V-Flyer

After well over 6 months of waiting the longest ahead we've ever booked a flight and of reading trip reports on v-flyer, it was time for our first Upper Class flight.

Having used OLCI on Thursday, we had a leisurely breakfast at the Radisson and strolled to T2 about 0715. We'd obviously missed the busiest time at check-in as the whole area was fairly quiet. Determined not to use the DIY Bag Drop, we headed for the UC check-in line only for some handling agent chap to step out in front of us saying, 'Are you flying Premium or Main Cabin?'. At my DH's response that we were flying Upper Class, he stepped back and let us go ahead. Whilst I appreciate the logic of making sure passengers join the appropriate line, I thought his automatic assumption that we were not flying UC was somewhat lacking in customer service. A more diplomatic line of questioning would have been, 'Which class are you travelling?'.

There was no-one in the queue so we were dealt with quickly by the security agent, during which time the Aviance lady at the UC desk was applying her make-up and chatting to her colleague at the desk to her left. We approached the desk and waited a few minutes until she deigned to put her make-up mirror away, finish her conversation and address her attention to us. Despite this inauspicious start, she was then very friendly and efficient; she put UC tags on our bags, gave us our silver folder containing extra tags, immigration forms etc, and our invitation to The Escape Lounge, and our purple boarding cards with the fast-track security sticker.

We went through security, greatly appreciating the fast-track, and headed for The Escape Lounge. We managed to find a seat although it was busy and is, as others have reported, not exactly spacious. It's certainly not an ideal arrangement and does feel to be somewhat of a swindle given that we'd paid more to fly from Manchester than from Gatwick, but it was considerably more comfortable than waiting downstairs in the main terminal.

I can't remember what gate number it was, but once it appeared on the departure screens and shortly before boarding time we headed down there and found a seat away from the crowd. The priority boarding sign was standing at the gate, next to a pillar, but no separate line was taped off and there was the usual ever-increasing crowd of people milling closer and closer to the gate. Once wheelchair boarding was announced we went and stood on the other side of the pillar to the priority boarding sign, and when UC were invited to board we just slid around the pillar and handed our boarding cards to the handling agent.

The aircraft was Virginia Plain, V-TOP. We were the first into UC and headed for 6A&K. The FA gave us a few minutes to ourselves but then came and showed us the features of the UCS, by which time the cabin had started to fill up with all 14 seats quickly occupied. We were offered champagne, bucks fizz or orange juice and settled in to explore our suites. Newspapers were offered and were also available on the bar, together with various magazines, although these were all removed soon after take-off.

After take-off drinks orders were taken my request for a glass of ice with a slice of lemon didn't even elicit a raised eyebrow. (I drink Coke and can't abide Virgin Cola, so had taken my own 500ml bottle of Coke along which lasted me just nicely for the flight.) Orders for lunch were taken shortly afterwards and the FSM came around with the Ozwald Boateng amenity kits we both got keyrings.

I have to admit I was impressed with the food service. When the FA opened the table and put a tablecloth on it, I thought this is definitely different! We both enjoyed some warm garlic bread and DH had the soup. We both then had the sausages, which DH liked but weren't really my sort of thing, followed by ice-cream on its own. I then had the cheddar which was very good with hindsight, I should have skipped the entree and filled up on bread and cheese. DH had red wine sorry, I've no idea which one but I stuck to my Coke. Afternoon tea was offered later. DH wasn't hungry so didn't have anything. I had the sandwiches (I managed to make one I could eat, ie without chutney or mustard, out of the 3 and DH ate what I left) and the scone, jam and cream, but didn't try the cakes. Various things were available on the bar to help yourself; I didn't explore properly but saw fresh fruit and a basket of individually-wrapped Lily O'Brien's chocolates. Sometime between lunch and tea we were offered Ben & Jerry's double chocolate ice cream.

I wasn't overly impressed with the IFE (Odyssey), none of the films attracted my attention and only one CD (Bob Marley) I mostly listened to that, or watched the skymap, or dozed. DH listened to his MP3, except for the hour when I borrowed it which he spent playing Millionaire and the other games.

We landed almost an hour early at MCO, flying south around some weather and coming back up and in. As we taxied off the runway there was a torrential rainstorm, which was the weather we had been avoiding. We were through Immigration fairly quickly and our bags were amongst the first ones to arrive so the UC tag system worked initially. However, after handing the bags back and catching the monorail to the terminal, we waited a while for them at baggage claim and quite a few non-UC bags appeared before ours. Anyway, we didn't have far to travel as we were staying at the MCO Hyatt for a couple of nights before heading out on the Disney Magic, so we were soon relaxing in our room with a view of the Virgin tailplanes!

Thanks for the great TR [y]

Regards

Excellent report wraf [:)]

Brought back memories of our first visit to the pointy end.

We had the same seats as you (great for a couple) and as you say you know its going to be different when the tablecloth is laid out[:D]

Regards

Paul

Excellent trip report....we are booked in 6A & 6K in August and cannot wait [}:)]

Regards
Nevil

Excellent first TR - we are flying from MAN in Sept and its good to hear how things are there.[y]

Just out of interest why did you opt for a couple of nights at the Hyatt before going down to WDW - and where did you stay once you moved from there?

Thank you for the appreciative comments everyone.

Mark - we weren't heading to WDW, we were cruising on the Disney Cruise Line ship, Disney Magic. It sails from Port Canaveral on a Saturday. We've always fancied staying at the Hyatt and it seemed the ideal opportunity. Also, if you stay at the Hyatt and are cruising with DCL, you just leave your bags outside your room on the Saturday morning and don't see them again until they appear in your stateroom on the ship. You then check-in for the DCL transport in the Hyatt lobby, and the coach takes you from the Hyatt to the port.

After our week's cruise we took the coach back to MCO, picked up a hire car and headed to the Wilderness Lodge Villas for a week. We love Wilderness Lodge but having just been thoroughly spoiled on the Magic for a week, this visit didn't seem quite so special as usual. We now understand the recommendation that the cruise should be the last part of your holiday. We did the opposite in case we didn't enjoy the cruise. But now we know better and can't wait to cruise with them again!

Hi, we are going on the Disney Wonder in March and are also staying at the Hyatt on arrival for one night, what did you think of it? Were the rooms okay and did you eat in their restaurant? [:)] We're not flying UC unfortunately, it'll be PE again for us.

Do you have a trip report of your cruise anywhere and photos please? [:D]

Excellent TR, Thank you. [y] [:)]

Originally posted by wraf137
we headed for the UC check-in line only for some handling agent chap to step out in front of us saying, 'Are you flying Premium or Main Cabin?'. At my DH's response that we were flying Upper Class, he stepped back and let us go ahead. Whilst I appreciate the logic of making sure passengers join the appropriate line, I thought his automatic assumption that we were not flying UC was somewhat lacking in customer service. A more diplomatic line of questioning would have been, 'Which class are you travelling?'.

When I worked for a company that had business or first as the class to be used when travelling, this happened to me a couple of times, even to the point of one chap in the US asking me 'are you sure?' when I responded 'business'...

When I worked for a company that had business or first as the class to be used when travelling, this happened to me a couple of times, even to the point of one chap in the US asking me 'are you sure?' when I responded 'business'...

Reminds me of times when ignorant security personnel don't believe that you're in biz if the term 'club world' is used.[;)]

VS.

2Tinks

The Hyatt was excellent. If you'd like to read a full review, I've put one on Trip Advisor. It includes a photo taken from our balcony of 3 Virgin tailplanes which I'd like to show here but can't fathom out how! Room was large, comfortable and well-appointed. We only ate breakfast in the Hemisphere; it was okay but nothing special, except the orange juice and croissants which were gorgeous.

Haven't done a trip report of the cruise; suffice to say it was absolutely fantastic! We'd never cruised before and were a bit 'iffy' about it; not sure if it was really our sort of thing and although we chose Disney because they do things so well, were concerned about being trapped at sea for 7 days with hundreds of screaming children. In fact, it was the most relaxing week's holiday we've ever taken and we can't wait to go again, and have just booked for next year.

More than happy to answer any questions you may have. I've got literally hundreds of photos so if there's anything in particular you're wanting to see then just let me know and I'll see if I've a relevant photo that I can PM to you.