This is a Trip Report from the Premium Economy cabin
Ground Staff
Food & Drink
Entertainment
Seat
Cabin Crew
Whilst queueing at check in the couple in front of us were advised that PE to Barbados was overbooked and would they like to get a free upgrade to Upper class if they flew out on the Antigua flight instead but 3 hours later. They ummed and aahed for a little while with the husband saying he would like to go direct but the wife saying she would like to fly upper - you can guess who won, the wife of course [;)]so they got their upgrade - hope it worked out for them.
On the upper deck of the Virginia Plain, it appeared there was going to be approx 4 seats spare, but that soon changed when friends of crew were brought to sit in front of us and a couple dotted elsewhere. It wasn't a problem as they were certainly not loud or problematic and as they'd never been to Vegas before, there was a guy who lived there sitting in front of them who filled them in on the best places to go in Vegas with the crew when they were there.
The 2 crew serving upstairs were wonderful and couldn't do enough for you. They were really friendly and after chatting to them for a while, the one lady said she didn't like working upstairs as she had to serve the flight deck and had previously had a bad experience. However, she confirmed that on this trip, she had her mind changed after doing a stint in ecomony and was constantly being hassled and preferred the tranquility of the upper deck. It was this crew's first experience of serving the new PE style meals too.
Upon boarding, we had the usual glass of champagne and one very nice FA gave me a further glass after take off after I had cheekily asked if there was anymore available [:I].
The drinks service followed very quickly after when they gave out a menu card for the following meal (new for PE). Today's choices were Chicken tikka masala; Bangers & Mash; Vegetable Penne pasta. However, by the time they got our seats near the back, my husband's choice of Bangers & Mash had run out. They very kindly offered him 2 meals though to make up for it. He therefore had the tikka and the Penne pasta and thoroughly enjoyed both. Red and white wines were offered a couple of times throughout the meal service.
Following the meal, Baileys and Brandy were offered which of course I accepted.
I think as we were on Virginia Plain, the system was odyssey which meant that the handsets could be removed from the side of the seat to ensure easier channel changing. The screens were slightly larger on the seat in front and I had also noticed that the refurbishment of the seat covers had taken place since our last flight to Vegas in Feb 06. However, my plastic bit surrounding the TV had somehow disappeared leaving very scraggy bits of frayed material surrounding the actual screen itself - very odd [:?]
Anyway, after imbibing on a little alcohol and watching Cars, I thought it was time for a little snooze. Dropped off for about an hour and then went for a wander downstairs. Had a look at the downstairs PE which only 4 out 12 of approx seats were used, so nice and quiet there. Popped into Upper and had a chat with the FA about it and only 1 person was sitting at the bar but it looked busy in the nose with people sharing the ottomans and having a chat.
Returned back upstairs and had a chat with the FSM who was upstairs whilse 1 of the upstairs FA's was having her crew rest for a couple of hours. She said they were 2 staff members down and rather than cancel or delay the flight, everyone agreed to have an 'all hands on deck' attitude and help each other out which was very admirable and when announced that they had done this on the PA at the end of the flight, the passengers gave the staff a round of applause.
About half way through the flight, we were served with a very refreshing raspberry/vanilla pot of ice cream whilst watching the kiddies film Barnyard which was quite funny in parts.
Close to landing, we were given a hot panini of chicken which was great. The pilot announced were close to landing and 1 hour ahead of schedule which was great as we got to spend a little more time in Vegas than planned [8D]
Upstairs was very quickly off the plane, behind some economy passengers in front of the steps but we were swiftly through immigration, with the usual fingerprint, eyeball checks and questions about how much cash we had brougt with us.
Our bags came off quickly and we were about 3rd in the taxi queue for a very quick trip to the Venetian (not using the tunnel) where check in was smooth and we were advised we would be staying in the Venezia Tower instead of the actualy Venetian part of the hotel. This suited us (despite the long walk) as I understand these rooms are less worn). When we checked in however, we discovered we had a great view of a multi storey car park [:(] so we returned back to the Venezia reception and requested a room change. We asked to view this room though before accepting it. I'm glad I did as it smelt like someone had died in there. After about a 30 minute wait they said we could go and view another room, so we left our bags with them and went to the casino to get our players cards and had a little gamble.
Upon returning, our room on the 4th floor (although really the 14th as the Venezia starts from floor 10) was supposedly ready. We were taken to that room by the reception manager and thankfully this room was great, although fresh towels/toiletries hadn't been supplied yet but we accepted this room - the toiletries etc came after about 10 minutes and the housekeeping staff gave us a full bagful of items which I have since brought home and given to my mother. We had a great view of the Mirage hotel and were very pleased following our 3 room change [^].
On the whole, a great Virgin flight and a wonderful room (in the end).
