VS073 MAN-MCO 6 JUL 12 (Premium Economy)

This is a Trip Report from the Premium Economy cabin

Ground Staff

Food & Drink

Entertainment

Seat

Cabin Crew

Recently travelled to Orlando with family on the VS73 from Manchester. Arrived at T2, and dropped our bags off after completing the OLCI the day before. The only PE seats available were downstairs, which was new to me as I'd only travelled upstairs in the 'bubble' before. There was a choice of 2 aisle seats for myself, and I chose 81D which seemed to be of an advantage as it promised extra legroom. Security was a breeze, and soon, I was boarding 'Hot Lips'(G-VLIP) at Gate 210. The seat iself was comfortable, yet the cabin was dated and part of the seat was ripped. The controls which controlled the leg rest was broke, yet the 'recline button' worked. The captain advised a quick flight time of 7hrs 58minutes which would see us land 1hour early. Take off was bang on time, and shortly afterwards, the cabin crew passed through the 'mini cabin'-which comprimised of 2 rows of 2-4-2, with menus, and asked each person individually what they would like to drink, and then delivered them personally, which I thought was a nice personal touch. The IFE was switched on;however it was the old NOVA system which was extremely poor, and after experiencing V-PORT, a huge let down, especially as the moving map could not be accessed after viewing the 10 non AVOD channels of entertainment, or the 14 audio channels. The selection of films was poor, and the fact that the remote was immovable and fixed to the armrest, was an annoyance. The cabin crew personally took everyones orders for lunch; I had the chicken(other options were lasagna or rissoto) and it was delicious, a fantastic meal. The crew continually passed through the cabin asking each person individually whether they would like another drink-on this flight, I could not fault the superb crew. Ice Cream was handed out after lunch, and shortly after, a sandwhich(cheese and onion) and a cupcake;both were filling and lovely. We landed into Orlando an hour early; however due to the volume of people passing through immigration, we did not get let off the plane until 45 minutes after landing, and after that, it took over an hour to clear immigration.

Overall, the flight onboard 'Hot Lips' was good, the service on board was outstanding and the crew a credit to Virgin; however the IFE and cabin left alot to be desired, and I'm glad to hear that the LGW/MAN B747's are being refitted with new seats and IFE in the upcoming months.

Thanks for the TR.

Well done the cabin crew - I think you can officially feedback if you wish to to, somewhere on the VS web site.

Sounds overall a good flight, agree with the IFE though it's so dated and unreliable. We are on the VS73 in September so hoping for refurbed plane and a crew as good as yours!

Thanks

[Neil]

Thanks for the TR - sounds like you had a really great crew.

It is very disappointing to still be hearing of immigration issues at MCO. I have read far too many TR's from the late LGW/MAN arrivals of being held on the a/c for up to an hour before joining a huge immigration queue. MCO really need to sort out more staff as this is hardly a new situation they are experiencing with all the European flights arriving late afternoon.

A great crew = a great flight I really like the sound of the personal drinks orders being taken - a fabulous touch

Thanks for posting