V-Flyer

Five of us travelling - including 2 children.
We stayed at the Hilton at Gatwick the night before and used the twilight checkin which was excellent, no queue and a very helpful checkin agent.
Next day, into the Clubhouse for a pleasant couple of hours that was extended by a 1 hour 40 minute flight delay. All in all the Clubhouse was superb.
Boarding was smooth, UC was full, we managed to get the seats right in the nose which was good for my young sons right at the front.
Not sure about the so-called "freedom menu" as the feeding arrangements were very regimented. My main moan about the flight was that one of my son's is a veggie (his choice - stubborn independence at 9 years old, if you ask me) and there was almost nothing that he could eat - the veggie options for an adult looked great but he wouldn't eat them. So my first bit of advice is, if you have a fussy eater with you - bring your own! To be fair the CC tried to get him to eat but he was being stubborn.
The IFE was OK to a point - but nothing really appealed so I watched a film on my Ipad instead. There was only one classical music channel on the audio and that was not working.
I enjoyed the calmness of the UC cabin and the relative quietness.
One thing I noticed is that if you went up near the bar then the CC encouraged you to sit down, I got the impression that they preferred you in your seats!
My son's had very decent sleeps in their beds - they were a perfect fit! Mine was a bit of a challenge - being that I am of "ample carriage", but not bad.
Exiting the aircraft was brilliant as we were off first and into the immigration queue right at the front. The immigration officer was very nice and professional and we breezed through.
All in all a good flight - so well done Virgin staff and crew.

Thank you for the TR. Congrats on getting off the aircraft first, particularly with two children. Whenever I fly this route we have to wait for the PE/Economy cabin passengers between us and the aircraft door so never reach immigration as quickly as I hope to !
Enjoy your trip.

Thanks for the TR and glad you enjoyed your flight.

The big tip as you say is that if you have / are a fussy eater is to bring your own food. Airlines simply can't cater for every food preference

Thank you for the TR.

Thank you for the trip report, great to hear of an excellent overall experience.

Glad you had the clubhouse during your slight delay.

Cal

Glad you enjoyed your flight.

cheers

alex