This is a Trip Report from the Upper Class cabin
Ground Staff
Food & Drink
Entertainment
Seat
Cabin Crew
Used the DTD check-in at around 10:45am no problems for UC but still lines for Econ check-in. One group were obviously highly annoyed some of their party were overweight (their cases as well) and they had been given the opportunity to repack & redistribute they had been attempting that (and throwing away items) for over two hours they had been there since before 8am!
Moral if you are going shopping either buy a scale first or be prepared to pay excess!
They did not even check our 6 cases but seemed to be checking all others.
Found out why I could not use OLCI there was someone else on the flight with the same name!
So why should we lose the OLCI bonus?
Security lines at the airport were very short about 10-12 at the NW end and walk straight in at the NE (usual Virgin) side. Straight into the Delta Lounge it was surprisingly quiet perhaps due to a Saturday flight but there were large numbers of cancellations and delays for flights to NEastern US so we had expected it to be busy. The Delta Lounge may not be Clubhouse but it is so much better than the MAN offerings perhaps not so much food but certainly more comfortable with wide range of seating, they have a special kids play area, they announce boarding of all flights noted on entry and the area is broken up into a number of small sections with good sound-deadening so much quieter, particularly when many pax are b & s.
Moved down to the gate (80) when called there was a slight delay before boarding but then Priority boarding worked well. UC straight in before any others. Why can MCO get it so right and yet MAN be so bad?
G-VTOP ( Virginia Plain) was certainly clean & tidy. We had a warm welcome from the CC and settled straight in to 6A & 6K. Those seats are certainly good they have the extra shelf/storage and are much easier to have a conversation than between a fore/aft pair.
Got changed into Ninja suits before take-off. From overheard conversation behind, few pax had used the flight suits before; they were initially refused but after we came out, most pax then requested them!
The FSM came around collecting the handwipes but did not introduce herself I must admit the use of our names on the outward leg was a good touch. We did not see her again until disembark.
A little slow in serving the meal I appreciate they may have more to prepare for UC but on a 7hr overnight flight, we do feel that 2 hrs for the meal to be restricting the quiet time for sleep. We always remember a Delta flight some years ago, where they had meals all served within 45mins and lights out only 80 mins after takeoff may be hard work for the crew for a short time but that seemed to result in a very quiet and seemingly very short transatlantic flight.
Just had the wine poured ( that Shiraz is good!) when we hit some fairly severe turbulence crew to seats that delayed the meal further and unpoured the wine! (another good reason for ninja suits!). It must have been bad down at the back bottles went flying from the bar and there was only limited Shiraz thereafter!
I had the Beef Stroganoff, beef was good but very little Stroganoff perhaps the sauce had been a casualty of the turbulence. We then converted the seats and slept till breakfast. A shame they dont at least give the option of that US streaky bacon rather than the rather dry trimmed side. The Pilot apologised for several periods of turbulence - we must have slept through some!
Had a brief chat with the CC they seemed just as concerned about the strike ballot as we are. There is a very definite split between two groups. I must say that the service (checkin, boarding and flight) we received was excellent absolutely no sign of the trouble and dissention! We clearly remember a BA flight from Beijing while their strike ballot was under way we had truly awful service as the crew were only interested in discussing the strike put us off flying BA for quite a while! It says something for the Virgin crews that they can go through the same but without letting it affect the service much more professional!
Unfortunately we were sent to a remote stand on landing so had to wait for steps and busses to appear. It gave a further chance to chat to the CC. It does not happen very often but is most unpopular they have an extra hour or more to work (even after most pax are off, there remains the wheelchairs and CC must wait till everyone is unloaded.
Again there was no priority disembark so further delays waiting for more busses.
Baggage was waiting for us on the belt I suppose not surprising when it took 1_ hours after landing to get to the luggage belt. At least we were out and in the car a few minutes later.
Overall, MCO & the Virgin experience was great apart from the priority disembark. MAN arrival was no different from departure.
