you really want on a night flight is a bit of food, a couple of drinks then sleep. After the cheese & biscuits, it was off to the toilets to change into the sleepsuit whilst the suite was converted to a bed. Must have managed about 4 hours sleep and woke up 5mins before the purple lighting was switched back on for the breakfast service. You could not fault the breakfast, given it was exactly what I had pre-ordered before takeoff.
We landed at Manchester about 40mins early, but any benefit of the early arrival was lost due to the delays in baggage handling. One of my bags was off fast, the other (and many other paxs) bags were severely delayed to the extent that the carousel was turned off for about 10mins at one point. Customs at Manchester must be blind as there were people openly going through the green channel with more than the allowance of alcohol / tobacco in clear plastic bags.
To summarize, another good UC flight. The product & service out of MCO ticked all the boxes and you could not complain about anything. It was interesting to note that the guy who escorted us from the Crown Room to the gate commented that he was sorry there was no Clubhouse at MCO we can live in hope I guess. Time to start planning the next US trip now!
James
