V-Flyer

Ok having taken my very first Virgin flight and as there are not any up to date trip reports for Havana, I thought I'd write a report of my trip. Here goes:

Arrived into Gatwick the day before the flight, mainly due to living in Guernsey and not wanted to get caught out by fog. An overnight stay in the Hilton Gatwick airport.


Having arrived at Gatwick the day before the flight, we opted to use Twilight check-in, so we could get rid of the cases. Arrived at twilight check in and presented our documents. The check-in staff were very helpful and very jovial to boot. Check-in was completed, cases were gone, boarding passes were issued and the all important invite to the Clubhouse was in my hand. All done in no more than 15 mins. That done, it was time to relax and wait till morning for our flight.

The morning of the flight arrived. We made our way to the airport and onto Security, which was swift and we were on our way to the clubhouse. Presented our invite at reception and were welcomed to the clubhouse. Security to clubhouse in no more than 10 mins. Walking into the clubhouse, we noticed that there appeared to be a slight delay to the flight, not bothered by that, just meant a little extra time in the clubhouse. We found a seat and promptly ordered some champagne. We perused the breakfast menu, but as we have eaten at the hotel only an hour or so before, didn't feel like anything substantial, so perhaps more champagne. Managed to partake in a few glasses of champagne before we were called for boarding at Gate 34. We emptied our glasses and headed down to the gate.

Got to the gate to a long queue for boarding, didn't seem to be any priority boarding and looked like we were going to have to join the end of the queue. As we were flying Upper Class, I went over and asked at the desk about priority boarding, the lady at the desk that there wasn't due to a lot of seat changes? I said we were flying Upper Class and the lady then got up and walked us to the front of the queue, much to the disgust of people in the queue! So at the head of the queue, passports checked and we were on our way to the plane.

Walking down to the plane, clocked the plane and it's “Mustang Sally” . Boarding pass checked at the door and directed to the upper deck, passing the bar on the way, how cool, will definitely make use of that later. Having climbed the stairs, on our way to our seats 4A and 5A, noticed that the back part of the deck wasn't Upper Class. Aircraft change? Flight attendants Chris and Rosa, (names quoted with permission) introduced themselves and welcomed us aboard and directed us to our seats/

Having found our seats, we stowed out hand luggage. and noticed our snooze pack was on the ottoman waiting for us :-)

Chris walked us through how the upper class suite worked and said that if we had any issues to let him know.

Just settled into our seats and champagne was served. :-) Advised over the PA that the flight time to Cuba was 9 hours 10 mins.

We took off at 12:40 so a shade under 30 mins late. How nice to be able to have the seat reclined for take off.

About 20/30 mins into the flight and food orders were being taken. Me and my holiday companion had both ordered special meals and it was confirmed that these were onboard for us. The seat belt sign was turned off and as we had finished the welcome glass of champagne, thought it appropiate to go and check out the bar downstairs. Sat at the bar and ordered another champagne, which was served by Natalie (name quoted with permission). Had a good chat with the crew as they were going bout their duties, whilst taking the time to talk with us, asking us about our holiday. Made to feel very welcome. The crew were very attentive and nothing was too much trouble. Headed back upstairs due to turbulence. About 2 hours into the flight and food was ready. Decided to sit with Mrs TL and have dinner together. The tables at the suites are a good size and can accommodate two meals with ease. Wine was offered and a rather nice Chardonnay was served.

Note: you'll be given salt and pepper shakers with your meal, little planes. You can take these as they have “Pinched from Virgin Atlantic” on the bottom!

We both had a nice salad to start with which was followed by a very nice veg and rice dish. For airline food, I was impressed.

We decided to have desert at the bar downstairs, so off we headed, ordered a drink and desert was served a lovely cheesecake.

Having finished our drink decided it was time to check out V Port and watch a movie. Everything worked fine, no need for re-sets :-)

Afternoon tea was served, sandwiches, warm scone, with jam and cream. I just ordered a glass of champagne.

All in all, the flight was excellent, the crew were excellent. Having never flown Virgin before ( usually BA) I am definitely a convert. Virgin IMHO are great.

Glad you had a good flight and other than the priority boarding problem everything worked as it should.

Did you have a glass of champagne? It is traditional but you didn't seam to mentioning having one ...

Hi Tontybear,

I managed to consume a good few glasses of champagne on the flight, as did others as later in the flight I asked for another, only to be told that we'd drunk it all and there was none left. Shocking I know. I'm rather partial to champagne.

Thanks for writing a great TR

When Virgin get it right they really do offer a good product, and thankfully for you they did on this occasion, hopefully making you a long-term convert from the dark side

totallylost wrote:Hi Tontybear,

I managed to consume a good few glasses of champagne on the flight, as did others as later in the flight I asked for another, only to be told that we'd drunk it all and there was none left. Shocking I know. I'm rather partial to champagne.

I had my leg pulled over a TR I did over the amount of champers I'd drunk !

No priority boarding because of seating changes, what poppycock these ground staff come out with - aka not prioritised.

Glad you had a most enjoyable flight - how did you find Cuba?

Hi Slinky09,

Cuba was great, was staying in varadero, so was like a 2 1/2 hour taxi ride to the hotel, but it was worth it. Spent a day in Havana and enjoyed it totally. Had fab weather apart from a couple of thunderstorms, but hey it's that time of year.

Will defo make a return trip in the future

slinky09 wrote:how did you find Cuba?

Tempted to say he flew south west and there it was

TL - if VS could bottle your experience, they'd be quids in...

Paul

Great TR! Thanks

Thanks for taking the time to share your trip with us- nice to know there is at least one convert

buns

Sounds likea great trip. It looks like a LHR aircraft was used forthe flight as opposed to a LGW one (hence going upstairs and finding the cabin half and half).
DL

DragonLady wrote:Sounds likea great trip. It looks like a LHR aircraft was used forthe flight as opposed to a LGW one (hence going upstairs and finding the cabin half and half).
DL

Yup! The OP says it was "Mustang Sally" which is a LHR aircraft. I flew back in it from JNB in March

Excellent TR, TL.

When VS get it right, and they very much seem to have on this flight, they are up there with the best of them.

Iain

Thank you for the great TR.

Thanks Totallylost for an excellent TR. I am glad VS delivered such a great initiation for you.

I like the look of Cuba and those wonderful beaches. I am just a bit intimidated by the thought of those rather large hotels and organised entertainment. I need to find a small hotel (<100 rooms) with a nice secluded beach. Time to do some research methinks.

Thanks so much for this trip report!

This was a very informative read and I am really pleased you had such a good experience onboard.
I am flying this route next Weds in UC for the first time to Cuba (also first time out of LGW in Upper so I am dying to see what the product is like from there)

Also as others have mentioned it's great that you were on a LHR plane and could enjoy V:port, at the moment it's showing as a LHR bird for my flights too. I have a feeling it will be a refitted 747 with Upper & Econ in the bubble by the looks of the Virgin website.

It's always nice to read of someone's good experiences and fills me with excitement for my flights now!

Thanks for taking the time to write a trippie, I'm taking my first Upper flight in a few weeks so it was great to read about your positive experience. Glad you enjoyed Cuba!