V-Flyer

Apologies for the delay in the return TR but with work problems and children off on school trips it has been rather hectic.

So to begin....

OLCI was done as soon as it opened and I managed to secure our seats in the bubble 78H and 79 & 80 HK. This was to prove troublesome at the airport but more on that later. Now that I knew I had secured our seats I could set about enjoying the last remaining hours of our holiday. For our final week in Orlando we had been joined by my sister in law and her family and although we had a fab week we were all shattered and suffering from the 'I know we have to leave but i really don't want to' syndrome [:(]

3pm Monday came around all too quickly. We had decided to leave early and eat at the Outback in the airport. This is a deviation from our normal routine of having a late lunch at either Olive Garden or Red Lobster, but we have been saying for a while why don't we try the Outback and on this trip we managed it. Our goodbyes said - family staying on an extra week, in peace - we settled into the limo and arrived in goodtime at the airport.

Now we never usually arrive at MCO this early - it was about 3.40pm - so we were horrified at how busy Virgin's check in area was. On previous visists we have turned up around 5pm and it has been empty. However we have done OLCI and just need to pick up our boarding cards so we head off to UC check in and find it empty, however there is a family of 5 in front who are trying to get very heavy suitcases on board. All credit to the checkin agent who insisted they leave some behind or pay the extra - cue the credit card coming out of the husbands wallet with the words a bit less shopping next time if you don't mind, which was aimed at his wife and 3 children.

The next desk to become available was PE and the security agent held back the PE line and waved us over, i always feel really guilty when that happens but it was better than having to stand in line for the amount of time it took to sort out the family in the UC line.

We handed over our passports and e-tickets and informed the lady that we had done OLCI and just needed to pick up our boarding passes. After a few minutes she was looking quite worried and asked me if I had chosen my seats myself, yes I replied last year when we made the booking, why is there a problem? Yes, we have a policy to seat families together and will have to see if we can re-arrange some seating. Now at this point i'm worried, i explained that the seats we had secured online were 78,79 and 80 and they were all together on the upper deck. No they aren't replied the agent, row 80 is downstairs and we are going to try and move you all downstairs so you are sat together [V]

Now at this point hubby is getting annoyed and very calmly says to me how did you manage to mess this up to which i reply through gritted teeth i didn't mess up, on the way out you were sat in seat 78K and there were 2 rows of seats occupied by a very nice family right behind you rows 79 and 80 - I have not made a mistake. The checkin agent is looking at me as if to say ahh bless are you going to be surprised when you find out i'm right and you're wrong. I ask her to double check the computer because unless they have refitted the aircraft in the 2 weeks we have been in Orlando we are all sat together upstairs and have sat in these seats before. Looking annoyed with me as she is on the phone trying to move us all downstairs she calls over her supervisor and informs him that this family is split up and she is trying to move us all downstairs so that we remain together. Her supervisor looks at her and says how can they be split up if they are all seated behind each other - to which our checkin agent relies row 80 is downstairs- no it isn't he replies just check them in the seats they are assigned row 80 is definately upstairs.

Now at this point she looks embarressed and i've turned to hubby and given him him the told you so look. Now all credit to this lady she apologises right away and says she really didn't realise that row 80 was upstairs and she just wanted to do her best to seat us all together and gave us our boarding passes, that's fine I replied I appreciate you making sure that we weren't separated and i'm glad it's sorted. So after 15 minutes we had our boarding passes had taken our suitcase to screening and were on our way to security.

Security was quite quick considering how busy the airport was and we through within 10 minutes and on our way to the Outback for dinner.

At the Outback we were seated straight away and had ordered drinks and food within 5 minutes, the menu was limited, i suppose with being in the airport but there was still enough available to please everyone. Once we had ordered hubby decided to do his duty free shopping and was gone so long that we had finished our salads and were tucking into the bloomin onion when he returned. The service is fast and before we knew it our main courses had arrived, now this maybe because we are in an airport but geez do these people not realise that it is impossible to eat a starter the size of a bloomin onion in 5 minutes [V] We took our time anyway and hung around finishing drinks until the first boarding call was made, it would appear we were the only ones not in a rush to eat, but we were in no rush to go to a heaving gate and stand around for any longer than is necessary, and besides all 3 girls were content colouring although Jess was getting whiny and tired.

Priority boarding was in place and worked really well as is always the case I have found at MCO, a majority of people had also managed to listen to the pre-boarding announcement that if passengers were collecting duty-free could one member of the party queue and wait for it and the others board so as not to cause a delay on the airbridge.

Boarding was quick and painless and before I knew it we were on board and upstairs settling into our seats. After getting anything out of my bag that i might need I handed it over to the crew and asked them to store it for me, if possible towards the front as I may need it in the flight if Jess wakes up, no problem at all and with a friendly smile it was whisked away. I handed Jess her blanket, took off her shoes and told her to settle down while i went to check on her sisters who were playing up. Now this is unusual for Hannah and Lauren as they have been flying for years and know better than to start to bickering and poking each other but i guess there is always a first time [:(!]

Now I am a one of those parents who is very concious that I am travelling with children and don't want my children to create any scenes and cause problems for other passengers. As this is the case all the girls flight bags are packed full of stuff to keep them entertained, colouring books, puzzle books, gameboys, MP3 palyers, magazines well i'm sure you get he picture [:)]and I was very aware of the disapproving looks the girls were getting from the passengers in 79 A&C. Now i don't mess about with the please don't mess about and oh that really isn't very nice is it whiny routine that some parents seem to think works, no i'm straight in there face blazing asking what the hell they think they are playing at!!! Well Hannah and Lauren know me well enough to know they have crossed the line and say sorry, i should think so because i really dont think the couple sat opposite want to listen to you two all night now behave. My parting shot was for them to remember that it was still not too late for me to change their tickets for our next flight, if they embarressed me at all their UCS tickets would be swapped for economy ones as soon as we got home because i refuse to sit with children that can't behave, mean probably but it got the message across and they were as good as gold all through the flight. Next step make sure hubby is settled - yes, then back to my seat to sort out Jess only to find out she is already sound asleep. Perfect timing as i am being offered a drink which i take and settle down to find out what films are on, the only one that takes my fancy is definately maybe which proves to be quite a good film.

Boarding didn't take too long and before i knew it we were off and the captain said our flight time would be 7 hours and 33 minutes landing just on time. I would like to add here that the CC we had upstairs were brilliant with Jess being asleep for take off and did not insist that I remove her blanket, they checked it wasn't wrapped around her and wasn't obstructing her legs and assured me i did not have to disturb her by removing it, thank-you.

Service is always really quick on the return flight and no sooner had the seat belt sign gone off than a drinks service was started and the childrn's meals were coming out. I am pleased to say that all the girls got a children's meal on this flight but as Jess was asleep and we had already eaten at the Outback it seemed a waste really, however it wasn't the ususal guess what meat with mash and beans this time, but mac and cheese with guess what meat, Lauren was impressed - her response was at least you can eat the mac and cheese [;)] Hannah on the other hand just looked at it and said next time i'll have an adults meal please [:)]

It wasn't long before our meals were being served and the menu was pretty good:
Salad
Mesculun garden salad with italian herb vinaigrette
Main Course:
Braised chicken thigh with asian vegetables and basmati pilaf rice.
Black pepper seared beef tenderloin, horseradish mashed potato, carrots, green beans and merlot demi glace - both hubby and I thought this was one of the nicest beef dishes that we had ever had on any pane.
Cheese tortellini in marinara sauce with crumbled mozzarella.
Warm bread
Onion and poppy seed roll and gouda roll
Dessert
Chocolate brownie with rasberry coulis - looked lovely but really couldn't eat anything else, to full from the Outback and trying the beef.

More drinks were offered with the meal and tea and coffee quickly served. Everything was cleared away quite quickly and some passengers hadn't even finished but there was no problem and the CC came around regularly to clear any remaining trays. Shortly after that the lights were dimmed and Jess woke up.

Now it was at this point that she remembered that she always has to sit next to mummy on the plane and this time it was daddy's turn - he wasn't going to be happy, he is quite content to sit on his own and sleep or watch movies on a flight. I did however go and say to him Jess wants you to sit next to her and isn't happy - now all credit to hubby he agreed to swap seats and went to sit next to her and before long Jess had gone back to sleep. She didn't however settle at all after that and kept dozing on and off for the whole flight which meant Scott got no sleep and looked rather worse for wear when we finally landed. Despite our best efforts she would not allow mum to sit next to her and after a couple of hours we gave up and Scott resigned himself to an unsettled night with her. I on the other hand had a brilliant flight, got to watch a film in peace and sleep for a while as well. Once we had landed Scott assured me he would never refer to me as a grumpy so and so again after a night flight as he realises i don't tend to sleep much if sat with Jess. She isn't noisey just likes her space and to spread out which is nigh on impossible when trying to sleep on a plane.

The rest of the flight went smoothly and during the film a SCC came up to me and said hi - i was looking through the manifest and I recognised the surname - I went to school with your brothers and remember you getting married I only live a few streets from you, what a small world!!! Now this lady was brilliant, everything a Virgin CC was supposed to be, she worked part time and hadn't done the MCO route for a while which was why she hadn't seen us onboard before. She asked when our next flight was and confirmed that she would be on the same flight and was really looking forward to seeing us on board again. She found out from the other CC what drinks we had been having and made sure that we topped up with drinks throughout the entire flight - to give us a taste of what our UC trip would be like in July [8D] and generally made sure we were really well looked after, it was lovely and if it's any indicaton of the service in UC i can't wait.

All too soon the lights were switched back on and breakfast was being served. Now on our last flight at Easter breakfast had been an egg and cheese croissant, and i was really hoping it would be again as this is much better than the fruit and muffin you used to get and i wasn't disappointed, tea and coffee were also served in paper cups and as i said on the outward journey this wasn't a problem for me as you get a really decent sized cup of coffee to help bring you around.

All the girls enjoyed their breakfast and surprised the CC by having tea and coffee with their breakfast, well why not they do at home [:)]

Seat belt signs went on about 30 minutes to landing and the skymap as still working which keeps the girls occupied on what can sometimes be the longest part of the flight. Jess was kept amused by blowing the clouds away so we could see the ground for landing and the customary countdown from 10 began as soon as we could see we were on the final approach. It wasn't long before we had touched down and were taxiing to our gate, which turned out to be a remote stand again. The last 2 lights we took this year had 2-3 hour delays in MCO and I was always under the impression this is why we had used the remote stands but this time we were on time and still used one, so I guess this is just the way things are now. We were however informed by the flight deck that Manchester had remembered we were coming and all the buses were already there so the delay getting to immigration shouldn't be too long.

Once the seat belt signs were off we headed off to the stairs where I was handed my bag with a thank-you for flying with us and we hope to see you again soon [:)]

We were kept waiting on the stairs for a while but the FSM kept us all amused with a running commentary of what was going on outside and huge list of reasons why they were so slow, my eldest daughter was almost crying with laughter at one point. We were finally off and onto the second bus as UC and downstairs PE and economy front cabins were let off first. It isn't really that long a journey to immigration and the queues were quiet, all in all from getting off the plane to collecting our bags and being met by my fater in law was 35 minutes. We were then home 35 minutes after that due to rush hour traffic.

So in conclusion, another excellent flight with virgin made all the better by being spoilt by our local SCC. Our next flight isn't too far away and me and the girls will be having our first full UCS experience, i say full as we have visited Scott in UC when we have been flying economy but it's not really the same.

Thanks for putting up with what turned out to be quite a long TR but I do ramble on [:I]

Mrs B,

What a thoroughly enjoyable read.

I am now looking forward to reading, with eager anticipation, your first UC TR next month. I hope the UC experience lives up to your (and your girls !) expectations and with the same SCC onboard I am sure it could even surpass them.

Thanks again.


Regards,

HG

I agree. It was thoroughly enjoyable and I look forward to your next one.

Excellent TR, thanks for posting [:D]

Another thumbs up for the Manchester VS crew [y]

Regards

Mrs B

From your account, it is quite clear that you have your work cut out for a flight with your youngsters (and dare I say other half[:w]) making sure they are all well occupied - achieved by meticulous planning [y] I hope you have finally managed to catch up with yourself.

Your thoughtfulness is well appreciated by other passengers i can assure you[:D][:D]

I am making the assumption that the VS check in at MCO was in its new location at the 'A' side of the airport - this being the case it was surprising to hear of the chaos as i had been led to believe that the move was to give VS some more space[:0]

Thank you for an enjoyable read and allowing me (and others) realise what goes on behind the scenes to maintain cabin harmony.

buns

Originally posted by buns4vs
Mrs B

From your account, it is quite clear that you have your work cut out for a flight with your youngsters (and dare I say other half[:w]) making sure they are all well occupied - achieved by meticulous planning [y] I hope you have finally managed to catch up with yourself.

Your thoughtfulness is well appreciated by other passengers i can assure you[:D][:D]

I am making the assumption that the VS check in at MCO was in its new location at the 'A' side of the airport - this being the case it was surprising to hear of the chaos as i had been led to believe that the move was to give VS some more space[:0]

Thank you for an enjoyable read and allowing me (and others) realise what goes on behind the scenes to maintain cabin harmony.

buns

Thanks buns,

Years of experience has taught me that planning is the key to a peaceful flight with children and my hubby. At least a week before any flight mission 'flight bags to be packed' goes into action as all manner of magazines, books, stickers and crayons are bought and packed ready for our flight. Hubby is easier to deal with, i just need to make sure he has a fully charged i-pod as is never left to look after the children [;)]. My eldest 2 are 9 and 10 now and to be honest never play up (apart from our last flight [:I]) on flights normally, they watch films, play games and read and more often than not complain when it's time to pack up, Jess at 3 is an angel and only gets fidgety after 8 hours or so, that is easily dealt with with a walk around the plane, a trip to get drinks, a toilet visit and packing up, then it's blow away the clouds time and can you spot Mickey Mouse's house, works wonders everytime [:)]

Yes VS have moved to the 'A' side which is a lot bigger than 'B' it was just a surprise to see people queuing up as we generally arrive when it is empty and there are no other VS passengers around'at all and we have check in to ourselves.

And yes things have returned to normal now thanks, or as normal as things get with 3 children, a hubby and a dog to watch over [;)]