This is a Trip Report from the Upper Class cabin
Ground Staff
Food & Drink
Entertainment
Seat
Cabin Crew
Well we had a great time, the only real disappointment was the clubhouse at Gatwick. Having read Pix's posting the day before we knew that the kitchen would be closed. and being forewarned did soften the blow. We were offered a choice of egg mayonnaise sandwich, BLT Baguette or a 10 Voucher each to get a bite to eat elsewhere.
Should have taken the 10 Voucher, as I did try the sandwich and the baguette and took one bite out of each and then like many others just left on the table as they were inedible. Stewart asked for two glasses of Chardonnay and got two glasses of Champagne and after that I asked for two glasses of Chardonnay and got two glasses of God knows what??? But it wasn't Chardonnay and it was warm[V] Over heard someone else complaining, third time lucky we finally got two glasses of chilled Chardonnay[^] Oh, asked for crisps and got tortilla chips[:?]
The service in the lounge was truly embarrassing apart from the staff member that greeted us and the beauty therapist.
I don't know if this is he norm for the club house at Gatwick, but the staff doing the sandwich and drinks orders were so disorganised nobody seemed to know what they were doing, I sat there watching drinks and sandwich orders continually being taken to the wrong tables, and that was when they could be bothered to take the order in the first place. Perhaps they should have taken the table number (sarcasm) at the same time as taking the orders which would have given them a little clue as to where they should have been going each time. Oh the rest of the time they spent behind the bar moaning and bitching, which is really off putting. I did tip the Beauty Therapist but its the first time I've not left a tip on the table for the person serving us in a Club house.
I was glad to hear our flight being called, once on the plane the cabin crew were absolutely wonderful, very funny and kept us entertained all the way to Orlando and never an empty glass. Hic.
As we taxied to the runway at Gatwick I noticed that VS flight had pulled up and was being attended to by the emergency services, not sure if it was the Vegas flight or VS27, but as we pulled onto the runway you could see the other VS plane going back to the terminal. Anyone got any ideas?
Immigration at Orlando was a real pleasure, we were the first ones through, no one in front off us and the immigration guy was very funny with lots of smiles. So relaxing compared to Miami. Picking the bags and dropping them again was strange, but I guess it works considering you've got to get the train thingamajig to the main terminal. At the baggage pick-up we were met by our driver for the journey from Orlando to Naples. Cool!!
We will definitely use this route again, apart from the big saving cash-whys, once you get to Orlando its so much more relaxing than standing in a line for an hour or so in Miami. Plus the Delta lounge on the return journey completely blows away the lounge used by Virgin at Miami, and I was completley surprised as I wasn't expecting it to be so good, and although its not a Club house it's a nice place to relax and have a few drinks before a long trip home.
Enjoyed Naples as usual, we timed it just right, the night we arrived was just nice and warm with no humidity to deal with. Then the entire time we were there it was clear blue skies all the way, mid 80s to mid 90s and not much humidity to contend with, but the temperature did drop on our departing day as a cold front came through and it felt qite nippy even though it was still in the mid 70s.
Never got to use the mask and snorkel I bought as the water was quite murky due to a bit of red tide, but I did buy myself a rubber ring floaty thing to make an arse of myself, but it was great fun playing the Gulf of Mexico for hours on end.[^]
Spent way too much money eating and drinkng, so back to the gym now Grrr!!. Had one really awlful meal at Mc Cabes Irish bar on fifth Ave. Had Seared Tuna which looked like it had been cooked from frozen and was stewed and over cooked. It was accompanied by what appear to be badly cooked frozen veggies from a bag.[:0]
Well great flights although I did miss V-PORT, the cabin crew outbound and inbound were brilliant. On the way back had chat with FSM and got talking about the Club house at Gatwick, I mentioned that we weren't overly impressed with the whole experience at the clubhouse. Towards the end of the flight FSM came over with a written statement that she had wriiten on our behalf and asked us to add any comments that she may had missed, so we added how great the cabin crew had been, and that they were areal credit to Virgin Atlantic. IT WAS TRUE, but at this point it could have been the port writing on my behalf.[:w] Hic!! Well its back to work now so roll on January when we'll be flying to Vancouver for a bit of skiing up at Whistler.[^]
CHEERS
Hannah R
